I wrote this on the plane on the way home and haven't had the chance to post it until now. I wrote it on the plane because I wanted it to be fresh on my mind.
Where I Saw God in Europe, etc.
England: - Sitting in St. George's Chapel, taking in the beauty, listening to Michael W. Smith sing "Forever" on my ipod.
-Seeing the magnificent St. Paul's Cathedral, unharmed by the bombings of WWII
-A sweet, fat English baby named Freddie on the train
France-The opportunity to encourage someone with compassion and Scripture
-God's grace, provision, and victory over evil in the crosses on Omaha Beach
-His grace and sweetness in seeing to the small things as when we got our laundry done for us in Normandy
-His goodness in getting us to Rome in time for our boat
-in the beauty and simplicity of the French countryside
Italy
-a hiding place for persecuted Christians, God's provision and shelter
-Amazing Grace, on a youtube video, sung in the Colosseum, amazingly
-His power, strength, and might in the form of Mt. Vesuvius
Greece-the place where He put Paul to preach Acts 17, where it can still be preached!
-the beauty of His creation in the blue, blue water of the Mediterranean Sea
Turkey
-a place where there is still a remnant, 8%, probably smaller for true believers, but still there!
-the place He put John to inspire him to write Revelations!
-another place he put Paul to preach in, where, is you were there seeing the glory of God in the view, I bet it sunk in!
-the amazing silkworm!
Egypt
-knowing that seeing the amazing, colossal, majestic pyramids is nothing compared to the MORE, thousands times more, amazing , colossal and majestic God we serve
-giving me a true person and his family to pray for next Ramadan
-God's sovereignty in the futility of man's quest to be in control
-How the Magi felt riding camels to visit the king
Cruise
He was glorified as our family talked to Him before meals, unconscious until the last day that so many people were watching
-that our waiter called and asked us for another Bible!
His magnificence in the seas!
-
THE CLEMENT BUNCH
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Welcome Home!
The camel!
Thanks to Mother and Daddy for taking such good care of our bad dog, good dogs and kitty cats (it's not your fault SkippyJonJones ran away, he may be back) and house! Everything is fixed and organized! They had a lovely dinner waiting for us and although it's a blur (Drew Preston almost fell asleep at the table) it was very comforting.
Thanks, too, to the Mortons and the Hicks for all the sidewalk art! What a fun surprise! We loved the AUs, the hot dog, the messages and the camel is a masterpiece! Y'all are so fun.
God is so good to us. We were sickly on the last 3 days of the cruise, the BEST time because there really wasn't much to do except rest anyway. We were perfectly well the day we flew 10 hours and the next day when we were exhausted. THEN Tucker started feeling bad and now DP. But once again it's not too bad and we're home and comfy. Despite the brioche (French it-will-be-at-the-feast bread), gelato (feast ice cream) and yummy cruise dinners I came home weighing less than when we left. I guess it was the sickness and the thousands of steps I climbed all over Europe.
Thanks, too, to the Mortons and the Hicks for all the sidewalk art! What a fun surprise! We loved the AUs, the hot dog, the messages and the camel is a masterpiece! Y'all are so fun.
God is so good to us. We were sickly on the last 3 days of the cruise, the BEST time because there really wasn't much to do except rest anyway. We were perfectly well the day we flew 10 hours and the next day when we were exhausted. THEN Tucker started feeling bad and now DP. But once again it's not too bad and we're home and comfy. Despite the brioche (French it-will-be-at-the-feast bread), gelato (feast ice cream) and yummy cruise dinners I came home weighing less than when we left. I guess it was the sickness and the thousands of steps I climbed all over Europe.
Some more pics
Mariano and Jesus (no, not THAT Jesus, although He took great care of us, too! this one is pronounced "HAY-ZOOS") our waiters who took such good care of us. Thanks, guys! We miss you!
Mariano
Jesus and the nightly presentation of ketchup for Ellie and Drew Preston's fries
Sully getting ready to try octopus. I think it's the only thing on the whole trip he didn't like.
Sully getting ready to try octopus. I think it's the only thing on the whole trip he didn't like.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Bye and Thanks!
