Oh The Places You Will Go...

So we last posted pics from Switzerland... we left the Swiss Alps and headed to Austria...


... and the hills were alive... this is our Sound of Music bike tour throughout Salzburg....













...little bit of Weiner Snitzel for you.... greasy greasy













the oldest restaurant in europe... supposedly dates back to 812... we got some good dessert













...then we moved along to Budapest, Hunagary. John's great friend Bethany spent a few months here and gave us the must see places.











...there was amazing time of rest and journaling with the Lord here in these hammocks...














.. after running to catch our train, we missed it... we were headed from budapest to the czech republic












Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic... sball beautiful town surrounded by a small river and a big castle in the middle...we met some folks that got engaged here...

















just giving you a view...















we did a lil river rafting while there... 3 hours of fun...











oops... see it twice...















first English movie... we saw X Men 3 in Prague, Cech Republic













also got some new kicks in prague















spent one afternoon at a park...



















the view of prague from a castle we went to...













we left prague and headed to berlin, germany...
this is what is left of the Berlin Wall.... us doing a little West Side / East Side joke

















another haircut... berlin treated us well




















the 4th of July in Berlin... we found America













fat daddy plate of ribs with fries and salad




















and a honker piece of apple pie topped with ice cream... you know!

















after berlin we headed to munich.. we were there during the France V Portugal Semi Final... this is the stadium.. we went, experienced the hype, but no tickets...










we watched the game at a park in munich... this is right after the france victory














out and about in munich... live german band... ha!















will flinkow anyone??














after germany we headed to brussels, belgium.... we had a warm welcome from will hightower and his family...


















rode bikes to the coast of belgium... a nice 15 mile ride













us on the coast of belgium




















spent a few nights in amsterdam... it was nice













took a ferry from amsterdam to england... then headed straight for cambridge to visit our friend Mariana... this was a cookout with all her friends... friends from all over the world!











same cookout... Cambridge was great fun!














we went 'punting' in cambridge...



















after three nights in cambridge we headed up to London. this is our view from our friends flat... such a great blessing to meet people on the road then get to see them again!












being a tourister... we took the london bus tour to get the best view of the city... double decker baby











went to see the changing of the gaurds at Buckinham Palace... sweet














still at changing of the gaurds... the heat felt like home today...











well everyone, that was a quick run down of the last few weeks... tonight we leave for scotland by overnight bus. we spend five nights in scotland, hopefully get to be with john's friend bethany, then fly to ireland. in ireland we have already rented a car and will spend the last four days driving through ireland. we fly home the 28th.
there are no words for what this has been right now... and we catch our bus in and hour.
oh, we also saw the musical, Mary Poppins last night here in London.

We love each of you and cant wait to see you. praying for you all as we enjoy our last week here.
Blessings!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY FROM BERLIN

from your fellow countrymen in Germany,
we hope you are having the best 4th of July ever! in a feeble attempt to celebrate the 4th like an American would do, we ate a platter of ribs, a fat slice of apple pie with ice cream and washed it all down with some good ole sweet ice tea!
you know you gotta have it! we even caught the tail end of some fireworks.

keep on keepin on and we will have another pictured update soon.
we two are grinning much more than the germans all around us right now... congrats italy!

proud to be an American!
chris and john

tomorrow we head to munich... hoping to catch the france v portugal game

three weeks of unblogged grins...

Hello all.
Sorry you have not seen more of our recent adventures. No doubt they have been amazing and now we have finally found a place we can upload pics. So here we go... buckle in...

We will start with Florence...
This is somewhat of an ode to Kara Leigh... we met up with her life long best friend Lorie while in Florence... it was absolutely perfect, just without our Kara Leigh!

we met Lorie and her friends at their church... our souls rejoiced as we walked up to hear them singing, Í Love You Lord´ in Italian. Lorie doesnt speak Italian, ha, she is their studying this summer..








