Europe Trip: day 10 (#36 and maybe #37)

Yesterday (day 10) was a unique and stand-alone experience from the rest of the trip. Instead of strapping on the tennis shoes and taking the metro system around the current town, we spent the whole day on a tour/trip into the Swiss Alps. Milan is fairly close to the Swiss boarder, but now super close. So the day began with waking up earlier than any of us really wanted and rushing off to the tourist center to board our bus. With a quick intro from our tour guide, the doors closed and we headed toward the Switzerland boarder. 

Of course, there was a lot to see before we actually reached Switzerland. The day began with a 3 hour bus ride, filled with incredible views, quaint towns, and hillsides covered with vineyards. I can only imagine how beautiful the hillsides will be when they are filled with vines and grapes in the summer. The bus tour ended in Tirano, Italy, where we had time to grab lunch and briefly explore the town before meeting back up with the tour group and boarding a train destined for the alps. 

The train quickly pulled out of Italy and into Switzerland. In the two-and-a-half hour ride, we passed many lakes, traversed up and across numerous mountains, and transitioned from a world in which our light sweaters created too much heat to one which had been frozen for a long time and would continue to be frozen for a while still. I love the mountains and felt so blessed to have the chance to travel up into them. It was a perfect opportunity to find a world which still lived slowly, where the only noise was the train passing through town and the wind through the trees. Seeing those places was my miracle for today. Attached here is a little snippet of what the ride was like (hopefully it works for you, it works on my computer. It will be miracle #37 if it does).

Our train ride ended in St. Moritz, a small, cold, tourist town. Actually, considering the quantity of snow surrounding us and the very solidly frozen nature of the lake, it really wasn't that cold. We explored the small town, and found ourselves a place to buy hot chocolate. After finishing that, we found a store selling Swiss chocolate and each probably bought more than we reasonably should have. Finally, running out of time and wanting to avoid spending more money, we headed out of the town and took a stroll along the frozen lake, which is not only frozen, but further covered in snow and veined with walking paths which the locals frequent.

We returned to our bus, which met up with us in St. Moritz, to head back down the mountain and eventually return to Milan, tired, but very pleased with our adventures into Switzerland. 

Europe Trip: days 8-9 (#35)

Oh my gosh - I LOVE Italy!!!!! Ok, backing up for a moment, I need to give my last day in Paris it's proper dues and report on it first.

So, Sunday was my last day in Paris. Most of the group who came for the Paris Photo Workshop left in the morning and those of us who were continuing on for the Europe Tour enjoyed a lazy day around Paris. We started off with a slow breakfast, or brunch...which turned into a lunch. We started around 10:30 and didn't finish until 1. Then we attempted to go see the Catacombs, since it's one of those standard Paris things to see and we hadn't had a chance to see it yet. Unfortunately, the line was about 4 hours long and we didn't feel like standing still for quite that long. 

Instead, we took off to see the Luxembourg Palace - or rather - the gardens around the palace. But we found a beautiful fountain in the gardens and you could rent little sail boats to push around the fountain. Each sail boat had a different country's flag and came with a long stick to help you retrieve your sail boat and push it back out into the middle of the fountain. We rented a boat ourselves, but spent a long time just watching the kids play.  The day ended with a wonderful french meal, a train ride out to our hotel for the night, and preparing to fly off first thing in the morning.

On to the part about Italy! I've been here for barely 12 hours and I love the place. I've always found those I Heart Insert City Name Here shirts and bumper stickers and whatever to be kinda silly, but I might actually by myself one of those shirts in regards to Italy. We are staying in this adorable little apartment. The owner is this kind older gentlemen who did his best to explain everything in English and left a table full of Italian snacks for us and little Italian chocolates on each of our beds.

The moment we finished checking in, we headed to the street corner for pizza. There is a good chance we will return there every day. The piece of pizza was about $5 and was bigger than the average dinner plate. 

After letting lunch settle, we headed to the Duomo di Milano, or Milan Cathedral. This cathedral is this incredibly huge, white marble building with some of the more intricate carvings and statuary I have ever seen.

Now - I saw a lot of cathedrals in Paris, and they are all gorgeous, but I happen to own a puzzle of this particular cathedral, and it's this really cool aerial view of the roof. The puzzle took me forever because it was half blue-sky and half white stone statues. Anyways - Do you have any idea how excited I was when I learned we could climb up to the roof. Not only that, but the tickets are good for 3 days, so I can go back if I want to. I was going to take a picture that looked exactly like my puzzle, but they are doing some restoration work, so there is scaffolding over that part of the building. But I got this cool picture instead of the city spread out beneath the cathedral.

