European Tour

I am now back at Bossey after a three week trek across Europe.  Now this may sound glamorous and exciting (at points yes it could be described as that) but it was also exhausting and I am glad to be back in my room and not living out of a suit case.

I began my adventure in Rome with my family.  This stop included climbing the endless steps to the cupola of St. Peter’s cathedral, wandering about mouth agape in the Sistine Chapel, and attending a service held by the pope (he was about the size of an action figure from where we sat.)  Next we traveled to Florence where we once again climbed endless stairs this time up to the top of the Duomo.  This was actually more impressive than St. Peter’s and we were able to enjoy the view more completely because there were significantly fewer people willing to make the trek up.  We saw the David and spent some time wandering through the market, as well as enjoying wonderful Italian meals that met my older brother’s very high expectations.  To end our little tour, we barely caught the train that delivered us to Zurich six hours later where we spent Christmas eve exploring the Swiss city and ending with a Christmas eve service at the Reformed French church and meat fondue up on a mountain.  The service was great and it was nice to be able to worship with my family and celebrate the reason for the season.

My family left early Christmas day to catch their flights back to Dallas and I took another train to Paris.  It was by far my worst Christmas ever.  Christmas is a time to be with family, worshiping and celebrating the culmination of Advent, but instead my family had left and I was on a train to a city where I knew no one and was not exactly sure what was waiting at the end of the trip.  I arrived in Paris around 10:30 pm and instead of lugging my luggage on the foreign metro system, I took a taxi and was dropped in front of my hotel.  The hotel was awful.  The pictures that I viewed when making my selection on line were very generous in their representation of the “living” space and when I entered my room I couldn’t help but cry.  Exhaustion over took me and I called home and went to bed.  The next morning I awoke nearly frozen and when I went to take a shower in the dark dank closet of a bathroom, there was no hot water.  I was meeting my friend from Bossey, Avril who was visiting friends in Paris, so I got dressed and went down stairs where I complained at the desk and waited for Avril and her friends so that we could go to Chartres.  The man at the desk informed me that it was an old hotel (NO really?! I couldn’t tell!) and that I needed to let the water run because it was coming up from the basement.  I informed him that I had done that, but apparently 10 minutes was not sufficient and that I needed to wait 15 to 20 minutes (can we say wasteful!)  I left annoyed, but hopeful that I would enjoy my day of sight seeing and come back to hot water.  Avril, her friend Heidi from Australia, and I took the train to Chartres and spent the day wandering about the cathedral and although I attempted to take pictures, it was much too dark and I was unable to get a good shot of the beautiful stain glass windows.  Unfortunately I did not have hot water and promptly checked out the following morning and walked up the street to another hotel that was much more expensive, but provided a warm place to sleep for one night.  Having Avril and Heidi in Paris was a blessing and we spent the week sight seeing and I was welcomed into the home of their friends Peter and Moreg.  They were wonderful people and I was able to find another hotel and spend the remaining 3 days in Paris with a warm bed and a hot shower.  Highlights of the Paris tour, included the Louvre, Muse d’Orsey, the Cloony museum, and Notre Dame where I once again waited in a long line to trek up numerous steps to catch a tower view of the city.

I flew to London on New Year’s eve and arrived at Anna’s house with about an hour to rest and then off to dinner and New Year’s celebrations.  I spent the evening with Anna, her husband Nigel and his mother Jill.  The meal and company made up for the terrible service at dinner and we headed out in attempts to see the fire work spectacular that was to take place along the river Thames.  We ran into a sea of people and worked our way down to the center of a mass where we were close enough to hear the fire works, but were unable to see them due to an inconveniently placed building.  Needless to say it was quite a mess and we finally worked our way back to their home around 3:30 am.  I got about 4 hours of sleep and was up early the next morning packing and heading out to meet another friend at the air port.  The rest of the week went smoothly.  We toured the city seeing many museums and major monuments and I thoroughly enjoyed being able to communicate with complete strangers in a polite and eloquent manner.

A great part of the richness of my Bossey experience has been worshiping in other ways.  While in London I attended an Epiphany service at St. Paul’s  on Saturday night.  It was a communion service (which was good for the soul because communion services have been few and far between here at Bossey.)  I had a great sense of awe and reverence as I sat in the great cathedral felt at home which is something that I have come to treasure in the state of unrest that is my current life.  My soul was filled with a sense of warmth that drifted up towards the apex of the dome and settled in the haze of incense and wonder that covered all that worshiped below.  That experience was the highlight of my European tour and a perfect ending to a rather hectic holiday.

I saw many cathedrals as I wound my way through many countries, but I think the best way to see a cathedral and appreciate its splendor is to find a time to sit and worship and celebrate the unending presence of God in our midst.

May this new year bring hope and renewal to all God’s people.