Cheyney and Ryan's Blog: October 2021

Sunday, October 31, 2021

OCTOBER 2021

It is crazy to look back on our schedule:

Bulgaria Sept 22-27

Barcelona Sept 30- Oct 3

San Antonio Oct 4- Oct 7 (fly out) get in Oct 8

Austria Oct 8- Oct 12

While the Harshbargers watched out kiddos, Ryan and I flew off to Barcelona. We started our out with a bike tour of the city.

Many buildings are by the Catalan architect and designer, Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926). Below is Casa Mila or La Pedrera (the stone quarry). On its facade, you can see skeletons.

Picasso museum

We had several photos of Wendy on her mission that Ryan tried to recreate.

We were ready for bed in our hotel room and Ryan said, "Let's go out!"

We got this yummy egg dish, Tortilla Espanola, that Wendy recommended.

Park Guell on Carmel Hill

Gaudí unleashed all his architectonic genius and put to practice much of his innovative structural solutions that would become the symbol of his organic style and that would culminate in the creation of the Sagrada Familia.

I bought 4 pairs of earrings at the top of the hill to give as Christmas presents and keep for myself.

We felt like we were in a game of Candyland. Everything was so ornate.

This is where Wendy lived when she served her mission here.

This amazing building is a hospital. We got some snacks and enjoyed the views.

We then went to Sagrada Familia. The price to get in was steep and we had to get them online ahead of time. I fumbled with my cell phone trying to reserve tickets while Ryan talked with the missionaries.

Oh my goodness, am I so glad that I went inside and just by chance it was evening and the sun was shining in the stain glass windows making the most beautiful rainbows. This church has been in the process of being built for the last 140 years and it is still not finished! On the outside it looks like a hairy spider.

On the outside there are very different styles of statues decorating the facade. One side depicts Christ's birth with very round and curvy statues. Rick Steves tells about how Gaudi gets a prisoner to pose for the soldier that is killing babies after King Harrod makes the decree. Gaudi also used a dead fetus to help him in sculpting.

On the opposite side of the building are pointy and square statues depicting Christ's death.

The 12 towers symbolize the apostles, 4 are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, one is Mary the mother of God, and the tallest is Jesus Christ. I love that every inch is symbolic.

Spain does have such yummy food.

That evening we were off to the opera house to watch Flamenco Dancers.

Then we went out for a delicious dinner in the perfect ambiance of a shade of another cathedral.

We were leaving the next morning but thought we could squeeze in one more view if we woke up early and ran up the hill.

Leaving our hotel

Here are all of the pictures Ryan replicated of Wendy when she was here for her mission:

And then I was off to San Antonio to stay with Becky and get eyes on our new house as we were about to close. It was so great to see Becky. She is pregnant!!! She just found out that she has the BRCA gene and was going to need a hysterectomy. She was going to be tested and was asked if there was a possibility that she could be pregnant. They weren't necessarily "trying" but sure enough, GOD wanted them to have one more child. Of course, we picked up right where we left off. We got Torchy's Tacos and Bar-b-que and ice cream at the Pearl.

The house looked great. Crazy to think that this will be our home.

Our two Stitches and getting ready for Halloween

As soon as I got back from San Antonio, we were on the road to Oetz, Austria with the Harshbargers.

Rachael found a great house in the Alps. We got in late that night and then the next day we took a funicular up to the top of the mountain. In the winter, this is a ski resort but now it has a fun playground, a restaurant, and amazing sites.

Oetz

The next day we went on a little hike to a lake.

We left the kids with screens and each other and went out to eat.

Nice to have adult time and yummy food.

Ryan and I woke up at sunset the next morning to hike along the river. They were having a kayaking competition along the rapids. It was so lovely to soak in nature and have the whole place to ourselves.

On the drive home, we stopped to see the Neuschwanstein castle. They blocked off the bridge where you get the best photos but we were able to hike up and around it. This was my 3rd time here and it is so iconic and impressive.

We made one more stop along the way in Ulm. Ulm Minster or Ulmer Munster is currently the tallest church in the world. Sam had learned about it in his humanities class and could get extra credit for visiting it. It was closed but we walked around the city, got some food, and visited a monument to Albert Einstein. He was born here on June 21, 1880. (He only spent 15 months of his life here and died in the Princeton in the USA on April 18, 1955.)

Rachael and I went to antique market in Metz France and had so much fun buying treasures.

I am sad that I started going at the end of our time here but our bank account is probably happy.

One last trip to our favorite church in the oasis of trees.

Ryan and I got the kids off to school and booked it over to the Mosel River for one last ride. This truly is one of our favorite places and things to do.