When in Rome, so as the Romans do. Well today we did a long walk as the Romans probably did. The goal of the day? To get to the vineyard to do a wine tasting. After hours of walking and a few bus rides, we discovered our second winery, considering the first was actually a school… Would I rather have not walked fifteen miles to finally reach a winery, yes of course! But was it worth it? 100% The man that owned the vineyard was an absolute sweetheart! No wonder I love Italia! After explaining how far we walked, he allowed us to join the next group for the tour. We ended up joining a group from Germany, and how wonderful it was! We had white wine with toasted bread topped with delicious homemade olive oil, then toasted bread with perfect homegrown tomatoes. After we finished, he brought out salami and cheese, served with red wine. Oh the perfection! One of the meats was with pepper and it was the perfect taste. Then the man, knowing we walked all the way out here, took the time to find a way back for us! Neighbors of his drove us over to the trainstation so we could head back to Ciampino. What a wonderful exhausting day!

It’s good that I don’t live in Paris. From the men near the eiffel tower wanting to draw a picture of me for their little book, to the French military men at Lu louvre and even the adorable French guy trying to hit on me while walking in the park… I think I would get myself into some trouble here. Today Cal and I took the metro to the Louvre and because the weather was so wonderful we didn’t end up needing all the layers we wore. So of course I decided I would strip my plaid shirt to take off the long sleeve underneath right along the side of the Louvre inevitably catching three armed military men’s attention. I had a tank top underneath but it was great to see them walk completely out of the way just to walk near where I was. While Cal went to see the art museum I took a walk in the park. I studied up on some of my Italian while I ate my lunch and took some pictures. After I took one of Julius Caesar a cute French guy spoke to me with little English and all I got was “The way you move your hair is… You are…” The rest was French and I had no way to translate, but I ended up just saying merci and left. Now to sunbathe on this wonderful chair with this perfect weather and a sun that I have missed until Cal gets done at the museum.

We got into Paris by bus around 7am then jumped on the underground metros and used the pictures Farida gave us to get to her apartment. Thankfully it was pretty easy to find! We took a quick nap and then were ready to sightsee by noon. What a beautiful day it was! We rode on the famous ferris wheel of Paris and ran across the huge roundabout to see the arch. Little did we know it was just shear luck that we made it while there was a huge gap of cars. It wasn’t until later that we noticed there was an underground tunnel you went through to get across… We saw a few other little buildings and from a distance what looked like the eiffel tower, and if I can be honest, I was kind of disappointed! It was just a scrap of metal and looked shorter than I thought it would be! As we walked through streets of Paris we finally turned a corner and there she was… The eiffel tower lit up, beautiful and yes, tall! I couldn’t believe I had thought otherwise! We waited in line so we could go to one of the levels and man was that view breathtaking. As if standing on the eiffel tower wasn’t enough, we saw signs for free ice skating on the first floor. Anticipating there to be some catch like 20 euro for the skates we slowly made our way down the stairs. You could see the colorful lights and hear the party music playing from a few flights below. Once we got to the first floor I almost died finding out it was free! Completely 100% free. Needless to say, we went ice skating on the eiffel tower on Christmas eve. After a little while we set off for the metro and found our way back home, finding a little kebap stop near the apartment for dinner. Day 1 of Paris down, 3 more to go!

Last night I realized how pampered I had been from the other hostels Cal and I had stayed at earlier in the week. Granite we were able to sleep in a room to ourselves for the night… The fact that the shower only stayed on for 5 seconds each time you pressed it, the motion sensor lighting turning off mid shower, and the feel as though someone or something would come in through the window at any second was not exactly reassuring. The rest of the night here in Nurnberg went well, I still can’t believe the week has already past! From Munich, to Salzburg, beautiful Vienna, quick glance of Prague and now back near my home… It’s crazy how much we have done in these few days. Now we are just a few hours from boarding the bus to head to Paris! Vienna was absolutely breathtaking! Every corner had another set of beautiful architecture, I couldn’t help but look up. I’m just glad we parked somewhere we could find easily because we definitely took a few twists and turns. We also stumbled into the beautiful St. Joseph Cathedral which was also breathtaking. This place is somewhere I will have to visit again! Prague was a very short trip. We visited this Mucha Museum that Cal absolutely loves! Unfortunately I am not much of an art person so I didn’t enjoy it like she did. All I could really do is look around and state that I liked em, no commentary to add. Then we looked into the shopping area and began our drive back to Nurnberg. Bout sums up the trip for Thursday!

