Arrivederci Italia

By show of hands- who's tired of Italy pictures?? Well I'm at least tired of posting them. I think it took me longer to post all these pictures than to go on our actual trip.

These two pictures are from a little "Bone Chapel" inside one of the churches in Milan. Some of you wondered why Catholics would put St. Catherine's thumb in a jar (mind you she didn't lose it- it was removed as a relic after she died. I won't mention the other things that were removed and sent all over as religious relics... ahem... her head). If this doesn't answer your question, I don't know what will. In their defense though, I did find something interesting about this fascination with bodies of the dead. I read a plaque at this church that talked about how these bones are those who worked, lived and died in this church. The bones are saying to all who visit "We were as you are. You will become as we are.". To me, that means- live your life to the fullest. We don't live forever and time runs out quickly, so make sure you do what God would want you to do while you still have time. At least- I hope that's what it means.




























On that happy note- we spent our last day in Milan shopping. We didn't have a ton of room in our bags so we couldn't shop along the way too much- but we brought an extra bag to check on the plane- so our last day we were able to buy some of the bigger, bulkier stuff. We found this awesome street market where we spent half the day- and then went shopping on Corso Buenos Aires, the non-Prada/ Gucci (yet still fashionable) shopping in Milan.











Oh and I forgot the part about how we ate gelato. Lots and Lots of gelato.

The Alps as we left Milan.











Greenland (we think).

Our trip was amazing and I feel incredibly blessed and lucky that, with the help of our family and patience of our sweet little boy, we were able to go. I would love to go back someday, but for now I am happy in a place where people speak my language and I can listen to the song Threadbare Gypsy Soul without thinking someone is going to steal my bag. I definitely think that going broadened my perspective of humanity and made me think more deliberately about what I do and how I treat people. Also- while living like you have an endless supply of money and time is fun- regular, everyday working and living are the sweetest times we have. Now that I've waxed sappy and philosophical- it's on to regular life posting (which sometimes seems more fun than fancy posting!).

Torino- the little bull.

I really wanted to be finished with the Italy posting by Halloween so I could post Halloween pics, but I guess I will have to do it tonight- on All Saints Day. I tried to post a cute little video last night, but since I switched to Blogger Beta I think I will have to change some stuff on my youtube profile. We may get lucky, though- if the magical video fairy decides to visit. Anyway- only two more Italy posts to go...

The above picture is at some type of mall where Mike and some other missionaries sang. By the way- Torino is one of the cities where Mike spent a lot of time on his mission- so we stopped over and walked around on our way from Vernazza to Milano. You may have seen Torino on TV recently, as it was the host city for the 2006 Olympics (too bad we weren't there in February!)













We happened to find a happy little medieval festival complete with flag throwers and marching bands! It was pretty exciting. People were dressed up -so it was kind of cool.













Alpini kids and a brass band.





























The "negative" of the shroud of Turin. Supposedly the shroud Christ was wrapped in after he died (although carbon dating doesn't coincide with the historical date of Christ's death).












We didn't quite make it in time for church, but we did make it just as church was letting out. We saw a lot of people Mike knew from when he was a missionary in this branch. We also saw a Missionary who served in our ward and knew my family. I was surprised he recognized me right away, because Mike and I were living in Utah at the time. Small world!













The Baptismal font at the church.












Some of the members Mike knew when he lived here.
















One of Mike's old apartments. He was in Torino twice and helped scout out the good apartments for missionaries to live in. The missionaries still live in the one he picked out. Nice work, Mike!











As you can see I got a little more comfortable with drinking out of the fountains (Hi Mom). The bull is the symbol of Torino, because Torino means "little bull". Fancy that.

Bobbing along, singing a song- on the bottom of the Beautiful Briny Sea!

After the hike, we went swimming in the Ligurian sea in the harbor at Vernazza to cool off (not Guvano beach). The water was a little chilly, but felt so refreshing and really not all that cold for October. I can neither confirm nor deny the wearing of non-swimsuit attire during this activity












The water was so clear but so salty. Saltier than any ocean I have ever been swimming in. It was so salty that I barely had to move my arms in the water to stay afloat, and kicking was unnecessary.












See? No legs required!












Mike went out further that I did. The feel of sea creatures and mossy rocks shcieves me out- so I didn't stay in too long.


















































The city asleep. We left early to try and make it to church in Torino.
















Another delicious breakfast. Mike indulged me and let me buy one of each kind. He is good to me.












Genova, from the train.

Via dell' Amore

Riomaggiore is the first city in the Cinque Terre. We actually started the hike in Vernazza because we missed the train while we were eating some fabulous sicilian pastries (not a negative, mind you). It was probably a good thing because I don't know if we would have finished otherwise. The hike from Vernazza to Monterosso is the hardest- then we took a train to Riomaggiore and hiked back to Vernazza.

Riomaggiore starts the actual hike with the Way of Love. I think they call it that because this is the only part of the hike you would actually want to kiss someone. The rest of the time you are huffing and puffing and so sweaty that you must stay at length arm's length from any other human being in order to maintain any semblence of dignity.















Eating gelato at the beginning of a 7 mile hike may seem weird to some of you, but if you've ever eaten gelato you know that it's appropriate to eat in any setting- or before, during or after any activity. Lit'rally.












Shafted. Do I smell that bad?




































Corneglia. The beach below is Guvano beach, which is, as we were told, a nude beach. I kept looking to try and see some naked people, but no such luck.
























The road back to Vernazza and a shower! Hoorah!
















Hiking through an olive grove was really, really cool. I kind of want to grow olives. Is that possible in Texas?












Back at Vernazza.

My legs are tired.

Just some shots we took along our hike. The sea was so clear and blue.












A "dangerous descent" as the sign indicated. It wasn't that dangerous to climb down the cliff-side, just hard on the ol' ankles.
















The trail. Argg for not bringing shorts!
















It hurts me... right in the left ventricle (that was for you, G).















The beach at Monterosso. This place definitely had the best beach.
























I love vineyards. Remember that old Jackopierce song- Vineyard? Yeah- couldn't get it out of my head the whole time. Wonder why?



































I found a picture of Mary in the side of a cliff:) Yay!

Belle, Belle Cinque Terre.

You know the pictures of Italy where the cities just kind of grow off some rocky cliffs? If that sounds familiar you've probably seen the Cinque Terre (or Five Lands). They are beyond description, and if you go to Italy- it is required that you go there. If you don't it will hurt me.























Fabulous vineyards and olive groves wind around the steep hillsides here. We assumed this is a little cart they use to gather their crops.











Vernazza is the Cinque Terre's "covergirl". It is probably the most touristy, but even at that I don't think the Cinque Terre are extremely well known. It takes about five minutes to walk from one end of each town to the other, and the people are extremely friendly. More than one person stopped what they were doing to help us find the trailheads to the hiking paths, or give us information about the trains.


























Vernazza from up higher as we scaled the mountainside at the beginning of the seven mile hike that connects the towns.





































Sorry- a little out of order, but this is the balcony of the apartment we stayed in. There are a few hotels, but locals mostly just rent out rooms. Ours was split level with a sitting area upstairs and a bedroom downstairs. The balcony and barnacled cliff (our room overlooked the Ligurian Sea) were the best features.











Vernazza in the early morning.