Cinque Terre, Travel Tales, and Gimmelwald!

Hello again! I have had an absolutely, mind-bogglingly incredible week during my leave of absence from the internet and I have so much to tell but I will do my best ...

After we left Sansepolcro (a very sad departure - I did not want to leave that place!) we made our way to Arezzo to hop a train to Monterosso, on of the five Italian towns that make up Cinque Terre (Five Towns). To complicate things, every single leg of the trip was set back because buses and trains kept coming late, which caused us to miss whatever came after.

It was almost 8 pm by the time we reached Monterosso, but the astounding beauty of everything around us was well worth the complications we faced getting there. Lizzie, Joy, and I made our way to the hotel and crashed, happy to be there and already won by the beauty of the area.

Monterosso is mainly a resort spot, but I forgave it for its touristy feel because enough of the town's natural beauty remained - and I thoroughly enjoyed that part of the town! The views were breathtaking, like something off a postcard.

We spent our first full day scoping out the town and enjoying the local sights, including the spectacular hilltop cemetery. It used to be the site of a castle, but now the lonely hill exists as a place of final rest for the remains of locals. The visit involved a tough hike, but we were glad to have made the effort when we discovered just how beautiful the cemetery of Monterosso was - absolutely picturesque.

Interestingly enough, babies were buried in the midst of others buried there, which is quite different from most of the cemeteries in Italy. Since the nation is predominately Catholic, the issue of infant baptism is quite important when deciding where the child should be buried. Most babies are buried in a separate section from the rest, in an almost "in question" portion of the cemetery.

After trekking back down the mountain we stopped in at a seaside restaurant for a quick bite to eat before continuing on our adventures. I got gnocchi, as usual, but this time it was served in a delicious pesto sauce - and the noodles were shells (how appropriate!).

After lunch we decided to dip our toes in the freezing water before heading back to the hotel to lotion up and get ready for a real beach visit. The intense coldness of the water surprised me so much I screamed and jumped back at first! I snapped a picture of the tiny wave catching my toes by surprise right before I jumped :)

After we had lotioned up at the hotel we ran back to relax on the beach and were happy to discover that the sun had finally come out in full. Later that afternoon we actually went swimming in the icy cold water, but frigid as it was, I will never forget the clearness of that gorgeous water.

The rest of the afternoon and evening included a nap on the beach, nice warm showers in our adorable hotel (we had a terrace that overlooked the entire city!), and then a delicious dinner with a few of our professors who were also staying in town for a couple days. We splurged a bit on that dinner, but it was the first time I've done so and it was very much worth the few extra euros :) We returned to our hotel that night tired, but delighted by our wonderful day.

The day we bid farewell to Cinque Terre, had a bit of a layover in Milan and then finally reached Varenna, a small town off of Lake Como in northern Italy. Again, the trip was eventful and we arrived much later than we had planned, but such are the trains in Italy ... it's just something you learn to live with! Varenna was positively gorgeous - quiet, peaceful, and lovely to look at - and we were disappointed to only have one night there. Lake Como was a sight to behold, and I would have loved to have had more time to enjoy the beauties all around us. Yet it served us well, offering a very pretty place to stop and sleep on our way north to Switzerland.

That night was a bit of a low point for me, mainly because I was so tired and coming up on the month marker of being away from home, but God was very good to me that night and I had some alone time to think and pray and rest. He sustained me through that difficult evening and by the next morning I was ready for the next leg of our journey towards Switzerland - and it was a good thing too! We were totally unprepared for what was in store for us next!

The next morning the three of us woke up early and took off for the train station to ask about the best train to Interlaken. The station had been closed the night before or else we would have made plans then. It was only then that we learned the unfortunate truth ... the Varenna train station was inoperative and the platform itself served only as a passthrough stop for other destinations! Our only option was to ride an hour backwards to Milan and get on a northbound train from there. You can imagine our frustration! We had though Varenna would serve as a springboard for another train, and would never have stayed there if we had known it would waste us that much time! But at this point there was no other option open, so we rode a train to Milan, hopped on another couple of trains to get to Interlaken.

We did our best to maintain an optimistic outlook on the adventure, and for the most part we managed quite well. I pulled out my iPod and listened to Brian Regan (a stand up comedian) to keep my sense of humor alive and well. The funny thing was, I think I worried the Italians in our train car because I went into hysterics a couple of times - in part because he is truly very funny and also because when you are as tired as I was, anything can strike you as hysterically comical!

I also took the time to get caught up on my journal writings for the trip. Our travel journals serve as a huge part of our grade, and are much more than just a personal diary. We are required to write about every place we visit, and academic informational like historical background and detailed descriptions of museums, churches, and art pieces are incorporated as well. It is very time consuming, but I know that it will be one of my most treasured possessions when I return to the States.

