Ooh la la!

The next stop on our Spring Break itinerary was Paris, France! We went almost to the day that I visited with my mom, sister, and aunts eleven years ago, so I was excited to go back.

On Friday morning, we headed off to see the Catacombs. Although I'm not a huge fan of walking through dark places with skulls and bones surrounding me, it was definitely a Paris must-see that I didn't get to when I was 13. It was super creepy, but very interesting.

Then, Marianna and I explored the Montmontre area of Paris. We walked the streets, perused the cute boutiques, and then people-watched on the lawn of the Sacre Coeur Basilica. The rest of the day was spent exploring more of Paris. We wandered around the busy streets and just took in the sights of such an elegant Parisian city.

The next morning, we went to the Louvre. I have always wanted to see the "Mona Lisa!" And that I did...and so much more. I loved the Louvre. All of the art was so beautiful and unique. Besides the Mona Lisa, my favorite piece was "The Wedding Feast at Cana." It was a massive painting with unbelievable colors. The piece was actually directly across from the "Mona Lisa," and I found it a bit sad that people paid more attention to a simple portrait of a woman than the magnificent painting depicting Jesus' first miracle!

After the Louvre, Marianna and I started out on our journey to the Eiffel Tower! Since we could see it from the Louvre, we pretty much just headed in its direction without looking at our map. haha. It was fun not to have any plans in particular and no time frame. We stopped along the way at a local grocery store and bakery to buy our lunch--baguette, brie, bananas, and madelines for dessert. :)

When we finally reached the magnificent Eiffel Tower, we found a spot on the grass and had lunch. Marianna and I, then, got in line to go up in the Eiffel Tower. After lots of time waiting, we made it to the second platform. It was a really clear day, so we could see the entire city. I even recognized a soccer field down below that I had taken a picture of when I was in Paris the first time!

The Champs Elysees was our next destination. Since it was a Saturday, it was bustling! We went into all the shops along the posh avenue, including Louis Vuitton, Lacoste, and Guerlain (Paris' first perfumery). Our shopping excursion did not stop at the Champs Elysees--I really wanted to go to two of the most famous Persian department stores. So, we headed to Le Printemps and Galleries Lafayette. It was so much fun to see all the designer clothes! Once again, all of the dresses I liked were out of my price range. ;) I did come out of Galleries Lafayette with a pair of earrings for Sara Beth to commemorate where we got our ears pierced!

Our day ended with McFlurry's at the Champs Elysses McDonald's and then seeing the Eiffel Tower at night. It was beautiful! At 10 pm, the lights sparkled all over it for a few minutes. We were excited to happen upon such a special event.

On our last day in Paris, we took it easy since we had been traveling for two weeks straight! We walked along the Siene and staked out along a bridge to cheer on the runners of the Paris Marathon (including Marianna's cousin). Then, we walked around Notre Dame and went to a couple of Sunday morning markets. It was fun to get out of the touristy spots and hang out with the locals for a little while. After lunchtime, it was time to pack up and head to the airport and our "home away from home." What an incredible Spring Break we had!

Mamma Mia!

The moment I found out that I would have a two-week spring break, my heart was set on Greece. Blessed beyond measure, I had the wonderful opportunity to spend 10 days in Greece. It was a fabulous vacation, and what made it even better was that my mom met me there!!

We arrived in Athens, Greece on Saturday afternoon and had to spend the night in a hotel before taking the early morning flight to Santorini the next day. It's actually really ironic because I was suppose to be in Athens, Georgia for the engagement party of one of my very best friends. I have the honor of being a bridesmaid in her wedding in August, so I was missing her that night.

The next morning, we got on the plane to Santorini! I was so excited! When we got to Santorini, we headed straight to our hotel which ended up being a cave hotel! Each room was on the side of the mountain in a cave! It was so great. Our balcony overlooked Santorini's volcanic island. Over the course of our time on Santorini, we did a lot of exploring of the villages of Fira and Oia. They are simply breath-taking. We also made a lot of new Greek friends, such as a shop owner who gave us names of clubs to go to ("if it is okay with your mom"...haha) and our very own Santorini key chains.

