Bratislava adventure!

Yesterday we took a journey to the neighboring capital city of Bratislava, Slovakia. Less then 40 miles separates Vienna and Bratislava to make them the two closest world capitals. The city center is only about an hour away so we jumped on a train in the morning and we were back before bed time.

Three of my students joined us as we explored the city, got lost a few times and almost lost one of the girls (oops), saw touristy things, and ate some Pizza Hut. It was a ton of fun spending time with these young adults, but bittersweet as 2 of the 3 will be leaving Vienna before August. Fortunately we'll be able to do a few more things with them in the coming days. For now, enjoy the pictures...

reading the tourist guide on the train to Bratislava explaining how we would all become a Bratislover...clever, huh.

enjoying the beautifully maintained tram stop...

focused on a game while waiting

on a Slovakian tram

the "new bridge" also known as the UFO bridge for its spaceship-like structure that houses an overpriced restaraunt

The girls waiting to cross a street

A shot of Justin and I attempting to imitate the statue at the top of this monument

a closeup of me looking like an idiot :)

the city center is a very cool collection of narrow streets and alleys

Slovakia hosted last months IIHF World Championships...these signs had cool little caricatures of each nations "mascot" interesting to see how different nations are perceived. Case in point in the next picture...

The US is seen as a bunch of Cowboys.
Crap.
This is what we have to overcome. :/

view of the castle from one of the many side alleys

and again

taking a break in some random courtyard with a fountain

the castle, again.

what a good student...even reading as she walks through a vacant lot.

on our way home after a long day

Comments

and baby makes four...

that's right...our little family will soon become a foursome. We have found out that Rebecca is 6 weeks pregnant! There is definitely "something in the water" as all the families that live within our block have recently had a baby or are currently pregnant. Our baby will be the 6th baby born to ICSV staff in a span of less than a year (first one was born in early November and we will be welcoming our new addition in September). So, kind of unexpected, but a pleasant surprise nonetheless!

The day that changed our lives...

Today (Nov 10) is Justin's birthday. Obviously, the birthday of your child holds a special meaning. Over the course of the last three days, I have been reminded of how exciting a birthday truly is. His excitement reminds me of the excitement we felt in anticipation of his birth, and, I think the excitement that God feels as his children enter into relationship with HIM. Justin seems to think that we will forget that today is his birthday. I base this on the simple fact that he has reminded us no less than 5 times/day since Sunday. I'm not sure exactly why, he hasn't quite been this excited about his birthday in the past; maybe it has something to do with this being the first birthday in Austria...I'm just not sure. But the joy that he carries (and expects from everyone around him) in anticipation of this day is a bit infectious. As many of you are aware, Justin was born in the middle of our senior year in high school. We were so emotionally unprepared (being so youn...

First days in Vienna

So it has been awhile since we have had the opportunity to update the blog…and as I sit here typing, I realize that I’m not exactly sure when I will be able to post what I am writing to the actual site…. I figure I should give you a rundown the last 2 days in Vienna (our first days in the city!). I’ll try to chunk it down into bite-sized chapters…I hope you enjoy! Departure from LAX, and flight to London Had a pretty easy time getting our baggage checked and then going through security…in between the two, we were able to meet up with Amanda Howard and had a chance to sit down and talk with here and her family as we waited. I’ve included some pictures of us waiting in the terminal… The flight was uneventful; little bit of turbulence, decent meal, movies galore, and minimal sleep. I was able to sleep a little, but Justin didn’t sleep until we were about 7 hours into the flight, and that was after a little mini-freak out session (his legs were hurting him and cramping). Arriva...

Johnstein!

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