Andrea Finally Goes to Europe, London II

April 15, 2014

Day two in London!  We woke up and I think enjoyed doing a little laundry in Davis and Melissa’s tiny little washing machine and no dryer, but it was a welcome opportunity to clean our clothes.  Mom and Dad and I headed out to do the tour bus again.  It was a perfect day and so much fun to see the incredible and enormous city of London.  I think we got off early near the Thames and walked down to see Big Ben and the incredible Parliament Building. 



My statesman Dad was dying to take a tour of that magnificent and historic building, so Mom and I left him there while we  explored around Westminster Abbey, it was closed to go in, but we loved walking around and enjoying the beautiful grounds and views of so many incredible buildings and statues everywhere we looked. 

A statue of Abraham Lincoln!

We made our way down to Buckingham Palace where we saw the famous guards, didn’t get any great pictures, boo.

We walked around the extensive and beautiful grounds around the palace, grabbed some lunch and then met up with my Dad.  We got back on the bus and after that  I don’t think we got out of the bus for quite a while.   Most of the time the buses had a recorded tour you listened too on headphones, but at one point that day we had a real live Londoner tour guide full of British charm and knowledge.  We got to see the incredible architecture spanning centuries all mixed in to the lovely City.  So many historic and amazing sites.  We finally got off the bus at Herod’s to explore what felt like city within a city. 

A view of the Thames and the London Eye

My favorite part of Herod’s

I think we spent a couple of hours in that store, mostly the toy department.  It was incredible.   Mom and Dad bought some things for the grandkids and I bought some darling lollipops for my kiddos.  After shopping, we met Davis and Melissa and Bea for dinner at Wagamama’s.  I thought it was yummy, everyone else thought it was ok, but it was fun to be together.  We parted with Mom and Dad again and went back to Davis’s apartment.  Brennan called and was driving into London.  After a very long two days mostly driving and sleeping in his car, he was lost trying to find Davis and Melissa’s apartment.  Davis sweetly talked him down from the figurative ledge, and waited outside talking to him to get him safely to their apartment.  We were so happy to be reunited!

This little girl, was our very favorite London attraction

Andrea Finally Goes to Europe, London

April 14, 2014

Monday morning we got up early and packed up and said goodbye to our sweet little hotel, but much worse was saying goodbye to Brennan.  My parents and I were heading to London while he was flying to Scotland for his golfing adventure.  We would only be apart for a few days, but it was sad to part after getting used to being so together.  However, we were both excited for the next legs of our journey and looked forward to reuniting soon.  My parents and I boarded the EuroStar or Chunnel train in the Gare du Nord Station in Paris.  It was so slick and painless.  We did have to go through customs, but it was quick and orderly and we had all our bags and loaded them right on with us.

I think the ride lasted about 2 hours, it was comfy and smooth and crazy to realize we were going under the English channel.  Before we got to the channel we could look out the windows and see the gorgeous French countryside.  I saw several little villages centered around beautiful chapels and lots of rolling hills and wildflowers.  Once we went under water, it was just a big tunnel, so not much of a view.  It was so exciting to arrive at St. Pancras station in London.  It was so British!

We had instructions from Davis as to which tube line to get on and where to stop.  We managed to find it and settled in for our tube ride.  I think we had to change lines at one point which was an adventure to hustle through crowded stations with multiple sets of stairs while we lugged three giant suitcases and several carry ons.  My sweet Dad went up and down several times to help my Mom and I with our suitcases.  We finally got out of the mazes of stations and tubes to daylight where we were thrilled to see Davis!  He helped us with our luggage and led us on a short walk to their apartment.  It was so good to see Davis, Melissa and Bea!  I think Bea was about 5 months at the time and as cheerful and delightful as could be.  Their apartment was up several flights of stairs and was so cute.  After a busy few days it was nice to feel like we were home.  Mom and Dad had arranged to let us stay with Davis and Melissa and they had reserved a nearby hotel.  That day we settled in at Davis's and caught up with them for a minute before venturing out.  It was early afternoon and I believe we decided to do the Tower of London and all set out together, catching an underground train (tube) and minding the gap ;).  We walked out to the this incredible sight of modern and clean and beautiful buildings everywhere surrounding a HUGE ancient castle, right out of medieval times, with massive castle walls and a moat and the Thames just below it.  Everywhere you looked was a gorgeous cityscape of very modern architecture with a smattering of the very old and somehow it was seamless and breathtaking.  The Thames was stunning and so big and bold and a constant companion throughout the City.  There are several bridges each a little different and each an incredible sight, and then you see the London Eye looming high above everything but somehow delicate and unobtrusive. All of it truly took my breath away.  We grabbed some lunch and discovered Millionaire Shortbread (shortbread with a layer or caramel and chocolate).  We bought our tickets for The Tower of London and entered a whole new or rather old world.