Our last event for the day was an Italian cooking class.  It was held at the teachers house in her own kitchen. We began at 6 and finished around 9.  Working with her, we made (and then of course ate) our own 4 course dinner. It began with Tagliatelle Bolognese, then spinach Ravioli, followed by stuffed bell peppers, and all that was topped off with Tiramisu. 

K- I'm totally stuffed, but in heaven. As much from having the chance to cook it all as from having the chance to eat it. We made the pasta, both the tagliatelle (a ribbon like pasta) and the ravioli by hand and I discovered that all I really need is a pasta press and it's a super simple process. I got to make the tiramisu while others in the group prepared the spinach stuffing, bell peppers, and bolognese sauce. Then we sat down and the kind woman who taught us each recipe transferred everything to beautiful serving dishes and brought each course of the meal to the table. Good food, great people, and all of us being way too tired resulted in some priceless memories (I'm counting that as miracle #35). I could be happy staying here forever.

Europe Trip: day 5-7

I have been in Europe for a week. This is my own life and I can hardly believe it. The trip continues to be incredible and I feel so grateful for everything I have had a chance to see.

Day 5 (Thursday, for those of you who are as lost in the days of the week as I am) began with a trip to Versailles. This location has always held a special place in my heart. As a child, the first address I can remember was on the street Rue de Versailles, which was a mess to try and spell as a 6 year old, but sounded really cool. (On an unrelated side note - I saw the Rue de Nicolas Flamel yesterday and had a brief Harry Potter freak out).  Of course, the primary reason to visit Versailles is to see the palace. Despite all the stories and pictures, nothing prepared me to expect how truly extravagant the palace is. There are rooms in that 'house' which took me five minutes to walk from one end to another.

After touring the palace, we had lunch and returned to Paris. I went back to the Arc de Triomphe, this time to climb to the top! This was a view worth paying for. I'm sure other look-out points were pretty cool, but at the top of the Arc, I could see the whole city spread out around me, with the Eiffel Tower close enough to get some really cool pictures.

Afterwards, we wandered into a random restaurant for dinner and ended up in an Indian restaurant. Not exactly what I intended to eat while in France, but the salad I ordered was great.

Friday was a continuation of tourist spots with Sacré-Cœur, which translates to Sacred Heart, and Notre Dame (apparently, it was a day to visit catholic churches, didn't notice this until just now). Sacré-Cœur is this incredible white building which stands on a hill looking out over the city. Unfortunately, the morning was foggy, so we couldn't see most of the city, but after visiting the church, we wandered the streets at the bottom of the hill and conducted some very successful souvenir shopping.

After lunch, we headed to the top of Notre Dame, another activity definitely worth paying for. Admittedly, the view at the top wasn't drastically different from the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc, however, is pretty solidly in the city, while Notre Dame stands on a small island in the river Seine, so it was cool to see the river down on either side of the building. The most exciting part of the climb (which was probably more than 270 steps, but I forgot to count) was getting to see the bells and the gargoyles at the top of Notre Dame.

The vast majority of today consisted of photo shoots with different models. We took the models into the little courtyard outside of the place we are staying and around the Louvre and the (of course) back toward the Eiffel Tower for more pictures there. While at the Eiffel Tower - we saw a guy proposing to his girlfriend and it was the cutest thing ever. Of course, since we are a group of photographers, anyone with their camera out snapped a few pictures and one brave soul even went and offered to take pictures for them (after he was done proposing and the girl had obviously said yes).

Europe Trip: days 2-4 (and #34)

The second day in Europe was spent doing something both very familiar and very new - Disneyland Paris! So much of it felt just like Disneyland, but everything was also different. The Indiana Jones ride is an actual rollercoaster and the Haunted Mansion isn't nearly as scary when you don't understand what everyone is saying. But the highlight of the day was discovering that there was a Mr. Mime nearby (a pokemon - for those who have no idea what I'm talking about - one which can only be found in Europe). So, of course, my cell service was turned on and I caught Mr. Mime.

After exhausting ourselves at Disneyland, and playing a lot of Pokemon Go, we returned to Paris and checked into the Loft which had been rented for the Tour portion of the trip. We are staying in the most adorable little loft with beautiful wooden floors, which are super old and creaky, and the most random arrangement of bedrooms, but I love it.

Oh - and Miracle #34 happened today. It rained most of the time we were at Disneyland, but my feet stayed dry all day!