If today could be referenced to any movie, it would without a doubt be the hangover! Allow me to explain… We finished up the morning by taking pictures around Munich for an hour or two, grabbed the car and took off to Salzburg. We parked Bessie and took a little stroll. After realizing there wasn’t much to the town we drove out a few minutes into the city, parked and began our adventure. A few stores, alleys and streets lead us to a hill. Being the curious people we are, of course we went up the hill to see where it led. A church and beautiful scenery later, we reached the top. You could see the tops of buildings from here, absolutely stunning. After staying for a few minutes and starving from not eating much in the day we decided to head back and find the car. On our way to get the car we went to a fancy hotel to find out where the nearest hostel was and once there, booked a room. Then the fun part began. We started to walk back to pick up Bessie, not 100% sure where she was at, so I grabbed out the gps to find where we last parked. Long story short, gps didn’t know where the car was parked, we knew we had parked there, kept looking at our pictures to remember, walked back down the same roads over and over in search for our car. It got to the point where we thought it could have been stolen or the polezi had taken it for some reason. But determined, we kept searching. After a good two some hours of walking back and forth in the snow we realized we had moved the car, unfortunately with no remembrance of where! So again we glanced through picture after picture just HOPING for a triggered memory when finally we figured it out! As we walked a few minutes away everything started to make sense, I was almost running to where we had left Bessie… Let’s just say when we finally made it to her we both laid our hands and head on the hood and praised God we found her! The brilliant part was that she was literally just around the corner from the hostel, not even 2 minutes away.

Overall, a seriously beautiful and amazing day. I realize daily that I couldn’t have had a more perfect person to travel with, the stress that we went through today and neither of us snapped or stressed out too much, we just kept our cool. Also, the hostel is pretty amazing! 3 euro unlimited salads, free WiFi, warm rooms, do it yourself kitchen, and more. Tomorrow is Vienna!

The start of a trip always seems to be one of the most eventful parts of the day. From not being able to get off at the right floor of an elevator and not being able to translate to the guy which floor we wanted, to having to walk all the way around the floor to find the downward escalator. We finally made it to the sixt car rental booth and got our keys and gps, ready for our adventure to begin. While in search for an address to get us back near post our GPS decided to have a mind of her own and brought us 100+ km out of the way to nowhere’s land. Turned out the signal was off so she did her own thing instead of actually bringing us to where we needed to go. We named our garmin Candace, or Candy for short due to the fact we felt like it was a candid camera taking us anywhere and everywhere it wanted just to see our reaction. Once we restarted her and got signal on again we were able to head back another hour and a half in the opposite direction back to where we started. Morning 1… Not so much of a success but we made it where we needed to go eventually!

Candy started working great the rest of the day, we grabbed some food for meals at the USO and some portable stereo for the ipod then set off to Munich. Quote of the day: “Candy you’ve been doing great but don’t get a big garmin.” I’m pretty sure nobody is going to find it funny, one of those “been there” moments but I for one almost pee’d my pants when Cal and I said it. Munich we did some random walks and ended up at the Christmas market. Enjoyed a glass of gluhwein(sp) and later shoclade mit mitze (however you spell hot chocolate with mint,) which had peppermint schnapps, DELICIOUS! Found a hostel to stay for the night. More sightseeing to do in Munich tomorrow and then off to Salzburg in the afternoon.

