Venezia - Cinque Terre

Well, I'm back at it again. I think my last update left us in Athens.

On July 5, we took a plane to Milan (the city we can't seem to get rid
of...Aargh!). The next morning we took the train to Venice for a lovely 3 day break (July 6-8). There is just something magical about Venice. I had wondered if I would feel that way again since I had been there before, however, there was no
doubt to the pull it has. We walked out of the train station to the sight of the canal, the gondolas, and vaporettos, and pure magic. I wasn't the only one to be affected. I looked over at Jen and smiled. She was transfixed, cemented to the spot where she stood, just soaking it in. Magic.

We bought our 3 day vaporetto tickets (a lesson to check your ticket as we payed for the 72 hour ticket and were given the 48 hour one). However, our elation wasn't diminished too much and we were able to work that out. We went onto the waiting area for the vaporetto. We sat down and for a moment, I forgot that we were just in the waiting place (I should know better - Aunt Ellyn). You get a bit of a jolt at the vaporetto (people ferry) runs into the waiting area and dock and everyone surges forward. One thing that we are learning in Italy, is that you have to be fairly aggressive in lines, or people will just cut right in front of you. So it was a vaporetto travel to our hostel stop (San Samuele), and then we meandered through the alleyways until we found our B & B. It was lovely to again have a room and bathroom to ourselves.

We then left to discover the city as we wandered the day away. We ate on the steps of the La Salute church, walked through St. Mark's square. (I don't quite get the fascination with feeding the pigeons and having them all over you - adults and kids - but it was entertaining watching. I was tempted to do as Rick Steves said...buy 2 bags of pigeon food and throw them at someone else's feet! I resisted.) I bought a beautiful oil painting of a canal in Venice from a sweet little man who paints in the colder months and sells his paintings during high season. We had the best cioccolato gelato on the entire trip! We wandered over the Accademia bridge, and enjoyed dinner (I had a cuatro formaggi pizza) by the canal. The next day we shopped in the market along the Rialto bridge and took the Vaporetto to Murano (where they have the glass factories) and Burano (where they make lace). In Murano, we saw a demonstration where the man, between puffs of his cigarette, created a small glass horse. It was amazing how quickly he was able to do it. Burano for me was new. It was quaint,quieter, and colorful. Every building was painted a different bright color. It was one of my favorite places in Venice. After buying some lace made by the older ladies of the town, we headed back into Venice.

On Sunday, July 8, we made it to St. Mark's Basilica. We are forever grateful to Rick Steves and his tip to check your bag at the nearby church. You then get a bag tag and can jump the line into the Basilica. I think that St. Mark's is one of the most impressive churches. The floor is a constant mosaic of different colored tiles in patterns. The ceiling is full of painted Biblical scenes in various colors with a main background of gold. Jen and I got cricks in our necks as we stared at the ceiling and tried to make out the various Bible stories (Noah, Joseph, Adam and Eve, Jesus' crucifixion, the disciples' deaths, etc.)

We later met up with Steve and Cindy Thompson (missionaries in Italy from Southern Gables church). It was such a special time. Jen and I didn't really know them. Jen knows their daughter Stephanie. After many of my discussions with the Haleys, the Newcombs, Alice Robbins, and the Hashes (other SGC missionaries), our hope was that we could be an encouragement to them, and not a burden in any way. I think there is something special about stepping into their world, seeing their church, their home, and walking there streets. It allows us the opportunity to bring our experience back to our church to share with others, and it helps us know how better to pray for and support them. It was interesting to talk with them and hear how they hadn't had much contact from supporters, churches, etc. for many years(They've been in Italy for around 24 years!).

I was especially impressed and amazed by their hardiness. It sounded as though they really have to be able to persevere even when they don't see any changes or encouragement. There are a lot of discouragements, and not just from the Italians. Sometimes it seems that progress is not seen for a long time, however, if you know that God has you in that place working with those people, you don't give up. You carry on in the knowledge that God knows. It was very inspirational and encouraging for me. I hope that they were encouraged as well.