We're kissin' this trip goodbye! :)
This has been an amazing trip. Thanks to all of you who followed us and prayed for us and commented- we enjoyed hearing from home! Tomorrow, early, we dock in Rome and go to the airport for a quick, 10 hour trip (!!!!!!!!!) across the ocean. We'll be home Thurs. evening. I'm planning to continue blogging, it's fun! So tune in from time to time for more adventures of the Clement Bunch. Love, Robyn
Good...and, well, not so good
The famous astronomical clock of Messina, Sicily, Italy. It doesn't really lean. Craig is just crooked.
loved this door!
our last gelato, sigh....
HUGE loaf of bread. They sell it by the slice. We got some much smaller little rolls. Yum.
Ha! Craig bought a genuine fake rolex for $15. It already broke.
Today is our last day at sea before docking once again in Rome and flying home. The "not so good" is that most of us have caught the cruise ship crud. Our tummies are not doing so well. It's not terrible, no fever or anything. DP and Ellie are still good. We still went out to explore Messina for a little while yesterday and everyone went to dinner last nite except me. I was just too tired.
We wanted to touch on a few things I may have forgotten earlier.
When asked, Ellie said her favorite part of this trip is the puppies and kittens. In Pompeii, they have 40 dogs called "The Pompeii Dogs". Donations help to feed them and they sleep in kennels at nite but during the day they just roam the ruins and enjoy everyone's attention. Ellie loved on any she passed. There were dogs and cats everywhere in Europe. No one seemed to care if they were in a restaurant or a shop. Just part of the culture. There were lots of cats in Turkey.
Also in Turkey we walked down one market street. EVERY shop we passed someone would say, "Large family!" or "Are they ALL yours?!" or "50% discount for large family!" One man said,"One, two, three, four- you need one more!" I said, "We're adopting two!" I thought he would pass out. We got really tickled on that street.
Homeschooling seems to be non-existent over here. If we told someone first they looked at us like we had grown an extra head. Then they would say no one does that here. Then they would ask if there was an exam they had to take to make sure they knew everything. It was amusing.
About the boat:
Sully likes that we get rocked to sleep every nite. There is constant movement but it's been very slight.
Drew Preston says when he rock climbs he not only goes up but from side to side. Yuck.
The kids have become total Dick Van Dyke Show fans. They have laughed and laughed and repeated many scenes from the DVDs. The boat TV stations ran Ozzie and Harriet shows for several days. Those are a big hit, too. I love that they like it. To hear them all cracking up over something so simple and wholesome and silly is heartwarming.
Our waiter, Mariano, laughs at Ellie and DP every nite because they are so predictable in their ordering. Ellie gets the cheese plate and "chicken thingers" and ice cream with chocolate sauce every nite. DP gets the cheese plate (or fruit) and a hamburger and sherbet every nite. They did try other things while in different countries but we didn't push it on board ship. :)
We wanted to touch on a few things I may have forgotten earlier.
When asked, Ellie said her favorite part of this trip is the puppies and kittens. In Pompeii, they have 40 dogs called "The Pompeii Dogs". Donations help to feed them and they sleep in kennels at nite but during the day they just roam the ruins and enjoy everyone's attention. Ellie loved on any she passed. There were dogs and cats everywhere in Europe. No one seemed to care if they were in a restaurant or a shop. Just part of the culture. There were lots of cats in Turkey.
Also in Turkey we walked down one market street. EVERY shop we passed someone would say, "Large family!" or "Are they ALL yours?!" or "50% discount for large family!" One man said,"One, two, three, four- you need one more!" I said, "We're adopting two!" I thought he would pass out. We got really tickled on that street.
Homeschooling seems to be non-existent over here. If we told someone first they looked at us like we had grown an extra head. Then they would say no one does that here. Then they would ask if there was an exam they had to take to make sure they knew everything. It was amusing.
About the boat:
Sully likes that we get rocked to sleep every nite. There is constant movement but it's been very slight.
Drew Preston says when he rock climbs he not only goes up but from side to side. Yuck.
The kids have become total Dick Van Dyke Show fans. They have laughed and laughed and repeated many scenes from the DVDs. The boat TV stations ran Ozzie and Harriet shows for several days. Those are a big hit, too. I love that they like it. To hear them all cracking up over something so simple and wholesome and silly is heartwarming.
