The Europe Adventure Begins!

Greetings from Copenhagen! I am sitting in the train station getting ready to head to Schwerin, Germany. Here's a quick update of what has happened so far! Stay tuned for more updates over the next month!

We flew into Amsterdam, activated our Eurail passes, and headed into the city for a few hours. We'd been here before, but it was good to explore some more!

This former convent in the heart of the city was really neat! You walk in, and suddenly everything is quiet. It's very peaceful an beautiful! Though no longer a convent, today only for women rent homes here. 

At 5:40pm, we caught the night train for Copenhagen! Here one view we saw the next morning!

One place we visited in Copenhagen was the National Museum, which features a very nice exhibit on Vikings!

Our second night in Europe was spent in this tent near Lund, Sweden. We got off the train at a very small stop, and walked through quaint suberbs for a good while before finding a stand of woods where we could pitch our tent. At about 4:30am, a heavy rainstorm hit. And lets just say that our old tent ain't what it used to be... We're going to need to find a way to dry out a lot of stuff. An adventure though, to be sure! 

Stay tuned for more soon! 

Xian, China - July 26-28, 2013

We spent ten days seeing some exceptional cities and sights in China. Our first stop was Xian, China. It has an urban population of over six million people, and was once ancient China's capital. 

In the Xian Forest of Stone Steles Museum is large limestone tablet which describes Nestorian Christian Churches in China. The tablet was carved in the year 781, attesting to very early Christian presence in China.

The renovated/rebuilt walls of old Xian are open to tourists, and we rented bikes for a ride around some of the perimeter.

Taoism has route here, about an hour outside of Xian, where it is said that one of Taoism's holy books was written. 

This pagoda is said to be the oldest Christian church in China, dating from 640. Today it is Buddhist monastery. 

Though the identity of this pagoda as an ancient church is a point of controversy, supposedly there are ancient carvings of both the birth of Jesus and Jonah at the walls of Ninevah on the inside walls.

These Buddhists monks live beside the pagoda. 

As we travelled in China, it wasn't uncommon to be asked to pose for a picture with some locals.

The very busy and very exciting Muslim Quarter. My favorite area of Xian!

The Terracotta Army

The largest tourist destination and definitely one of the most impressive sights in the Xian area is the Terracotta Army. They are part of the ancient burial complex for Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of unified China. The army dates from about 200BC. This impressive discovery is sometimes called the eighth wonder of the ancient world. 

We left Xian for Pingyao, China by bus. Full of history and bursting with energy, it made for a great first stop on our family's trip in China. 

Lantau Island - 7/21/2013

We took a family trip on Sunday out to Lantau Island, a large island East of Hong Kong. We took the gondola to the Tian Tan Buddha, and also explored the fishing village of Tai O. It made for a great day trip!

The gondola to the Tian Tan Buddha was gorgeous! It was very long - 5.7km in all!

We rode in a gondola with a glass floor!

Near the base of the Buddha. Some things never change.

A gate near the Big Buddha.

The small fishing village of Tai O. It must have been very quiet at one point, but today it sees many tourists. Still, it was a neat place to visit.

Just a shark.

On our return gondola. Below is the Hong Kong International Airport.