Gary, Jena and I happened to be watching conference at Gary's mom's house on October 4, 2008, when Pres. Thomas Monson announced that a temple would be built in Rome, Italy. Mom Hall turned to us and said that she wanted to attend a temple session there with us when it was completed. She and Dad Hall had been to Rome on a vacation and it seemed like a perfect thing to do to go back and see the temple in the unique place in the world for Christian history. You know us--we are always open to planning a trip--so we immediately agreed.
Often temples are built 3-5 years after they are announced. The Rome Temple took quite a bit longer--a total of almost 11 years to be completed. During that time, we all got older and there were times that we wondered if healthwise, Mom Hall would be up for a trip to Rome. Sometimes months or years would go by without any mention of the plan. Traveling especially out of the country with long flights can be very physically demanding. However, once the open houses had been announced, Mom Hall was ready for us to beginning planning a trip to Rome.
So Gary and I went to work and planned a 7 day trip to Italy. There are many amazing things to see and do in Italy and it was easy to fill up seven days in that beautiful and historic country. Then Mom mentioned that she had never been to Paris. She and Dad were suppose to go to Paris on their European trip, but there was some type of strike going on in Paris so they remained longer in Rome. So then Paris was put on the list. That worked well as there was a direct flight from Salt Lake to Paris and an short one then to Rome. Who doesn't want to see the Eiffel Tower in person? Just a few days later, Mom commented that London would be nice--after all, Gary Kerr, Vonette's husband, served his mission there about 48 years ago. She thought it would be nice for him to have a chance to go back and see England again.
So then it was set--London, Paris, and Rome--13 days of European travel! Gary had been to England many times and also other places in Europe, but not Paris and Rome. Gary Kerr had been a missionary in London and had visited Paris as he returned home from his mission. Mom Hall had been to London and Rome, but not Paris as mentioned. Vonette, Charon and I had never been. Due to the size of our group and the fact that we were going to travel with two wheelchairs to provide support for Mom Hall and Gary Kerr, we enlisted the help of my friend, Sasha Nash, who is a social worker and a travel agent, to help us plan this big adventure. Over the course of the past six months, Gary and I worked with Sasha and checked the internet over and over again to make sure we were designing an appropriate and fun trip for all of us. And of course, I read books about the Eiffel Tower, about the history of Rome, Paris and London.
And like I said in the title, it was a wonderful trip--weather was amazing most of the time, the tours guides were amazing, the places we saw even more amazing. We learned so much about European history which we can't remember now. The food was fun--fish and chips in England, crepes in Paris, and pizza in Rome.
And we even managed some down time of game playing.
I took about 2800 photos which can't possibly all go into the blog (bet you are relieved about that!). I sent my kids about 18-25 pictures each night in a group messenger post which kept them updated on the things we had been seeing, so even narrowing that down will be hard. I will probably make a book specifically about the trip with more history than I can put in the blog, but for a quick overview of the 2019 European Trip--enjoy the following posts!
And let me say (probably again) that traveling to somewhere new is such a life expanding experience--whether it is across town or across the globe--you can always see, do, or learn something new that makes you a wiser and more understanding person. I often say that "You can't know what you don't know." Traveling allows you to observe and see more of what you "don't know" and helps expand your life experiences. (For the record, education, reading books, and engaged conversations with other human beings also has the opportunity for the same benefit.)
Again, know that I am writing this to share with my family and friends who live away from me and for my grandchildren and great grandchildren in the distant future if they care about such things. Don't feel that you have to read this long list of posts or my comments and observations that I gained along the way. And there will be LOTS of photos!
Our Trip------
No comments:
Post a Comment