The World is Round!

For the last two weeks, I have had the pleasure to enjoy hosting my dad, Charles Graves III, on his very first visit to Europe. We spent the first week together in Rome, and also spending two days visiting smaller cities in the mountains and on the seaside coast. And in the second week we traveled to explore London and Paris, taking time to visit the eastern city of Nancy, which happens to be a sister city of our adoptive hometown, Cincinnati. It was an excellent trip, and a wonderful break from our normal work routines & schedules. It was such a wonderful and transformative journey of new places, sights, experiences and languages for my father that he said “growing up, the world I knew only stretched from Los Angeles to New York – I never imagined that I might come over to Europe one day. But now I know that the world isn’t flat, but round!”

Of course, no visit to Rome would be complete without seeing the Coliseum, Vatican, Trevi Fountain and St. Paul's Within the Walls!

We celebrated my birthday in the Umbrian mountain town of Orvieto, touring the fabulous Decugnano Di Barbi vineyard, enjoying a private luxurious wine tasting and even watching a traditional Italian leather shoemaker perform his craft.

Toward the end of week one, we enjoyed a beautiful warm day in the beach town of Orvieto, Italy with our superstar organist, Carter Leer!

On Sunday afternoon we were off to London, where we had lots of fun at Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and being a good Anglican at Lambeth :)

For three beautiful days we had a stellar time in Paris with my favorite Parisian (and fellow YASCer) Naomi Cunningham! We of course saw the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc du Triomphe and most importantly KFC and Chipotle which don't exist in Rome!

Finally we spent an absolutely glorious day in the city of Nancy, France which sits between Paris and the German border. It's a surprisingly little-known and absolutely beautiful place in addition to being a sister city of by beloved Cincinnati. Nancy even boasts a lovely "Cincinnati Park" with symbols and emblems of Ohio's Queen City and several monuments to it's founding leader, a duke named Charles III - no kidding!!

What an amazing two weeks this has been. Can't wait to do it all over again!