CAPRI

We LOVED Capri.  It was relaxing.  The people were kind. It was small and cute and beautiful and the food was good.  I would definitely go back.  We stayed in someones home that they were renting out.

It was near the marina - about a 10 minute walk so we went there for food and to get the bus to other places.  This is what the walk looked like:

Heres an except from Anelas journal:

I love it here!  Its so gorgeous.  Yesterday (the first day we got here) we went to go eat and I got a panini.  It was okay.  Then we went to the beach.  I didn't go in because it was Sunday, so we tanned.  It was so uncomfortable because there is no sand, it's all rocks, both big and little rocks.  While me, mom, yani and Amber were tanning, kana walked home because he was tired.  So after kana left we stayed at the beach for a little while then got some dinner to take home.  But first we got some gelato, it was yummy.  The Italians are very nice so we had pasta for dinner.  Today we are going to Ana Capri.

ANA CAPRI

We went on a chair lift at Ana Capri.  Its the highest point on the island.  The chair life was so fun and we went really high and the breeze was freezing but still fun.  We saw the prettiest view ever it was all dark blue ocean and you could see the rocks in the water.  And on the other side, you could see basically see the whole island of Capri.  So we took  a million photos of course.  Then we went back down the chair lift and took a taxi home.

the view from the top

Heres an excerpt from Ambers blog that I thought was very special:

Traveling on this trip around the world with my family has been incredible. And at times I'd often feel sad for my dad that he isn’t here with us. Whenever I'd see a empty seat I felt like he should be sitting in it, next to us. Then I remembered he has a seat and we are all on this family trip together. He just has a better view.

Naples AND Lesson # 6

We flew into Naples.  It was a nice flight because we could see the countryside of France and the French Alps (or the tops of them).



When we got to Naples we took a bus down to the Port which is where our hotel was.  We decided not to rent a taxi since it was walking distance to the hotel but the bloody hotel was no where to be found.  We walked around in circles in the middle of the day, scorching heat, with what felt like 1,000 pounds on our backs.  The streets in Naples were not marked and people didn't really know where the building was although they would point somewhere pretending that they did.  Many hotels are on certain floors of old historic buildings and DO NOT look like hotels!

LESSON #6  LISTEN TO PROMPTINGS!  YOUR BRAIN DOES NOT KNOW BETTER!

So in the beginning of our search to find our building I spotted a cute yellow building and immediately thought "THATS IT!"  A second later, my brain kicked in and told me that I had no logical reason to believe that its the building.  I didn't even know if we were in the right area because we hadn't really started "searching" yet.  So, as a result of my dumbness we wandered around for about an hour until we came to the same spot, yes, the cute yellow building.  It had a sign for the hotel that was about 8 1/2 x 11 inches.  (wth#%$^#&&).  When I politely told them they might want to get a bigger size they said that the neighbors didn't like it so they took it down.

My brain is constantly spinning and daydreaming and it's sometimes so noisy that is is hard to be led by the spirit.  One major task in this life is to learn discern between your head and the Holy Ghost and to follow the Holy Ghost, he will never lead you astray.

We were only in Naples for two nights, one night on the way to Capri and another night before our flight to Santorini.  Heres a few pics:

we cook most of our own meals.  Chicken with Pasta and red peppers with a garden salad.  it was good.  

Our day in Spain and Lesson 5 - 100%

This photo is taken in Spain.  We accidentally found the cutest street.  I don't think I was supposed to be there because no one else was driving and come to think of it, cars don't fit very well.  There were signs and words but I didn't know what any of them meant.  Anyway,  I had amber jump out of the car so we could snap some pics of this street.

LESSON 5 - GIVE IT 100%

As I mentioned earlier, we are not big spenders but yes - we are spending money to be on this trip.  Once you have spent the money to be there - you HAVE to spend the money needed to enjoy the place.