We wandered around for several hours and were completely fascinated by all of the history surrounding us.  It was incredible.  We also got to see the Crown Jewels there.  We kind of ran out of time and left wishing we had a whole day to wander the whole thing.  I know I keep saying this, but it was thrilling!  I still can't believe I got to do all those things.

I think after that we walked through Covent Garden (incredible!) where I could almost see Eliza Doolittle selling flowers in the streets.

Wikipedia says, "Covent Garden (/ˈkɒvənt/) is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between Charing Cross Road and Drury Lane.^[1] It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as "Covent Garden"."   

Charing Cross Road and Drury Lane?  Are you kidding me?  How did I get there?  We ate at The Shake Shack and thoroughly enjoyed our food, surroundings and company.  As we walked through the Covent Garden district, we came upon little treasures like this:

We then made our way to Trafalgar Square and evidently my phone must have died cause I don't have any pictures.  It was so much fun to see Admiral Horatio Nelson looming high above us on the Nelson Column to commemorate his death at the Battle of Trafalgar.  I knew Admiral Nelson from the movie, "That Hamilton Woman".  It was so fun to see so much of what I had read about or watched in movies!  It was an exhilarating and we were happy and tired as we made our way back to Davis and Melissa's apartment.  Mom and Dad settled into their hotel and we were all happy to end another wonderful day.

Andrea Finally Goes to Europe, Paris, II

April 13, 2014

Seriously, I think that was my best night of sleep ever, and after that Jet lag was not an issue.  Day two in Paris was Sunday.  We tried to get to church but overslept and then couldn't find a way out there in time.   Brennan and I decided we wanted to out to Versailles, but my parents had already been on a previous trip and decided to try to go see Monet's gardens, so we went our separate ways.  I think Brennan and I caught a train out to Versailles, it was probably an hour or so out of Paris.  We arrived in the beautiful little town and walked a few blocks to the Palace.  Wow.  The Palace is beyond what I ever could have imagined, it is massive and ornate and massive.   It was so so crowded, and the line to go inside would have taken several hours so we decided to do the grounds tour.  I'm so glad, someday I would love to see inside, but walking the lovely grounds all day was the perfect way to spend a Sunday in France.

Here is Brennan in front of the gigantic palace.

I wish I knew how many hundreds of acres the grounds were.  It went on forever, and at the very bottom or end of the palace grounds there was a park with the little river that ran through the palace grounds with cute little cafe's and shops.  We probably spent 3 or 4 hours wandering through the grounds.  There was one huge, corridor with lawn or water in the middle that ran down as far as you could see and then off to the sides were mazes of endless little forest paths leading to little courtyards with fountains or pools and lakes.  Now there are also little shops and cafes and restrooms scattered throughout the grounds.

This is part of the back of the palace

When your back is to the palace, this is what you see

Here is one of hundreds of little fountain courtyards

Here's our Palace of Versailles Selfie

It was all so beautiful and so green.  There weren't flowers, but the endless green and hundreds of water features were just so serenely beautiful.  It was a chilly day, but never rained.  We ate a yummy sandwich of just ham and swiss or maybe provolone cheese on a huge baguette, so simple and straightforward, but so good and filling.  We also ordered hot chocolate at one the park cafes and sat under the heater on the patio enjoying the warmth.

After wandering there for several hours, we had heard about Marie Antoinette's farm nearby and decided to walk over there.  It was one of the loveliest walks I have ever taken.  We followed a little path from the Palace grounds to her farm through rustic little pastures, it was breathtaking!

I wish I had a picture of when we finally got to the farm.  The whole property was surrounded by a stone fence and even a dry moat.  We had walked for hours now and miles and miles and our feet were tired and aching.  We found a gate and entrance to the farm only to find it closed, there people inside, and therefore obviously another entrance but it seems it was on the other side of the huge property.  We saw some young adults jump the mote and climb a little part of the wall, so Brennan decided we were following suit.  I hated to do it, but I hated the thought of walking several more miles to find an official entrance even more, so down moat we went and up the steep bank and over the wall, the group of young adults were so nice and kindly helped me up.  We finally made it in and loved walking around the beautiful country farm with it's quaint little buildings and pastures.