Day 3 was the day that the rest of the tour group arrived. We spent the majority of the day at the loft greeting people as they showed up in ones and twos. We briefly explored the area around the loft to locate a pastry shop and find something to eat, then again to take pictures and just keep ourselves busy.

Once everyone arrived, McKenzie and Casey, who are leading the Collective, gave their welcoming message and explained the plan for the week ahead of us. After this, we needed to keep the new-comers awake until it was late enough to reasonably go to bed, so we went out to see the Eiffel Tower again. We also bought amazing crepes from this little corner store next to the tower.

Day 4 has by far been the busiest day. We started off with a bus tour to see the city, then transferred to a river tour to see the city from a different angle. The river tour was actually really cool, and the bus tour wasn't half bad, though several individuals in the tour group fell asleep in the semi-comfortable seats. 

We returned to the Eiffel Tower again, but this time to go inside. We had reservations to eat lunch up on the first floor. Absolutely incredible view and equally incredible food. After lunch, there was just enough time to go up to the second floor and take a look around (unfortunately, there was not quite enough time to go all the way to the top - I'll have to go back later this week to do so). 

The afternoon was spent doing a photoshoot with one of our models, followed by the Louvre. I got my 30-seconds with Mona Lisa, saw thousands of incredible paintings and sculptures, and wished briefly that I could just move to Paris and spend the next several months visiting every day. Of course, I'm not an artist and probably would get little out of the experience other than enjoying several months of interesting artwork. 

As the evening approached, we broke into groups to explore different parts of the city.  I headed off with two other girls in the group to visit Angelina's, which had been recommended to another girl as a great place for hot chocolate. That recommendation was a severe understatement. I have never had hot chocolate which was so good and anticipate never finding some as good again. I think they just took a chocolate bar and melted it. We each received a little teacup and saucer and the hot chocolate was delivered in cute little pitchers which we poured ourselves. And the taste - incredible!

We wrapped up our evening by visiting the Arc de Triomphe - the giant arch at the end of Champs Elysee. I took a dozen or so pictures, at this point, on my phone because my camera battery had died. My favorite is included here. I found myself an awesome angle of the arch and the busy street...from right in the middle of it. Don't worry, I was being safe, I was standing in the median and I got there using the cross walk. I'm sure I just looked like a crazy tourist as I intentionally stayed in the median to take pictures instead of continuing to the other side of the street.

Europe Tour: day 1(and #33)

When traveling to Europe - Day 1 is the absurdly long day when you wake up on Saturday and sit on a plane for several hours and get off the plane Sunday afternoon.

Of course, posting this implies that I made it safely to Paris. (Hence - Miracle #33 - arriving safely in Paris).  I met up with my friends without issue and we checked into the hotel we are staying at for the night. Tomorrow night, we transition to a loft we got from AirBnB for the 'photo tour/workshop' part of the trip where several more people will join us.

After checking in, we headed right back out and explored Paris for a little bit. And by explore - I mean we went to the Eiffel Tower, wandered till we found some place for dinner, ate, and came home.  We didn't actually go in the tower, just looked and took pictures. I'll visit it again in a few days as part of the tour.

#32 Two free tickets to see Elton John

I work a Qualtrics, a SAAS company which enables others to collect and use information through survey research.  Every year, since I've started working there at least, we have held the Insights Summit, a conference for our users.

Part of this conference is a private concert - and this year, Elton John came! As an employee, I received two free tickets to attend.

For those of you who know me really well, you know that I have a bachelors degree in astrophysics. You know that I have spent the last 10 years telling people that I'm going to be an astronaut when I grow up.

Logically, I know that I am unlikely to ever realize my dreams of being an astronaut. But, for now, hearing Rocket Man performed live by Elton John is more than satisfactory.

#31 Airplanes

I know the science behind airplanes. I know how they work and why they stay in the air and all the physics that makes these giant flying machines possible. And I still consider them to be a miracle.

I know some people think that science negates miracles, but I disagree. It is a miracle that we know and understand the laws of physics. Our minds can take the restrictions that our world follows and use them to our own advantage to travel from one side of the world to the other in eleven hours. We discover, learn, and understand laws dictating our limitations, and then use other laws to apparently overcome them.

That is a miracle! And so are airplanes.

#30 Cheese

I love cheese. And when I say cheese, I mean real cheese, not this half-plastic American cheese or "cheese whiz" that comes out of an aerosol can. I'm thinking of Gouda, English white cheddar, Muenster, and Havarti.

Each year, on the weekend of President's day, there is a local writing conference.  I'm trying to really get back into writing (fiction and poetry and stuff, not just my blog) so I attended this year to kick-start the creative juices. 

