“Il bel far niente”

We had our first experience taking an overnight train from Cap d'Ail to Rome, Italy, and we highly recommend it. We quickly figured out that trains are the easiest, usually cheapest and most comfortable way to travel across Europe, if you have the time as they take a bit longer than planes. Our room consisted of 2 bunk beds and a sink with towels provided. After boarding, the train attendants came by with bottles of water, THEN in the morning, we received cappuccino and a croissant. You'd never get these free amenities flying!



We safely arrived the next morning and metro-ed to the apartment that we rented out for the week, which was near the Vatican. As we mentioned in the last post, we wanted to spend our time in Rome leisurely. So we found a great apartment with a full kitchen, terrace, living room, dining room, bedroom and bath. It fit us like a glove and we became Romans for 10 days.



During the week, we split our time between reading, writing, walking and site seeing. We had picked up a great book while in France called “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert. She had spent 4 months in Rome learning Italian and embracing the culture. This book helped us to understand the Italian way of life as well as understand our own inability as Americans to rest and where that is rooted. We learned the difference between entertainment/amusement versus enjoyment. Beyond that we learned much more about beauty and that it doesn't necessarily take riches to have and enjoy beauty. The Italians successfully achieve both enjoyment and beauty, and they have a phrase for this “Il bel far niente” (the beauty of doing nothing) and “L’arte d’arrangiarsi” (the art of making something out of nothing).





The best times were sitting at a cafe in a piazza drinking cappuccinos and watching the Italians at their best. One of our favorite moments was witnessing two teenagers living up to the stereotype of Roman PDA (public display of affection) as they made out for at least 20 minutes in the middle of a busy piazza. When you're 14 and in Rome it doesn't take much to look like a Casanova!



Food was a main focus during our week. We had a small supermarket near out apartment where we picked up fresh ingredients everyday to make dinner. We enjoyed using the authentic italian ingredients such as mozzarella balls, fresh tomatoes, mushrooms and amazing pastas. Of course we made sure to enjoy some gelato everyday too!





We were able to meet up with a friend of Max and Kate Finberg, Michelle Faccinelli. Michelle, originally from Maryland, moved to Rome seven years ago and is in love with Rome. She helped us to experience the “untouristy” side of Rome. We went with her to a prayer service at her church, which the church dates back to 400 A.D. and was a place where St. Francis visited when he came to Rome. The community there was very vibrant and kept a spirit of St. Francis alive in their concern for the poor, peace, and reconciliation.

Fortunately our trip coincided with Ron's 30th birthday! We celebrated by dining at an outdoor cafe overlooking the Pantheon. Ron felt very loved in the whole experience and was very thankful for all the birthday wishes.





We toured some of the sites but we felt free to leave more to explore on our next trip. We were glad to slow down and really slide into the Italian pace and culture.



Love,
Kathryn and Ron


P.S. Lessons Learned in Rome - The Tourist vs. The Sojourner

By: Ron Ivey

In the last two months of traveling the Old World, there has been this battle between two personalities within me. One is the Tourist. He is fully a citizen of his own country, in this case an American. In his mind swirl the list of places to see, things to buy and pictures to take of himself to ensure that he has done the good job of a tourist. If he can return with the right stories, the best pictures and the confidence that he saw the Louvre in Paris, the Tower in London, and the Colleseum in Rome, he is good, he is righteous and he is ultimately earned his trip and the laudes of his friends and family. He walks the streets of the Old World, comparing every detail to home and thinking of clever ways to report his travels. His guide is the tour book, with all the “best places” to see, each with their ranking and American perspecitive. If the trip nears it's end and the key sites are not checked off the list, this sense of responsibilty grips him. He begins to calculate the hours and the minutes left to see if he can make one last visit or buy one more chotchky. His is an experience of fear of missing the important sites mixed with the anticlimatic feeling of underwhelment once he has seen the sites. For the sites are never quite what the guidebooks say and the culture never quite lives up to his expectations.