´Hey weewee! Wish you were here!´

a special wave from Lorie to KL as she walked us up the hill to their villa...











on the walk to the villa... are we really here?













Bubba and Lorie

















picturesque tuscany.... also from the villa. that is florence in the background












we camped out over Florence.... this is the view from our campsite´s cafe... had a croissant, coffee, and Jesus early every morning











tracing down family legacy... this was the memorial museum from WWII where John´s grand´Pa´fought. Pa made it home from the war, but it was special to see some of the soil he and his regiment fought on.









Piatza Michaelangelo. Watched a world cup game from up here on big screen overlooking Florence!

















HAPPY BIRTHDAY LORIE!!
We had to find Lorie a chocolate chip cookie from Kara Leigh to make the birthday perfect. As you can tell, she enjoyed it.
















Lorie and Kara Leigh´s two boo´s... we had just gone to dinner with all of Lories friends for her birthday. This was our last good bye...











Timmy!!!! Also such a blessing to get to spend some time with good ole Tim. A great face from home was just what we needed!











Next we moved on to Venice... where the streets aren´t so golden... they are water.

John tried some of the homemade licorice..looks good ehh...









Venice at night time was a magical place to be... this is our view from our water bus..cost five bucks as opposed to the popular gondola that would have cost seventy...










the early morning that we left Venice... the second best time of day there..












a picture of our train rides... there is a lot of reading, journaling, ipod, taking in the beauty we pass out the window, chatting, meeting new folks, and of course, sleeping... this was from Venice to Switzerland









Yes! We made it to the Swiss Alps. This is Gryon, Switzerland... our first stop.












...about an hour into our three hour hike up the mountain....












.. you know we had to stop and be creative...













mmm.. ha... yeah, we made friends on our hike... they were really that close...













almost to our destination...

















this was the top... not only was the view amazing, but our time with Father was something to be remembered...











ridin that train... on our way to meet Chris´ uncle and aunt in Zermatt, Switzerland


















the surprise greeting... we met Bob and Jane as they got off their train in Zermatt











dinner at their hotel... we were treated like royalty












morning trip to the top of the mountain overlooking the Matterhorn (behind us) 10,000+ feet up











Swiss Miss on the Swiss Alps...





Bob and Jane were a blessing we had not counted on! Thanks!






picture perfect













one of the seven waterfalls we watched on our cable car ride atop the moutain... on route to Gimmelwald, Switzerland

















Horse Poop Balls... Gimmelwald literally made the books with these... tradition to eat a pile if you visit...











view from our hostel... it´s pretty


















the cable car... no fear of heights here


















oh Kara Leigh, where for art thou Kara Leigh


good bye Switzerland















Coming soon are adventures in Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, and now Germany... more soon. Peace!

waiting, waiting, waiting...

right now we are sitting in the coolest art internet cafe right in the middle of the Buda side of Budapest, Hungary. we are very sad that we have not posted pictures and info from the last 2 weeks, but we have been unable to find a reasonable place for internet one, and then no where we find has a place to download pictures.... we will be leaving here tomorrow and heading to cesky krumlov, czech republic. since you last heard from us we have finished our tour of italy, spent almost a week in switzerland, and spent two nights in salzburg, austria. we had a great time in florence, italy with Lorie and Tim. very restful. then we moved to venice for a couple nights on the water before heading to the swiss alps. we spent six nights in three different locations...all beautiful and a very different treat came with each one. in salzburg, ´the hills were alive´as we took a bike tour of the sound of music and rest of the town and countryside. today we have quite a list to fulfill, as bethany has given us many sites and experiences for budapest. hope to write soon with plenty of pictures!! much to you all!

When in Rome...

...2nd post of the day... catch up on Madrid and Barcelona if you didn't see them below...

When in Rome...


...get your haircut by an Italian...














...smile for the picture as if you loved you new gelled haircut from the Italian...

















...visit everything you can... there is more history here than you can think about... this is the Coliseum in case you weren't sure...ha.. and yes, we got a ton of pictures as beautiful as this one...
