Unfortunately, when the conference started on Thursday, I was working late trying to resolve a few last minute issues. I finally left work and rushed straight to the conference to attend a lecture that I was really interested in, thus missing the opportunity to go home and actually eat. 

After the lecture, and while waiting for another one, I stopped in at a nearby restaurant to grab something to eat. I skimmed the menu and made my decision within seconds. If you've ever been to a restaurant with me, you know that this is incredibly unusual. The waitress returned, took my order, looked at me really funny when I said I was sure all I wanted was an appetizer, and left to get my food.

I didn't have to wait long for my whole evening to be made worth while (even the working late part). On the plate before me was a sliced baguette, two different cheeses, two different meats, a small jar of home-made honey mustard and a bowl of kalamata olives. I couldn't have asked for more. 

#29 - Blue Mornings

For those of you who have been following along, you may have noticed I have an aversion to winter. Other miracles I have so far listed included Roses in November (implying winter hasn't started yet), rain (meaning it's not snowing), being warm inside while it was snowing outside, and more flowers which make me feel like it is springtime in my house (these flowers smell incredible).

I am grateful for these many miracles, but they paint a clear image for my distaste to the cold weather.  Today is along these same lines. I go to work at 7 AM, and for the last many months, my drive has been cold and dark...and sometimes snowy. 

After all my wishing for winter to be over, today was a reminder that winter will always end. It doesn't matter how cold and dark it gets. Regardless of how much snow builds up on the ground, winter ends and the world warms up again. 

As I drove to work, the sky was a clear, pre-sunrise blue. My world is being filled with light again, even if it's just for the 10 minutes it takes me to get to work each morning. It's not yet a full, bright sunrise. The clouds are obviously still covered in snow. But the gradual change from winter to summer has begun and I'm starting to see the signs of it. 

Sometimes, the changes in our life are really sudden and unpredictable. I find these super sudden changes are usually the changes that I never wished happened.  In November, I posted about the roses still blooming. Two days later it began to snow.  It was a quick and sudden end to the vain hope that summer, or at least perhaps fall, could last forever. 

Often, the changes in our life are slow and gradual. This is often the recovery from previously mentioned sudden changes. I wish summer came as quickly as winter did, but the snow melts slowly. The light returns gradually. The world warms up again. And then I discover, just as God promised me in Miracle #6, the scars that were covered and numb under the snow have faded.

#28 - Flowers

Flowers are always a miracle. They are bright and vibrant. They make you feel happy. And they help you imagine that maybe it's warm outside.

Receiving flowers as a gift helps me to feel loved. I often feel a little forgotten. But when I am looking at flowers which someone else thought to get me, I know I can't be forgotten. Obviously they were remembering me if they got me flowers!

#23 - #27 Happy Fire Day

Today's miracle post reflects on many miracles that occurred long ago. Miracles that shook and shattered and shaped various parts of my life.  My family calls February 5th "Fire Day". On February 5th, 2007, just over 10 years ago, our house burnt down.

There is a surreal feeling that comes as you stand in front of your own home, watching the sun set, and realizing you don't know where you will be sleeping that night.  Months, and even years, went by where I would find myself looking for something, only to remember we had lost it. And yet - I call my parents every year and wish them a Happy Fire Day, like I would do on a holiday or their birthdays.

I'm a few days late for the actual Fire day - it's been a pretty busy week - but I wanted to share some of the miracles I've been thinking about this week.

#23 - No one was home. We can all play the 'What If' game and wonder what might have happened if someone was home and called the fire department sooner. But that coin has two sides. What if someone had been home, but taking a nap and unaware of the fire which burned through the roof and walls before breaking into the house.  Everyone was safe. The tragedy of losing our stuff was not deepened by the tragedy of losing a family member.

#24 - Part of the surreal feeling of standing in front of half your house as the firemen pack up their trucks to leave is the questions that fill your mind. Where will we sleep? What's for dinner? What am I going to where to school tomorrow? (I was a teenager - sleep, food, and cloths are really important at 17.) But all my questions were answered. Our insurance company paid for a hotel, the Red Cross gave us money to get toiletries and some clothing, and people from church brought us into their homes and fed us. There were answers to all the most concerning questions.

#25 - My family was surrounded by people who realized our needs before we did. One good friend from church called our insurance company and made sure that they were helping us from the very start.  When we arrived to dinner that first night, we were given fleece blankets and notebooks so we would have a place to write down everything we lost (a request from the insurance company). When we checked into a hotel later that evening, the front desk handed us bags of clothing that people had dropped off for us. You learn to love in a different way when your world suddenly opens its arms to hold you up.

