Amost Home

There's not a whole of of news to report today other than all of our train journeys and connections to get to Geneva and then our EasyJet flight to London Gatwick went as smooth as clockwork.  Tonight we're at a little hotel 5 minutes from Gatwick Airport which means a quick little journey in the morning for our flight home.  Tonight we had dinner at a little Pub just next to the hotel.  Great Food and a Great Last Dinner together!

This is probably the most difficult blog entry to write because it's bittersweet to think of all we've been through together.  All of the planning and anticipation and teamwork and new experiences and ALL those different languages have all worked together to change our lives and how we look at other peoples and cultures.  We might be at the end of our journey but definitely not the end of our friendships and memories.  We started strong and it's important that we end strong, too.  You see all of those smiles in the previous pictures??? I think those are the assurances of our strong ending!

This trip could not have been possible without these great students and their parents.  It couldn't have been possible without the hours and hours spent in preparation, planning, emails, international phone calls and PRAYERS!  Angie and I are thankful for the help of Ms. Ketchen and Ms. Armstrong as they each offered up their own special talents. We're thankful for Mr. Margene for his warm send-off and group prayer at the Knoxville Airport.  What a time we have had and most of all what great memories we will always cherish.  Your kids are super great wonderful young adults, and we look forward to seeing them continue to grow in their academics and in their Christian Life.  We love each and every one of them!  Good night from London - see you tomorrow in Knoxville.

Kindest Regards,
Tim & Angie

A Foggy Start, a Snowy Day and a BEAUTIFUL Evening

I almost don't know where to start today.  It's not been one of those busy travel days, but it has been busy.  The SUN woke me this morning streaming into my bedroom at 6:30 am.  I excitedly told Angie to "LOOK" at which she shot upright still half asleep in a panic mode thinking something was wrong with one of the students, or we had missed a train connection, or we overslept.  (ha)  That's the way the Mynatt's have lived the past two weeks :-)

Our spirits were high as we went to breakfast and the beautiful sunshine was once again shrouded in thick fog.  It's just the way mountain weather operates, and we all just told each other we had prayed and God would do with this day as he wished.

Our train ride to the Top of Europe was almost 3 hours...not a trivial travel time!  We passed from fog to patches of blue sky to rain to snow on our arrival at the top.  During this journey we made 4 train connections, but they were simple little mountain trains, and by now your students are quite proficient at making train connections...and this time we didn't even have luggage!

We arrived at the top quite out of breathe because of the climb up the stairs to the Plateau and because of the thin oxygen.  Here we are!

But the lack of oxygen didn't seem to hinder our fun at all.  We have an Ice Palace to visit, Zip Lines to ride, sleds to run and of course Lunch before ANY of these :-)

Then the fun really began as we headed outside into the snow.  How can you NOT be excited when stepping outside on a June day to find a snowy winter wonderland in one of the most beautiful areas of one of the most beautiful countries in the world!

Following are some shocking pictures and a couple of videos.  Like I said earlier at the beginning of our blog these trips not only teach the students about art, literature, culture, geography but they also give the students the opportunity to step out and experience and do things that you might not expect.  Ziplining for example, I would have guessed that every guy on the trip would take part in this.  However, only ONE of our guys did it.  The biggest surprise was that most ALL of our young ladies zipped down!

John Z was first down...and Violet M finished out the Zip Group.

We had a positively enthralling day on the Jungfrau!  The sun never came out fully (thankfully) because even when it just barely peeked through the clouds it felt like we were being baked in the oven, and it was so brilliantly bright on the snow it was almost blinding.   Here are some additional pictures of the wonderful time we had.

Believe me when I say we were ALL exhausted after all of this fun...this is exactly what we had hoped for.  What a beautiful topping for our last highlight of the trip.  We always attempt to save the best for last, and I think this was just perfect!  After all of this exhausting fun and play it was time to head back down on the train to our tiny little sleepy hamlet of Murren.

How is it the photographer manages to get these shots???  Let me tell you it's NOT easy :-) because I'd like to be sleeping right along with the rest of them!  We had a pleasant return trip and arrived back at our hotel to find blue skies, amazing vistas and our dinner waiting for us.

I have some more good news...your students are EXCITED to be seeing you soon.  Our trip is winding down and even though we've had fabulous times with each other we're ALL ready to see our families.  You all are going to have lots and lots and lots of stories and pictures that probably will continue for some time, and I'm sure you're excited to be seeing your students again.

They have been a wonderful travel group and precious bunch of students.  Tomorrow we're heading out on the train to Geneva to catch our EasyJet flight to London Gatwick for our last night before flying home.  The one bit of sad news is that Jonathan C will be leaving us at the Geneva airport to fly BACK to Rome to meet his family for MORE European travels.  We'll miss him.

Thank you for supporting your students in this learning adventure and for supporting this trip with your prayers.  Good night from Murren and talk to you tomorrow from London!