Switzerland

Disclaimer:  Long ago and Far away, before I’d learned about aperture and shutter speed and all that jazz, I had the privilege of going on a study tour in college with a few of my best buds. Armed with a point and shoot camera we got to travel five countries with a knowledgeable English professor and the lady who got me through college.

I thought I’d spend a few posts reminiscing  this trip via blog style.

Sit back and cringe politely to yourself, because yes, this is going to be worse than your great aunt Susan's 200 slides of the family ski trip. Wait, who am I kidding….who even knows what a slide is these days?….It will be worse than the  900 page photo album on Facebook of your friend’s first child.  Basically what I’m trying to say is, YES these will be boring for some of you but that’s why there's an amazing little thing to the left of your browser called the scroll bar!

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Onward we drove, round and round and round the mountains. Cows, Sheep and Horses lazily grazed as the cold mountain air blew through our open windows (pure joy on a bus full of 28 people).

INTERLAKEN

We reached Interlaken in enough time to walk slowly through the town and enjoy a picnic lunch. The water on mountain lake is like a mirror of glass and the little town full of shops. Because I’m a dork the only thing I could think was: This is the city of Dale the river men and Smaug lives in that mountain.”   (For all you normal people, that’s a reference to The Hobbit)

All together now: “Aww”

actually funny enough, three of the girls myself included thought to braid our hair for the day. Appropriate huh?

THE ALPS

From below, we went UP to the glory that is THE ALPS!!! Until you’ve experience the alps in person, you really don’t get a feel for how amazingly breathtakingly beautiful it is up there.

See that little edge of grass down there, that’s the drop off, Yikes right!?

Thanks to Sir Robert we had a fourth of the Sea Wolf Mutiny to serenade us while we had a picnic lunch.

From left to right our tour leaders <3 : Mrs. Davis- the sweet lady who helped get me through college, mentor and encourager and full of wisdom. Our bus driver; Mr. B is in the middle- our English professor from Austria; Mrs. W- basically my second mom; Dr. B- our college dean and the man who married Charley and I. 

We couldn’t have asked for better leaders!

Over the ledge that Charley and Zack are standing (they are still relatively far from the edge thank goodness)  is a sheer drop-off where a considerable number of people commit suicide every year. I forget the actual length to the ground, but as you can see t he crosses send a somber message.

This arch says something like “gate way to heaven” with a disclaimer that tells you hang gilding and bungee jumping are a sure way to death at that particular spot due to winds.

I thought Zack needed to test it out, just to be sure.

…….and thus formed the Fellowship of the Ring…..

Germany

Long ago and Far away, before I’d learned about aperture and shutter speed and all that jazz, I had the privilege of going on a study tour in college with a few of my best buds. Armed with a point and shoot camera we got to travel five countries with a knowledgeable English professor and the lady who got me through college.

I thought I’d spend a few post reminiscing  this trip via blog style.

Sit back and cringe politely to yourself, because yes, this is going to be worse than your great aunt Susan's 200 slides of the family ski trip. Wait, who am I kidding….who even knows what a slide is these days?….It will be worse than the  900 page photo album on Facebook of your friend’s first child.  Basically what I’m trying to say is, YES these will be boring for some of you but that’s why there's an amazing little thing to the left of your browser called the scroll bar!

FRANKFURT

Little town, little quiet village, that pretty much sums up the preserved medieval town of Frankfurt. We saw some gorgeous scenery from the bus window, in fact it’s pretty much safe to say that throughout our whole trip there were breathtaking views zooming past us. I wish I could take the whole trip again played at a different speed.

Here’s what my sweet hubby looked like in those days. I still really cherish the fact that we got to travel together so much while we were dating. He looks so young to me!

Here’s Anne, another best friend, you’ll be seeing her a lot in these trip pictures. We kept finding the strangest doors, so she’s modeling this one for you (and the flowers below). Is it just me, or does Frankfurt look just like Charleston? I think it’s the horses.

One thing that truly blows me away is the architecture in churches. All across Europe are places of worship. There are grassy hillocks with piles of stones where men in linen abide to a simple life. There are intricate flying buttresses supporting the monstrous stone cathedrals where men chant and hold to custom and creed.

All throughout history men have made a conscious decision to slave over, construct, and form:  a towering pinnacle, a directional column, a light filled chamber, a heavily carved memorial, a brilliant fresco or even a simple wood cross all with unified purpose. They were intended to point man towards God, to put us in his splendor, to remind us of worship. The illusion works, visual structures move us. When you walk into the main hall of the church pictured below you are reduced to a small and inferior creature reminded of greater things.

But on the flip side, it was man who constructed and man who is corrupted, so even something built with good intentions or pretentions often became a point of man’s power, man’s glory, man’s prestige. Walking into the great churches in Europe evokes a bittersweet beauty. We witness the great effort of man (or perhaps God through man) to preserve faith but when you actually see people, you know that their hearts are far away from seeking God. The main attitude seems to be apathy, and agnosticism, even in those who sit the pews.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

When we moved in, this house existed (images via google map).

But one morning we woke up to find that nature had a temper tantrum. The house was struck by lightening and is no more. It was a pretty bad storm, full of rain and wind, but luckily for the houses next door it only caught on one side. The house to the left has been gutted and is in the process of being reconstructed already. It will be a long time before the house on the corner is resurrected.

 

melted trash can:

The Bogarden

The Bogarden is a community garden off Bogard street. I had never heard of such a thing but I think it’s a pretty cool concept. I don’t think anyone actually grows vegetables here being that there are quite a few hungry wanderers that disregard signs but it is a pretty little space, overgrown and motley and friendly.

Public…..Bathroom! Just kidding, but Juneau often does eat the grass and for some reason enjoys sniffing flowers.