3.5 Weeks in Europe....Amore Rome

It is hard not to feel joie de vivir while traveling through Rome. Every corner is a history book just waiting to be read by you, the reader. It hums with energy of the past and hope for the future. It is brutal and glorious all rolled into one and then there's the gelato. Gelato IS joie de vivir and I truly believe it holds healing properties. I am not kidding anytime the heat got to me or I was feeling sick I would get a gelato and miraculously feel better. As I watched the people of Rome I saw people who know how to hustle, who don't take no for an answer, who don't let anyone steamroll them but do the steamrolling. I saw women who dressed beautifully and walked the city in heels. How? I do not know because we logged at least ten miles a day minimum walking in Rome.

The ancient Appian way...original Roman roads

The Colosseum 

The Colosseum interior

It was super hot in Rome...seeing the sights with my darling friend Misty. 

The Roman forum..I kept thinking I wonder what these people did for work. What were their beliefs, who did they love, was life hard, was it this hot with no a/c, what did the kids do, did they enjoy their work, why would they want to see gladiators get eaten by starving tigers? 

The Pantheon which is designed perfectly to be lit at all times, and mathematically engineered perfectly. It was amazing and also Raphael is buried there. I had Raphael's angels hanging in my bedroom as a teenager. I loved those cherubs. This church was more interesting to me that the Colosseum..the design was amazing. 

I had to see Michelangelo's Moses in chains what STRENGTH this sculpture conveys. I loved seeing Moses portrayed in this way. I was in awe of Michelangelo's talent. 

Both of the doors to this church are original Michelangelo works. 

This is amazing it is a calendar by Galileo. You can see the tiny dot of light way up high it shines the light of the sun onto a grid on the floor that can tell you the month, day, and year. I was fascinated! 

Galileo's pendulum 

The grid on the floor by Galileo. 

Lunch on the piazza...a treat! 

Art.....is life. XOXO- The Sunny D

3.5 Weeks in Europe....Italy...Travel is my Therapy

Spaghetti Bolognese for breakfast/lunch delicious! First meal in Italy.

After a long day of traveling we FINALLY found our AirBnB. We arrived in Milan by bus late in the night. We walked from the bus stop, to the metro, and walked and walked and walked. Our AirBnB host went out of town and left our keys at a "grocery store" close to her home. Except, when we arrived at the grocery store they didn't speak English and I don't even think they spoke much Italian! We asked if keys for an AirBnB had been left for us and they replied, No. After much talking we finally obtained the keys from them. Phew. We found our apartment and bugs were crawling out of the "second bed" AKA couch. I was freaking out of course so I didn't sleep on the couch but I didn't feel much better about it. I googled bed bugs and they looked nothing like bed bugs so I felt slightly relieved. It was a good nights sleep and the next morning we went to The Duomo in Milan which was so beautiful. 

The Milan Duomo took six centuries to create and was breathtakingly beautiful.

The marble floors are a work of art. 

Duomo Milan

The Milan fashion district.

We then caught a train to Rome where we met up with my friends the Powell's. It was SO good to see my friend Misty. 

Upon arrival to Rome we went to visit the Trevi Fountain. I threw a coin in over my shoulder to ensure that I would return to Rome. 

We then walked to the Spanish steps which were teeming with people. We headed back to the Powell's where we were so graciously welcomed and cared for. I think I had my best sleep there! This ended out first night in Rome. 

There is SO much to do and see in Rome. It is a lovely city and it only made it sweeter for me to see it with dear friends. I will write more about Rome in my next post. 

It was interesting when I was in Switzerland I started having a lot of vivid dreams. I don't know if it was because of the time difference or exhaustion or the fact that all I had to worry about was myself. The dreams were stressful and overwhelming and I couldn't stop thinking about them and trying to figure them out. Old feelings from the past were brought to the surface and I wasn't sure why. Ultimately, I felt like I was wrestling with something that I was trying to resolve somewhere between my heart, mind, and spirit. I had a lot of good talks with my maker and I decided to hand the dreams over to him and the hurts and alllllll the feelings I was feeling. The truth is these things that were coming to my memory were not happening now, right NOW I was in Europe for three weeks! I decided that every day I was going to be grateful for this amazing opportunity I had sitting RIGHT in my lap. I woke up each day and started the day with gratitude remembering every time I saw something that amazed me I would be thankful for the moment and the opportunity. If feelings came up I would go through and process them and hand them over to my Heavenly Father. I think sometimes when you go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, in your real life feelings kind of get passed over or put away until you have the time and energy to sort through them. I kind of feel like it is like cleaning out your closet and donating your stuff to Goodwill. Sometimes, you just have to clean the corners and cobwebs, move forward, have gratitude, and enjoy the moment. 

I haven't had any dreams or stressful feelings since returning home and to tell you the truth I feel the most rested I have felt in over a decade and boy, that is an amazing feeling. 

XOXO- Travel is my therapy. The Sunny D

3.5 weeks in Europe- "Run Like Hell"

We had an awesome rental car and headed out on our adventure to see more of Switzerland. The first stop was at the Bern, Switzerland LDS Temple which was beautiful and peaceful. We headed to Bern for a few hours which is an amazing city! We heard an awesome organist in a cathedral we walked into. 

LOOK! Doesn't this tree look like it has eyes? 

A drinking fountain in the middle of the street in Bern. I love them! Isn't it so pretty and inviting?

Bern, Switzerland...I'd love to come back here and explore some more. We only had a few hours. 

The beautiful ice blue water makes a horseshoe shape around Bern. You can swim in the water there and go all the way around. Someday, I will do this! Our next stop was to Interlochen, Switzerland.

We took a tram up the mountain which is kind of expensive but worth it and part of the experience. We hiked around the alps, the views were unbelievable. 

