3 Days

Luke is my hero. Hence the naked statue: that's Hercules. Luke is a very strong little man. He has his opinions, he has his ways and he has his quirks, but I love them all so so much. With Luke, you never quite know what you're going to get. Sometimes you open something a little crunchy and scary, but 9 times out of 10 he's a sweet little candy that just gets even sweeter when it explodes with tasty goo. Usually when I'm down, I just want a Luke Hug, cause there's really nothing quite like it in the world. 

4 Days

Sarah! What a girl. Loves to cook and bake... but mostly bake. And she loves to eat her master pieces, along with the rest of her family. Sarah, by choice, is simple and yet very beautiful. You might catch her dressing up in a fancy dress that royalty from Cesky Krumlov would wear. She's love sick for all the boys in her class... ok just one, but it's a secret.

5 Days

Emma is the fifth of seven and maybe somewhere in her she feels middle child syndrome but I hope that she knows that the truth is, we hear her. We love her! She knows all of the best ways to make herself heard and seen. Probably some of the funniest things I have ever heard a person say have come from Emma, in the most random of times. 

One thing is for sure though, she knows what she wants. She sees the goal and she just gets it done. She definitely has her own style, and always has. When she was little she was always the girliest of all of us. These days she just dyed her hair red. She plays the trumpet in school (which she chose), and I don't know how she's doing these days, but I remember her practicing all the time before; determined to play sound that trumpet triumphantly. She also loves sea food. A lot. Which is only and "Emma" thing to the rest of us Pinsents who mostly do not. That's probably the only thing I ever remember her choosing for her birthday dinner. The rest of us would make something ourselves or starve before Emma went without scallops on her birthday. 

The greatest thing about her though, is that she always catches you off guard. She'll surprise you at every turn, and I promise you that you will never be able to expect it or see it coming. But it's a real treat when it happens.

 

Vienna, Austria

This week we are speed seeing Vienna. We have lots of things we are interested in seeing that we haven't yet. We've lived in this beautiful city for 4 months now, and 95% of our touristy sightseeing will happen in 6 or 7 days.

Wish us luck! You'll hear all about it when we are home and relaxed in Calgary (and have free internet to post the pictures).

Artistic Expressions

Eric and I have visited countless art galleries since we've been here in Europe. Some we've found more interesting than others. (One favourite was the Picasso museum. One least favourite was the Uffizi in Florence.) Mostly, they're not really our thing though. We sometimes enjoy the buildings they're in more than the art on the walls. 

Today I was actually inspired by one of the paintings. This one here: Funny right?

This painting is called The Controversy of the Coachmen and it's painted by Johann Michael Neder. It was a really random painting, quite small and seemingly insignificant. What I thought about was the inspiration that Johann would have had for this. I imagined that he actually saw this happen in the street and chuckled to himself and decided to go home and paint it. If I saw something happen like this in the street, I would probably chuckle to myself, take a picture of it, and come home and tell all of you about it. 

Back in his day people painted and sculpted and drew the things that inspired them or that they loved or that just entertained them that day. Today there are still people interested in and really good at those arts too, but I am not. I do enjoy taking pictures and I do enjoy writing. This blog is my form of artistic expression. It may never be printed and put in a museum, but it's my way of sharing my experiences and inspirations with those I know and love.

That's all. That was my thought walking though the gallery. I also saw The Kiss by Gustac Klimpt, but this one meant more to me today since I've already seen that one of every mug, tshirt and key chain in the shops of this city, hundreds of times.

6 Days

Ben likes... you guessed it cars. Cars and bikes and girls. The kiss and ride sign is a legit sign at the train station here in Vienna. We even found a kiss and ride sign at a train station in Germany. So while we don't know what it exactly means it gave us a good laugh. To have seen Eric, is to have seen Ben. They are both incredibly handsomely rugged, simply dashing and very strong. 6 more days and Ben can again look into the mirror of his older bother.

7 Days = One Week

Victoria(15) is next in line in the Pinsent family. Basically any raw material she touches turns to something beautiful and creative. Ever since she was real small she has been able to draw amazing things. After getting bored of that, she has since moved on to mastering her voice and the piano (at the same time), sewing and the newest one is cake decorating. She is a master with fondant. I don't have a picture of that, but everything artsy and beautifully crafted reminds me a little bit of something Victoria has made or will some day get around to trying (and perfecting on the first try).

8 Days

Our land lord is Heber Ferraz-Leite; he's a renown brain surgeon. Logan's on track to follow in his foot steps. Logan's also a pretty good artist. He's also part of two choirs and some how got his name on the back of this Renault. The smoke in the choir picture is from the incense that they were burning during the church service.

Have Yourselves a Merry Little Christmas

Christmas dinner: fried ham, mashed potatoes, carrots, gravy and lingonberry sauce from Ikea (all made on a hot plate)

Katherine's first attempt at German pancakes. A little brown, but still good.

We wish each of you a very merry Christmas this year. Today we thought about Christmas traditions, as I'm sure many of you did as well. Traditions each of our families have, traditions they both have, and new ones we want to start this year or next year (our first normal Christmas). 

