A week in Italy

Well the trip has been amazing. I started off in Sardinia. No I'm wrong. 

I started off in Paris for the weekend before my flight left on Monday. Here I ended up buying a new camera and revisted some of the things I saw last time with some of my friends who were also in Paris for the weekend. On Sunday we went to Versailles. It was very pretty and such a picturesque place to be. It was worth the expensive to get inside and see all the things. I loved it. So now back to Sardinia...I stayed with a couchsurfer the first night who was an exchange student from France, studying in Cagliari. He is getting his master’s in Neurology! It was nice to be able to practice my French with him. He was a great host, besides the fact that the air mattress he let me use had a small hole in it; so by the middle of the night I was sleeping on the floor. The next day I toured the city. I climbed this sweet tower that let you could see all of the town and the gulf of Cagliari. The old town was really pretty. It was the typical Italian style architecture. After lunch I met my host, Julien, and he took me to the beach with a few other French girls studying in Cagliari as well. But it was super windy and cold at the beach, so the others left, and me and Julien went for a walk down the beach. It was so pretty.

On this night I stayed in a hostel because Julien went on a trip with his other friends for the night and he couldn’t host me. I found this brand new hostel that was in Cagliari and got a room. I think I was the first one to use it. They had opened only a few days before I arrived. There at the hostel I met this girl named Emma from California. We went out to get some dinner at this place right next to the hostel. Emma could speak some Italian which was nice. She got us a table and the waitress brought us water and wine, and asked us if we would like to start with antipasti. When she came back, she brought out about 8 different plates of entrées (meaning appitizers). They were all different types of fish; some tuna, some squid, some other fish. Wow!It was all so very tasty. I regret not having my camera to take a picture of it, but this was real Italian seafood. (I took a pic of the menu the next day-below)

So after all that food, we were full and stopped at just the antipasti; good thing cause it was 15euro just for that. Anyways, chatting with Emma was really nice. She is travelling around Europe for six weeks because she had extra time at the end of her last semester where she is writing her thesis. We talked about all sorts of things. It was nice to have someone to talk to who listens and understands you.  After dinner we walked around the town a little bit and eventually we started talking about what kind of things we want to do after college. And of course me wanting to be a missionary, we quickly got to the subject of spiritual matters. She grew up not really in a church but knew all about Christianity and had some really good thoughts about life. She was very interested in the way that I explained Christianity as a relationship instead of a religion. She asked many questions of why I would want to be a missionary and what my parents think. She wasn’t harsh or anything, but just inquisitive and understanding (an open heart like the seeds that fell on the good soil). I would venture to say that God has been working in her life. I praise God for being able to be a part of her heart’s journey.

The next day in Cagliari I set out to hike that mountain by the beach. It took me a while to find a way up the mountain, and half way up, I realized there really was no path. I scratched up my legs making my own path on this shrub covered mountain. Eventually I got to some sort of summit where there was an old tower. I could see the clear blue ocean below me and a secluded beach. I tried to climb higher but was thwarted by a lack of path and I felt like I was gonna die up on top of this mountain and no one would be there to help me. So I found a way down to the beach and went for a swim! It was cold, but it was amazing. I felt like Tom Hanks for a little while. Only if I had a Wilson volleyball to accompany me. After this crazy experience, I found myself back on the real beach where I sat and read as storm clouds began to cover the area. It rained the rest of the night. And that night I spent in the airport because there was no way to get to the airport at 4h30 in the morning. It wasn’t too bad, Although I got cold after a while. So I felt like Tom Hanks twice in one day (Cast Away, and Terminal). Then my flight was crazyness. The flight that should have lasted 1h30, lasted 3 hours and we landed in an airport far from Venice. From there I had to take a bus to the original airport and then another bus into Venice. So instead of arriving in Venice at 8h15, I got there at 13h00!

O well, I couldn’t wait to get into Venezia and see this city on water. It was really cool. I saw San Marco square and the Rialto point. Very beautiful city. I stayed with a couchsurfer in Padova (30 minutes outside of Venezia) who was named Alfredo. He is the typical European Catholic. He seems to be what is left of the church in Europe; just religion and dedication to the church’s traditions.  I was very very confused by Alfredo. We did not communicate well at all. It was an interesting time to say the least. But otherwise he was a great host. He gave me a bed and sheets and fed me Italian food. I had artichokes for the first in my life and they were simply amazing. They were soft and delicious. We had them with Polenta and chicken. It was interesting to learn about the Italian culture and the way they eat and the things they do. Alfredo told me all about the area that he was living and so forth.

So next I took  the train down from Padova to Riomaggiore (a village that is part of the Cinque Terre) by way of Florence, Pisa and La Spezia. I wasn’t able to make it to the tower in Pisa because the next train was in 20 minutes, but I was almost there.  Leaving at 7am and arriving at 13h00 in Riomaggiore I was very pleased to finally arrive. Here I stayed in a hostel for two nights. I think this was my favorite part of the trip and by far the best thing I’ve seen in Europe. The landscape was simply stunning; breath-taking. Pictures can’t even begin to describe how cool this place is. There are hiking trail all over the mountains surrounding the coast. I spent the first day on the beach in Monterosso and hiking along the touristy coastal path. That night I met the others that were staying in the hostel with me. And the next morning I got up at 8am and set out with Jane and Erika (from New Zealand and the UK respectively) for a long day of hiking. I could go on and describe the hike to you but that might just be boring. It felt so good to get up early and head out on the trails high above the villages before everyone else was up. 

The views were great and it was nice to have some company for awhile. Around lunch time we split up and I continued hiking along. I found out that I could rent a bike for free with the hiking card that I bought. So high up in the mountains I found a small shop where I could rent a bike and went sailing along. There was nice flat road going through the mountains that I took; and then going down the mountain was really fun. I continued hiking and working up quite and appetite the rest of the day. Along the way I met this couple from Boston and the husband was from Chapel Hill; small world. And another crazy thing was when I was in Vernazza these girls came up to me and asked if I was in Sardenia a few days ago. They had seen me in the train station there and recognized my nationality by the Chacos that I was wearing. They were from Georgia and Alabama and they were only in Cinque Terre for only one day! (not recommended). Anyways, I hiked right up until dinner, where I met Jane and Erika in Manarola for a nice dinner by the sea-side, watching the sun set. 

For my first plate I had crab pasta and for my second plate I had the local dish of baked anchovies, potatoes and tomatoes with olive oil. They served us bread and wine with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette, and Jane even got the lemon custard tart with pine nuts for dessert. What a wonderful meal! My stomach was well pleased afterwards and we walked back along the subtly lit Via dell Amore back to our hostel. The sky was clear so we were able stop and look at the stars. Finally going to bed after a long day, I slept well. And the last day I spent all day hiking before my train left at 16h26 from Riomaggiore back to Florence. Then I took the night train from Florence to Paris. It reminded me a lot of my Chinese train ride experiences because it was a sleeper train; but obviously much nicer. 

**you can see all my pictures on the right by clicking on the links under "My Photos"