One day we had a tour guide named Vicki, and she took us all around the island in her stylish black BMW. She was hilarious and so much fun. Being from Santorini, she had so much knowledge and took us to the most spectacular places in all of Santorini. We went to the places where the professional photographers take the famous pictures of the island, and she showed us where scenes from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Tomb Raider were filmed. After several hours of touring, Vicki took us to a local Greek restaurant on the bayside of the island. It was delicious! We had tzatziki, tomato croquettes, fried zucchini and eggplant, and Greek salad. My mouth is watering just thinking about it again... By the end of the tour, we were so sad to say good bye to Vicki--we had a wonderful day with her.

After a few days in Santorini, it was time to take the ferry to the island of Naxos! Whereas Santorini's economy is completely dependent on tourism, Naxos is much more agricultural. It is very much representative of true Greek island life. When we arrived in Naxos, Mom rented a car and we drove to the villa that church friends of ours so generously let us stay in. It was wonderful! The view from the villa was of mountains, farmlands, and beaches. Pretty unbelieveable to say the least.

We were in Naxos for five days and spent our days exploring all the little Naxian villages. We loved seeing the uniqueness of each town and seeing the people live their daily lives. It was such a neat experience. When we passed through the village of Filotti, we decided to stop and walk around because of the beautiful wisteria everywhere. As we were exploring, we were greeted by a Greek man named John who tried his very best to speak to us in his broken English. He also introduced us to his cousin, also named John. They showed us the old cinema, the Venetian tower, the church, and even their house to pick oranges and lemons from their trees for us. Just when we were leaving, our new friends John and John invited us back on Sunday for their family's Easter celebration. Of course we said we would be there!

It was so amazing to get to experience Easter in an European country. We were very excited to participate in all the Easter festivities. On Friday night, we went into Chora (the largest city on Naxos) and ate dinner at a fabulous restaurant where we could watch the Easter processionals of the local churches. We watched as lots and lots of people marched through the street chanting things in Greek and carrying icons of symbolizing Easter. It was really something to see all those people participating in such a tradition. On Saturday night, we went to midnight mass at a Greek Orthodox church in town. Around 11:40 p.m., we went inside with our candles and waited for the service to start. People would come in and kiss the various icons in the church and then socialize with their friends until the service started. Throughout the service, there was lots of chanting in Greek and the priest spoke occasionally. Then, the congregation lit candles and headed outside (which made me nervous because there were so many people and lots of flames to worry about). Outside of the church, the priests chanted in Greek while tons of loud firecrackers were let off. I'm not going to lie...it was pretty scary! We were glad when we got to our car without our hair catching on fire or ear drums severely damaged. haha.

We woke up on Easter Sunday to a glorious morning and we watched as a shepherd guided his lambs across the land below the villa. What a sweet reminder of the One we were celebrating! Around noon, we head over to Filotti to visit our new friends John and John. When we got there, we were introduced to the family and were given seats around the table in the courtyard. Once we were seated, food after food was set before us -- lamb, tzatziki, bread, salad, goat cheese from the goat that morning, and the list goes on. They kept refilling our glasses with Coke, which was a life-saver for me when eating the lamb! We ate and ate and ate. Throughout lunch, we talked with one of the grandsons named Johnny who spoke English pretty well. We learned he loved to folk dance and wanted to be a pharmacist. He was very sweet. I would have to say that my most favorite part of the whole day was getting to do traditional Greek dancing with the family! It was like something from a movie. I loved it! When we couldn't eat anymore and all of the family were cleaning up the first round of food, we thanked the Johns and the relatives for a wonderful Easter. It was the most unique experience!

The next day, we left Naxos and headed back to Santorini. We had a great last night in Santorini, eating delicious food and doing some last minute shopping. Marianna and I even tried some fig gelato! We were really sad to leave the beautiful Greek islands but were excited to see Athens!

We had a really early flight to Athens the next morning, so we had the whole day to sight-see! Our first stop was the Acropolis, of course! It was really neat to see the Parthenon and all those ancient buildings that I had learned about since the third grade. We also got to go to the Archeology Museum, see the Olympic stadium of the first olympic games in 1898, and watch the changing of the guards at Parliament.

After all that touring around, we were exhausted so we spent the rest of time in Athens taking it easy and exploring a little bit. We went to the Acropolis Museum and did some shopping! Although Athens may not have been as picturesque as the islands, it was really remarkable to see a city with so much history.

Greece was so much fun! I loved everything about it and am grateful for such an amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Opa!

a saturday in slubice.

"Slubice? Where in the world is that?" You might ask.

Well, it's actually in Poland!

One Saturday, a teacher from JFK took Marianna and me to Slubice, Poland. We went by train to a German city called Frankfurt (Oder) on the border of Germany and Poland. We crossed the Oder River and were in Poland!

