Elizabeth prepares for airport travel

The LUXury of living in Europe

Sometimes I forget how good we have it here.

Earlier this month, Edward and Stephanie came for a visit – ostensibly to see our little family here, but I suspected they were almost as excited that they were going to spend some time in Central Europe versus, let’s say, Central Texas.We had a lot of family moments that could have happened anywhere, such as this devilish secret Elizabeth is whispering to her pet raccoon, instructing him to bite her father as soon as he leaves the room.

Or this tender moment caught on celluloid of Edward engaging a sloppy act of mutual adoration. Canine camaraderie. Passionate puppy love. (Yes, Pecos is a mutt slut!)But what added to their trip, I think, were things like sampling a few good beers at a real German restaurant (the man behind them has no face!).Or spending sometime in beautiful places.In particular, Stephanie got to revisit a place (and a person) that was incredibly important to her and no doubt helped shape who she is. And Edward got to scratch two more countries off his list (Luxembourg and Belgium) and enjoy the beauty of Central Europe in the winter … beautiful small towns, lightly falling snow, quiet town squares with hauntingly illuminated baroque churches.
It’s not every day we can see the world – and our charmed lives here – through others’ eyes; after all, in April we hit year five of living in Europe and have kind of gotten used to the privilege of being here. But it’s wonderful when it happens.

So thank you for visiting, Edward and Stephanie. Not only was it great to see you two, catch up, and make some great memories together, but it was also wonderful to be reminded of how much of a gift it is to be here. Thanks for making that clear.

Oh, here's Dodger waiting her turn to have her stickers removed. Pecos just got his sticker-dectomy.

Elizabeth takes her doggie for a walk

This was too cute not to share:

Blog about Uncle Edward's visit coming soon. In the meantime...a dancing bear.

Israel with a kid

It’s all about the kid. And the kid is very limiting. That’s one thing we’ve had to learn while traveling around Europe these past 15 months. Car rides must be an hour or less. Plane trips force you to come up with ingenious games to play with drink cups. And no matter how determined the adventurer, no plan is baby proof.

But determined we were – even Indiana Jones would be proud – as we were going to Israel for 10 days with a child. And even though we didn’t get to the Dead Sea, Masada, or a few other locales written up in the bible, we did manage to make the most of a chance work trip – and spend some quality time watching Elizabeth blow bubbles.



Jerusalem:
This video should explain it all.

Actually, we saw most of those sights (except the giant sign, which I couldn’t find anywhere). Here are some pictures to prove it, including Elizabeth standing on a camel.

Although the old city had lots to see – even for secular folks like Elizabeth and her parents – Jerusalem has a new side too, with malls, movie theaters, and restaurants with tongue-in-cheek names like Doggy Style (hot dog joint). Unfortunately, as this is the mecca (sorry!) for monotheistic devotees, even shopping centers were closed on Shabbat. It was worse than Germany on a Sunday.

Around Jerusalem:
Biblical Zoo – Fun, but kind of a gimmicky, this zoo has biblical references to all the animals inside, showing you what line in the Old Testament references monkeys, elephants, and camels. Too bad it also has red pandas from Asia, parrots from South America, and penguins. It’s also laid out so confusingly that we had to ask Elizabeth for directions.

Mini Israel – Like most fans of things miniature, Kate and Elizabeth had a blast here, noting how cute and detailed the people and places were. I, on the other hand, was spending my time imagining myself tackling buildings and kicking cars and people Godzilla-like.

I also noticed a Southwest plane at the mini airport. I’m pretty sure that would qualify as long haul.

Bethlehem – Pronounced “Bethlem” by my father, the little town of Bethlehem was, in fact, little, with one main church next to the town square that followers of Constantine’s mother’s detective work decreed "THE”spot that Jesua ben Josef (as he was known at the time) was born. Actually, this nice old Asian lady is touching the EXACT spot on which Jesus and his placenta plopped before being put into a warm, hay-filled manger. Thanks Asian lady!

Herzliya:
The Beverly Hills of Israel, Herzliya is a sunny beach town with a lot of money that bursts with Israel’s prettiest during the summer months. Good thing we were here in the winter, when it was still sunny and warm (but unfortunately not acceptable for me to wear a Borat mankini).

Be’ersheva:
Now we were really in the desert. I saw a camel-crossing sign, some Bedouins with their goats, an actual tumbleweed drifting across the road (it almost hit our car), and whole throngs of boys and girls just out of high school in olive-green fatigues, low-rise pants, and Uzis nonchalantly draped across their backs.

We actually have no pictures of this incredibly ugly town, but we do have a nice video of Elizabeth in one of the posh local malls.