...sit in the same jail cell as Paul and Peter... can't even think about how to describe how moving it was to BE in the places they were...












...climb to the top of St Peter's Basilica, and also explore the Vatican while there... 2 hour wait to get in at 830 in the morning..












...and then continue climbing to the top of the Basilica and get a view of all of Rome.... all we needed was a toga, let me tell you...












...then rest on the steps of the fountain in front of the Basilica after a long days journey of sites...










Rome, how do you see it and experience it all in only four days, and then how do you tell abut what you knew while here... (seems to be the thought of every blog)...

we will start with the ferry ride over...
a once in a lifetime trip across the Mediterranean Sea... the ferry was full of other backpackers traveling a similar journey as us... we started the night with a gorgeous sunset, His glory all over us, as you saw, then moved inside to tons of action... somewhat like a crusie ship. we had dinner, played cards, met other travelers, and slept on the floor, in between our seats... we woke up to many others asleep on the floor, maneuvered however they could catch a few good minutes of rest. After spending the morning with Father, being fed and renewed, we began to see lands along the way.. we would like to call that land Sicily. who knows though. And after 19 short hours we arrived to Italy.
From the moment we stepped off the ferry, we began to experience what those Europe rains are like.... rain comes down in the size of golf balls... and we ran from the ferry to the bus stop, then on to the train station.... total.. atleast 4 to 5 football fields long... drenched. boarded the train to rome, then the sun comes out, bright as day. what can you do but laugh, real hard as you ring out your clothes and things in your bags.
We arrive in Rome and just can't even fathom the fact that we are in Rome! Standing in Rome. Trying to find a hostel in Rome. Which we did, after many tries, found one, then quickly moved on from the grossness of it to another one that ended up being quite homey in a bunked room with other guys from the states. The very first day we enjoyed true Italian cheap pizza at a locals regular hole in the wall. Two Big Grins. Then moved on for some coffee and found a nice place owned by an older couple. We had coffee and days old pastries for a very cheap price. The food wasnt so good and the old folks not so nice, but somethign about the place kept us coming back every night that we were here...
The next two days we woke up at 7am to get a good start on seeing everything we could see. We started with the Coliseum, the Forum, and Palentine Hill. This was the center of ancient Roman culture. It was quite an experience to walk the streets that so many before us had walked. Cant put words on what is was like to try and put ourselves in that time, to know what they knew day to day, to see the things they saw, to be a part of such history of man, of faith, of what we have come from. From walking the streets of the Palentine Hill and the 'Sacred Way' through the Forum, to end up in the jail cell where Paul and Peter had once been kept... words cannot bring value! That night we saw the famous Trevi Fountain, where legend tells you to throw a penny in and you shall find your love. Funny seeing so many Italian dudes hanging out down by that fountain... just waiting for their shot with a lady! Not many things change Momma Peak! ha!
The next day we went to the Vatican City. Waiting in line for two hours, we stood beside someone reading through the book of Matthew... which caught both of our eyes b/c John just started Matthew. This allowed conversation to start and we ended up walking around with KB and her father, William, the entire day. KB lives in Tennessee and is an art professor at Covenant College in Chattanooga. KB and her father are both artists, so their knowledge and appreciation of what we were about to see was much greater than ours. It was a great blessing to not only tag along their journey of famous art, but to become more knowledgable ourselves and spend more encouraging time with a believer! After six hours of the Vatican Museum, which included famous works by Rafael, Van Gogh, Michaelangelo, Dali, and the Sistine Chapel, we moved on to St Peters Square. We walked in at just the right time to catch the sun coming through the main stain glassed window. Our ears were also welcomed in by a choir of elders practicing... in Italian! BEAUTIFUL! Just what one would hope for in a church built on the grave of St Peter. The inside was more than any church we had ever seen in expensive marble etc. And the top was just as gorgeous as it is the only place to get a view of Rome in its entirety. That night we got a good taste of Italian pasta. What people have told us is true... their pasta is somewhat lighter and the meat is quite different than from home.
Yesterday we slept in til 9 and headed to the Pantheon. We walked around some of the small cobblestone streets of Rome and had some down time with Father. And if you didn't know yet, last night the World Cup started. We went to a local pub with the guys in our room and watched the first game, Germany v Croatia. Two of the guys we got to know pretty well were from Arkansas They grew up and went to college to play soccer, so Chris had a good connection with them. The other three were from LA dawg, as they would say! Last night we also went to the most famous gelato place in Rome, making over 100 hundred flavors. We ate the ice cream on the steps of the fountain that stood in front of the Pantheon. Chris had a tasty creation of flavors and I however did not. Makes the memory better that way I suppose.
And today we catch a train for Florence. While there we hope to spend some time with Tim and Lorie. Tim is coming to Rome today for a night and Lorie we are still hoping to get in touch with, so we still continue to walk on faith. We also want to chase a few leads we have on WWII info about where John's Grandfather was while here in 1945.