The other man, is the Sojourner, the pilgrim. He approaches the trip with a sense of wonder and expectancy. As Bob Dylan would say, he is a citizen “of altered conciousness of reality...some liberated republic” looking for his country. He has no list of sites, but rather desires deep in heart to hear, see, touch, taste and smell what is different and new. He is fully comfortable not knowing every detail of the trip. He knows that the best adventures aren't planned. His favorite elements of the trips are the suprise friendships and conversations with locals and fellow travelers. The sites, if they have history or are places of spiritual significance, are less important as pictures and more important as part of his story. He connects with the saints of Ireland, feels their passion for God's creation and the simplicity of life enjoyed in love. Every artifcact, ruin and landscape has a story with colorful characters. He imagines the battles and the speeches as if he were a participant. Most importantly, he recogines the importance of learning more about his traveling partner and her journey of faith and discovery. Her experience of grace and creativity becomes part of his story and vice versa. They learn to believe as children believe. They remember the fairytales together.

Sunshine and Raindrops on the Blue Coast

We arrived in Nice, France and headed to pick up our rental car to head to our final destination Cap d'Ail, a small town 2 miles outside of Monaco.

Cap d'Ail was not initially a planned stop in our journey. When we had mentioned our trip to our friends, the Bauers, it worked out that Brian had a timeshare with his company in Cap d'Ail that wasn't being used, so he graciously offered it to us. This was a huge blessing for our dwindling budget.





During the week, we probably experienced some of the most extreme highs and lows of the trip. A few of the days we were blessed with full sunshine and temperatures in the low 60s. We had a lot of fun driving along the three corniches, high mountain roads, that carried you on the cliff's edge towering above the Mediterranean (you felt like a race car driver zooming around a track). At the end of one of these corniches was a small town called Menton that was situated next to the Italian border. It was our favorite spot where we sat for hours at oceanfront cafes enjoying our cafe creme and reading, writing, and people watching. Per the recommendation of the Dufoixs, Ron tried a seafood specialty called Coquille- St. Jacques, served in a seashell. It was one of Ron's favorite dishes on the trip.



We did have a few low days as rain came in for 3 consecutive days and Ron came down with a bad stomach virus. We consented that it was the raw sea snails he ate on accident due to our poor French! Whatever you do, do not order BOULETS when you are in France!!!! One night we were really struggling with sickness and travel weariness, and we were close to packing up and heading home early. However, we decided to call our life line, Tim Shirk, to help us. We took his advice to slow down, make a longer stay of our next trip, and to really do all the things we wouldn't have time to do once we are back home, i.e. read, write, sit, pray, eat slow meals, and do nothing – we learned more about this 'doing nothing' while we were in Italy. We'll explain later!

Looking back, the week was perfect, just what we needed. If you're gonna be run down and sick, you might as well experience it in a beautiful place!

Our Italian update will be coming soon!

Much love,
Kathryn and Ron

Reunited Friends and New Friends in Marseille

We were sad to say goodbye to the Dufoixs, but our next stop was to meet up with our friend, Whitley Worthington. Whitley has been serving a short term mission position down in Marseille, a large port city off the coast of Southern France. This was a fortunate opportunity as Whitley and Kathryn are close friends from college and our trip overlapped with her time in France.



Whitley had arranged for us to stay with Keith and Patti Moore, a couple originally from Annapolis, MD , who have been in Marseille the past 3 years doing mission work. A dynamic duo, we quickly discovered their amazing gift of hospitality. Also, they were both very encouraging in our travels and had provided great insight for our lives back in DC. Again, we were overwhelmed with the gift of these new friends. We instantly clicked and we hope to visit them soon when they return to the states in March.