When we finally arrived in Interlaken, it was after 5 pm, so we stowed our large backpacks in lockers and made a quick stop at the local grocery store (called the Co-op) before hopping on an adorable mountain train that took us to Lauterbrunnen. From there we got on a bus and made our way to Stechelberg (try saying that five times fast!), and then from there we rode a gondola (not the kind in Venice!) up the mountain to our final destination - beautiful Gimmelwald!

We were very excited about staying in this tiny mountainside town for two nights before heading to Lugano for our final week of classes, but the last leg of the trip was probably the hardest! From the gondola station there were two options: the scenic route, and what I now affectionately refer to as the suicide route. Guess which one we were smart enough to choose?

By the time we finally made it up that treacherous hill to Walter's (our home while we were in Gimmelwald), we were out of breath and anything but a sight for sore eyes! But at the same time we felt like very accomplished travelers and were so thankful to have made it. Plus, the views from the hotel were unbelievable. It was a lot to swallow. I mean, every time I looked out my bedroom window the Alps were staring me in the face! Can you imagine living in a place like that, where you wake up every morning to see the Alps out the window? It was surreal!

The next morning we set off on a group hike to Murren, a town nearby Gimmelwald with the closest grocery store, ATM machine, etc. It was a rainy day, not at all the scene I had desired for our day of hiking, but I did everything I could to keep up the spirits of those within the group and enjoy the beauty around me despite the cold weather.


Dr. Webb (who along with her husband - John Rose, Meredith's president - Dr. Maureen Hartford, and Dr. Hartford's husband - Jay Hartford, had joined us during our last few days in Sansepolcro) proved an invaluable walking partner because she allowed me to pester her with questions about various sights the whole way up! She also walked at a pace more to my liking, for though we were among the last to arrive in Murren, I was able to snap as many photos as I liked on the hike up!

After a bit of gift shopping and lunch purchases, we took another hike even higher up into the heart of the mountains. There were wildflowers, fields, and mountains enough to fill up a world of photo albums, and as you can imagine I had a field day with my camera despite the rainy weather!

Unfortunately, the fog, rain, and other circumstances beyond our control prevented us from reaching the top that day, though the blow was lessened by John Rose's announcement that the rain had wiped out the snow anyway. As a result we got to experience the delight of delicious German soup and hot chocolate (compliments of Dr. Hartford) in a picturesque little mountaintop restaurant to escape the rain and cold. This was yet another example of plans gone awry that turned out every bit as fun and memorable, just in a different way. After a long, cold, and VERY rainy hike back down the mountain to Gimmelwald, many of us climbed back into our pajamas, snuggled under the covers, and took a long nap for the rest of the afternoon while our soaked clothing hung to dry in the rafters of the hotel loft (which was were a good many of us slept).

The next morning we packed up our bags and prepared to leave Gimmelwald. I had John Rose pose in front of the hotel (he insisted that the leftover cheese nobody wanted and his walking stick be in the picture as well!).

As we walked down the mountain towards the gondola station (via the scenic route this time!), the sun was bright and the sky a perfect blue so I got some terrific pictures of the Swiss countryside. Gimmelwald really is one of the most wholly beautiful places I have ever been in my entire life.

The whole time down, I kept wanting to burst into song ("The hills are aliiiiiiiiive ....") and I did once to Joy's great amusement. It was very poorly sung, but she enjoyed the performance nonetheless, and pardoned my vocal chords on account of sleep deprivation :) Here's one final glimpse of the beautiful Alps ...

Before we hopped on the gondola to begin the journey back down to Interlaken, I insisted that Joy and I ride the big slide so we could leave Gimmalwald with a bang. Here is photo documentation of my first ride down:

Ascension ...

View from the top ...

And doooooooown she goes ... ewwww!

But did I let a soggy landing dampen my spirits? Of course not!

Joy resisted my persuasions at first, but after she saw how much fun I had (and realized that I had cleared any moisture from the slide's bottom with my own) she agreed to go down in choo-choo train fashion as long as she could be the caboose.

And then John Rose went down to show us how the job is really meant to be done - nice and easy, like floating down a river ... he was far more professional in his sliding style than we were! But then again, he's had years of practice on that slide.

And then we said "Auf Wiedersehen" to Gimmelwald and made our way towards Interlaken then on to Lugano. I already miss the simple beauties of Gimmelwald, and hope to make it back someday when it's not rainy so I can experience a good old fashioned snow fight on the Alps!

I don't have time to talk about the many wonders of Lugano now (which Joy has playfully named Switaly since it is within the Italian region of Switzerland), but I can't wait to fill you in and post more pictures (hopefully tomorrow afternoon). It is absolutely gorgeous and our accommodations at Franklin College are heavenly - we each have a private room that includes our own bathroom and kitchen! Tomorrow, weather permitting, we are going to take a boat tour around Lake Lugano, so hopefully I can post pictures from that as well.

Much love and baci! Thank you so much for the continued prayers and uplifting emails! They mean more to me than you could ever imagine!

Bekah