Merry Little Monschau

Merry Little Monschau

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I made a promise to myself. Slow down and just enjoy the moment. Sometime it’s hard to get into the swing of a holiday unless you are near your family and home land.

 I LOVE Christmas… the whole Christmas season. I usually start enjoying Christmas music around the first of October and start decorating my home before the American Thanksgiving. But this year.. I held on to fall a bit longer. The Netherlands has experienced an exceptional summer and fall with glorious days filled with sun. So as December barreled through I was a tad slow to pull out my Christmas decorations. I usually only purchase a few gifts from Europe as it’s a tad difficult to carry them in my luggage when we head for the States.

 But I do make it a point to get to at least one European Christmas market a year. A lot of the home improvement type stores usually go all out and make their store into a small market. But to truly enjoy the season, you really need to get into the towns that are set up for some really good fun shopping.

A few of my American friends and I decided to go to Monschau, Germany to have a girls Christmas Market weekend. Thanks to the great planning of our friend Kelly, we arrived early on Friday and planned to leave on Sunday. We missed the crowed traffic coming in and leaving. It was perfect.

Monschau is this amazing little village that is set into the rolling hills of Germany. It’s picture perfect, still looking as it did hundreds of years ago. What could be more perfect than spending the weekend with fabulous friends shopping, drinking gluhwein, laughing and dining at delicious German restaurants.

The cobblestoned streets are narrow and were filled with merry shoppers all enjoying the beautiful market. Market stalls and shops filled with ornaments, Christmas trees, candy, sausages, cheese, little Christmas trinkets, Nutcrackers, German Smokers and so many delights I’m sure to a child it’s just a dream come true. I know my heart was full of joy.

Our weekend was amazing and we knew we were blessed beyond words. Six American Girls who met across a great pond but still enjoy the same humor and understanding and were able to celebrate friendship in picture perfect Monschau. 

Kelly, Linda, Me, Jennifer, Hope and Megan

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Papa Please Preach ~ My Trip to Rome

Papa Please Preach ~ My Trip to Rome

After a month of computer glitches and fixes…I’m finally able to share about a little trip to Italy we took this fall.

I was not raised Catholic but became Catholic after getting married. It was a personal choice for me. So being able to see Rome was such a joy!

One of the great things about being an expat is meeting other people in your same situation. It’s the best way to find out where to go, where to get off the beaten path, which museums to go to and how to avoid the long lines.  And they are usually full of ideas on how to do as inexpensive as possible.

Here are some things I learned and enjoyed about Roma~

-There’s a reason there’s a shortage of Priests in the world…. They’re all in Rome. I would say the old saying… “You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a”… Priest or Nun, but that doesn’t sound very nice… so I’ll just say there are a lot in Rome.

-God is everywhere. What if God was one of us? What would you say?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gx1Pv02w3Q

- If you are a single, Swiss, Catholic, high school educated, Swiss military trained male over the height of 5’8” and between the ages of 19-30 you have a chance to become a Papal Swiss Guard.

- Vatican City is its own state within the city of Rome. Day or night this vibrant area lives and breathes the beauty of God.

The Vatican at night

The Sistine Chapel is truly amazing. Guards or workers tell everyone… no pictures and to keep quiet as people look around in awe. It was wall to wall of people staring up. Looking up to the beautiful ceiling painted by Michelangelo? Looking up to God for the plea for a prayer? 

The ceiling in the museum leading toward the Sistine Chapel

Right before you go into the chapel

No pictures? Ok…. Click

-As the saying goes “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” But the Roman’s do know how to build to impress!

-Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica was on my bucket list.

 People visiting need to visit their website before going because there are do’s and don’ts. You must be dressed appropriately and talking is kept to a minimum. But that’s hard to remember as you enter and everywhere you turn are amazing works of art that look like they belong in a museum. You sometimes just want to share with the person next to you what you are thinking or feeling. We wandered around looking and listening to our walking guide explains to us what each piece was. Then we checked for mass times. We had a few spare minutes so we found the gift store and bought a few memorable pieces for our children. We then gathered behind an area in front of the alter where mass would be held. People were already a few rows deep just look to see what was going on. I stepped up to a man standing at the gate and asked if mass was available to everyone. He said “Yes, but it’s in Italian.” Not a problem I said and we stepped in to find seats. It really wasn’t crowded because I think some didn’t realize they could come in. I’m pretty sure the gate that was about waist high was just there to keep people from milling around during mass.

Mass for me was an unexpected emotional experience. I attend mass every week and have attended mass in most places I’ve traveled to. One of my favorites was in Yellowstone National Park. But as I got down on my knees to pray for my family and anyone I could think of I couldn’t help the tears that spilled from my eyes. And I can say that mass in Italian is beautiful. I only understood a bit but that’s ok. It was a familiar part of my being and I thank God I was able to be there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQVz6vuNq7s

-Pope Francis~ I love how there are so many different religions in the world and I respect that everyone has their own way to pray or not if they so choose. For me.. I need prayer. When things go right or wrong in my life or the world around me, it is faith in my God that helps me get through.

With the new day of our Pope Francis I am so ever grateful to a man who answered a call from God to lead his people. To me this humble, kind, caring, loving, charismatic man is just what my heart needs to help me to keep peace in my heart and life.

I didn’t get to see the Pope while visiting Rome, but I know he was there. Seeing isn’t believing. 

Pope Francis.. This American Girl sends thanks, gratitude and prayers to you and the people you pray for. Papa please keep preaching your words of love and kindness.