Hope these long awaited posts find each of you doing well. You are thought of and prayed for often! Know that you are very missed and we are so thankful for each one of you. We always feel and are guided by all your prayers. We continue to know that He guides these steps, they are His to take. We are embracing the glory of His creation in these days, through much stretching, stripping, and continued refinement. The sovereign Lord is upon us and His Spirit is alive in us! Friends and family, we know you in Spirit and through His truth, and are so thankful for the unity we have with you through our Lord Jesus! With you as you are with us!

Bullfights, new friends, then Barcelona

Ah yes, Madrid and Barcelona, Spain...
We spent three nights in Madrid... stayed at a nice hostel that Nisha and Naimi recommended... perfect location and great price! We were a one minute walk from the metro and a two minute walk from Plaza Mayor... the main and most famous plaza in Madrid.
O'LAY!!!
hopefully we got that right. in other words.... BULLFIGHT! YUP! We did indeed make our very first real bullfight. We had front row seats and saw all the action right in front of us... this is two of many many pictures we took. I guess we were pretty excited that we were in Spain and watching a bullfight. It is a bit grusome, but very fun if you dont mind that sort of thing. It was a memory that we couldn't wait to make.... felt like giddy school girls as we got excited with screams of the crowd... imagine it, a huge crowd of Spaniards chanting and screaming at this dude dressed up in tights and a dunce cap waiving a flag at a bull.
We also made another friend standing in line to take a day trip to Toledo, Spain. Mariana, from Venezuela, starting speaking to us in English when we missed our first train of the trip. She had missed it too and thought we were from England so she thought we were safe to talk to... ha! England ehh! We caught a later train to Toledo and spent the day visiting the beautiful city of gold, what it is known for in Spain.... we tried our first paella dish for lunch... very tasty, rice and meat. We spent the next couple days hanging out with Mariana, learning more about her home and what life was like there in Venezuela. And she had many questions for us about the U.S. and especially the south and the way we talk! You all know, Will and B, that country ghetto slang had to come out sometime! It was good to have another friend to explore Madrid with. We also did a little shopping..got a couple more items for our attire while here.
We then headed to Barcelona for three nights as well. Barcelona was great in its own way. The people and feel of the place was completetly different that it was in Madrid. Both enjoyable in their own way. Barcelona seems to be more of a tourist place for kids our age.. most of them gathering in the streets of Las Ramblas... a long beautiful boulevard of shops, restaurants, hostels, and dressed up mimes and flower shops. It leads from a beautiful fountain square all the way to the port.
Our first encounter with YATA!
After walking the steep hills of Barcelona for a good 30 minutes, we finally found the place where Yata was last known to have a hostel. Walking up to the hostel, it had a beautiful drooping garden that we knew was well worth our walk. After we rang the buzzer for 20 plus minutes, we decided that our legs needed a rest and our sweat needed time to dry before we left and ventured for a new hostel. Then after sitting on the steps for about 30 more minutes, around the corner came this thin, ancient, moses bearded, cargo jeaned, black dress shirted, purple doo ragged, man with a loaf of bread. This man, without a doubt, was indeed, the infamous YATA!
He was extremely nice and very sorry we had been there waiting on him, but it just so happened that the water in the Acroplois hostel had busted two weeks prior and he had no rooms!
hmm... but he did however say he had a basement at his own apartment that he woudl rent to us... kinda unsure we called another hostel to make a reservation, then Yata said he would give us a chepaer price b/c of our wait, and would even feed us brunch. We smiled, knew it was destiny, and followed the steamlined Yata to the metro. We finally arrived at Yata's apartment. His balcony overlooked the very famous La Segrada Familia, a church designed by Guadi. It was amazing!! And it was outside of our balcony! We entered the apartment and Yata immediately fixed us salad, bacon sanwiches (which they call ham, uncooked), watermelon, water, Japanese green tea, and Japanese ginger snaps.... a very warm welcome for sure! As the next three days continued, the food kept coming, but every meal we saw that something continued to get lost on the way from the kitchen to the table where we ate with Yata... and it seemed Yata began to no longer dine with us either. We hoped and still do that we did not offend Yata and this was just the way he is with all of his guests. We still tried to watch tv and even cook dinner with Yata one night. We also got a good wash for our clothes and hung them dry out the window, just as all the other people do in Spain. Needless to say, you've heard much about Yata because he was a great experience of our Barcelona memories. We also spent much time resting on the balcony and seeing other famous works by Guadi and other artists. The port here is beautiful, but the western coast of Spain wins for having great beaches.
After a great three days full of peaceful walks and great time with Father, it was time to hop on board that midnight ferry to Italia.... meatballs, spaghetti, cheap and not so cheap pizza, a cool hostel, and history older than Jesus, here we come...


