Bon Jour!

Greetings from Strasbourg, France. Yes, we have survived our trip so far without any major changes in our itinerary. Before I get into our personal experiences, though, I want to tell you about this morning's visit to the Russian consulate. We had a bit of difficulty finding the consulate by car from our hotel, so we arrived later than planned, but still just before they opened at 9. Fortunately, there were only 4 people in front of me. Christy and the kids hung out at a very large, nearby park while I went in to the consulate. I only had to wait 15 minutes or so before getting in. I filled out all the forms and presented them to the official. He said all our documents were in order except for a paper proving we had medical coverage in Russia. I showed him our medical cards, but he could not accept them because they only showed the date our coverage began. So, we are now back in our hotel room, waiting until our medical insurance company's offices in Indianapolis open so I can call them and get the information we need faxed or emailed to us here in our hotel. I hope that won't be too difficult. We shall see. With this information in hand, I'll have to return to the consulate in the morning to get our visas before we can continue on our way. Please pray that I will be able to do everything without any further problems or delays. Thank you!

Now, for the fun stuff:

Our first full day in Europe was also the longest travel day of our entire 2-week adventure, so we were up and away by a little after 8 am. Our first stop of the day was Neuschwanstein Castle. Let me just say, "Amazing!" We decided to walk up to the castle instead of taking the horse-drawn carriage or even the bus. It was only a half-hour trek up to the castle gates. We met a large group of American soldiers heading toward Kosovo on our way up. The tour of the castle was, here's that word again, "Amazing!" I have to say, though, that I enjoyed the view out the windows more than the decor of the interior. After the short tour of the inside, we walked a little farther to take in the view you see in the photo. It was spectacular, to say the least. What a great experience we had visiting this site.

We continued on our way toward YWAM's Einigen, Switzerland base with a short stop in Liechtenstein just to say we've been there. Thanks to our rental car's navigation system, affectionately knows to us as "Jane," we found our way easily. I must say that Switzerland is easily the most beautiful country I have ever been to, but probably the most expensive too. Everywhere we looked was drop-jaw gorgeous scenery. Finally, our almost 20-year dream of visiting Switzerland is fulfilled.

While in Switzerland, we visited the St. Beatus caves where an Irish missionary used to live. There are over 14 km of passageways inside the mountain as well as powerful, gushing streams of water as well. We also hiked half way up a mountain to enjoy some more spectacular views of distant, snow-covered peaks. We opted to coast back down the mountain on scooters which were much easier on our tired bodies. The kids especially enjoyed this experience.

Yesterday, we left Switzerland to head toward Strasbourg, France where we are now. On the way, we stopped to visit our friends, Michael and Delynn, in Weil am Rhein, Germany. They just started teaching at an international school there last month. It was great to be able to visit them in their home and to walk around their town a little and to even see the school where they work. The few hours with them will be a major highlight of our trip when it's all said and done, I'm sure.

The rest of the way to Strasbourg should have taken us only about an hour and a half on the freeway, but we decided to get off the beaten path and drive through the Route des Vins, the Wine Route. Though it was a little tricky to find, it was worth it. The little villages along the way were so quaint and seemingly buried in brightly colored flowers. The vineyards on the hills were warmly bathed in sunlight. By the time we checked into our hotel and ate dinner at a nearby Pizza Hut, we were ready to call it a day. Christy and the kids went to bed with notions of sleeping in while I got up early to go to the Russian consulate, but as I was getting ready for bed, I realized we had forgotten to get pictures taken for our visas. With that little disappointment, we went to bed.

We woke early this morning to begin our search for an automated photo booth to get our pictures taken for our visas. In our search for our hotel the night before, we found the central train station and decided that would be an appropriate place for a photo booth. Bingo! We found one almost immediately. Getting coins for the machine was a much more difficult task, but a nice young lady helped me and soon, we all had pictures in hand. The rest, you already know from the beginning of this posting, so there you have it, our trip thus far.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us while away from home and for our successful renewal of our Russian visas. I'll try to let you know how tomorrow's visit to the consulate goes as soon as I get another chance.

Patrick

Picture 1 - Russian consulate in Strasbourg, France
Picture 2 - Neuschwanstein Castle in the background
Picture 3 - Breaktime while scooting down the mountain in Switzerland
Picture 4 - One of many chair sculptures in Weil am Rhein, Germany
Picture 5 - Dambach, France along the famous Route des Vins in eastern France