As soon as we arrived, we jetted off to lunch at a French hotel/restaurant management school. Our meals were cooked by student chefs and served by student waiters. It was quite the experience! The food was delicious, and we were entertained as we watched the students nervously serve us as their “quintessential plump and proper” instructor looked over their shoulder verbally correcting and grading them. At the end of our meal they served a classic French pastry, "Galette des Rois," to celebrate the Epiphany.





After lunch, Whitley took us through a short tour of Marseille as we climbed to the highest point of the city, the Basilique Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde. As the city is a working-class port town, it still has a charm to it with its beauty all around and in the city: the red slated roofs, the aqua-blue Mediterranean, the rocky Calanques, and the cobble-stoned, meandering streets. From our view from the top of the basilica, we could see the infamous Chateau D'If, which was the prison where the Count of Monte Cristo was held in the novel. Whitley also introduced us to an excellent new beer, Desperado!





On our last day in Marseille, Patti and Whitley took us to a small village nearby called Cassis. It was a gorgeous day with no clouds in sight, and the Mediterranean was shimmering like an aqua-marine gem. This was definitely a treat! We enjoyed a great meal of cafe-au-lait and crepes filled with cheese and various meats. Ron enjoyed taking pictures while Kathryn, Whitley and Patti shopped in the local stores selling provencal goodies.





It was difficult to leave Marseille as we had to tell Whitley and our new friends, the Moores, goodbye. The community and fellowship we experienced over those few days in Marseilles were much needed and we left feeling alive! We boarded our train to head to the Cote D'Azur......

La Vie en Vin

After Paris, we left by train and headed down to Nimes to visit our new friends, Georgina and Antoine Dufoix. We had only met through email, so we were anxious to finally meet in person! We were pleasantly surprised to learn that they lived on a vineyard right outside of Nimes, and as we pulled off the road to their home, we were greeted by a long stretch of dirt road guarded by tall, canopied trees on both sides of the road. We had arrived at Chateau Montroche.





During our stay at the Dufoixs, we throughly enjoyed our time experiencing a “true” French, rural lifestyle. Our days consisted of eating large, hardy lunches around their cozy round table in the kitchen, touring the vineyard, tasting a selection of French liquors as an aperitif before dinner, and then long conversations over a light dinner.



Antoine treated us to a tour of the vineyard including the wine cellar where we were able to taste the wine right out of the spicket. He also explained how to properly “taste” wine – it's with the eye, then the nose, and then the mouth. You then spit it out!





We also learned a bit of the Dufoix history as both Antoine and Georgina had roots in Nimes dating back 700 years! The property itself had buildings that were from the medieval period. Antoine shared with us the history of the area by taking us into Nimes and showing us the Roman colosseum and to see the famous Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman aqueduct. Nearby the aqueducts there were massive gnarled olive trees that were about 1100 years old!





Our time with the Dufoixs was rich in conversation and company. We enjoyed sharing our lives with each other and establishing a new friendship that will continue even when we head home across the pond.

PS. You can purchase Chateau Montroche wine in DC at Pearson's Wine on Wisconsin Ave.

Love,
Kathryn and Ron

Parisian Paradise

It's been awhile since our last update, and so much has happened – our entire time spent in France has happened! We left London and headed to Paris for about 10 days. Georgina and Antoine Dufoix, who you will learn more about in the next post, graciously offered us their small apartment in Paris for the week. It was perfect!



The apartment was located in the Marais district of Paris, technically the 3th arrondissement. This area, packed with history, was one of the last medieval areas in the city with narrow streets and grand homes that were entered through large wood doors from the street, big enough to allow a full carriage and horse to enter. Later in more modern times, these homes were separated into small apartments.

Marais was also home to a large Jewish population. During the Holocaust, these small apartments we mentioned above were utilized as hiding/refuge places for Jewish families to escape the Nazis. We learned from the Dufoixs that their apartment had actually served this very purpose during WWII.

