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"Moments to cherish" from the last 3 weeks of traveling with my amazing sisters:

-Hiking in the heart of the Swiss Alps (the most beautiful place I've been, I think). We hiked from Gimmewald (a remote town full of Rick Steves disciples) to the top of Mt. Stilthorn, a mile in elevation change, in 3.5 hours, Alice and me IN OUR CROCS! We are so proud of ourselves, accomplishing the impossible, to the shock of our naysayers. We're still sore.

-Arriving in Venice--the whole city really does look just like the pictures, with canals and old, colorful buildings! I couldn't take enough pictures!

-The Sistine Chapel. Mama mia. St. Peter's Basilica, too. Oh, and David.

-Seeing THE GERARD SISTERS (from our high school!) randomly in the Munich train station! That made our trip.

-Riding bikes all over the Netherlands with our unbelievable hostess Marleen; touring a cheese farm with her; eating a Dutch dinner with her and Mirjam from my church in Madrid.

-Alice and me embarrassing Jessica by breaking out in song, dancing to street music, just being our silly selves all over the continent.

-Reading Crime and Punishment on the train. Dostoevsky's a genius!

-Hanging out with JS in Paris today. Eating ham and cheese crepes for lunch!

-Meeting really great people everywhere we go. We probably won't stay in touch with most of them, even, but they've been influential in some way.

-Telling the people in our Mountain Hostel hot tub we hadn't showered in 3 days... oops.

-Oh, goodness! Gelato!

-Just being with my family--I LOVE them!

(written a couple days ago)

School's been out for about a week and, after a short trip to England to visit dear friends Simeon and Karin, Mom and Dad are here in Spain! We stayed in San Sebastian (in the heart of Basque country) in Northern Spain, day-tripping across the French border once. Now we're in Barcelona, gawking over Gaudi's architecture all over the city. Highlights of the trip thus far: the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (get an audioguide for modern art museums--you'll be thankful later!); bad googlemaps directions leading us up a narrow mountain road in pitch dark to our hotel in San Sebastian; a great Vietnamese restaurant along the river in S. Sebastian; being overwhelmed with beauty driving into Barcelona--the most artistic city I've ever seen; Spain winning EUROCUP last night!!! the streets were full of rowdy young Spaniards singing "Ole, ole, ole, ole," and touting their country's flag; walking down Ramblas today by myself--as much as I love being around my parents 24/7, I do need a little alone time, sometimes. :)


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Since I wrote this Alice and Jessica have arrived! We're in Salamanca right now, staying up late chatting, breakfasting, shopping, and planning the next leg of our trip together. I think Mom and Dad are enjoying having their ears chatted off by us :). We wish they could join us on the rest of our Euro adventures together.