We finally made found our way back to the Palace and then back to the train station where we caught our ride back to Paris.  We figured we walked at least 8-10 miles.  It felt good to sit for a while.  When we arrived back in Paris, I think my parents were napping so we must have caught a tour bus over to the Champs-Elysees where we explored some of the shops and looked for a restaurant that Brennan ate at years before when he found french fries with a special kind of sauce.  We wanted some real French cuisine, but most of the restaurants were Italian or German or American!  We finally found a little spot and managed to get seated.  Fortunately they had English menus, but our waitress didn't speak any English.  We had a couple of mis-communications but finally got our food.  I don't even remember what I had, but I remember liking it and more importantly Brennan found his sauce!  It seems like after that we met my parents somewhere for dessert perhaps and then back to our hotel for another well-earned sound sleep.

Andrea Finally Goes to Europe, Paris

We left on a Friday morning, April 11th early in the morning. If I remember correctly, Josh took us to the airport. I think we met my parents there. I was nervous to fly so far and for such a long time. We boarded our plane, it was a direct flight to Paris. I think it took about 10 hours. It was a really long 10 hours, and I don't think I slept more than a few minutes here and there. I was so happy to get off that plane, and I couldn't believe I was actually in Paris, France! We bustled around the airport, and managed to get a ride to our hotel. It was a quaint little place with tiny little rooms, but a big comfy bed. We were all exhausted and it was now Saturday morning in Paris, so we agreed we'd take a nap for an hour and then head out to sight see. We only had two days in Paris so as painful as it was to force ourselves out of bed, we did it and were off to see the City of Love!

Our Paris Hotel

Here's our fancy room, basically four walls and a little room between them and the walls :)

Our crazy neighbors, a stone's throw away (he actually threw an orange into our room, I believe ;))

With maps in hand, we went straight for the tour bus office. The bus was the perfect way to see a lot in a short amount of time which is just what we needed. I was so tired, I was having a hard time staying coherent, but everything around me was incredible. I loved everything I saw, every corner was charming. Everything was so old, but still so sturdy and functional and beautiful.. It was so fun to just drive the quaint tree-lined streets and take in all the sites.

Just a random, beautiful street from the bus ride

I believe the first place we stopped and got off the bus was at Notre Dame, it was amazing. We walked through it and marveled at it's massive, formidable presence. It was huge and so so impressive.

I still can't believe that's me in front Notre Dame de Paris!

After that we walked over to the Sainte-Chapelle, on a recommendation from Melissa. I am so grateful she told us about it, because I know we would have missed it, it's tucked away just a block or two away from Notre Dame. The Sainte-Chapelle (Holy Chapel) is in the process of renovations, but fortunately we were still able to go in and see the breathtaking stained glass.

There was panel after panel of beautiful detailed, biblical scenes that went on and on around the entire room. It was stunning.

We walked along the Siene River which was so thrilling and reminded me of scenes from "Charade" with Carey Grand and Audrey Hepburn.

Driving by the Louvre was another definite thrill, but kind of a painful one knowing we didn't have time to go in, someday I'll go back and spend hours and days in all the museums!

I was so tired, but it was all so amazing. It was all a little bit fuzzy in the moment because of jet lag, but it's really fuzzy now 10 months later. After the Louvre, our bus drove down the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe and then to the Eiffel Tower. I know we got off at near the Eiffel Tower and walked down around the base. I decided the thought of going up was too much for me, but it was beautiful and shockingly huge. It was all beautiful and awe-inspiring and exhausting.

After the Eiffel Tower, we caught a bus back towards our hotel and walked around looking for a dinner spot. We found a quaint little patisserie and were grateful to sit and eat. Our waitress was very nice and spoke fairly good English which was a welcome change. I was so surprised how much language was an issue, it was a frustrating obstacle. Another downside was how many people smoked. As we walked the beautiful streets there was a constant and potent smell of smoke everywhere. I couldn't believe the always progressive and fashionable Parisians were so behind on the coolness of smoking!  Anyway, we enjoyed a lovely meal and by the time we finished we were all thoroughly pooped! We tiredly stumbled back to our hotel for the best night's sleep I think I've ever had.

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Andrea Finally Goes to Europe!

When Brennan graduated from college, he went with the Noordas on a two-month vacation to Europe. His Mom and John gave him the airfare as his graduation gift and then he scraped together his savings and managed to live there
for two months. He didn't do in luxury, he stayed in hostels and train stations and ate on a budget, but he managed to see a huge chunk of that beautiful continent. This was after he had lived in Ireland for two years on his mission. I, on the other hand had only been to Mexico, and Hawaii and Peurto Rico outside the continental United States. We had always hoped to be able to go to Ireland together for our 10 year anniversarry, and then that came and went, maybe 15, maybe 20th.