Fortunately, we had planned to be in Paris over New Years! So we decided to head to the Eiffel Tower New Years Eve with a bottle of champagne, cheese and bread, and of course pastries. We found a spot on the grass at the bottom of the tower and rang in the new year - definitely a New Years to remember. the Eiffel Tower lit up with sparkling lights and fireworks went off in every direction! It was a bit of a scramble getting home as we pushed our way through the masses, and we tried to avoid the boisterous gangs of teenagers trying to instigate mosh pits, but we finally arrived safely home to our cozy apartment around 2 am.





During our time in Paris, we really enjoyed just walking the streets and spending most of our time amongst the Parisians . We stumbled through our limited french, er, our very limited french, but the Parisians were more than willing to help out. A typical day for us was waking up and heading to the Colombia Cafe where we enjoyed a large cup of cafe au lait and checked our email. Then we would either scope out a museum or two or just enjoy window shopping, taking photographs or finding a cafe to sit, read, and people watch. Below are some photographs we took while "people watchin'."





By the way, we read The Shack by Paul Young together during our time here – amazing book and highly recommend it! The book really deepened our conversations and brought into light fresh thoughts about love, tragedy and eternity.

Paris is a beautiful city no matter what season you visit it. We tried to resist the temptation to “see everything” but rather we chose to get into the rhythm of the neighborhood and become part of the culture. One thing we couldn't figure out though is the French diet. We need to read that book “How French Woman Stay Skinny” (or something along those lines) because literally all we could find to eat was bread, cheese or pastries! And all I (Kat) wanted to eat was pastries! Speaking of food, we recommend that you bone up on your french so you know what you are actually ordering – we ordered a few surprises such as: cafe, which in French equates to a teeny cup of espresso, and pomme compote, which was just a serving of applesauce – for dessert!



Despite our struggling french, surprise meals and overload of pastries, we fell in love with Paris.

We are actually headed to Italy tonight, but we will be posting soon about our time in Nimes, Marseille and the Cote D'Azur.

Love,
Kathryn and Ron

Proper Tea with a “Proper” Christmas

By Kathryn Ivey

After we bid farewell to our gracious new friends, the Bumps, in Scotland, we headed to the airport for what we though would be about a 3 hour adventure to London. To our dismay, our 3 hour trip turned into a 12 hour trip – literally from 4pm from the Inverness airport to 4am to the door of our hotel in London.

We weren't surprised that our flight was delayed 2 hours going outbound being that it was one day before Christmas Eve, but once we landed, we were stuck on the tarmac in a mile long “plane jam” due to all the previous delays that day. Long story short, we left the airport via bus around 3am after getting our luggage by the skin of our teeth. The bus dropped us off at a stop on a street near our hotel around 3:30 am, and then we trudged around High Street for the next 25 minutes desperately trying to find our hotel. Thankfully, an ambulance was parked nearby that had a computer and map – praise the Lord for internet! We finally checked-in to our supposed 4-star hotel (in which we were paying the cost of a 2-star hotel, thanks to Priceline) to a room with two twin beds and an ambience that made you feel like you had just reserved a room at a nearby Motel 8. Frustrated, but too tired to complain, we slept soundly praying that our luck would change.


This was taken at 2AM!


All the backlogged luggage at Heathrow!

I must say, that I have the MOST AMAZING husband in the WORLD!!!!! The next morning, while I continued to snooze, Ron got up and went downstairs “to do some work.” The next thing I knew, he had returned with a huge grin on his face. He had managed to become friends with a young, anxious new concierge ready and willing to help, to: upgrade us to the “Club Level” with a discounted price that came with a new room along with other amenities, secure us a reservation to have High Tea at the Ritz Carlton on Christmas day (usually it takes about 6 months to get a reservation, but there happened to be a cancellation), plan the day that included some shopping, attending the lessons and carol service at Westminster Abbey, and dinner at Trafalgar Square. Our luck HAD changed!

