Day in Venice

Today we spent the day in Venice. It is GORGEOUS! I would look at pictures and think that there is no way that it can be that pretty, but it really is. 

Venice is a city built on the water connected by bridges. Venice is famous for its glass and lace. They sell really unique and beautiful glass things such as jewelry, wine stoppers, coasters, etc. it's amazing the things they are able to do with the glass. There are lots of shops in Venice that sell things unique to the city, but there are also shops with designer brands. There is also lots of tempting bakeries. 

One of the things that we knew we had to try while we were at Venice was the gondole rides. The gondole takes you around the water and let's you see the city. It was so peaceful and beautiful. The ride even took us by where Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie filmed the movie The Tourist. 

We really loved seeing Venice. It is such a beautiful and unique city and has delicious food! 

Ciao for now!

Venice 

On the gondole!

Florence

Today we went all around Florence. It's very historic. They have a law that no buildings can be renovated, and all buildings have to have a similar design, and they must all be the same color. They go to great lengths to preserve the history of the city. They had a ton of markets (which I love!). Florence is known for good quality leather.

 We walked to the first orphanage built in the city. There was a special place on the window pane for women to drop their children off. They would leave the baby on the window, ring a bell and runaway so the nuns wouldn't see the moms when they picked up the children. The parents would leave personal tokens with the babies. The children would keep these tokens for the rest of their lives, so if their parents ever tried to find them, they could recognize them by the token. Today, the orphanage is a museum. 

It's very hot here, close to 100 degrees, which is kind of making it feel like home. It rained for about an hour in the afternoon, which cooled things down. While we were walking we saw witnesses doing met witnessing. They just started met witnessing in July. It's been hard to get it going because they're required to have at least one brother, someone who speaks English, and one person who speaks Italian, and a lot of brothers and sisters are on vacation. It was so cool to see the stand in the city! 

View of Florence 

The window where people would leave their kids at the orphanage 

Met witnessing 

Ciao from Italy!

We arrived in Italy at 9 this morning. Italy is so neat! We are staying with this really nice couple and this one sister is showing us around during the day. Everyone is so nice!

We took the train into Florence and went to the English meeting there. The hall there is really cool because it is a big building with 4 different rooms to have the meetings. So 4 different meetings can be going on at once! The English congregation has 37 publishers, 9 pioneers, 4 elders, and 4 ministerial servants. They get a lot of visitors so they normally have a lot of people there. Today there was 16 people visiting from America! Most were from California but 2 of them were from Canada. Almost all of them were staying here for an average of 3-6 months. 

After the meeting we started to tour some of Florence. Florence is such a big city and its so neat because you can look to the left and it's beautiful mountains, but then you look to the right and it's this huge city. Florence is filled with art and history. I can't wait to see some more of it tomorrow! Afterwards we went to a brother and sisters house for some dinner. The food here is out of this world! 

View of Florence 

The American sisters visiting the Florence English congregation

Mystan mountain

Today was our last day in Switzerland. Kim and Daniel said we could do whatever we wanted, so we chose to go hiking. We had to get up at 6:00 to leave at 6:30, because otherwise it would've been too hot. The mountain we went to was 1900m high! It was a super steep climb. At times the path got narrow, and it looked liked you could fall off the other side. But the views at the top were worth every step we had to take. You could see Switzerland, Germany and France from the top of the mountain. On a clearer day we also would've been able to see Hungary and Italy. After the hike we went back to the house for lunch, then went swimming at the lake. We're getting ready to finish packing for Italy. Our train leaves tomorrow at 1:40. I'm going to miss everybody in Switzerland so much! I'm not sure if I'll have wifi in Italy, but if I do, I'll be sure to continue updating the blog! 

Lots of love, 

Rachel and becca 

Mystan (believe me, it's a lot bigger in person) 

Top of the mountain 

The final countdown

I can't believe that we are reaching the end of our trip! It has gone by so fast. Mandy left yesterday, so now it's only Becca and I. We had such a great time with her and we already miss her. We leave for Italy on Saturday then leave to come back home the next Saturday. 