the first of six bulls we saw fight that night...













we wondered where all the red carnations were that you see in the movies.... but we had great seats!











our last day in Madrid... about to part ways with Mariana














La Segrada Familia... this is the beautiful view from our balcony with Yata.... wish the picture did it justice!
















we climbed the lions at the port in Barcelona.... it cant be all walking and picture taking... our ferry took off about a block from here...












peace out spaintown...
us boarding the ferry... getting ready for a 19 hr ferry ride across the Mediterranean Sea











His banner over us is love! GLORY GLORY GLORY! Our view as we ferried across the Mediterranean.

in a rush...

So sorry that this will not be that detailed, but Madrid and Barcelona have been our hardest places for internet.

Madrid was great. We went to our very first, real live BULL FIGHT! Yup, a little different than you´d expect, but very entertaining. We also took a day trip to Toledo, Spain and made yet another new friend from Venezuela....

Barcelona has been very different from Madrid... great in different ways. We had a connection for a place to stay... a Japanese man named Yata...

today we leave Spain and head to Rome, Italy on a 19 hr ferry ride....across the Meditteranean Sea... we are quite ready for the change of scenery and open seas...

we hope to connect with you when we get to Rome, with pictures and a bit more detail from the last week here in Spain.

until then, keep us updated on things at home as well!

The verse for the last couple days has been James 1:17 ¨Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.¨

Thankful and so blessed!

Hola Amigos...

Hey everyone! We stayed one more night in Bayonne,France after our miracle on the beach. The next day we ventured into Spain. We have now stayed four nights in Spain.

First we crossed the boarder and stayed on the coast in San Sabastian. Beautiful beaches and great surf!! It took us about 7 hostel tries, then we finally arrived to this little Pension as they call it here, on the outskirts of the main square of the Óld Quarter´of San Sabastian. We were welcomed in by a man named Ernido, he had us call him Ernie. He spoke a good bit of englkish that he had learned from an Australian friend... little did we know how different the english language was in different parts. so needless to say, a spanish guy whose passion is guitar and his new little baby girl, calling us mates, was quite funny!

