Wha' Happened!?!

Hi Family and Friends!

We are guilty of blog neglect! We flew back to the USA on August 18th, and life since then has been non-stop graduate school, moving, unpacking, job-finding, etc. According to our blog, we are still in the Philippines! Whoops! Much as we'd absolutely love to be back there right now, we are finally settled in Charlottesville, VA and ready to post our last travel bits on Europe.



We spent our last days in the Philippines in Manila, and were able to attend a session in the Manila temple with Brother and Sister Sabio, Bro and Sis Cangas, Sister Bautista, and Sister Magbanua (who Merrill had the honor of baptizing on his mission). The Manila temple is absolutely gorgeous in every way. It felt like being in heaven to sit there with the sisters, with so much joy, and to reflect in such a peaceful place on our lives and what we are doing, and how much things would change in a few weeks. We cried when we had to say goodbye, and that night we flew from Manila to Germany through Doha, Qatar. We slept and read in the airport for four hours through the night before getting on another plane to make the connection to Germany.


At the top of the Koln Cathedral

We got into Germany, and hopped immediately onto a four hour train ride from Frankfurt to Huckeswagen. By the time we reached our friends, we had been up and traveling for 36 hours! Ouch! How I managed to speak German after two years away and on no sleep for two days is a wonder to me. We spent our first two weeks in Europe resting, eating (we miss Eva's dinners), and seeing the lovelies of the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium, with our friends the Olenders. We had a great time with them and are so grateful for their hospitality. We felt very at home, and played some wicked intense rounds of Siedler von Catan (settlers of Catan).

We enjoyed walks around the Olenders small cobble-stone lined town of Huckeswagen, bought a Christmas pyramid after climbing the cathedral spire in Koln, went to a Spanish music and dance festival at our friend Thomas' university (it was like a Corona commercial in a deutsch basement... awesome), and ate more Doner than one probably ever should (oooohhh Doners....). Doners are my absolute favorite thing to eat out in Germany. They are like a super gyro, with tons of lettuce, tomato, tzatziki sauce, and special spices. On more than one occasion, we had to stop, right in the middle of a walk or plan, just to buy and eat one. I think I could live on Doners for the rest of my life. Our two weeks with the Olenders were, in a word: wonderful.


Walking in Dusseldorf


Hiking in the Alps, Switzerland

One day, after a round of settlers, Merrill and I decided that it would be fun to see the Alps while we were in Europe. Why they hadn't crossed our minds during the eight months of planning and booking before our trip, I don't know, but last minute as it was, we decided to spend our last two weeks hiking in Switzerland, Italy, and Austria. We rented a car online, got hold of the only English alps book available at Koln's largest outdoor rec store, borrowed gear from the Olenders (thanks, Margarete!) and set off on our journey. Merrill and I drove nine hours south to Interlaken, Switzerland. We found the cheapest, most rustic camp site there, which happened to cost 30 Euros, and house mostly large campers with refrigerators and tvs, multiple shower/bath buildings with a billiard room, Internet cafe, indoor kitchen... all of this making us think at the time that Europeans don't do "roughing it" so much... (we were corrected in the Italian dolomites). We looked a little out of place next to all of these campers, parking our Fiat and tiny tent, and cooking on the ground using a back packers stove and the car floormats, but the cool weather and view of the mountains at sunset made up for it.



We spent a week hiking in the Jung Frau region of Switzerland. It was incredible! Go to the Jung Frau region!!! Just go! We saw glaciers, rolling green hills, larger than life deep blue mountains, including the Eiger, and lots and lots of friendly cows with bells on their necks. I only had one run in with a cow, who sort of ducked his head and charged at me, since most of the tourists kindly feed the cows as they walk through the fields and I didn't know about that... dang animal conditioning...I screamed, blushed pretty dang hard, and blamed it on my red back pack.





Most of our hikes were eight to nine hours of up hill relaxation, but the most challenging day in Switzerland included a "Via Ferrate", or "iron way," where we scaled the top of a mountain using climbing harnesses and repelling gear that clipped into iron cables and ladders. Why would anyone ever do this? A ten hour hike, where at one point you scale thirty feet of vertical ladders bolted onto the side of a cliff, literally hanging several hundred feet above the ground? Because I'm married, that's why. But luckily, just as in scuba diving, loving Merrill and letting him pick our adventure that day proved to be a wonderful experience. I loved hiking the via ferrate! I didn't look down...ever (I have some of the worst vertigo of anyone I know), but I enjoyed the views by looking out, not down, and it was spectacular.






Look closely at the top to see the ladder systems on the via ferrate


Going up!


And up!


View from the top



We had such a great time doing the via ferrate, that we decided to spend four days hiking the best via ferrate in the world, in the very northern mountains of Italy. So, the next week, we packed up the fiat and drove to Trento, Italy, to the small city of Madonna di Campiglio. Merrill will post our last travel pics from Italy this week! So stay tuned.

With Love for our Family and Friends,
Kaycie and Merrill