Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Hallo von Deutschland!

Hallo! Wir sind in Deutschland! Es ist sehr schön. Ich kann die Schilder lesen und mit anderen Leuten sprechen. Ich habe ein Buch heute gekauft: Märchen von die Brüder Grimm! Das ist fast alles, was ich auf Deutsch lesen kann. Ich muß auch für meine Familie viel übersetzen, so ich bin ein bißchen müde. Aber alles in Ordnung! Wir sind bei Freunden (Familie Kabelitz) geblieben, und es ist sehr nett.

Translation:
Hello! We're in Germany! It's very nice. I can read the signs and talk to other people. I bought a book: fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm! That is pretty much all I can read in German. I've done a lot of translation for my family, so I'm a bit tired. But everything is okay! We're staying with friends (the Kabelitz family), and it's very nice!

Love, Celia (and Keith)

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Picture update!

Hello, friends!

Finally some time to update with pictures! We're in Semur-en-Auxois, still in France. Later today, we will be in Germany, where I can talk to people, read signs, order food, etc.! I'm so excited! Over a week of grunting and pointing has been getting to me... otherwise, however, our time in France has been lovely! Oh well, learning French is on my to-do list. :) The rest of the England pics will need to wait... I ran out of time!

Love, Celia et al


Paris!






Chocolate fest!


The car was slightly full.


Hiking near Dieulefit


Making Poffertjes, a Dutch specialty!


We tasted (and purchased) some lovely wine! This one was one of our favorites, ever!


We shared meal prep. Keith and I made "French Feijoada" with red beans and lentils instead of black beans!


Lots of cards were played, late into the night.



We went on a lovely hike, almost into the Alps!



We enjoyed seeing Fontenay abbey yesterday.



Thursday, August 23, 2007

Vin, Fromage, and the scent of Lavender...

Greetings from Dieulefit, France! We're here staying in a lovely house with some friends from the Netherlands: Jan, Willy, Lucia, and "kleine" Jan Scholten. Jan (the father) was my dad's exchange student in high school, and our families have kept in touch ever since.

We're enjoying the markets, which happen just about every day in some nearby town or another. We can pick up ingredients for a homemade dinner each morning. Keith and I have contributed a couple of meals, including oven-roasted vegetables with chicken and French-style Feijoada--there weren't any black beans in the supermarket, so we used red beans and lentils instead! Other local activities have been wine tasting, hiking, horse riding, and card playing. It's very relaxing here.

Today we went to Avignon, and saw the Palace of the Popes, from the time when the Papacy was in Avignon. The structure was beautiful, and we really enjoyed the elegant decorations in the few rooms that had been restored. Unfortunately, the building was heavily damaged during the French Revolution. We also saw a beautiful Virgin and Child painting by Botticelli in a museum of medieval and renaissance art.

On our way south, we had a lovely day in Paris. We saw the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, and we generally walked around the city. We were pleasantly surprised that no one was rude to us or refused to speak to us! Amazing!

More updates hopefully soon, when we next find internet service! More stuff is on my parents' blog. Love, Celia, Keith, and Rebecca (Sorry, no time for pictures... three or four people are waiting to use my computer!)

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Greetings from England!

I'm writing from a lovely bed and breakfast in Derbyshire! We're on a walking tour, and today's walk was very wet. The clothes are hanging to dry in the bathroom. We had good weather the last two days, though. Walking is fun!

We were in London first... a bit of a letdown, especially since our hotel was an overpriced dive. Oh well, we're not there anymore. We saw lots of cool stuff: the Tower of London, the Globe Theatre (from the outside), Greenwich, Kensington Palace, the British Museum, and the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Some pics are below...

Keith and Rebecca say hi too. :)

Sitting in the chairs that cost 2 pounds... we couldn't find the sign, but they wouldn't just let us get up and leave...



Tower of London



Rebecca admires Henry VIII's armor.



Massaging our aching feet at the British Museum.



Greenwich, near the Prime Meridian... picture complements of Sarah Pyle, and old friend of mine.



The Houses of Parliament at night



Eating Fish and Chips in Tideswell


More pictures (mostly of sheep) coming soon. :)