Easter Road Trip

Thanks to a late Easter and the overlap of Liberation Day on April 25th our kids got a full week off of school this year for Easter break. The last time that happened was five years ago when we took a trip to Greece. We explored some different options of flying somewhere again but the prices weren't great for the places we wanted to go. Therefore, we expanded our options by looking at driveable destinations. We are blessed to have so many friends spread across the continent so it was an easy choice to decide to visit our mission colleagues and friends in Slovakia. It's only an 11-hour trip after all! Our Italian friends always look at us like we are crazy with our road trip adventures. We live a little over an hour from two bordering countries and some in our area have never stepped foot out of Italy. 

So much beauty to soak in on the drive

Pasquetta (little Easter) morning we loaded up and headed east making our way through Italy, Austria and finally Slovakia. We had a lot of holiday traffic around the northern lakes in Italy and then Luca got car sick which required cleanup so we didn't roll into a little village outside of Bratislava until around 9pm on Monday night. The long trip was so worth it as we were overjoyed to see our dear friends and immediately felt at home.

Our amazing friends and hosts - The Rice family
... and no that is not their house ;)

The weather was not very cooperative as it was cold and rainy most of the week. But this trip was more about our friends than sightseeing, so honestly spending our first day inside relaxing was a complete blessing. The kids went to the park before the rain came and then they played games and hung out all day, capped off with taco Tuesday dinner and more games. Coming off of a very busy period of ministry and then the long drive, Jonathan was really feeling the effects come Tuesday and had very little energy (later to discover that his new bottle of probiotics contained milk which he can't tolerate).

Spring in full bloom (pc: Samuel)

Fun at the park (pc: Samuel)

Park (pc: Samuel)

Wednesday we had hoped to tour a bit of Bratislava and a castle on our own, but that didn't happen as again Jonathan was still experiencing bad symptoms. Our kids got some homework done while their friends did some online schooling that day and then we all headed out for dinner in downtown Bratislava.

Bratislava Flag Ship Restaurant

We went to an amazing traditional Slovak restaurant and enjoyed some different foods, all covered in cream sauces. The food definitely had German influences and was heavier than our Italian traditional dishes.

"dumplings" topped with sour cream and bacon...yes, please

We then walked through Bratislava Old Town and along the Danube River waterfront before heading back home.

Locks of love

A Mexican watching over the pedestrians below ?? (pc: Samuel)

Old town square

"Man at Work" sculpture
A watcher coming out of a manhole

River cruise boats on the Danube

The final full day of our Eastern European vacation was spent across the border in Austria touring the city of Vienna.

The fields of canola were so stunning all along our drive (pc: Samuel)

Okay, I can go home now

lilac love

We started out our city visit with the Mozart museum that is located in the house where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived from 1784-1787. No pictures were allowed, but it was a wonderful experience full of imagination and awe as we learned and reflected on the life of the great composer.

Mozarthaus

Mozarthaus

Every musician's dream visit

We then ate our sack lunches under the shadow of the great St. Stephen's Cathedral. A visit inside was nearly impossible with crowds packed in like sardines. We have been in so many European churches over the years that it felt very much like many others. The uniqueness they do hold is the historical figures that have filled their great walls with preaching or music in centuries past. To me, that is always the most fascinating aspect of visiting cathedrals.

Stephansplatz

Beautiful architecture

St. Stephen's Cathedral
Behind the scaffolding, you can see the difference between the dirty and clean exterior

The backside of the cathedral

The tiled roof is gorgeous

Fueled up for leg two

Horses and carriages everywhere!

Trying to walk and snap pictures along our route

Entrance to the Imperial Hofburg Palace

The palace grounds are immense

Statue of Prince Eugene

With a little more energy for Jonathan than days previous we were able to also visit the Imperial Armoury and the Collection of Historic Musical Instruments in the Hofburg palace. We saw the most important collection of renaissance and baroque instruments in the world. And of course, what boy doesn't enjoy looking at swords, guns and armour from the 15-17th centuries?

Inside the Hofburg museum

The first emoji face

Lots of fortepianos

Glass harmonica...try playing that Jonathan Kleis!

The Vienna Opera House

The Rices and the Kleises are the nicest

My dear friend, Adele 

We did spend a lot of time inside museums but it is hard to pick and choose when you have essentially just a half day to visit a city like Vienna. We did not get to the famous royal palace and gardens outside the city, but that's okay. No doubt, we will cross paths with Vienna in the future.

pc: Samuel

As mentioned before, our goal for this trip was to see and visit the ministry location of our friends. We have known the Rice family for four years and their friendship has been such a huge source of encouragement to us. Our bonds just keep growing even across the miles and it is so sweet to see our kids laugh and have fun together. When you leave and the kids start to make comments like: "that was more fun than SHARE!" and "I have never laughed so hard" and "I miss the Rices"--you know it was a trip full of immeasurable blessing, joy and encouragement for our MKs. Thank you Rice family for making our Easter break memorable and refreshing! Love you guys and see you in February 2020!

Goodbye Slovakia