We walked around and just explored the small town of Slubice. It was fun to see all the townspeople doing their normal Saturday afternoon activities--men were fishing on the river, moms were pushing their babies in strollers, and kids were playing and riding their bikes.

Our first stop was to get some Polish food. We went to a very Polish restaurant with the menu only in Polish. Thankfully, our friend Nate had been to Poland and could order us perogies. I had spinach perogies and cheese perogies (which are pretty much like filled dumplings). They were pretty good. I washed them down with a Coca-Cola Classic, just to have a taste of home. :)

After lunch, we explored a little more and then took a taxi a couple of miles to a Saturday market. (Side note: The taxi was an orange and blue duo-toned Mercedes with furry zebra seat covers.) It was an interesting cultural experience. The stalls had everything you could think of--imagine a Walmart in Polish market form. We had fun walking the aisles and seeing all the different things for sale.

Soon after the market, it was time to head back to Berlin. Though it was a quick trip to Poland, it was fun to visit another country for a few hours!

it's quite lovely, really.

I LOVE LONDON! It was so wonderful to have a weekend away from the snow, cold, and the German language--yay for sun and British accents! From Friday night to Sunday afternoon, Marianna and I explored the wonderful city of London, England! It was a dream come true, as I have always hoped to see London one day.

When Marianna and I arrived in London, we met up with her cousin Julia who is studying at the London School of Economics. We went straight to LSE's on-campus pub, George IV. Although I was a little skeptical to bring my big book bag into a pub, it turned out okay since lots of people go there after class. haha. We stayed there for a little while and then went to dinner at Weatherspoon's--a London chain restaurant/pub. It was so crowded, but we managed to find a table and enjoyed getting to know Julia and her friends--including a British girl with a charming accent and a very London style of fashion. Exhausted, we headed back to Julia's flat--she graciously opened up her cute apartment to us for the weekend.

On Saturday, Marianna and I were on the Tube by 9 in the morning I think. We went straight to the Portobello Market in Notting Hill! It was so wonderful! There were tons of antique booths and food stalls and the CUTEST shops you'll ever see. My two favorite places on Portobello Road were: 1. The Hummingbird Bakery with the most divine cupcakes you will ever have in your whole life. (I got a red velvet cupcake and Marianna got a black bottom cupcake that had cheesecake and chocolate in it!) 2. Cath Kidston--this precious little shop with fabrics, cute clothing, stationary, and everything in between. We also stopped by The Travel Bookshop from the movie Notting Hill. It was such a great bookstore--organized in sections by the various regions/countries around the world. The whole area of Notting Hill is just so magical. I could have stayed there all day, but we had LOTS more to see!

Our next stop was Harrod's! I was so excited since all my life my Aunt Kathy has talked about how much she loves Harrod's. :) It's pretty incredible--like an extravagant British New York City Macy's. I loved it...if only I had more time to spend perusing every department.

Next, we went to the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery museums. They were both awesome museums! I saw Van Gogh's Sunflowers, some Monet pieces, and other artwork that I have seen all my life in textbooks. So surreal. The Portrait Gallery is unbelievable because it has portraits of people from long ago up through today. My favorite pieces were Princess Diana's engagement portrait, Andy Warhol's art of Queen Elizabeth, and a photography exhibit of Twiggy (the first supermodel--she is from Britain and is now 60 years old...You may know her from being a judge on America's Next Top Model). I'm so glad that I got to go to both museums! They were so worth the time!

Then, we went to Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace! It was fun to see all those monuments. Unfortunately, I didn't see the round-about from European Vacation, but you better believe I was quoting from it. "There goes Big Ben...There goes Parliament." After Buckingham Palace, we took a taxi to the London Eye and saw it lit up at night. It was really pretty. They had blue lights up on the trees and the London Eye was lit up with white lights, so it was beautiful.

Finally (we had not eaten since the Portobello Market!), we went to dinner in the part of town called Covent Garden. We ate at this fish and chips place called The Rock and Sole Plaice. It was there that I had my first plate of Fish and Chips! And I really liked it!!

Completely tired from all of our adventures, we went back to Julia's flat to get some sleep for another day of London sight-seeing.