After dropping Mandy off at the airport yesterday we drove out to Kim's in laws house which is right on the border of Germany and Switzerland. They have a beautiful house that is 300 years old and a ton of land. While we were there we went over to Germany and did some shopping. Germany is a lot like Switzerland, but the stuff there is cheaper     . Then today we went to this town in Switzerland that is over 500 year old! The town is so neat, all of the buildings are built with timber and have really neat features. On the outside of some of them there is a painting that tells a story. One of the buildings even has a biblical story painted on the outside of it! Then Kim took us up to the castle where they got married. It was gorgeous! It's on the top of a mountain and if you look to the right you see Germany but if you look to the left you see Switzerland. The castle was built in the 11th century and has cobblestone floors. 

All of that was so neat to see, but I have to say the highlight of my day was going to the German meeting. Mind you, I don't speak any German, but everyone there was incredibly nice and helpful! Becca and I even gave a comment! We commented in English then the brother conducting would translate. Currently they are meeting in the basement of a warehouse. This has been their temporary meeting place for 10 years now. The congregation has 60 publishers, 7 elders, and 5 ministerial servants. There was actually 2 congregations meeting there because this week a lot of people have off work so they weren't sure how many people would show up. They just got the land to build a new hall. It was hot and there is no ac, but no one was complaining. This experience taught me so much. I was really able to see how we are all united in Jehovah's organization no matter what part of the world we are from or what language we speak. 

I can't wait to see everyone again! Only 9 more days!!

The buildings with the paintings on the outside 

The view from the top of the castle 

The Kingdom Hall 

Lake cauma

Today we went to the cauma lake. I can't even describe how beautiful it was. The view was breathtaking. Its how i picture paradise.  We had to take a little hike to a glass elevator that took us down to the lake. It was surrounded by mountains, which made the temperature about 10 degrees cooler. Some of the mountains were even topped with snow! But it was still very hot. We packed a picnic for lunch that consisted of potato salad with salmon and carrot salad. The water was a little cold, but once we fully emerged ourselves it wasn't that bad. We swam out to docks to lay out on. At around 5 we decided to head back to Kim's house. It's about time for us to hit the hay for another fun filled day tomorrow! 

Back to Switzerland!

Sorry we haven't updated this in a few days! 

We left Paris and flew back into Switzerland Saturday afternoon. We had a blast while we were in Paris and are all ready for fun week in Switzerland. We went to this really neat lake about 5 minutes from Kim's house Saturday afternoon and Sunday. It was so beautiful and relaxing and they had a great running trail. The weather is surprisingly warm (in the high 80s) so the lake was very refreshing. It was such a nice way to relax after a busy week in Paris. We just swam in the lake, read our books, and chilled. 

Today we went to a town called Rupperswil. It's a cute old town about 15 minutes from Kim's house. We got to ride over on a boat and see some gorgeous views. We went to a zoo there and got to do fun things such a ride an elephant, see a sea lion show, and feed the animals. Then we went over to this castle that was built in the year 1250!! It was so neat to see and had the most amazing views! After that we got some delicious gelato (Switzerland has the best chocolate and ice cream) it was so creamy and smooth 😋

This trip has gone by so fast. We are all having a blast! We love and miss you all! 