I wasn't planning on renting a car and trying to drive for hours but it was so rainy and we wanted to see the sights so the logical decision was to find a car.  Im so glad we did because it let us to this perfect picture in Spain.  If your going to do it,  do it 100%  It's not worth saving the $100 after spending thousands.  Who wants to be the person who was soooo close but never really there??  

Some lessons I have learned along the way - by Nikki

LESSON #2                 LET IT GO.

We all have expectations of how things are going to be when we finally get to do that thing we have been dreaming of.  More often than not, reality does not meet the expectation.  When this happens, you just have to let it go.  The other option is to be frustrated and disappointed and who wants that?! We went to a lot of time and expense to get to the south of France to accomplish Ambers goal.  When I realized that goal would not get checked off that very important list of life’s goals I knew I just HAD to let it go.  Luckily Amber said, “I’ll just have to come back”.  And for some reason, that made me smile.  Because even though I wasn’t successful in getting Amber to surf, I decided to look at the positive and realized: I have shown her how to get to and around Paris, how to get the train down south, options of places to stay, how to find the wave, where to rent the boards and wetsuits etc. …..  So she knows what to do now even if she has to do it next time without me.  One of life’s major lessons is learning that you CANNOT control everything (the ocean has taught me this lesson over and over).  All you can control is whether or not you are angry or grateful.  We left Biarritz cold and a little wet but grateful for the opportunity to meet her. 

BTW for those of you who noticed that I started with Lesson #2 and passed over #1,

Thanks for paying attention ;)

LESSON #1
 NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND OR FORGOTTEN

I have already gone over this experience so I wont go into detail but this lesson happened quickly when I needed to make an immediate decision about Ambers ticket to Paris that had been cancelled.  She either stayed behind and met us later, or we all stayed behind, or I bought her a new ticket on the spot.  Once I realized those were the ONLY options that I had, I got the ticket.  Because deep in my gut I knew one thing for sure; WE NEED TO STAY TOGETHER.  I hope this principle will always apply in our family during this lifetime and into the eternities.  Families are forever, and no one gets left behind.

LESSON #3  TODAY IS A GIFT

Who knows what tomorrow brings?  It might rain, someone might be sick, or you might not be able to go back to that place or activity you are at.  So, if it’s something you really want to do, just do it today.  All we really have is today.  We have adopted this lesson as we travel around.  We decided not to put off something we really want to do.  When we were in Capri we wanted to do the chair lift to the top of Ana Capri and for a brief second I thought, “today is kind of windy, maybe we should wait till tomorrow to see if the wind dies down”.  And then I caught myself and remembered this lesson and we did it that day.  Yes it was a little windy but we had an amazing experience.

LESSSON #4  MIGHT AS WELL!! 

This is similar to lesson 3 but different.  In addition to not procrastinating your adventures, we have found it's best to just go for it.  When we were in Capri we were looking for a beach to go to and we accidently came upon the path to Via Krupp.  As we looked down the path we would walk we took a vote as to whether or not we were going to walk down there.  At that time we thought naturally if we walk down we would have to walk back up.  Fortunately we decided, “Frick – might as well”.  

We had such a nice walk down and saw the most beautiful sights.  When we got there we discovered some really nice restaurants and we had a great lunch of pizza and pasta.  I have been eating a lot of eggplant because I love it with my pasta!  We also found a great beach and found a little spot amongst the others.  The hard part is there is no sand.  People lay out on giant sized pebbles and smoke way too much but all in all we had a really nice day down there, all because we decided to go for it.  The best part was we discovered there was a bus all the way back to the top.  Sometimes you can’t see what is around the corner but we have found it really pays to just get up, get out of the house and get walking.  Our best finds were accidental. 
This lesson helped us have a perfect day the following day.  We decided to rent a boat and drive around Capri.  Actually the girls and I decided and Makana was against the idea.  He was actually mad at me for thinking I could drive a boat around a foreign island but I just had a feeling that it was going to be ok.  I told him, "Frick, might as well" (this is a phrase he used constantly - he even made a Facebook page to support this theory.  But, he almost didn't come with us.  Once he realized we were going anyway despite his protests, he joined us.  Like I said, he had the best. day. ever!! and Im not being dramatic.  It felt sooooo good to be on the water exploring the island.  We stopped the boat and jumped in and it was like a dream.  Im so glad I didn't let my fears get the best of me.  I acknowledge that it is important to be wise, but after you have asked the questions to man and to Heavenly Father, if you still feel good about it, GO FOR IT!!  Might as well right?  