Our waiter, Mariano, laughs at Ellie and DP every nite because they are so predictable in their ordering. Ellie gets the cheese plate and "chicken thingers" and ice cream with chocolate sauce every nite. DP gets the cheese plate (or fruit) and a hamburger and sherbet every nite. They did try other things while in different countries but we didn't push it on board ship. :)
Ellie actually got a proposal in Egypt. At one store an Egyptian gentleman who was explaining cartouches (hieroglyphic names) to us asked her if she thought him handsome. She nodded. He said, "Will you marry me?" She said no. He said, "Oh, you don't think I'm handsome!" She said, (laughing of course) I DO but I don't want to marry you!" He laughed and laughed.
Praying for Beverly!
Praying for Ivy and Co.!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
I Smell Like a Camel!!!!
I think that camel is trying to lick Tucker!
I love this one.
Osman would say, "We will be going to the pyramids and we will be snapping fun pictures."
Going into the burial passages of the middle pyramid. It was really humid in there. We came out sweaty.
One thing that amazed me, the stones on the pyramids were very smooth. They look so rough from photos.
More fun snapping of pictures.
and more. We all got one. We got some kissing the Sphinx, too.
Ellie and her new friend Osman. They held hands a lot and he kissed her goodbye.
Fun day!
Sound and light show.
view from our hotel window!
van on the road from Alexandria to Cairo. can you believe it?!?!
Well, I don't smell like one anymore, now that we're back on ship and showered. Ewww, camels stink.
Egypt was fascinating. Our guide was named Othman (pronounced Osman) who was Muslim. He and Craig had an interesting conversation about "religion" the whole way back from Cairo today. Our whole experience in Egypt was great. With all the "Oooooo, be careful in Egypt! Don't drink the water! Watch your wallet! etc. etc." we were VERY careful and everything went well. No one's throwing up yet. Yesterday (Sat) we first drove to Cairo (3 hours) where we went to the Egyptian museum. We yet again had a guide who just couldn't help telling us everything he knew about every monument, statue and item. I've learned that all these guides go to school for years to learn the languages and history of their area. It's a career choice/ a college major. It's wonderful for awhile but at the museum by the time we got to King Tut's stuff we were all starving and the kids were getting really antsy. Even so, to see King Tut's golden mask was amazing. We even saw the gold finger and toe tips they put on his hands and feet to protect his fingers and toes. Very cool.
We then went to a fancy Egyptian restaurant where they served us 5 courses (bread, appetisers, salad, main course and dessert). All this was already preordered for us. We just sat back and ate. The salad had no lettuce, just tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, olives and feta cheese. Yum.
Then we went to a papyrus store where they showed us how the Egyptians made papyrus (a very simple process) and hoped we would buy an Egyptian painting on papyrus. We didn't. Not my favorite art form. After that we went to our hotel (Le Sphinx) where we could see a pyramid from our window!!!!! SO COOL! It was surreal. Like Disney World. I kept expecting to see a roller coaster come spinning around it. Later that evening our van came back to get us and we went to the Sphinx Sound and Light show. We sat on a big platform in folding chairs to watch. When it was good and dark they do a light show on the 3 pyramids, the Sphinx and on an old wall to explain ancient Egypt. You can google it to see a clip. It was fun.
This morning we got up early to see the pyramids before it got too hot. Up close I just couldn't believe them. I've always known they were there, but wow. They're so high and tall and well built and amazingly precise. We got to go in the second one. We went down a really tight corridor, even Ellie had to duck her head, for a long way and then got to stand up for about 20 feet. Then down another really long, tight corridor. You could see the scrapes on the wall where they dragged stuff into the tomb (!!!!!!). Then into the burial chamber to see the sarcophagus (stone box that held the coffin). We were remembering Ranofer's tomb journey from The Golden Goblet. Chilling.
In the same area we saw a solar boat discovered accidentally in 1954. They reproduced the ruined parts and rebuilt it. Amazing technology. The whole boat was constructed with ropes and knots, no nails.
Then came the camel ride. Oh my. Craig and Ellie rode one, me and DP on one and Sully and Tucker on a third. Not much instruction on what to do, you just get on and then UP YOU GO!!! No helmet or anything. We were about 8-10 feet off the ground. The guides take you on a stroll into the dessert (some of the guides were little 6 year old boys, they were grinning and tapping the camels with a stick) and then took our picture. It was fun but camels really do stink.
