La Spezia and Cinque Terre

FINALLYYYYY.....It's taken me four whole months, but here is the blogpost recapping the final leg of our trip that we went on in October/November.    Writing it up made me nostalgic and kind of antsy to go on another cool trip someday.    

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Sunday, November 6, 2016

(as taken from my travel journal)

The day started blustery, cold, and rainy.  We got quite wet as we made our way to La Spezia for church.   We had to descend the gigantic staircase to the train station in Cornelia, take a train to La Spezia, then we took a taxi to church.  The La Spezia Branch was pretty small--maybe about 30 people or so and the Branch President was all of about 25-years-old.  After church we wandered through La Spezia and discovered that it's a much cooler, more charming town than we realized from our trip there in May.  We went all over creation, constantly looking for ways to go up, up, up the hills to see a better view.   Eventually we headed back to Cinque Terre and we visited Manarola and Riomaggiore.  Both were great little towns with their own charms.  We got a little more hiking in, ate dinner in Riomaggiore, and just enjoyed exploring some more.  

HIGHLIGHTS

The pianist in the La Spezia Branch was blind and played all the music from memory.

La Spezia really was an unexpected surprise.  Our time there in May was so short and so close to the train station, that we didn't realize how beautiful and charming it really is.  

We logged 127 flights of stairs and about 30,000 steps today.

The rain eventually stopped and the end of the day was much more pleasant than the beginning.  

LA SPEZIA BRANCH

Of course, we had to get pictures with the missionaries.  :) 

After church,  we explored La Spezia.  

We'd stayed in La Spezia on our trip in May and honestly didn't think much of it, but actually being able to explore it this time, we found that we really liked it.  

It was bigger than the official "Cinque Terre" towns, but was still quite picturesque.   

Some of the 127 flights of stairs we climbed that day.   We were obsessed with going up, up, up the hillsides to get a better view.  

THE VIEW!!! 

The rain let up and we finally got to explore Manarola and Riomaggiore....

Dinner in Riomaggiore! 

Monday, November 7, 2016

The weather stayed clear and we woke up early and went on what we thought was the Corniglia to Vernazza hike.   Too bad we messed up and got on the wrong trail.  We ended up hiking 1-1/2 hours to some point called Ciggaletto before officially realizing that we were definitely on the wrong trail.  So we turned around and headed back (about 2-1/2 hours in total).  It was disappointing to have taken the wrong trail, however we still got to enjoy some lovely views and I liked being able to push myself as we hiked up about 1500 feet in elevation.   Spence got annoyed in the middle and went back.   

Afterward, we packed up all of our stuff and got on a train to Pisa...

In Pisa, we got gelato one last time....

Got a little silly...

And then headed to the Pisa airport and flew to London....

Adam and I didn't do anything in London, and just flew home the next day...just in time for me to vote in the presidential elections.  Ugh.  

Kristina and Spence stayed a couple of extra days and explored London and visited with Matt and Karey.   It was a great 8th grade trip for Adam and we were happy to have had the opportunity to have gone.

I think we may have officially caught the travel bug now, because I'm already daydreaming about what our next trip is going to be.    

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Missing Her

I've lost my zeal for blogging.  

It's weird that I've been doing it for 10-whole-years now and have never been able to let it go, even when I wanted to.   Now I desperately want to at least document our awesome trip in October and other big events that have come up along the way and now I can't seem to make myself want to blog.  

And I blame it squarely on Cami.   

Yeah, she's 4000+ miles away living in France, but it's still all her fault.  

Basically all the creative energy I used to put into writing blogposts has now been sucked up by me keeping in touch with Cami.    I spend about the same amount of time writing to her as I used to use for blogging.   I hope to get back to a happy medium where I can blog once a week or so eventually, so that we don't miss documenting this stage of our lives, but for now I'm afraid that this poor little blog will  likely stay neglected for another year or so until she returns (or I figure out how to extend the day a couple of hours).  

And, in case you're wondering, yes, I miss it.   