The lake where we went swimming 

View of Rupperswil on the boat 

The castle

The Louvre

Wow, I don't even know how to begin the blog for today! We did so much. This morning we went to a market near our apartment. It had everything you could think of. Fresh fruit, fish, chicken, clothes, jewelry etc. After a little shopping at the market we went to the louvre. I'm not an artsy fartsy kind of person, but I really liked the louvre. They had so many famous pieces of art... They even had napoleons apartment. It was really cool to see the Mona Lisa. We walked around a beautiful garden that was across from the louvre. After that we went to a bakery called Angelina's (it was Audrey hepburn's and coco Chanel's favorite... so ive heard). Next we went to visit Lafayette. It's a HUGE shopping mall with very nicely decorated ceilings and walls. The whole thing looks like an amazing piece of art. They had very expensive stores (Chanel, Gucci, Tiffany etc) so needless to say, I didn't get anything from there. We went to the top of the building, which has a balcony that overlooks the whole city. For dinner we went to a cafe near the Eiffel Tower. We really wanted to see the Eiffel Tower light up, but it doesn't start getting dark until 10, so we sat on a bench a people watched for a while, then went to another market near the Eiffel Tower and got some ice cream. It was worth it to see the Eiffel Tower light up. I wish I could attach the video I took of it. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen! Well that's all for now! 

Lots of love, 

Rachel, Becca and Mandy

The inside of Lafayette 

This poor artist forgot to put a head on his sculpture, so I helped him improvise 

Outside of the louvre   

The garden 

Disney!!

Today we went Disneyland in Paris! It's a lot different from the one in Florida. This one has sleeping beauty's castle, and not as many rides, but it was still awesome. I would compare to Busch gardens: it has two or three big roller coasters but a lot of attractions. But it was so cool. I was really thrown off to hear all the princesses sparking French. I got to fulfill my lifelong dream of meet Peter Pan. They had a lot of really cool shops at Disney. For dinner we came back to the apartment. I had a Nutella and banana crepe (to say it was amazing would be an understatement). We're resting up for another great day tomorrow. I thinks it's safe to say we're all in love with this city. 

Much love, 

Rachel, becca and Mandy

Shop til you drop

Today we took the bus to a huge shopping district near the arc de triomphe. All of the stores there were so big and fancy! The Abercrombie and Fitch was huge. It had big gates and a nice walkway leading up to the store. It was ridiculous. We were also able to go to a lot of boutiques. We went to a nice restaurant for dinner then got ice cream and macaroons.  

All of the shops here are really neat. They have some of the same shops that we have back in America, but mainly the fancy ones like Louis vitton, sephora, Gucci, Abercrombie, and shops such as that. But they also had a lot of shops that we don't have and some super cute little boutiques. 

After we finished shopping we toured some more of the city. We were able to see where they setting up for the tour dr France, which is coming through town on Sunday. 

The gate to get into Abercrombie (guarded by some of their models)

The arc de triomphe  

Paris is always a good idea...

We flew into Paris last night making today our first official day in Paris. Paris is so cool! There is so much to do here. 

We're staying in an Appartment in the city. It's a super cute Appartment, it had a bed, pull out couch, kitchen, bathroom, and balcony. 

To start off the day we went by a bakery and got crepes (they were delicious! I got mine filled with nutella 😋). We booked a double decker tour bus for today And tomorrow. I would highly recommend this for anyone traveling. It takes you all around the city and you can get on and off as you please. There are headphones that you can put in and listen to a guided tour, which is actually very helpful because it tells you where all the neat places are. 

On the bus we went past a lot of really neat historic buildings such as the louver, noter dame, the arc de triomphe, and a beautiful giant opera house. They were so neat to see. We got off the tour to see the Eiffel Tower, locks of love bridge, gardens, museums, and of course a bakery to get macaroons. 

Paris is so beautiful and historic. It's like no where else we have ever been before. There is so much history behind everything and all the buildings are truly a piece of work.

Locks of love bridge 

The Eiffel Tower 

And of course a delicious bakery!

District convention

Sorry we haven't been able to update the blog! I'm sure everybody knows we've been at the district convention. Most restaurants don't even open until 7pm so we've been getting back late and having to wake up early.  The convention was amazing!! It was so different to experience it in another country. It was so encouraging to meet so many new brothers and sisters with such different backgrounds. 56 brothers and sisters were baptized. All of the speakers did such a good jobs delivering the talks. There were people from all over the world: Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, England, Australia, Africa etc. I loved hearing everybody's stories, and what they had to go through to come in the truth.  there were there different language sections; English, French and Portuguese. The French had a sign language section. 

