This is my fantastic friend, Julie, and I outside of the Château de Chantilly, a magnificent castle that is very reminiscent of Versailles. Julie lives just outside of Chantilly, and she was sweet enough to host us and be a fabulous tour guide for the few days we were with her. I wish we could have stayed longer! Also, this castle is known for their créme de Chantilly, which we Americans call "Whipped Cream." This is the real stuff though--the castle is famous for their specific homemade cream throughout Europe. I even spotted a mix for it in the supermarket here in Sevilla!
(ok, so I went overboard on that description--maybe you will be reading this post in 3 installments! Ha!)
Me and Ellie outside of the Fairytale Castle in Bavaria! We've wanted to go since our time in London sophomore year...and we finally made it. What a lovely day it was.
Salzburg! If you climb up quite a few stairs just past the old area of town, you reach a hilltop park with some gorgeous views of the whole city. I loved seeing the rooftops and spires of the city peaking through this really old "Burgerwehr." Love some German. ;)
In Salzburg, there was also a dwarf garden with oh so many interesting characters. Here's my favorite. One of the dwarfs is featured in Sound of Music!
Our next and last stop was to the Czech Republic, where we got to visit and catch up with Johnny and Annette Johnson, church friends from Faith. I still remember loving the Sunday school class that Annette taught back in the 3rd (I think?) grade, and it was wonderful to hear about their ministry in the Czech Republic. They were beyond-fantastic hosts, even in the midst of their busy lives, so I was taking notes about how I'd like to be some day. It was such a refreshing, encouraging 2 days, and I'm so glad they were up for us crashing their apartment! Behind us is the Archbishop's Château in Kromeriz, an impressive castle with beautiful gardens surrounding it. We headed back to Spain on Easter Sunday morning. And as the train pulled away from Otrokovice, the nearest station, it was snowing. Snowing on Easter Sunday!
After our whirlwind trip, I settled back into my workweek in Sevilla and we enjoyed a free weekend. I can't believe my time here is almost up, and there's so much more I could share. But I'll save it for another day. peace!