We went to lunch at an authentic Egyptian restaurant where we had fava bean dip with our bread and fried fava bean cakes among other amazing dishes. We really loved it. It was all delicious. Then another 3 hours back to Alexandria where we took a quick visit to the Library of Alexandria (new) and saw the site of the Lighthouse of Alexandria (one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world-not there anymore).
Need I mention Princess Ellie? Osman immediately named her "my little friend" and of course introduced her to everyone as a princess. He bought her dates. He bought her candy. He bought her an Egyptian headdress. Tucker said he's glad we brought her, we got a lot of free stuff because of her. :)
Egypt was fascinating. Our guide was named Othman (pronounced Osman) who was Muslim. He and Craig had an interesting conversation about "religion" the whole way back from Cairo today. Our whole experience in Egypt was great. With all the "Oooooo, be careful in Egypt! Don't drink the water! Watch your wallet! etc. etc." we were VERY careful and everything went well. No one's throwing up yet. Yesterday (Sat) we first drove to Cairo (3 hours) where we went to the Egyptian museum. We yet again had a guide who just couldn't help telling us everything he knew about every monument, statue and item. I've learned that all these guides go to school for years to learn the languages and history of their area. It's a career choice/ a college major. It's wonderful for awhile but at the museum by the time we got to King Tut's stuff we were all starving and the kids were getting really antsy. Even so, to see King Tut's golden mask was amazing. We even saw the gold finger and toe tips they put on his hands and feet to protect his fingers and toes. Very cool.
We then went to a fancy Egyptian restaurant where they served us 5 courses (bread, appetisers, salad, main course and dessert). All this was already preordered for us. We just sat back and ate. The salad had no lettuce, just tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, olives and feta cheese. Yum.
Then we went to a papyrus store where they showed us how the Egyptians made papyrus (a very simple process) and hoped we would buy an Egyptian painting on papyrus. We didn't. Not my favorite art form. After that we went to our hotel (Le Sphinx) where we could see a pyramid from our window!!!!! SO COOL! It was surreal. Like Disney World. I kept expecting to see a roller coaster come spinning around it. Later that evening our van came back to get us and we went to the Sphinx Sound and Light show. We sat on a big platform in folding chairs to watch. When it was good and dark they do a light show on the 3 pyramids, the Sphinx and on an old wall to explain ancient Egypt. You can google it to see a clip. It was fun.
This morning we got up early to see the pyramids before it got too hot. Up close I just couldn't believe them. I've always known they were there, but wow. They're so high and tall and well built and amazingly precise. We got to go in the second one. We went down a really tight corridor, even Ellie had to duck her head, for a long way and then got to stand up for about 20 feet. Then down another really long, tight corridor. You could see the scrapes on the wall where they dragged stuff into the tomb (!!!!!!). Then into the burial chamber to see the sarcophagus (stone box that held the coffin). We were remembering Ranofer's tomb journey from The Golden Goblet. Chilling.
In the same area we saw a solar boat discovered accidentally in 1954. They reproduced the ruined parts and rebuilt it. Amazing technology. The whole boat was constructed with ropes and knots, no nails.
Then came the camel ride. Oh my. Craig and Ellie rode one, me and DP on one and Sully and Tucker on a third. Not much instruction on what to do, you just get on and then UP YOU GO!!! No helmet or anything. We were about 8-10 feet off the ground. The guides take you on a stroll into the dessert (some of the guides were little 6 year old boys, they were grinning and tapping the camels with a stick) and then took our picture. It was fun but camels really do stink.
We went to lunch at an authentic Egyptian restaurant where we had fava bean dip with our bread and fried fava bean cakes among other amazing dishes. We really loved it. It was all delicious. Then another 3 hours back to Alexandria where we took a quick visit to the Library of Alexandria (new) and saw the site of the Lighthouse of Alexandria (one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world-not there anymore).
Need I mention Princess Ellie? Osman immediately named her "my little friend" and of course introduced her to everyone as a princess. He bought her dates. He bought her candy. He bought her an Egyptian headdress. Tucker said he's glad we brought her, we got a lot of free stuff because of her. :)
Praying for Beverly!
Praying for Ivy and Co.!
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