One of the nights after the session we went to a French restaurant and I ordered rabbit... It was DELICIOUS. I won't say much more about the convention because I don't want to give anything away for people who haven't gone to theirs yet. 

We arrived in Paris today. I love this city, it's so cool, and so far it's been pretty easy to navigate. We had dinner at a really  cute cafe. Well it's late now so we're heading off to bed. Goodnight! 

Rachel, Rebecca and Mandy 

With some friends at the convention 

Rabbit for dinner! 

Larissa, Sussie and Sonia 

  

First day in Geneva

Today we took the train for about 3 hours over to Geneva. We are here for the district convention, but today we just walked around the city. It is so neat here! It's very city like with tall buildings, lots of hotels, restaurants, shops, and a big beautiful lake right in the middle of it all. We saw some witnesses passing out invitations, so they gave us some of their extras. There was a man dressed up like a statue with a jar for tips, so becca put an invitation in his jar. Hopefully he comes! 

We met up with two pioneer sisters named Larissa and Aileen. They were very nice and showed us all around the city. 

We are staying at a hostel in the city tonight. It is a very neat experience and feels very European. The rooms are very tiny (only room for a bunk bed, twin size bed, and sink... I'll attach a picture below) and everyone on your floor shares the same bathroom (which consist of two women's stalls, two men stalls, and two showers). 

The restaurants here are very expensive. The average plate is about 30 franks a plate ( I'm not sure the exact conversion but I'm guessing its about $35... Just a guess). So it's hard not to spend a lot of money on meals. 

It's so nice here. Everyone is very friendly and speaks English... Or at least tries to even if they don't know it very well. We miss you all!!! 

Rachel, Rebecca, and Mandy

The two sisters we are with, Larissa and Aileen 

Us in Geneva 

Our hostile room 

Chocolate day

Today we went Lindt chocolate factory. It was AMAZING!! I'll be bringing lots of chocolate back. I wish I would've bought an extra suitcase because I could easily fill it with 50lbs of chocolate. They have so many different varieties (whiskey, red chili, champagne etc). Even though Lindt chocolate is in America it taste creamier here because they only feed their cows grass and American cows get feed a bunch of grains. Somebody needs to help me because I can not stop eating all this chocolate! 

When I first started planning this trip I decided I was going to learn a little German, French and Italian, because I didn't want to fulfill the typical American stereotype. But I didn't end up learning any of those languages (I know, very American of me) so the boys having been trying to teach us some German, but it sound weird with our American accents. The boys just end up rolling on the floor laughing. They keep making us say silly phrases, but we dont know any better and just repeat what they tell us to say. After dinner we went on a beautiful walk and saw the sunset. I'll attach some pictures below. I almost feel guilty taking pictures, because they do this place no Justice. Its beautiful.

We leave tomorrow for the convention, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to update the blog. We're having a blast 

Lots of love 

Rachel Rebecca and Mandy 

The first 24 hours

Hi everyone!!

So we have officially survived our first 24 hours in Europe. We love it so much! It's so gorgeous. At times it almost looks fake. 

We went to Kim's lake house today which is right in the middle of the Swiss alps. It was so pretty and peaceful. We went to the lake (the water was so cold!) and then played some beach volleyball. Afterwards we came home for dinner and made some cheese fondue.

We love you all and miss you! Only 25 more days till we are back home

And we're off ✈

We're finally all settled in the airport! We can't believe the day is finally here. It's hasn't really hit any of us yet that we're leaving. We heard some amazing accents while going through costums 😍. Don't get me wrong we'll miss everybody like crazy, but I think brad paisley says it best "I can't see this world unless I go outside my southren comfort zone". We take off at 5:55 and will arrive 2am American time (8am in Switzerland). We'll miss you all!! Lots of love 

Rachel Rebecca and Mandy