“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies
announce what his hands have made. Day after day they tell the story; night
after night they tell it again.” Psalm 19:1-2
This has been an epic summer of traveling for me and I have been
reminded day after day of God’s glory on this earth. One of the many things I
love about Mercy Ships is that I’ve met friends from all over the world on the
ship. And in the last several months I’ve had the opportunity to visit some of
those friends, see new sights and fill up my soul. It’s been an incredible
adventure and I feel compelled to share.
I left the ship at the end of May once the hospital closed, with my friend Deb, and headed down to South Africa visiting Johannesburg,
Cape Town and Victoria Bay on the Garden Route. We went on an overnight safari
in a national park a few hours outside Johannesburg and on the ride out of the city
our tour guide told us all about the city and it's surrounding areas. We saw
independent settlements (the politically correct word for shanty towns or
slums) crammed together, rust iron roofs held down with old tires, power lines
strung like spider webs in between and no running water. The distance between rich and poor was very
plain to see there as well as in Cape Town. In West Africa, where I’ve spent
most of the last 3 years, the majority of people are poor yet that somehow
seems easier to witness than this. It made me wonder what West Africa will look
like in 20 years as those countries continue to develop, how much change I’ll
see in Africa over my life time and how I will be a part of it.
In Cape Town we stayed with a physical Therapist from the
ship and her family. We saw beautiful
beaches, sea life, PENGUINS, and even did a little wine tasting.
In a small town near Victoria Bay we visited an Ostrich farm
where we learned all about Ostriches then got to feed and RIDE them!
From South Africa we went up to Ireland. We flew from the bottom
of the world to the top in virtually the same time zone. We spent a few days in
Galway (West Ireland) before heading up to Northern Ireland. It’s hard to see in photos just how huge the cliffs of Moher
are (700 feet high and stretch for 5 miles along the Atlantic coast). The
cliffs consist of Namurian shale and sandstone and although I didn’t see them,
there are 300 million year-old river channels cutting through the cliffs. Fun
fact, the cliffs of Moher are the same as The Cliffs of Insanity in The
Princess Bride.
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| The Cliffs of Moher |
In Northern Ireland we stayed with the most amazing host, my
friend Jane, and her 2 sisters. And
another friend flew over for a few days from England. We had an awesome time
exploring together.
One day Jane took us to her family farm and we got to see places
dear to her heart. It was beautiful to get a glimpse into her life.
I also didn’t realize what trouble still faces Belfast and
the rest of Northern Ireland with the Protestant and Catholic divide. It was
quite the education to learn about all that still goes on there, and
heartbreaking to see.
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| The Peace Wall |
One afternoon we went out to see where the Titanic was
built. My interest in ships has grown tremendously since I began living on one,
as you can imagine.
We spent a few days in Dublin with our friend Mary before we
had to say goodbye to Ireland and I enjoyed one of my favorite drinks, Baileys
Cappuccino. What better place to have it than Ireland, creator of Baileys Irish
Cream.
A hop across the ocean and we landed in London, where we put
our walking shoes on and enjoyed the sights. We stayed with another amazing host and got
to catch up with lots of Mercy Shippers while we were there. I almost wore out the soles of my shoes walking so much:)
We said goodbye to friends in London and headed off to Paris
via the Eurostar and before the day was over we were up the Eiffel Tower
watching the sunset and checking out spectacular views.
We spent a day at the Palace of Versailles, and my
goodness there was so much to see. The gardens were beautiful and went
on for miles. We were in Paris less than 48 hours, but fit A LOT into that
time.
We decided to take an overnight train from Paris to Italy in
an effort to save money on a hotel, and let me just tell you about that
experience. I’ll start by saying I’ll never do it like that again! We slept in
a 6 berth, which we thought would be fine considering we’ve slept in 6 berths
on the ship for years. They were stacked 3 tall and the space was tiny, we were
disturbed by sniffer dogs in the middle of the night, and woke several other
times between 2 and 4 am, and I got maybe 2 hours of sleep. It was a
unique experience though, and makes for a good story now.