Monday, July 9 we took the train to Milan (again) so we could then switch trains to Genova and through to Rapallo on the coast. After checking into our amazing hilltop hotel (thanks Dad!), we walked through the town to find dinner. We had an antipasti of prosciuto and melone (cantelope and prosciutto). It was an interesting combination of sweet and salty. Good!

The next morning we had to try out the pool before we took our next train to Vernazza. We're staying right now in one of the middle Cinque Terre towns. It is just as beautiful as everyone has said. We decided to stay in Vernazza that day. We climbed the small castella Dora, read at a cafe, had the most amazing pineapple gelato, and had dinner with a mozzerella and tomato salad (Is that it?), a first dish of seafood - squid, fish, etc., and I had a penne pasta with a fairly basic tomato sauce. (Jen and I have both learned that we're not big on Anchovies - me with a putanesca sauce on some pasta, and her having anchovies infesting her pizza!)

Yesterday, July 11, we had some amazing pastries at a local shop and bought our lunch for the day at a local market (nectarines, yellow pepper, asiago cheese, focaccia bread, cucumber...yum!). We then set off to hike the coastal trail to the other towns.

Our first hike to Corneglia had some fairly steep ups and downs (lots of deep stairs - Ugh!), but it was beautiful! Corneglia is set up high on a cliff above the water. I learned early on that it was much cooler hiking in my swimsuit and capris. Luckily, many of the people we passed were doing the same. Besides, I just adopted my Dad's philosophy when I tend to do embarrassing things that those people aren't going to see you again anyway. It really frees me up! After a weird combination of gelato flavors(cinnamon, pink grapefruit, and crema - like whipped cream - gross!), we headed down the trail to Manarolla.

Manarolla was one of my favorite towns because of the deep sea swimming. We decided to swim at the less crowded, but more treacherous entry (as Rick Steves says) swimming area. The waves definitely looked daunting. However, once I walked out to the edge, you just have to wait for a big waved to come in before you jump. Then it carries you back out to sea a bit. It's a little like being in a washing machine being tossed around. You have to tread water pretty hard not to just get thrown anywhere - like closer to the rocks, but otherwise it was somewhat relaxing. I just had to keep in mind that I needed to get back to the ladder before I got too tired. Once I figured out that I should only try swimming when the tide was pushing me toward shore, and then tread water when it was pulling me back out, I was able to slowly make my way back to the ladder. On my second attempt to swim, I discovered a jumping off point that was really fun and farther down and out into the water. Overall, it was my favorite experience so far in Cinque Terre.

The next town was Riomaggiore. There we walked around to see things, which doesn't take long considering how small they are. Then I got some pesto pizza for dinner, and we decided to take the train back to Vernazza as it was getting later. Unfortunately, we must have gotten on the wrong train. It was at the right time and going the right direction, but it took us right past our town to Monterossa. Then we were looking at how to get back to Vernazza. We already were a little tired, but we decided to just hike anyway. We were wandering through the town to find the trail (We should have looked at the map - another lesson learned!). We found a trail marked with the red and white stripe and started climbing the stairs. We followed it for a long time. It was surprisingly steep and didn't seem to go to the right as we were expecting. I was starting to feel that perhaps we might be climbing one of the high mountain trails, but I was hoping that it would start going toward Vernazza. Finally, near the top, we took out the map (Yes, I realize we should have done that sooner!) and discovered that yes, we were hiking the tougher high mountain trail. We ended up having to go back down the trail to take the coastal path that we originally thought we were taking. At this point the sun was setting and by the time we got to Vernazza it was dark. A little sketchy I know, but we did get some great night photos of the towns! (heh, heh)

Okay, well today we're going to hang here in Vernazza. I might hike back to Monterossa in the light of day and see the town. Tomorrow we are going to head to Pisa and Volterra hopefully.

More later

-Stacy