Scholl trip: France

Here we are during a brief stop in Torino, enjoying John's favorite ice cream bar, the mint-flavored Penguino.


But we didn't stay in Torino for long! On Friday, we ate our way through Briancon, France. Since Kay is a French teacher, she was entirely in her element and did all of our translating for us. For lunch, we had traditional French fare. John and Tom ordered 'raclette', which is sort of like fondue, except you melt the cheese yourself with hot metal plates. Below the picture is a video that explains how it works.



Raclette illustration video.


Here's my lunch: a 'no assembly required' tartiflette. It was wonderful! A lot like scalloped potatoes.


The after-lunch carnage. Tom ate so much he was ashamed to show his face.


John and Rob atop the massive fortifications that still surround the town of Briancon.


Tom and Kay also enjoying the view. Note Kay's "J'adore la France" t-shirt.


John and I enjoying our gaufres, a.k.a. delicious French waffles.


We happened to be in town while they were having a bike race. The Europeans, as we all know, are big on their cycling; these riders came right up Briancon's pedestrian main street for the competion's finale.


Here's Kay again, also enjoying a gaufre and showing off her French pride.


We ended our French day trip with an outing to Chieri. Tom, Kay, and Rob wanted to see where John spent his time researching. Here's the Scholl clan (again, minus the photographer) outside of Chieri's cathedral.


That's all for now! More Scholl (and Menke) pictures to come soon!

Scholl trip: Cinque Terre

Hi everyone! As many of you know, our Texas family came out to visit us in Italy. They were here for almost two weeks and we had a high-paced, wonderful time. Our first stop was Cinque Terre, which are five quaint towns perched on the Mediterranean coast: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. John's parents have been dreaming of seeing the Cinque Terre for many years and now they've finally been there!

Kay and Tom's first dinner in Italy together. Kay had been to Italy before, but this was Tom's first trip. Thanks to him, we had a different Italian wine almost every night!


Here they are admiring the rustic qualities of the Cinque Terre. Some of us have heard the story of Kay's great ladder search in Santa Fe; you can't tell it, but she's calculating how to get that door back to Texas.


Here's John's brother, Rob, working with his new camera; he couldn't ask for a better setting to try it out.


The Scholl crew (minus me).


Me at Riomaggiore.


Kay and Tom's first venture into vandalism (I think) at the Lover's Walk.


Me on the cutest little staircase in Italy.


Tom and John chilling in Corniglia.


One of the wine shops in Corniglia had a 'beer of history' section. Here's Tom showing off some Mussolini beer.


John and Rob descending the 400+ stairs that led from the town of Corniglia down to the train station.


Our hotel was in Vernazza and one night we dined at a restaurant that had a beautiful view of the harbor. (We won't talk about the massive, brutal set of stairs we had to climb to get up there.)


Here we are waiting for our meal. Note the bottle of wine Tom had already ordered.


We had wanted to take a boat from one town to another, but the water was so choppy the boats weren't running. When Rob and I were at the harbor one morning admiring the waves, we saw a guy actually jump off the pier pictured and go swimming! Entertaining, but crazy. In the second picture you can see him diving in.


There he goes!



Here's a video of the waves and of Vernazza. Sorry about the very end; I forgot that you can't tilt the camera while taking a video. Oops.



Tom and Kay showing off Vernazza.


John and me.


Stage one of the Scholl European Extravaganza has finished. Here are the intrepid travelers waiting at the Monterosso train station for the ride back to Torino.


Next stop, Briancon, France!

Happy Birthdays!

Happy Birthday (June 2), Audrey! We're proud of you and hope you have a great day!


And a belated Happy Birthday to our two Texas boys, Jake (in April) and Andrew (a.k.a. 'Lurch'-in May). We know we missed posting on your guys' birthdays but we want you to know that we're thinking of you!


Love, John and Lindsey

Switzerland, Part 3: More Lucerne

In the afternoon, we took a boat trip. A round-trip ticket to a little village called Wegis (pron. Veh-gis) got us about an hour and a half out on the lake and some more views of Swiss German architecture.

Here's Lucerne from the water and other views along the way.


We don't see boathouses like this at the Lake of the Ozarks.


This is the type of boat we were on. As you'll see in the video, it has paddlewheels on both sides.





A Swiss-style chalet on Wegis.


There wasn't much to do in the village except wander around and play a giant game of chess.


More views around Lucerne.






A name you can trust (and I'm not referring to 'Schmuck')


Here's a good story:
That night, we wanted to get an authentic Swiss-style dinner and John had his heart set on fondue. So we found a good-looking restaurant and treated ourselves to a nice meal. The food was great and as we were eating, we fell into conversation with the couple at the table next to us. They were from Oklahoma; he was a federal judge and she was a retired counselor. We had a good time chatting with them about what we did and what they did. They even proudly showed us a picture of their grandkids--three adopted children from China! At the end of the meal, the waitress came and said she was pleased to inform us that our meal had been 'offered' (but she didn't say by whom). We were stunned. After a few more minutes of awkward conversation with our friends, we asked them if they were the ones who had done the offering. He graciously replied that he appreciated our studies and that they remembered what it was like to be young. Needless to say, we went away rejoicing at God's provision and both gratified and amazed at the generosity of others!

Me trying John's fondue.


And John trying John's fondue.


The bridge at night.


Some views from the train ride back.



So that's the end of our Switzerland trip. We had a wonderful time and were generously treated, both by the American couple and the Swiss themselves. We would highly recommend it to anyone!

Switzerland, Part 2: Lucerne

Welcome to Switzerland! As many of you know, we went to Lucerne, which is in the Germanic part of the country. Fortunately, everybody spoke English there.

This bridge was originally built in the 1300s. In the early 1990s, however, there was a terrible fire that destroyed the middle section (not including the tower). It's been beautifully restored, although if you look at the woodwork, you can tell which part is old and which part is new.


Our first encounter with Swiss inhabitants. John enjoyed feeding the swans, who are potentially the worst beggars in the animal kingdom. The other locals were very generous to us. One guy even bought us our bus tickets!


18th century paintings inside the covered bridge.


Here's John with the various towers of Lucerne behind him.


Our Bed and Breakfast was about a thirty minute bus drive from Lucerne. This was a good arrangement, since it allowed us to get out in the country a little bit. Here's a dairy barn.


Here's a little video of our walk on the way to dinner that first night.


Lindsey of the Alps!


House painting is big here: when was the last time you considered going with a baroque masterpiece theme for your exterior?


Or perhaps you would prefer some freaky Carnivale action?


John with Lucerne behind him. The old medieval walls are still accessible and you can follow them up to the towers that overlook the town.


This monument commemorates the 800 Swiss mercenaries who died defending Louis XVI in the French Revolution. If you look closely, you can see both the French shield with the fleur-di-lis and the Swiss shield with the cross.


That's it for Part One. Stay tune for Part 2, which includes an exciting boat ride!