Then, last spring Davis announced that he and Melissa and Bea would be moving to London for a few months. Brennan had predicted that would happen and told me that would be our chance because it would help offset the expense to have somewhere free to stay. My heart sunk when I heard Davis' timeframe, they would be there from March to June. I think we probably heard about this late February. I knew there was no way. There was no time to save up and money was tight, Brennan was under a lot of stress not to mention the last few months of school are always intense full of programs, sports and concerts. The timing was all wrong. But, every time I wrote it off, somehow it came up again. Brennan and I talked about it, but usually one of us saying we should go for it and the other one was reminding the other how impossible it would be. Then, my Dad talked to me about going with them. I told him how much we'd love that but that it just wasn't going to work. Ryan and Macy were going to go, but later along with a visit to her parents who are serving a mission in Manchester, England. Chris and Rebecca, Josh and Eliza and Braden and Mere weren't in a position to go. They felt like we were the ones to go with them, and even talked about squeezing Ireland in too. A few days later, my Mom mentioned she and my Dad were praying that we would be able go with them. I called Brennan and told him our fate was sealed, I knew that if Mom and Dad were praying, things would happen. Sure enough, a few days later Brennan called me from St. George. Sadly, his step-dad had passed away and he went to be with his Mom and help her get ready for the funeral. He also helped her find and access all of the bank accounts and information. John had a credit card and Jamie asked Brennan to cancel it. He suggested they check to see if there were any rewards or points on it first. Sure enough, there was a huge amount of reward points on the card. He had mentioned our crazy Europe scheme to her and when they found these points she so generously told him to use them for our airfare. Those prayers were working.

We knew this was too good an opportunity to pass up. We settled in on the dates and then had the huge obstacle of what to do with our kids. We would be gone for 10 days. Sweet Eliza called me one night and told me Josh told her to tell us they would come stay with our kids. She had three young, busy kids of her own and was pregnant with her 4th, but she is probably the person my kids are most comfortable with after Brennan and me. We left on a Friday and got back on a Monday night. We arranged for my cousin, Lauren to come stay with the kids the first weekend and then Josh and Eliza stayed here during the whole week, she cooked and cleaned and kept track of 8 kids all while pregnant, she is a saint! Then Jamie came up Friday afternoon and had them the rest of the time. It was perfect. We hadn't left the kids for 5 years, and we knew it would be a stretch for all of us. When we told the kids, they were all kind of a mess, they are all worriers and hate to be seperated. It was so hard to push them so far outside their comfort zones. It was hard for us to think about leaving them for so long, especially little Josh.

We had a lot to do to get ready, expediting passports and planning where were going to go and coordinating with my parents and Davis and Melissa, arranging carpools and rides to games and writing the longest note with details for our brave babysitters. It all came together though and on April 11, 2014, we headed out for the trip of a lifetime! What a blessing, I will forever be so grateful for the experiences we had. It was one of those things we all knew was a gift, a beautiful, custom-made gift for us from Heavenly Father and Jamie and Josh and Eliza and Davis and Melissa and Mom and Dad.


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Nate

Today I checked Nate out early for a dentist appointment, he was thrilled when he realized I wasn't going to force him to go back after his appointment. His appointment was at 1 and he was done by 1:30. I took him with me to the grocery store for a few things. He was so chatty and cute. When we were waiting at the dentist's office he told me we should adopt a baby girl. I think that's so cute that he loves little ones so much. He also chatted about his friends and what they do at recess and how sometimes they get a little heated when they're playing football and disagree. He talked about how it drives him crazy when some of them rage, and he starts to get bugged, but decides not to hurt their feelings so he uses his sense of humor to diffuse the situation. I loved hearing about this sweet boy of ours. I am so grateful for the gift I had to connect with Nate today. We love Nate.


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Connect

This year's word is "Connect". Connecting with Brennan feels more important than ever, and also more difficult than ever. This stage of life has brought stress and busy-ness like we've never had. Of course, there are wonderful things about this stage as well but it is easy to slip into parallel lives as spouses, so finding ways to stay connected seems especially important right now. Secondly, even though I am a stay-at-home mom and am often with my kids for long stretches of time that doesn't necessarily mean we are connecting, especially with the older kids. I also thought of my YW, I would love to be able to meaningfully connect with each of them.

Eliza taught a RS a few months ago about Spiritual Gifts, I think, and someone commented about knowing someone who had the gift of reflecting God's love. I want that gift, I want to be so connected with my Heavenly Father and Savior that I too can reflect that Love to those around me. If I could help each of my children and YW and really everyone feel how much they are loved, how perfectly and absolutely their Savior loves them, what more would they need?
I also need to connect to the enabling power of the Atonement. I need to overcome some weaknesses, now and I know the only way is through that specific connection. I hope for these things!



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