Sunday, Apr. 23 (week 13 / day 91) Siena, Italy

Siena Branch

We were up & out by 8:40 to make it to 9:00 church as indicated on the church website. We conveniently found free parking just up the road from where the Google pin placed the address. We walked down & found the front door, but it was on the next level down so we walked around the block until we found the gate, which was locked. Luckily, there were 2 cars that had just arrived & they looked like nice people dressed for church! It turns out that church actually starts at 9:30 so we had time to visit.

The branch president immediately took advantage of us & asked for opening & closing prayers (in English) so Sydney & I put our names on the program. As he walked back to his office, we joked (out of earshot) about speaking too... he came back a minute later & asked for one of us to share a testimony so Stacia got put on the program. When I came back from the bathroom, the meeting was just starting & the branch president pointed to an empty chair in front of the sacrament table. Yes, I passed the sacrament, the only one.

We thought there'd be more members but there were only about 10 besides us. There are no missionaries currently assigned to the branch. During the summer they get about 30 BYU study abroad students that fill up the small room. There is one member who is from Brasil, spent a couple years in Las Vegas before going to BYU & now plays professional basketball here in Italy. He translated for us & only had a slight foreign accent. We enjoyed the meeting, said goodbye to the nice members & came right back home have a relaxing Sunday & blog!


the front door of the church down below (Cannon about to jump down)



the nice member opening the gate to get in

Stacia with the Stake President's wife who speaks some English



the early-bird Morgans waiting for church to start



bootleg photo of Sydney giving the opening prayer!

Thoughts from the family about Europe so far

(Spain, France & Italy)

THE Sydney Morgan -  Out of the three European countries we've been in, Italy is my favorite. The towns in Italy we have been in seem to be middle ground between the bustling Barcelona and the simple life of Southern France. The vibe here is just more low key, but not lazy.... I don't really know. I love listening to people speak Italian. I love focaccia and gelato. I have rediscovered my intense love for Nutella. In America, Mom buys the smallest container of it and you have to hide it if you want to enjoy even a spoonful, but here it is abundant!  Nocciola (hazelnut) gelato never fails to be available just down the street and crepes with Nutella are always the second cheapest crepe option. Its awesome.
I have began to miss my daily routine back home and having purpose everyday. Don't get me wrong, touring old cities and looking at ancient art is purposeful but not the same as daily school goals, soccer practices to be at, a To-Do list, or a schedule. I realize I like being busy. So as much as I enjoy slowly tasting new culture and this leisurely emersion into European lifestyle, I am ready to
hit the ground running when we get home.

Carley Morgan - So far my favorite country in Europe is Italy. I love eating gelato every day soooo much!! I loved staying Dolceaqua. Easter was a hit with getting to eat a huge meal at the church with the branch. In France I loved staying in the beach house. It felt a lot like Delaware  of the cute boardwalk and the water was cold.  Barcelona was super cool and definitely a big change coming from Thailand. The bread that we got from the bakery every day was amazing!! My favorite pastry from Barcelona was the chocolate croissants.
I loved Thailand more than I thought I would and every place we went it got better. We started in Bangkok which was cool with the giant markets and boat rides to see the huge city. Although I did not enjoy the ginormous crowds. Then we went to Krabi. Where we did the island tours-one of my favorite parts of the trip so far. When we just went from island to island all day snorkeling, swimming, and one time in the night we went swimming in the night and got to see glowing photo plankton


Avery babe- I really love meeting people (though most of them are Americans because we can talk to each other). In Spain we met a senior missionary couple from Utah (who we actually met in the Andorra ward). Barely even knowing us, they invited us to spend the evening with them eating freshly baked cookies that she made. Then in France we stayed at a farm house bed and breakfast. we met Oliver, and 8 year-old boy whose family is originally from the UK so he speaks English- oh and they own the place. At the farm house I got to know really good, Max- a 7 year-old, and his 5 year old sister Gyla rose. Their mom is from Australia and their dad is from northern Spain so he speaks Spanish and Catalan. It was interesting because they understood English perfectly but couldn't speak it, their first language was Catalan. In Italy we met sister missionaries from Canada and Colorado and elders from Florida and another part of Italy (the elders and sisters were serving in the same branch). We thought we were just going to the first hour but we ended up staying for the whole rest of church and an Easter lunch afterwards, so we ended up staying 5 1/2 hours. So far I really like Europe though I wish there was more doing things and less just looking and seeing things.


General Travel thoughts by Stacia:
These are just some things I've been thinking but have not yet put down. 

