So on Father’s Day I got to see my dad and my brother and sister and other relatives. It was fun to catch up on their news. My brother and his wife got to go to Greece, Crete and the Netherlands recently. They said they used the Rick Steves’ app to help them on their tours. After hearing them praise how wonderful the app was, I decided to check it out just for fun, even though I have no plans to go to Europe anytime in the next decade. I started listening to it last night while I was brushing my and flossing my teeth, and guess what? I learned a lot in just that five minutes or so. Like that the German speaking locals in Vienna call Vienna “Wien” (pronounced veen by the locals) and that’s where the term wienerschnitzel comes from. I also learned about the Vienna Opera House and the Albertina museum.

I’ve always wanted to go to Europe, ever since my AP Art History days in high school, but that’s not happening anytime soon, so this is the next best thing! I could even get on Google Maps and somehow coordinate that with the Rick Steves app tour.

It got me thinking about how in the Trim Healthy Mama book, the original fat one, Pearl talks about how she and her husband like to watch Rick Steves’ DVDs on Europe for a date, while eating her special low carb crackers and cheese.  They also invite her brother and sister-in-law over to watch, chat, and eat. So now I’m thinking, hey maybe my husband and I will do that for date nights. Get the DVDs from the library. Or watch Rick Steves’ YouTube videos, make some crackers and cheese, invite some friends over, and feel like we are in Europe. I’ll let you know how this works out, and I would love to hear if any of you try it! I also got to thinking that as my kids and I read books listed in the Give Your Child the World book, we could watch these Rick Steves’ videos, at least for the Europe part. I love learning about different cultures, histories, food, and places, and since I can’t go there in person, I will do this instead! We are asked to gain a knowledge of “countries and kingdoms” to be prepared to do what God asks us to do as part of our missions, as it says in D&C 88:77-80.