Bratislava

So... there may or may not have been one free day in our intern schedule this summer.  (HINT: there was.)  Being us clever/crafty/intelligent/wanderlusting young people, we decided that we should not use this day for rest, as was intended.  Rather, we wanted to use it to explore some of Europe's finest.  You may be thinking, "That's crazy!  They should be sleeping!" or "They shouldn't be spending that money on traveling!" or maybe even, "Oh, those darn interns... always causing trouble."  But... the fact of the matter is... it. was. awesome.

Most of the interns decided to go to Prague.  Now, I know that Prague is amazing and I know that many of you are aware that it is one of my favorite cities in the world.  However, I had another plan in mind.  Once one of the other interns seconded my plan... there was no stopping us.  This was the plan:
Take the train to Bratislava... see the Chase's... sightsee... sit in a coffee shop and talk for hours... return home.  What happened was even greater than this plan!

The Chase's are the newest missionaries for JV in SK.  They have two daughters and two sons.  And, in case you are wondering, they are fabulous.  I got to meet them at our intern picnic and knew that I wanted to get to know them better, had I an opportunity.  Well, this free day was just the opportunity I was looking for.

Mir and I called them and asked if we could see them... their answer was beyond great.  They said not only could we come and see them, but we could stay the night at their new house!  :)  So, we came back from our HCV and hopped on a train that night to Bratislava.  It was so amazing to see all of them!  We talked for a long time before heading to bed.

The next morning, we and the kids took a bus into the city centre.  We did a lot of walking around.  The boys knew a lot of history about the city, so it was super interesting.  We ended up walking up to the castle and looking out over the city.  We could even see Austria from the top of the castle!  How cool?!  Josh ended up coming soon after that and the boys went and had "bro" time with him.  The girls continued on our merry way and had some really good talks.  We went and had bagels for lunch (a rarity here in Europe!) and yes, we eventually got Coffee and Co  :)  YAY! YAY! YAY!  However, looking back --- this day was a scorcher!  It was so hot outside.  I remember being thankful I was only wearing a dress because it was only one piece of cloth and it was thin.

We ended up at this mall... and I thought to myself, looking out over the river - this is almost exactly like Milwaukee.  Could I live here?  Could I move here if God asked me to?  The answer was booming out of my chest... "YES!!!  I will follow Him where ever He leads me!"  The answer in my head... "Not so much."  So, clearly my head and heart have some things to work out.  ;)  We sat in a bookstore for 40 minutes while Ally attempted to read us a children's book in Slovak.  Then we went out and sat by the fountain and just talked.

Josh came and picked us up... man oh man... that drive home was something special.  I will never ever forget it.  We managed to fit 7 people in a car.  Not saying it was legal, just saying it was fun.  I think I laughed more in that car ride than I have in a long long time.  We missed a few turns and the trip took a bit longer than expected.  Gavin kept popping up from the back and asked if he should wave at the strangers in other cars to "make their day a little brighter."  :)  Ian tried really hard to follow the GPS, but it kept changing on him.  Ahhhh - I wish I could share all that laughter with you.

So, after a delicious dinner and a beautiful time with friends, we drove back to Zilina.  I cannot describe to you how much this trip meant to me.  It was much needed.  I loved getting closer to the Chase's and Mir.  God is moving so swiftly here and I get to see glimpses of it every day.  How lucky am I?!  In case you were wondering, the other interns had a really good time in Prague.  It was great meeting back up with everyone.  When we are seperated, its almost like we are apart from our family.  Being reunited is an amazing thing!

Okay, so I loved Bratislava!!  I hope I get to upload some pictures at some point!

Until then,
xx