But not as much as I miss Cami.   

She's been out almost 7 months now and is still serving in Lyon.  She's training TWO companions right now (Soeurs W. and F.), which has proven to be more challenging than she expected.   She feels like both need her attention and it's hard to give both of them what they need.    

She seems happy though, which makes it easier to miss her.   

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Rainy Day in Venice

Next on our itinerary was VENICE!!!! 

Venice has been on my shortlist of dream places I want to visit for a long time,  and I was a tad disappointed that,  despite my best efforts to fit it in,  it never did end up making sense to squeeze into our itinerary in May, especially since the rest of my family was more keen on seeing Rome.   I reluctantly gave up on trying to add it in only with the promise that Glen would try to get me there someday.  

Little did I know that I  would have the opportunity a mere  six months later.  

I was so excited when Kristina and I were making plans for this trip and I realized that Venice could actually happen.    We ended up with barely 24-hours there, but it was 24-hours of a dream come true for me!    

Friday, November 4, 2016

   

To maximize our time there, we went on a gondola ride around town...

I could gush and gush about how much I loved it, but I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Saturday, November 5, 2016 

(my journal entry) 

Our train from Venice was leaving at 11:30am, so we woke up, got a quick breakfast at a bakery (it wasn't very good), and traipsed over to the Basilica San Marco.  It was a tad chilly (low 50's) and pouring rain, but it was a fun adventure getting there.  It was such a cool place and we enjoyed all the friendly pigeons which would land on our outstretched arms.   After that minor distraction we were crunched for time and had to run back to our place, get our luggage and book it to the train station.  We made it there in the nick of time and now we are on our way to La Spezia (Cinque Terre).  Somewhere in there I also found a real deal Italian post office where I bought stamps and sent some postcards.  Here's hoping the rain will subside enough for us to get some hiking in at Cinque Terre.

Basilica de San Marco (Saint Mark's)

It was rainy, beautiful,  and I LOVED it!   

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In the Last 24-Hours....

In the last 24-hours:   

Ellie and I gave a presentation at a local Cub Scout troop.  Ellie taught them about her seizures and talked about how we should treat everyone with kindness and respect.   We talked about the differences that people might have and how we are all children of God.   We also talked about ways we could look out for others, be their friends, and help when people need.    Ellie was well-spoken, confident, and did a great job teaching those little guys an important message.   :) 

Ever since we passed the 5th year anniversary of Spencer's diagnosis with AML (on January 10th), I've been wanting to give blood again.  In my younger years, I gave blood on a regular basis, but I struggle to keep my iron levels where they should be now that I'm older.   Emma decided she wanted to give blood for the first time too, so we decided to take advantage of it being inauguration day (and thus a day off of school here in the DC area) and finally donate this morning.  

I gave mine easy peasy, then walked over to the recovery section to rest for a few minutes.   There I found a very pale woman on the verge of passing out.  There were no employees in the recovery area, so I held on to her and called for someone to come help.  Employees came rushing to aid her and sent me to run get cold water bottles (twice), juice, paper towels, and a straw.   Yes, I just gave blood myself and they sent me running five separate times to retrieve items for them.   Luckily I felt 100% fine and was happy to help where I could, but I did laugh that they were so quick to rely on someone who'd just barely donated blood themselves.    They got the woman to lie down and she was fine before I left.   Unfortunately Emma's iron levels were .1 too low and she was unable to donate today,  so she'll have to try again another time.     

After that excitement, we went out for breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien.  

It was delicious and a good way to ensure I got a little more time to rest and get some good fuel in me before embarking on the rest of the day.   

I was quite enamored with my breakfast.   :) 

After that, I walked to the car and was greeted by a woman with a car parked near mine in need of a jump.  I got my jumper cables, jumped her car, and went on my way satisfied and grateful for the opportunities I've had to serve my community four separate times in the last 24-hours. 

Now we are home absorbing the fact that Donald Trump is now our president.   

God Bless America. 

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