Here are some we fondly remembered today. 

First are the Pinsent family traditions. Katherine's favourite is the colouring book and crayons on Christmas eve. Then the Persson family. Eric's favourite is one present and one person at a time.

This Christmas was our first as a married couple. We had a great time, and have lots of plans for future Christmases together. Here are some K&E Persson traditions that started this year, or are planned for coming years:

Vienna Christmas mugs

new 1/2 pyjamas

buy each other a new ornament each year (then the kids when they come along)

Elf and the Grinch

bake a Christmas apple crisp

crepes or German pancakes

Christmas quilt (made with love by Katherine on her new sewing machine)

Girls have a girl day and Boys have a boy day (or finish their shopping separately, whatever needs to happen)

What did you do this year? Or some things you thought of that you're hoping will stay in your brain until you get to do them next year? Write them down!

Wherever you are and however you celebrate, we hope you felt love and shared love with those around you and our savior Jesus Christ this holiday season.

Prague, Czech Republic - store window

Paris France - Notre Dame

Krakow, Poland - Krakow History Museum

Krakow, Poland - Krakow History Museum

Paris, France - Sacre Coeur Basilica

Paris, France - cathedral

Barcelona, Spain - town square

Barcelona, Spain - Sagrada Familia Basilica

Vienna, Austria - Schonbrunn Christmas Market

9 Days

Rachel has just been accepted to the University of PEI. Congratulations! Hopefully her library is as attractive as this pretty red one (Salzburg, Asutria). It would make studying more appealing and maybe even help tear her from her phone. Today's advent expresses the balance between a social life (now on top) and school work.

But even with cell phone in hand she'll probably get the grades she needs while becoming the star player of the rugby team.

Extraordinary Merry Christmas

It’s an extraordinary merry...
very, very, merry, merry Christmas!
Gonna stay with you til Santa grants my wishes.
Got my halo on I know what I want
It’s who I’m with.
It’s an extraordinary merry Christmas!

It's going to be a Christmas like no other. Some things are sad, but most are very happy. It's a very very merry merry Christmas because of it's extraordinariness!

10 Days

Eric's oldest brother Jordan is married to Breanne. They have two kids: Verona(3) and Maximus(1). Verona shares her father's admiration for the Bugatti Veyron. Max is the man, a little man, but the Man -- chiseled jaw, broad shoulders, and the courage to conquer all evil. Breanne is a master pianist, and she can sing too!

Breanne, you should have been there. Ludovico Einaudi really tickled that ivory.

11 Days

There are so so many things we miss about home. Right up there with normal toilets, the English language and foods we recognize, are our families! We miss them each very much and hope they know how much we love them and think of them. Eric has 5 siblings (plus a wonderful sister-in-law, who for the purpose of this activity will count as one unit with her husband and their kids), and I have 6. These next 11 days we're here we will be thinking of each of them and antsy to get back to home so we can see them, talk with them or just know that they are close by. 

 ***

Katherine's oldest brother is 19. His name is Haig. He always has really cool shoes, he grew a mustache for Movember, and he is as dashing and smooth as this man is. 

12 Days

in Barcelona, Spain:

A small sample of Gaudi's work at Park Guell.

13 Days

Our hostel here is just a little bit dirty, though ironically smells severely like cleaning products, but the decor and concept of it is cute to me. I like it. Cool colours. Cool things on the walls. This is a poster in our room. It says Ramblas, although it looks like nothing. Don't worry if you didn't see it at first though because it took me until last night or this morning; and the place is called Be Hostel - Ramblas, and is located right off the famous street called the Rambla. Silly me, thinking I was so smart when I figured it out. Eric obviously knew it already when I told him so triumphantly that I figured it out. Anyway, now I think it's cute because I know what it is!
Do you think they'd notice if I stole that mirror? We're on the 5th of five floors, and each one has one like it. Also, do you think Eric would notice if I carried it home with me?

Antoni Gaudi

We got home late tonight and I honestly can't decide what pictures to post for today. You will just have to wait. It might take up a post or two, I haven't decided yet.
Hope the advent keeps you entertained enough for tonight. 
Christmas : 5 days away
Home Time : exactly 2 weeks from today!

***

Today I mentioned to Eric that yesterday we enjoyed a day of nature. We saw the beach, the water, the palm trees and a beautiful market. We ate wonderful fruit and drank great fruit juice creations. Then, today was a man-made day; and as Eric pointed out, "a man-made, inspired by nature." Which is true. Here is a little sample from Antoni Gaudi, an architect who largely influenced Barcelona's modernistic and artistic advances in architecture. They really are some of the coolest we've seen, and we learned today that he took much of his inspiration for his small details from nature. From the animals, plants and natural laws that surrounded him. These are a few of his greatest and most popular works.

15 Days

Cutest Christmas window display I have seen. Love it.

14 Days

I don't know if any of you have heard, but Christmas is in 5 days only. 5 days! Also: I like poinsettias now. I used to not, now I do. A fun fact I learned today. (just for Christmas though)