#26 - As a family, this experience brought us really close together. I mean, we all slept in the same hotel room for 3 weeks while trying to find a rental. But in addition to that, we lost everything. There was no more Playstation to fight over who got to play. No more Gameboys or iPods to shut out the world with. Just six people in a hotel room, wondering where we would get dinner and if we had any clean clothes left. We had lost all our board games, so we made up games to play. And everyday we got to remember the first miracle I mentioned - of everything lost, we still had each other.

#27 - Things become both very unimportant and very important. I learned, in a very abrupt way, that all the things I own really don't matter. As heart breaking as it was to lose books and clothes and electronics and whatever, basically everything is replaceable. As I discovered how unimportant those things are, other things become more important. Some non-tangible things, like a better relationship with my family, but also some tangible things. They stop being things and instead become memories. Out of the rubble of my room, I was able to save the stuffed bear that I was given as a newborn in the hospital. A family friend dug through my collapsed closet to find a prom dress that I had purchased, but had never had a chance to wear. I still have the Converse that I was wearing that day. A stuffed bear, a dress, and a pair of shoes are now important not because of the things they are, but because of the people and the moment they remind me of.

There are many more miracles which surround that day, I could go on forever. In fact, if you ask me about that day I will go on forever, telling you all the silly details I remember. There are so many days from 10 years ago that came and went and were forgotten. February 5th, for me, is not one of those days. I am really grateful that I can remember all these miracles.

#22 Friends who are always there

Friends are great. But the real miracle are those friends who are so reliable, you know exactly what they will do.

The miracle is seen when you are having a terrible day and feeling unable to spend another minute by yourself. It's sending off that text saying "I just don't want to be alone right now" and knowing that you will get a response - an invitation to come over - no questions asked and no judgments passed. The miracle is knowing that you can show up crying and they will just listen; or, you can show up silent and they will talk about anything and everything until their voice guides you out of the thoughts you are lost in.

#21 Warm Hugs

90% of the time, I don't like hugs. I know - I must be crazy - but I really don't like it when most people touch me.

But even for me, when I'm in the right mood and it's the right person giving the hug, a good hug is one of the best things in the world. Someone wraps you in their arms and you feel safe, protected, and warm. And considering it is currently 21 degrees outside, feeling warm is the best part.

For me, giving a hug is an expression of how much I care for another person. Perhaps that's why I dislike them most of the time; I feel like I'm getting them from people who don't really care about me. That and I start to feel claustrophobic. A good, warm hug is a miracle because it helps me to see the people around me who do care about me. They help remind me that I'm worth caring about.

And they keep me warm in January.

#20 Anniversaries

2 years ago, and again today, I woke up earlier than I wanted to.

I got ready quickly, convinced that I was running late yet actually ahead of schedule.

I went outside. It was still dark. I moaned against the cold.

2 years ago, I was terrified that I would get lost. Today I drove on auto-pilot.

Back then, I walked into a building I didn't know and was surrounded by unfamiliar faces.

Now, I know the place. I continue on auto-pilot from the front door to my desk. I know everyone who sits around me.


Today was the two year anniversary of my first day at work. So much has happened in those two years. I started on a job on which I had no concept of what I was supposed to be doing and I felt terribly under-qualified. Now, I work in a role which didn't exist when I was hired, which I helped invent, and which I now have the opportunity to train others to do as well.

Today's miracle is the chance to look back and see what I've become in just two years.

#19 A Reminder that I can work hard

Christmas vacation was awesome - a week without work, sleeping in, and taking my time doing exactly what I wanted. Sometimes, you just need to sit around for a while.

And then other times you need to be tested - to prove to yourself just how much you can do. That's what I got to do this week. I got back to work on Tuesday, jumped in with both feet, and realized the water was a lot deeper than I thought it was. The work rolled in. The emails piled high. Meetings, training, and projects everywhere.

Did everything get finished...no. But I kept my head above water. And I discovered I can tread water for much longer than I thought I could.

What a wonderful way to kick off a new year. While my Facebook feed is flooded with reasons and rants against New Years Resolutions - don't make goals cuz you won't keep them, you don't need an excuse to change, etc - I saw how much setting goals and pushing myself has helped me to grow. I accomplished everything this week because of the goals I set at the beginning of last year, at the beginning of each quarter, at the beginning of each week.

I don't need an excuse! But why pass up the opportunity?