Cinque Terre

Writing to you today from Vernazza, one of the cities in Cinque Terre, the 5 lands of Italy.

Cinque terre has proven to be quite an adventure, and can be summarized in three words: Sweaty, sunny, and beautiful.

Let's start with the sweaty....Greta and I started sweating in regards to travel logistics. We showed up in La Spezia after a full day of travelling on three hours of sleep each. Greta was gimping with one functional arm because of her dislocated shoulder experience in Interlaken. I was thus carrying double the amount of luggage because her backpacking abilities were understandably limited...and I was VERY grouchy-I felt like a sherpa. (Apparently, my frustration with her gimp arm has translated into my dreams, because the other night she claims I was referring to "ol' one-arm" in my sleep.) We tried to get the bus to our hostel which we came to realize was hell-bent and gone from anything remotely close. After a run-around at the train station, I sent Greta chasing after a bus to ask for help. She was running frantically, hitting the bus window and trying to get the driver to stop pulling away from the station when she ran into a buss sign and hit the ground - sling-arm and all. Awesome. We finally called a cab - more expensive, but worth it for the peace of mind it gave us. We arrived at our hostel, met the unfriendly staff, decided that we officially hated the hostel and cancelled our last two nights there, resolving to find another place to stay for the weekend. Came to regret that decision the next day as we wandered through Rio Maggiore, trying to get a room and discovering that everything was booked, or ridiculously expensive. Finally got a room for the weekend at a hostel that we ended up discovering was a 200-stair climb to reach...at the top of the city and with a gorgeous view, but a sweaty-drip fest to reach. We have been sweating non stop since we showed up, not just becasue of travel hiccups (which also included bank problems that rendered us money-less until mom worked a miracle with the bank), but because it is HOT here!!!!! We wake up sweating, hike sweating, etc.


OH - the HIKE!! Yesterday we hiked the cinque terre hike - a 7 mile trek that goes along the Italian coast, up and down and up and down millions of stairs, along narrow cliffs, and down sloping rock. It winds through the 5 towns and is the reason people go to Cinque Terre. We hiked it, pouring sweat and breathing hard...it was glorious to work so hard, sweat so profously, and complete the adventure.

The view of the different towns were breathtaking...

I ended the hike in my running shorts and sports bra, unable to wear my t-shirt because it was soaking. I tried to wear my rust-colored REI travel towel as a shirt while we ate dinner in town...but looked quite a fool. Brace yourself for THAT picture, soon to come.

Moving on to the sun....We wake up to light POURING into our room (which is a funky little room...looks like it used to be a kitchen and our bed is one of three cots that FILL the space of the room) from a cloudless Italian sky. We are enjoying the many beaches of the 5-lands...And by "beaches" I mean large rocks on which we spread our little travel towels and lay out to receive cancer, pigment, and energy draining SUN. I was a little nervous about wearing my bathing suit because our diet has consisted of ice cream, bread, cheese, ice cream, chocolate, pizza, wine, and ice cream. However, I felt inspired seeing all the Italians in their little man-thongs, barely-there bathing suits, and topless bodies, and braved the bathing suit. Greta took some paparazzi pictures of me and I discovered that I am really quite sexy, and now I sit in a skirt and my suit top, flaunting my cute lil ice-cream curves at an internet point.

And there are other beautiful things about Italy besides my sister and myself. :-) For the most part, we have decided that Italy is dirty and unfriendly. HOWEVER, the water is the bluest of blue, the hills are covered in terraced gardens, and the sun SHINES. Not to mention, the people we have met here have yet again made life beautiful. We have reached the mid-point of our Europe adventure and have also hit an emotional low while in this place. However, God has surrounded us with His presence through His believers. The two girls we spent the last two days with are cousins, Christians, and one is a Psych major - I LOVE IT. They have poured love, wisdom, and prayers on us...He has lifted our hearts and given us so much through those sweet girls and we are so thankful for them...And those two are not the only Christians we have met. The girls who we shared our room with the first night met each other at church; there is a sister-brother travel duo we met who just came from visiting their friend, a missionary youth-pastor; the girls we shared our room with the second night were theology majors from a private school in the mid-west; and the girls who gave us their computer yesterday told us they would be praying for us as we travel. SERIOUSLY? Let me just tell you, God is out of control beautiful. These last 2 days have provided us with the presence of more believers than the rest of the trip combined.

Bonhoeffer was not kidding when He said that being in the presence of believers is like being in the presence of God...I have felt so surrounded while here, and it was needed....we are getting tired, missing home more than ever, and feeling drained because of the weather, all the SWEAT, and the Italian un-friendliness. But these people....they make me feel supported, surrounded, and reminded that He is faithful, good, and there at every step and in every breath. He loves us too much to let us go un-provided for, and that is evident in this place.

Anyway, I am racking up MILLIONS of Euros because the internet point I am at is so costly and now need to go. I will end this post with a high and a low:

High: Meeting and hiking with Sherri and Amanda, our lovely new friends.
Low: Happily eating a cone of grapefruit gellato two days ago and having my happy little tongue come across a TOENAIL embedded in my icy treat! I am wary of gellato now...Italy did NOT put itself on my list of favorites with THAT nasty little surprise. Yuck. Eeew - that's ICKY.

:-) Love you all. Write to you next from either Northern France, or Ireland.