Biarritz

We caught the Metro to the main train station.  Once it got there it was confusing to figure out.  There were many platforms and most of the machines were automated but I finally found a human and purchased tickets with 10 minutes to spare. We were on our way to Biarritz.  It took 5 hours to get there but it didn’t feel long, it was very pleasant and the cabin was comfortable.  We found out later we were accidently in first class, oh well!!    It was nice to see the French countryside – it reminded me of New Zealand.  Half way through the journey we had to change cabins on the train.  We sat by two teenage boys who the girls were infatuated with.  I think it was more about hearing boys speak French.  Yani was trying to be sneaky and was taking photos of one of them and I’m pretty sure he knew.  The girls were playing cards (speed) and I told them to talk to them and ask if they wanted to play but they didn’t.  When the girls went to the bathroom one boy asked me if I wanted to share his chocolate.  SO cute ;)

When we arrived at the Biarritz train station our hosts were there to meet us with two cars.  It was such a nice surprise because I was thinking that we would need to wait for a taxi.  It was 8 pm and I mentioned that I would need to find food for my kids and she took me to the grocery store.  I ran in and grabbed as much as I could for the next few days, about three bags full and it cost almost 50 Euro.  Then she took me to the apartment which was very nice and comfortable.  One thing about staying in homes is that you can cook a lot so we have been saving money by eating at home two meals a day. 

Our first full day in Biarritz was a Sunday.  We walked around into town which took us almost 20 minutes.  The kids were sooooo sooo happy to see the ocean.  The waves were pretty big and looked good but the beach was packed.  We decided not to surf since it was a Sunday and we would be there till Friday.  We had no idea at the time that it would be the only sunny day with the best surf.  Maybe it’s a good think we didn’t know or they would have been very tempted.  On Monday and Tuesday it rained and rained a lot and then on Wednesday and Thursday the beach was closed because of all the rain and pollution from the run off, so we left Biarritz without the kids surfing in France.  I was really bummed about this (more than the kids I think).  About two years ago Amber made a list with her life goals and one of them was to surf a wave in France.  That is one of the main reasons why we went all the way down there and we left without accomplishing that goal.  It was hard for me but I learned an important lesson (to follow).

Eiffel Tower

On the day we went to the Eiffel Tower we had sunny skies.  It was the day before we left and we were happy we had left it till that day.  It was a little surreal to be at the place we had seen in movies.
Of course it had to become a photo session.  Heres the pics:

This is the area across the street from the tower.  we sat here for a while and basked in the sun and people watched. 

Amber took this photo.  I think its amazing -N. 

Rainy days in Paris

We spent another 3 days in Paris exploring. It rained the whole time but we got outside as much as we could.  Heres a few photos from our adventures.

                                                       Amber outside the Louvre

Anela and Mama walking home

Anela.  11 yrs old.  So cute! 

                                              The girls and I at Arc de Triomphe

                                                      lots of cute little cars everywhere

 

Makana in his french attire at Arc de Triomphe

Tomb of the unknown soldier under Arc de Triomphe

This is Arc de Triomphe from an ariel view.  It is a famous intersection that has 12 points.  When we first got there we couldn't figure out how to get across the street so we could go and see it.  After some watching and waited we realized there was an underground passageway. 

Paris was a little crazy.  There were people everywhere and we were told its not even high season.  I cant imagine what the lines must be like when it is.  Even with the rain people were standing in line for hours.  Were just not that patient!  But we enjoyed our time there and were grateful to be able to look around.  There were bookstores everywhere and people walking really fast.  We enjoyed the pastries.