Georgiana and John Sauer
We look forward to sharing our adventure with family and friends during our travels to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. GGandPaPa
Travel Blog Posts
The Quinceanera (Coming out Party)
Published: November 20th 2011Central America Caribbean » El Salvador
November 19th 2011
After our breakfast in the Hotel, we boarded our NPH bus to see the Mayan Ruins of Tazumal. Our tour guide was old (maybe late 70’s-early 80’s) yet very knowledgeable, confident, passionate, and proud. He led us through the museum and explained the eras, the artifacts, culture, and the people. He wanted to make sure we knew that this historic site was one of the two most important in the Central and Latin American area and beyond. Authenticated by North American archeologists, who were amazed at what was discovered, the Tazumal site in El Salvador was one of two most important in the world. He led us into the very large courtyard outside to show us one of the palaces, which lined up from this site to the highest temple several miles to the foot of ... read more
November 18th 2011
This morning we boarded the NPH bus and arrived at Casa Sagrada Familia at 8:30. Today was the NPH graduation ceremony for the kindergarten students and the 9th grade students. We started off in the chapel for Mass. We found our seats and soon after Olivia was at our side greeting us. We had hoped that she would sit with us, but she was playing the piano with the group of musicians and singers. The chapel was beautiful and I imagined all of the wonderful services held there for the students. Once the procession began led by the kindergartners with their caps and gowns, there was a hush. While all the students processed in, I began to think about where these kids had come from and how they beat the odds and were making something out ... read more
November 17th 2011
Our breakfast was an included part of this trip. We had scrambled eggs with cheese, 1 pancake, 1/2 toasted cheese sandwich, mixed fruit and Watermelon juice (John) and Georgie had 1 toasted cheese sandwich, mixed fruit, and watermelon juice. After that we got on the bus and began our side trip to the capitol city of San Salvador. The sun was shining brightly, the views were marvelous (a mix of valleys and small mountains, about a 1 mile long area with black lava rock) and the conversations were buzzing. About 1 ½ hours later we arrived at Providence Hospital Chapel, the site of Archbishop Oscar Romero’s assassination in March 1980. This horrific event escalated the Civil War among the countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicauragua, and Honduras. Fr. Ron celebrated Mass again except the atmosphere was ... read more
November 16th 2011
Antigua to El Salvador Today we travel to El Salvador with the goal of being on the bus at 7:45 so we could leave at 8:00 a.m. We went next door for breakfast and when we got back we learned that there was a huge snafu with the bus. We were supposed to have a big coach bus so all of our luggage could be placed underneath in the bus but the bus that was ready to go was a little charter bus and all the luggage had to be loaded on top. There were a few frantic phone calls were made to see if we could get another bus, but to no avail. The bus would not be able to navigate the narrow streets. So with some help from our tour group we placed a ... read more
November 15th 2011
Last Day in Guatemala-Antigua We began our last day in Antigua, Guatemala with a Mass again in the corridor of a courtyard at our hotel. This time I got to be the lector and did quite well with long first reading—except I kept saying the name, Eleazar, incorrectly El-e-zar instead of El – e¬¬¬-a’- (long a¬) –zar ---anyway otherwise it went well. After Mass everyone left to eat breakfast at Fernanado’s Coffee shop and restaurant. We then had the rest of the day for shopping, touring, and walking. Georgie finished her blog and posted it before we headed out to check out the Mercado (large 5 block by 5 block) for everything from clothes and used shoes to popular brands of American T-shirts to fruits and vegetables. We finally went to another smaller area for Artisans ... read more
November 14th 2011
Antigua to Lake Atitlan This morning we had Mass in an alcove in the hotel with Dr. Ron Hicks as the celebrant. It was an honor to have him with us on this tour. His heart is in this region despite having left over a year ago to act as Dean of Formation in Chicago’s St Joseph Seminary. He hopes to someday come back and work with the children of NPH. We boarded our bus at 8:00 for our 3-hour trip to Lake Atitlan. Our tour director was excellent and very knowledgeable about the country. He told us about the history, the politics, the indigenous people, the farming (the soil is very rich here and can grow just about anything). After making a few photo stops, we arrived in Panajachel. Lake Atitlan is a beautiful volcanic ... read more
November 14th 2011
Antigua to Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (NPH)—Our brothers and sisters San Andres The morning began early with a Rooster call followed immediately by the Church bells. Georgie said she slept right through it. After a quick shower (because the hot water didn’t last too long), we went to eat a buffet breakfast right next door to the Hotel. We both had some fresh fruit (pineapple, papaya, watermelon) with some small quiche squares, some plantains, and small pancakes, and OJ. We all got on an NPH bus about 9:30 for the ½ hour drive to the Casa. As we wended our way up the mountain side, we saw a variety of wild flowers (some with a refreshing fragrant smell), clouds surrounding the tops of mountains, and went through the small town of Paramos where the high school boys ... read more
November 13th 2011
Minneapolis to Guatemala via Atlanta We arrived at airport parking at 3:00 a.m. (didn’t sleep last night because we attended our niece’s wedding and hadn’t finished packing) and were shuttled to the airport for our 5:30 a.m. flight. I have never been the 1st one in line before. It was eerily quiet. We boarded our flight to Atlanta where we would have 45 minutes to make it to the gate where we would board our flight to Guatemala City. Luckily, the plane arrived about 20 minutes early so we had plenty of time. Both flights were uneventful. We decided to make this trip sponsored by the Friend’s of the Orphans because we have a Godchild in El Salvador and we wanted very much to see her in her own surroundings. Once we landed in Guatemala City, ... read more
October 4th 2011
Feeling a bit rushed this morning, we had a quick breakfast before boarding our bus for a much anticipated trip to the top of Mt. Pilatus. Once again, the weather was perfect. There is a forecast for snow by Friday, but today was ideal for viewing the Swiss Alps atop Mt. Pilatus. Once at the base of the mountain, we boarded a cog-wheel train that we would be on for 30 minutes. I couldn’t believe it. Apparently we were going up higher than I thought. But that wasn’t the end, then we boarded a cable car to take us to the top. Once there, we had about 45 minutes to take photos or climb the steps to the cross. From there the view was spectacular. The mountains were veiled in mist which gave them a mysterious ... read more
October 3rd 2011
We had a breakfast at the usual time and we left for Lucerne at 8 am and traveled alongside the Rhine River in Upper Engading Valley. It took us about 20 minutes or so to get up to the Julierpass at 7,000 feet where we took lots of pictures of the amazing Swiss Alps. We took pictures of our friend Julie and her husband Merv at her namesake pinnacle. It took us about an hour to get down to the bottom of the valley with extreme twists and turns and at one point our bus and another about to pass each other and our driver Walter “scolding” the other driver in German that he was too far over and to let him pass—we all shouted “Way to go Walter”. Once at the bottom we traveled through ... read more
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