As most of you know, we were dying to cross the border and get some chips and salsa. There is a reason they call it Mexican food..... they only have it in Mexico. There were no chips and salsa to be found. No burritos. nada. Then Ernie seemed to remember one Mexican restaurant, so we got bright eyed and went on our way. Getting there, it was closed, so we ventured on to find that ´tapas´are the food of choice here in Spain and that everyone eats them. A tapa is a little sandwhich or creation, and there are bunches of them sitting on the bar of the restaurant. After watching others do it for a bit. The way you go about this is grab what you want, eat, grab some more, then pay for it all at the end. I found some safe sanwiches with egg, bacon, ham (Spanish ham, not like ours), while the rest were a bit fishy.... quite different to say the least. I did take a bite or two for the experience though. Chris seemed to be a little more open to things of different shape and smell. It made for a good experience.

After two days in San Sabastian we headed to Salamanca to visit the friends we met in Paris. On the train ride down we met an American named Nick. He is here doing much of the same we are. He is a believer and we found much to talk about on the train. He is traveling alone, so we feel as though he left very encouraged. He said we were the first believers he´d met in over 2 weeks of being here. It set the tone for our Salamanca visit. Our friends, Nisha and Naomi, met us at the train station and got us into a cheap hostel nearby everything in town. We saw the sites of Salamanca and headed to a college ministry called En Vivo. This ministry reminded us a lot of what Grace Campus would look like if we planted something over seas, because the staff here all graduated from Georgia Tech and have been here plugging away for 2 years. It was a great time of fellowship and encouragement for all. It ended up being there end of the year banquet and we got to eat some good ole food from the south. We had chicken casseroile and rice, then a little naner puddin for dessert. And Chris says it was good to the soul. We also thought we may run into some people here because Salamanca is where Auburn send summer study abroad students, but no luck.

We also were able to go to church yesterday morning!!! It was a small Baptist church here in town that our friends go to. So good! We got to take communion with other believers, most of which were Spanish. The entire service was in Spanish, but we did recognize a few songs, one of which being Í Surrender All.´ Perfect for us at this time. We spent the rest of the day seeing more sites, finding the famous frog on the side of one of the buildings... said to give good luck in life, studies, and love if found. ha. And we got to rest for a bit in a rose garden that overlooked the entire city. The breeze was a blessing! We felt like we should be writing Medieval poetry. ha

Then for dinner, it happened! We went to the one and only Mexican resyaurant in town. And let me tell you something, it was gooooood! Still being in Spain, it was different, but we started out with some nachos, then had flatas and sofas for the main course. MUY BIEN!!

It has been so good to fellowship with others and see the Lords faithfulness and provision through encouragement with other believers. He continues to refine us daily. Cutting off the old branches and bringing life to the new. It is amazing to see that a thing such as fellowship is taken for granted so much in the US when you are daily surrounded by it. We are such a blessed people to have the opportunity daily at home to be around those of like minded faith.
His love for us has been made very evident in these few days here in Salamanca. He has allowed us to not only be encouraged and loved, but to love and encourage others as well. We have continued to refer to the way Paul felt in his letters... just in the urgency of his passion and desire for his people. We too long for His people, our people, to know and see the truth of our Lord. To experience Him in ALL His goodness and to be encouraged through the faith of those who believe.

Special thanks to Nisha and Naomi for such a fun and encouraging visit to Salamanca!

Today we head to Madrid. Our plan is to stay there a few days then head to Barcelona for a bit.








Our hostal, ´Pension´in San Sabastian. We were right beside a church.
















a view of the beaches of San Sabastian...













Ernie!!!!!!!












Seeing the sites with Naomi and Nisha. That is the two cathedrals behind us...













This was the rose garden we rested in...




















our Mexican fiesta...











ps.. news for all.... Chris´email is working again...

Thanks again! Keep the replies coming... love hearing from you!