[Pictures to be added later.]

Sum of this days adventure?

• Day trip to Tachov, Czech

• Picture taking.

• Attended church in Kiwi Bar (yes it was a bar)

• Potluck at their real church.

• More pictures!
• Short drive to orphanage.

• Soccer!!

• Presents.
• Drive back to post.
• Shoppette run.
• Waking up early tomorrow to get everything ready for our adventure!!

It’s Friday morning and we just had a brief with the SCO in the motor pool. I’m waiting for someone from an unknown number to call saying she’s here in Germany. Little did I know the call was to tell me she was already waiting at the train station in the snow only ten minutes from post and I was still working! I’m able to leave early, pick her up, and it is only the start of an amazing adventure!

We were suppose to snowboard on Saturday but considering the lack of snow, the trip was canceled. It ended up being probably the best thing with all the preparations we needed to make for our trip! Comparing prices on groceries, deciding if a four pack of easy mac was a better deal that buying individuals, and taking hundreds of coupons… the list of stories to save pennies and dimes is endless but well worth the time it took. Then christmas gift shopping for our boy we sponsored at the orphanage and the disappointment to find out the PX didn’t sell stockings…

Orphanage in Czech tomorrow!

Life is ever changing.

New life. New friends.

Lovey dovey crap.

Short term thing.

Combat Medic, US Army.

Hoping across the ocean.

Germany in less than a week.

Bringing God closer in the picture.

Oh, the experiences that have begun.

And the places to explore.

Remember to walk in His steps.

Trust what’s meant, will.

He’s with me 100% of the time.

I’m never alone, and always loved.

You seem pretty amazing!

I need to learn more about you.

I hope you can change America.

We need someone who thinks like you.

Thanks,

Melissa

You’re My beautiful creation.
From the inside-out and the outside-in
You’re My perfection, My masterpiece.
The missing part of My perfect plan.
I need you to be a part of My plan
I need you to come to Me.
I need you to seek Me.
Without you something is wrong.
My perfect plan is flawed.

You’re My beautiful creation.
From the inside-out and the outside-in.
You’re My perfection, My masterpiece.
The missing part of My perfect plan.

I love you forever and always,
I want you to cross My path.
Please seek Me out.

Because I need you to be a part of My plan.
I need you to come to Me.
I need you to seek Me.
Without you something is wrong.
My perfect plan is flawed.

Something that just sort of came to me…

Am I not enough?
Not enough for you to break free?
Not enough for you to see your beauty?
Not enough for you to know your strength?
Who’s blood was spilled for you?
Who’s hand carved you?
Who’s breath gave you life?
Am I not enough?
Not enough to fill your heart with love?
Not enough to fill your lungs with air?
Not enough to fill your every need?
If I’m not enough then who is?
Who loves you like I do?
Who creates beauty like I do?
Who is there with you all the days of your life?
I am.
No matter what you’ve done.
No matter what you’ve said.
No matter how far you’ve gone.
I’m enough to break you free.
I’m enough to show your beauty.
I’m enough to give you strength.
I spilled My blood for you.
I put all that I have into you.
I drew breath and you came to life.
If I’m not enough then who is?
Tell Me who’s enough for you so I can show you more.
Because I’m all that you need.
I know your every hair.
I know your every thought.
I know your every heartbreak
and it broke Me as well.
But please don’t break Mine.
Tell Me I’m enough.
Tell Me I’m all that you need.
Because I’m tired of seeing you cry.
I’m tired of seeing you angry.
I’m tired of seeing your world put upside-down.
It’s breaking Me inside.
Choose Me.
Let Me be your shield.
Let Me guard your heart.
Let Me be your protector.
You mean everything to Me.
Just take a moment to walk with Me.
Just take a moment to see with My eyes.
Maybe then I’ll be enough.
Oh I hope I’ll be enough.
If I’m not enough then who is?
Tell me who’s enough for you so I can show you more.