Travel is not for the feint of heart, or more specifically germaphobes.  Now, perphaps I have paid the price in intestinal discomfort for not being super diligent with tap water avoidance in Cambodia and Thialand, but in general a long-term, or budget traveler, can not be a person highly concerned with extreme cleanliness.  Each time we go to different accommodations (and next to none of them have dishwashers) I have two choices.  One, I can rewash every dish, pot and utensil, or two, I can just use them and assume the last people washed with lots of soap and hot water.  The truth is I almost always choose option two with just a small amount of cringing.  Also, did they really wash all these pillowcases and sheets from the last guests?  How about those floors?  We just lived and hoped for the best.  The nicer the place the less I worried, but we have stayed in some budget accommodations.
However, in Thailand I discovered just where I draw the line.   We were on a four island tour with snorkeling.  They passed out the snorkels and we all had a nice time admiring the fish.  Then we got back in the boat.  The guide wanted us to all turn in our snorkeling gear and then he would pass it out again after lunch.  Um, hold on.  Was he going to clean them during lunch??  Did he really want us all to turn them in and then just grab another one later that had been in the mouth of some stranger??  And somehow it seemed even worse to know that it was in the mouth of one of the other people on the boat with us.  Line drawn.  I could not stomach that.  I told him I would like to keep my family's equipment for the rest of the day.  He thought it strange but let me.  I just try to pretend that he must clean them each night between tour groups.  ;)

I could really use a new shirt or pants to wear.  I'll admit, getting a little tired of the few I have.  What I would really like is a cuter shirt.  The t-shirts I brought were great in the hot, more casual countries but in Europe I feel like I should have a nicer shirt.  Not a big thing, just keeping it real.

Travel is hard.  Fun but hard.  It is hard because nothing is familiar or easy.  Take the toll road for instance.  The first 4 booths we came to were all different.  Just when we thought we knew what to do the next one was different.   One you take the ticket, one there is not ticket you just throw in coins.  sometimes you pay at the beginning of the toll road and sometimes at the end.  Also,  you have to get in the right line.  Don't get in the "fastpass"  look for the one that takes cash, credit or coin.  We also never know what credit card will work.  There must be some logic but for now we just always have a couple options ready.

Let's talk about grocery shopping.  No such thing as a quick and easy trip to the store.  Perhaps our problem is we are in a different town or country, rarely the same store twice.  First problem: finding the place, always an adventure.  Second problem:  parking, Europe was not designed for 8 passenger vans.  Not the roads, not the driveways, and certainly not the parking.  So, we are generally at a level 6 in frustration by the time we get to the store. Now, the entrance.  Several have been easy but the larger actual grocery stores are in larger shopping center type buildings  (as opposed to small markets which are easy to enter).  In these larger ones, once you are in the large building you find the one small entrance gate which is about as wide as the cart.  The first time I discovered this I finally found the entrance only to discover the carts are all in the parking lot, the exit for which is clear back through the mall area and out the door.  It literally took me 10 minutes at this store to just eventually end up in the grocery part with a shopping cart!
Now, the shopping.  In the produce we learned you have to weigh it yourself.  I learned this the first time after being turned away at the checkout.  After bagging your apples you take them to the scale.  Hopefully you can figure out which type of apple you have (in French, or Italian, or Spanish) so you can select the appropriate price.  Oh, and in yesterday's shopping after picking through some apples and oranges I noticed people were wearing disposable gloves on their hands for selecting fruit.  First time I've seen that.  Great, guess I had been find out where people are getting that glove.  It just seems like there is always something a little different.
Ok, next milk.  Hmmm dairy section?  Nope.  Milk is sold in cartons just in the regular aisle.  Let's get google translate to figure out if I am buying whole, demi, of skim.  That takes another 10 minutes.
We have fallen in love with the yogurt here.  Now I kid you not, just when I think, "oh, an easy purchase I will just buy the kind we liked last time"  I am wrong.  I have rarely seen the same brand in two different stores.  I am surprised at that. 
I do actually use  google translate in  stores so I know what I  am getting.  Not for everything but it has been helpful finding butter with salt, type of milk, etc.  Some details you just need to know!
So, I have now been at the store about half an hour and only gotten milk, yogurt, and produce.  Now, for actual meals.  This is where I walk around and try to piece together meals and snacks.  It's best to just stick to some meat (hopefully there is a pan to cook it in at the place we are currently staying) and produce. 
Kids like cereal for breakfast which is very limited.  I have been to one really big store that only had three choices of cereal and about the same choices of crackers. Special K is the usual option in France and Italy.  They have two aisles of wine though.  So, you see it is hard to plan ahead because I never know what they will have.  All stores have eggs so they have been a staple for us. Pasta has also been widely available and obviously Italy has more than enough choices.  A whole aisle of Barilla just like in our stores but I buy all the freshly made refrigerated stuff.
Somehow Italy has been easier to shop than France.  I don't know if I am getting used to things a bit, or better at not expecting it to be easy, or if the language is closer to Spanish which I understand a bit better.  Or perhaps I am happy just buying fresh pasta, and fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil and eating Caprese salad everyday!

Grocery shopping- always interesting!

The kids Italian is improving.  They are really good at saying Gelatto.

After seeing the statues in Florence, Cannon was running around the house in his underwear today saying, "My body is beautiful, my body is beautiful"  A seven year old processing nakedness.

Sunday morning mist below Siena