The overnight train took us to Venice where we ditched our
warm cloths for short sleeves and flip flops. I loved the slower pace of
Venice, with no traffic except the boats on the canals. We met up with more
friends from the ship and wandered the streets looking at Murano glass,
drinking coffee, eating pizza and soaking up the sights until we were so turned
around we couldn’t find our way back home. They say you should get lost at least
once in Venice. We managed to do it multiple times in our 2 days there. Venice was one of my favorite places of the
entire trip! It was everything I had imagined it to be and more.
We stayed at a beautiful mountainside hotel in Cinque Terre
where we had the most breathtaking view of the ocean and two small villages
below us. Manarola on one side and Corniglia on the other. For 4 days we explored 5 little coastal
villages with more Mercy Ships friends and hiked the mountainsides in between.
It was always a surprise what we’d find around each corner in this peaceful
little part of Italy.
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| The view from our hotel |
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| Manarola |
I found myself savoring little glimpses of God's goodness and His majesty everywhere I went in Italy, so thankful for the gift of beauty and nature!
The last shuttle picked up in Manarola every night at 7:40
and went to the top of the mountain where our hotel sat and it was our goal to
be on that shuttle every night. One day, however, we had so much fun hiking
with our friends we lost track of time and got back just a few minutes too
late. We had to climb 1,095 stairs and walk a few streets to the top. We got
there out of breath and exhausted, but were greeted at the hotel with the
tastiest cup of hot chocolate and a magnificent sunset.
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| The stairs |
Next stop, Florence. The Cathedral Duomo was HUGE and
couldn’t even fit into one frame. We
even found a bridge that had shops built into it’s sides, which was once
common.
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| The Ponte Veccio bridge |
From Florence we headed through Tuscany to San Gimignano, a
small, walled, medieval village on top of a hill, known as the Town of Fine
Towers. San Gimignano is famous for its medieval architecture and uniquely
preserved tower houses. It was so nice
being in the country for a few days. Rolling hills and vineyards for as far as
the eye could see, a 360 degree view of natural beauty.
From San Gimignano we traveled to Rome for a 24 hour (SHORT)
visit. I took a tour of the Colosseum which has always been on my bucket list, then did a hop on hop off bus tour of the city.
Then it was off to Santorini, Greece where we were picked up from the airport by the most hospitable
hotel owner I think I’ve ever met and taken to our hotel for the next 5 nights.
They took great care of us and went above and beyond to make sure we had
everything we needed and had a great stay. It was a small, family owned hotel
and it was so fun to watch the entire family work together taking care of their
guests. We stayed in Fira town which had the most stunning views! The greek styled
architecture was so unique and picturesque.
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| I rode a donkey! |
Last port of call was Athens, where we surprised two of our
friends who were flying over to start their summer vacation with a mutual
friend of ours. This has been the year for surprises for me and it’s been so
fun. I loved getting to catch up with these girls and discover Athens together.
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| Temple of Zeus |
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| The first modern day olympic stadium |
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| The Parthenon at the Acropolis |
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| One of my daily Greek Salads |
And then it was time to go home to America. I’ve been in Texas for 3 weeks now and my time at home has
been almost as much of an adventure as my travels around Europe. I floated the
river with my family and some great friends, babysat 3 of my favorite kiddos
for a day, visited a few first world hospitals (not as a patient), and had many
great conversations, catching up on the last several years with old
friends.
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| My high school reunion was this summer |
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| floating the river |
It's been an incredible summer and I've been reminded over and over how rich my life really is. My heart is overflowing as I look back on the last several months. But it's time to say goodbye again, and head back to my ship home in West Africa. Please join me in praying for those countries affected by the Ebola virus and pray for protection over the ship as we sail into Benin in a few weeks and set up for our next field service.