On Sunday morning, we went to the Spitalfields Market--near Liverpool Street. There were lots of clothing and jewelry booths that were neat to look at. I bought some decorative scarves and a cute handmade fabric headband. My cooperating teacher's daughter Christina is studying in Kensington and actually met up with us there. She, then, took us to the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London and that was really fun. I went into the Tower of London and saw the Crown Jewels. They are exquisite!! So sparkly and amazing. It is definitely the biggest diamond I've ever seen.

For lunch, we went to this pub nearby called The Hung, Drawn, and Quartered. It's called that because it is near the Tower of London where prisoners were kept and executed. Hung, Drawn, and Quartered is one of the miserable ways people were killed back then...yikes! Our last stop was St. Paul's Cathedral where Princess Diana was married. It's unbelievable. They had the crucifix up inside for Easter which was neat to see! I bet the services there are incredible.

Sadly, it was time to say "cheerio" to London, but it was a FABULOUS weekend, to say the least. I can't wait to go back to visit Kyle when she moves there! ;)

God of gods, Lord of kings, Revealer of mysteries

Last Saturday, Marianna and I went to Museum Island -- a part of Berlin where there are five world-renowned museums along the Spree River. After doing a little shopping at the Antique Market outside the Bode Museum, we decided to go to the Pergamon Museum. Though we will admit that museums are not really "our thing," we were in awe of what we saw there.

Antique Market

The first room you go into shows off the Pergamon Altar containing freezes of Greek gods and goddesses. It was interesting to see this special piece of art, as we are teaching Ancient Greece to our classes. There were also beautiful mosaic floor tiling and spectacular Islamic art -- prayer niches, tapestries, and ceramic pieces of beautiful colors. Amongst all these artworks that represented the worshipping of other faiths, the Lord made His awesome presence very known to me in a particular part of the museum.

When the man in my earphones told me we would be going to see some Babylonian artwork, I didn't really think much of it. But then, as I walked through the massive and exquisite Ishtar Gate and heard about its significance to King Nebuchadnezzar, I was absolutely floored. I'm pretty sure I gaped in awe for a good thirty seconds. You see, Marianna and I have been studying the book of Daniel through a Beth Moore study while we've been here. We are learning how to have integrity in this modern-day Babylon we are living in. We are learning what Daniel went through and his faithfulness to stand for God even when his life was on the line. So, standing in front of the Ishtar Gate was so incredibly surreal. With my own eyes, I was seeing the SAME EXACT structure that Daniel saw! U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E! I am convinced that choosing to go see the Pergamon Museum and deciding to go through the audio tour was not by chance...our AWESOME God orchestrated the whole thing! He continually proves Himself to be so real.

"King Nebuchadnezzar said to Daniel, 'Surely your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries...'"

Daniel 2:47

The Ishtar Gate

Processional Way

(These are not my pictures since you aren't allowed to take picture inside the museum. :)

Since Winter Vacation, I have been super busy with school. Every school day is jam packed with planning, teaching, and preparing. I am enjoying it though and beginning to feel a sense of purpose and reward from what I am doing.

On the weekends, Marianna and I have been relaxing and exploring Berlin. We have made it to a few good restaurants, including Henne--a really cute German pub famous for its chicken. JFK loved the establishment, so we thought it would be fitting to go check it out since our school is named for him. The menu had more choices of beer than it had food...literally, the only entree was a whole fried chicken, and they had a couple of sides and desserts on the menu. The chicken was so good and I ventured out to try the potato salad...not too bad! Marianna and I loved Henne because it made us feel like we were really in Germany!

We've also been able to shop along of the main shopping streets in Berlin --- Friedrichstrasse. You know how I love to shop. I saw a precious pink plaid Burberry dress that caught my eye in Lafayette but I don't think I could justify spending 275 euros on it. Darn.

A couple of weekends ago, Marianna and I went to walk on the frozen Schlactensee Lake--since Irmgart was strongly suggesting we go. When we got off the S-Bahn stop, we followed the crowds to the lake. It was an incredible sight! Kids were sledding, people were cross-country skiing, families were making snowmen. There was even a couple of guys selling brats and drinks from a stand right in the center of the lake. It was so awesome! (Be rest assured...it was so frozen that snow was still on top of the lake...no chance of falling through.)

One of my FAVORITE desserts I have discovered here are Amerikaners. They are German Vanilla Biscuits, and they are phenomenal. They got their name because the GIs after WWII would make them. Marianna and I love them so much, we decided to make them. I found a German recipe and translated it (hoping it was all correct). After about an hour of preparing and baking, we took out the Amerikaners from the oven and they were perfect---almost as good as the bakery's. We were so excited! Plus, they tasted great! Irmgart was really impressed with our baking skills. She kept saying how delicious they were! haha! I'll definitely be bringing home the recipe and making it for y'all sometime. You will LOVE them.