So we began Christmas Eve strolling along High Street in the Kensington area of London. People were out finding last minute Christmas gifts, and we enjoyed popping in an out of stores soaking in all things British. We headed to Westminster Abbey around 3pm to stand in line praying to at least get standing room. We made the cut and the place was packed! We followed the crowd in and came to a gate that separated the nave from the actual sanctuary. Every so often they would let people through the gate to fill in seats that were still available. Fortunately, we got two seats together near the front. The service was heavenly in the sense that the music and voices of the choir sounded like angels all around you. Our eyes were roving during the service as we were sitting in the poets' corner with monuments, memorials and tombstones of great poets, writers and musicians surrounding us. After the service was over, a gentleman seated behind us kindly brought to our attention that my chair was sitting on top of the tomb of Charles Dickens himself! Eerie, but quite appropriate! We topped off the evening by strolling by Big Ben, having hot chocolate with Baileys and a delicious meal of pheasant at a French restaurant in Trafalgar Square.





On Christmas, it was strange to not wake up and not be at home running downstairs, tearing open gifts, and preparing for a day full of family and food. However, we had decided to attend a church service at Holy Trinity Brompton, a church with mutual connections to our home church, the Falls Church, which brought us the community we were longing for. The church was lively and spirit-filled. We felt at home as soon as we arrived. We then decided to have a Christmas lunch since our High Tea was near dinner time. We enjoyed a traditional English Christmas dinner that included: turkey, cranberry sauce, brussel sprouts, sausage, parsnips, and more...we literally rolled ourselves home to take a nap and make room for tea that evening.

Now, having High Tea at the Ritz Carlton is not routine for the Iveys....but it was definitely one of the best ways to wind down Christmas day, and Ron and I decided to make it a tradition. The Ritz was wonderfully decorated for Christmas with a huge tree in the vestibule, and we dined in The Palm Court.
At our table was a 3-tier tea tray filled with all kinds of goodies: little tea sandwiches, fruit tarts, and chocolate pastries (I wanted to take a picture, but no photos were allowed). We drank about 8 pots of tea while taking in the beautiful surroundings.





Since Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were so good to us, we decided to extend our stay in London for the remainder of the week. Fortunately, we were able to meet up with our friends David and Natalie Thompson for brunch the day after Christmas. The Thompsons recently moved to London from Durham, NC for business, and we throughly enjoyed our time visiting and hearing about their life in London.


The Thompsons and Iveys

We spent the rest of our days strolling around Kensington, shopping (of course) and checking out a few museums. Our hotel was near a huge park called Hyde Park and it became a favorite spot. In the middle of the park is a medium-sized pond filled with swans, Canadian geese, Grey geese, Coots, seagulls and your average ducks. However, they were everywhere and would walk right up to you begging for food! We were in our own personal zoo!





On Saturday, we checked out the huge market on Portobello Road. I was ecstatic hoping to find some design inspirations and treasures! Well, the market was OVERWHELMING! There were so many people there you had to push your way over to the stalls. However, we had fun ambling down the street and taking fun photos. On Sunday, we left London and headed to Paris by train.





London was a fabulous way to spend Christmas, however, it was difficult not to be with friends and family during the holidays. We've learned so much already on this trip, but one of the most important lessons we have learned while away is how important community is and what a blessing it is to be in a place surrounded by friends and family. I think we often take that for granted when we are in the midst of it, but like many things, once you are removed from something, someone or somewhere, you realize what a blessing it is.

Stay tuned for the update about our amazing New Year's Eve celebration under the Eiffel Tower!