After hiking around a bit we headed back to our campsite. We stayed at a Eurocamp and if you like adventure and camping this would be right up your alley! It wasn't really even like camping, Plus, since we were on a super tight budget it was the right price for the night. 

The Euro camp campsite was right on Interlochen lake. The funny thing about Switzerland...or maybe not so funny thing is that the grocery stores all close at 7. However, the sun doesn't go down until ten or so. We were out hiking and enjoying the day and didn't get to the campsite until about 7 but we didn't have any groceries to make dinner! Luckily for us, most of the Euro camps have a restaurant on site and so we had a delicious pizza for dinner at a little Italian Bistro right by the lake. I felt so fortunate and grateful because the trip really progressed in this manner. There would be some set backs but things always worked out. 

We had a safari tent that had two rooms and four beds, a fridge, stove, table, chairs, heater, lighting and a super clean bathroom just down the way.

This morning I was preparing for another five star experience.....Jumping off Grindewald. The mountain....not the character in Harry Potter. Although, truth be told every time the name Grindewald was mentioned I got a picture of a blonde Johnny Depp wizard in my mind. 

Grindewald 

We took a tram up the mountain led by one of our trusty guides where we were going to paraglide off of the mountain. Yes, you heard me I literally jumped off a mountain with a gliding parachute.

Here is who I was tandem riding with, I can't remember his name but he had a thick German accent and was pretty funny. We were all strapped in and ready to go as he was giving me instructions he said the only thing you have to remember is when I say go, " RUN LIKE HELL!" And I did...right off the side of Grindewald mountain.

It was amazing and also a bit dizzying. I am so glad I had that experience and would highly recommend it if you are going to Switzerland and want amazing views of the Alps. 

A yummy sandwich about $3 from the grocery store. I bought lunch, drinks, fruit, and snacks for the rest of the day for about $13. A meal in Grindewald is easily double that at a restaurant. 

We hiked up the crevice of Grindewald the water was SO blue this does not even do it justice. Switzerland was amazing we drove to the south close to the Italian border. We had to catch a bus to Italy and dropped our rental car at Lake Lugano. We had a funny experience where we ordered a pizza with ham and took it to go when we opened it at the bus stop it had these huge slices of something seedy that kind of looked like zucchini but was definitely not ham. We realized it was eggplant and were so hungry we gobbled the whole thing up. I paid the most I have ever paid for a bottle of water $7. Desperate times call for desperate measures and we were off to Milan. 

3.5 Weeks in Europe....Switzerland: Zurich/Flims and Surrounding Areas

I didn't even know it was possible for a place on Earth to be so beautiful. When I see architecture or art that wows me and then I see the beauty and glory of God's creations.....the comparison of the art of man versus our creator is no comparison. Man's attempt at creation is a rudimentary expression of what is to come in our life after this one. It's like we are playing with Lego or blocks in comparison to this earth it's diversity and beauty. Switzerland is awesome in it's beauty, I have never been anywhere like it.

I mean, even God parks his car in Switzerland! I guess if I was God I would park my car there too. I am not sure I would drive a VW...BUT if you speak Swiss German then I guess it makes total sense. 

Some things I learned really quickly about Switzerland:

1. It is EXTREMELY clean and tidy, which is nice. 

2. The Swiss LOVE rules and love to follow rules, and YOU are expected to know and follow the rules too. Good Luck with that and knowing all the Swiss rules! 

3. The cost of food at restaurant's is three times the cost of food in the grocery store, so if you want to eat in Switzerland don't go out. Lesson learned, 1 Whopper Jr. was $6 and if I wanted the whole meal it would have been $20 Swiss Francs! 

4. It costs between 1 or 2 Swiss Francs to use the bathroom in Switzerland..I swear that is where all my money went..using the bathroom and parking! 

5. The water fountains are AMAZING and have cold fresh water to drink!

6. Glacier lakes are the most beautiful blue I have ever seen. 

7. I wanted to yodel everytime I was climbing a mountain or sing pretty much any song from The Sound of Music. However, I was out of breath so it didn't happen. 

8. I have pioneer ancestors from Switzerland and I thought if I had crossed the plains and ended up in Utah Valley (which is beautiful but it is NOT Switzerland) I would have been looking back like Lot's wife in the scriptures and probably turned to salt. 

Can we just move to that little cabin? Oh, and ALL of the cows wear bells around their necks so you hear this chiming everywhere you go, it is so endearing. 

We took many trams up into the Alps this was to Titlis. We learned the hard way that you have to buy a round trip ticket and not just a ticket. I didn't even SEE the round trip ticket because why wouldn't you want to come down after going up? I learned however the Swiss people hike....A LOT and probably like to walk down the mountain. They probably have the strongest thighs in the whole world with how many hiking trails there are there. Buy the round trip ticket...because if you don't that is a question you will have to ask yourself according to the lift attendant.... 

Can you believe this? That is a REAL PLACE.

Matchy Matchy

Flims

We stayed with my friends brother and his wife who is Swiss. She was from a town called Flims, so of course we wanted to check it out! Flims has this amazing lake that comes up from the water table underneath. It is the most beautiful blue water and they have a fun swimming recreation site. 

THIS...is a water fountain! People walk right up to it and get a drink or rinse their hands. 

Lucky. 

We visited this little town HIGH in the Alps that looked like it hadn't been touched by time except for a few vehicles. 

Have you ever played the game Carcasonne? I am pretty sure this is where they got the idea of how to set up the towns with the big clock tower. The Swiss have clocks EVERYWHERE! 

We stayed at my friend's brother's home they were so kind to us! They had such a cute little family and I loved staying with them and seeing a little bit of what it is like to be Swiss.