Italian Splendor

Since JFKS has a week-long winter break between first and second semester, Marianna and I were fortunate enough to go to beautiful (and much warmer and sunnier) Italy! It was a phenomenal week of sight-seeing, gelato, and shopping!

We flew to Venice on Saturday morning and took a water bus to our hotel. We arrived at our hotel around 2:00 in the afternoon, so we had almost the entire day to explore. We got settled in our room (a water-front view because of a surprise "present" from the owner of the hotel!) and headed out to see Venice! Over the course of the next few days, Marianna and I had a wonderful time seeing Venice! I think my map skills improved by 100%, as we had to figure out how to back to our hotel after roaming the narrow and winding alleyways.




My favorite place in Venice was a book store we came across while walking around the first day. The sign outside read "the most beautiful book shop in the world," so of course I had to check it out to see if this was the case. It was. The small shop was filled with books, books, and more books. Piles and stacks EVERYWHERE. There were boats filled with books and old nautical decor hanging up. When I made it back to the children's books, I was shocked to see a canal right outside the back door! It was unbelievable! I made it out of the store with a couple of children's books and a free bookmark from the shop owner who loved me and Marianna!

We had the chance to take water buses to the islands of Murano and Burano during our time in Venice. Murano is the island where the famous Murano glass is made. You can practically buy it anywhere in Italy. It was a quiet little island because it was a Sunday, but we got to go into a few stores, walk the streets, and purchase a few pieces of jewelry. My FAVORITE of the two was Burano. When I got off the water bus, I was a little skeptical--but when I turned the corner, I could hardly believe my eyes! Every home and store was painted a bright color! It was beautiful! Burano is mostly a residential island, but it is known for its lace. We saw several locals cleaning and hanging laundry. I just could not get over that people actually live there. It is like a fairy tale.

Venice was a great city! It was wonderful to not see a car for three days! What a concept! I loved all the nooks and crannies of the Venetian streets. So magical. I would definitely like to go back someday!

On Tuesday, we said arrivederci to Venice and buongiorno to Rome! I was excited to be back to Rome since our summer trip to Tuscany in 2004. It was weird not to be with Mom, but I was looking forward to seeing Sara Beth at the end of the week.

We arrived at the hotel in late afternoon, so we had some time to get unpacked and see a bit of Rome. Our first day, we were able to hit many of the major landmarks of Rome since our hotel was within walking distance of them all. We headed to the Trevi Fountain, ate some pizza from the Pizzeria Trevi (YUM!), and walked to the Coliseum where we took lots of pictures! It was a beautiful sunny day, so we took definitely took advantage of it! We saw the Pantheon and lots of the major piazzas along the way. It was a great first day in Rome--I couldn't believe all the places we had already made it to!

Of the next two days, we went inside the Coliseum, to the Museo di Roma, the Museo di Roma in Trastevere, and the Vatican City where we went into Saint Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. We also made it to the Spanish Steps on another sunny day and enjoyed people-watching and taking pictures. Just like Venice, we felt like we became really familiar with the city and how to get places (we took the metro several times). We even discovered an AWESOME gelateria with over 40 gelato flavors made right there in the back of the shop. I think everyday we were in Rome, we went there. :) My favorite flavors included: Raspberry and Cherry. Nutella and Stracciatella were definitely runners-up.

On Friday, I got to go to Ariccia and see my sister!!! It was SO wonderful getting to see her and her new "home." Although it was rainy, it was beautiful. Such a quaint and charming Italian town. The old women would wave at Sara Beth and say, "Ciao, Bella!" It was so cute! We had dinner at a local pizzeria, which was also great. We were the only ones in the restaurant at 7:00 at night but that's okay--We had great service!

Then on Saturday, Sara Beth came to Rome for the day! We met at the Spanish Steps and went shopping (of course)! It was a lot of fun to be together! What a blessing that it could work out because I was really needing my sister after a month in Europe! (I can't believe I've been here for over a month now! WOW!)

We got back to Berlin late afternoon on Sunday. We were exhausted from all our adventures but had such a fun time on our winter break! Now, it's back to school with LOTS of planning and teaching to do! Ancient Greece, Geometry, and Literature Circles--here I come!