Much love,

Kathryn and Ron

Last Days of Celtic Charm

By Ron and Kathryn Ivey

Since our last update, we left Belfast and drove south to visit our friends in Dublin. We were warmly welcomed by Donovan and Wilma Graham in their home just south of Dublin. The Grahams have been in Ireland for the past 3 years with World Harvest caring for the missionaries. They were so gracious to host us for three days and we felt a little bit like we had come home to the States. They took excellent care of us during our stay. There home always smelled of goodness, as it was likely that Wilma was cooking up a delicious meal or dessert (our favorite was banafie pie!). Another favorite, Donovan introduced us to hot chocolate with Baileys – it is like liquid sweetness in your mouth! On our last night with the Grahams, we went to dinner by the coast in little town called Greystones. As you see below, the restaurant was decorated for Christmas and even provided us with poppers - a favorite tradition on the British Isles. Here are Donovan and Wilma opening their poppers and wearing the crown.(I'm sure Donovan appreciates me putting this in).





The Grahams also took us out to one of their favorite spots in the rural Wicklow mountains outside of Dublin, the monastery ruins of Glendelough. We understood why St. Kevin found this place so beautiful and peaceful over 1000 years ago and started a place of retreat and prayer. Glendelough (Valley of the Lake in Gaelic) is now a series of ruins and a beautiful lake amidst the Wicklows.





We also learned from our tour of the Guinness Factory, that from these same Wicklow Mountains flows water used for Guinness. Maybe that's why the Guinness tastes better here! In Dublin city centre, we enjoyed the tour thoroughly and the free pint of Guiness at the top of the factory even better.





We also visited the famous Book of Kells, a beautifully hand written and decorated version of the Bible from the Golden Age of Ireland. Trinity College Library, which housed the Book of Kells, also had an impressive hall of ancient and rare texts. We also spent a day downtown in Dublin in the main shopping district, Grafton Square. Imagine a quintessential Christmas shopping area filled with shoppers, carolers (they were a lively group of ladies!) and decorated with Christmas lights.



After Dublin we were off to Scotland to visit Edinburgh and Inverness. In Edinburgh, we wandered around cobble stone streets filled with Gothic spires, castles and cozy restaurants and pubs. We stayed at a quaint bed and breakfast a short bus ride from city centre. During the short days (we only had a few hours of sunlight) we explored the city streets of old town and new town (new as in 1700s). Old town's primary road, the Royal Mile connected the Queen's Palace at Holyrood House and the impressive Edinburgh castle high on a rocky crag in the middle of the city. Here are some pictures of a pair of pipers playing along the Royal Mile and the view of Edinburgh Castle from the park below.





We had a blast enjoying crepes, sugar roasted almonds, Christmas cookies and hot lemonade at an open air German Christmas market. Vendors sold all kinds of goods and treats in small cabin like kiosks. Unfortunately, we were too full each night from our dinners or we probably would have went back every evening for dessert. Speaking of food, in Scotland they have best soup. I can't remember the Gaelic name but its a thick broth of smoked haddock – a great find after a cold walk. We had it one evening and went looking all over for it again to no avail. Here are some fun pictures of the Christmas market and the carnival next to the market.





In one of our walks to a monument overlooking the city we took some pictures of the city that give you a taste of the romantic Edinburgh skyline.





After Edinburgh, we took a scenic bus trip up to Inverness, the gateway to the Scottish highlands. In Inverness, we stayed in the home of JD and Jenny Bump. They gave us an amazing gift by letting us use their home for three nights while they stayed at their parents house down the street. A huge blessing, this enabled us to have our own place to cook meals, wash laundry(we were beginning to smell by this point!) and just relax by the fireplace. This sign of kindness to people they had barely known showed true hospitality. Still, being away from home days before Christmas made us homesick and long for fellowship and family back home. It made us realize the blessing of community.

JD(aka Bump) took us around the area to see the sights of Loch Ness and help us find a bottle of scotch to take back for the fellas. Here are some pictures of the River Ness and the Loch Ness. Unfortunately, no sitings of Nessie were made as we traveled the shores of the Loch...Maybe next time....





Sorry for the LONG update!!! We just can't keep up! We are actually in Paris this week celebrating the New Year and taking in the beauty of the Parisians....our London update will be coming next!

Much Love and Happy New Year!
Kathryn and Ron