What we do in life echoes in eternity

Day 18 - 20 (6-4 thru 6-6) Tues Thur So since we were about half way through our project we got to take a little mid project break and go and visit the Cinque Terra which is a group of 5 cities along the coast of the Ligurian Sea. It is such a beautiful place, it was a story book town. We stayed in Vernazza which is this small town built on the cliff side like the other towns, and literally has one street that runs down the center of it. This street is lined with shops and restraunts, and bars, and a pub, and allyways to access the stair ways and pathways to get to all of the houses. It is kind of hard to explain how the town is set up but basically it is just a bunch of these side walks and stair ways built up the cliff side that wrap and wined there way up to where all of the apartments and houses are at. This area is also know for it's walking/hiking trail between all five cities which is the main draw for the city. So we went there for a little 2 1/2 day break from ministry work and such. It was a nice relaxing time mentally but was rigorous physically which was quite nice. We got there about noon on Tuesday and just spent the afternoon relaxing and checking out the city, sat a little on the small beach that they have. (It was nice to see sand and water again!) Then we went and had dinner at this great place which is run by these twins, who are hilarious. Recommended by Rick Steves so you have to check it out. And then we got together as a group and just did a little teaching/training time and discussion, then some of us when back down and hung out on the break water for an hour or so and just chatted. Wednesday was the big day! We had our long hike in front of us. The towns are numbered 1 through 5 and Vernazza is number 4, so we had a long hike to get to number one. The first part of it was pretty tough but once you got to the first city it mellowed out and was a nice leisurely walk/hike. It was probably one of the most beautiful experiences I have ever had though. You are walking along this cliff with the Water on one side of you about 500 or more feet down, and then on the other side is more cliff face covered in bamboo, cacti and other random shrubbary and folliage. Their were also huge vinyards and lemon trees through out the terrain as well, and the local people just going about their day. But by far the most beautiful part about it is the brilliant turquise blue water that was crystal clear. When you were up that high some 500 feet or more, you could look down and see down to the bottom which in some places was probably about 50 feet deep. We started the climb at nine and the first part of the climb the toughest part soon seperated us in to three groups. The sprinter group, the strolling group, and the meandering group. I was in the strolling group, we were moving at a quick pace but not to fast and taking plenty of picture breaks. To hike one way and stop to take a peak at the towns took us about 2 hours, and when we got to the last town the first group was waiting to take the train back, but Steve April and I decided we were going to stroll on back as well, and Carly and Nicole joined us so we had a nice little group going. The hike back was pretty awesome, we got a little bit of rain and then it got pretty humid which wasn't so fun, but we ran into like 7 or 8 Cougs along the hike which was awesome, April was wearing a WSU shirt so we go the Go Cougs! a lot which was probably one of the high lights of the whole Italy trip. We got back to Vernazza, had time to go and have some amazing fish and chips and then take a nap while it drizzled some more, a little upsetting because it was just a tad to cold to swim. We went out for dinner again, to this other Amazing restraunt, I had Lobster and black spaghetti, it was delicious! (I miss sea food!) Then most people went and got Gelado and we met up and discussed 1 Peter 3. It was an amazing discussion, and brought a great end to the evening. Thursday some of us woke up with the Sun rise, and got ready to hike the to the last city Monterosso, which is city number 5 and supposed to be the hardest climb. And it did not dissapoint, it was hot and humid at 7 AM, which is fantastic so we were all sweating with in the first 5 minutes of the hike. (Megan Steve, Aaron and I) and it is basically this almost vertical climb with stairs, it's pretty awesome. So you hike up and up and up probably close to 1000 feet above sea level, and then you make this descent downwards, on these very nice smooth marble steps that are probably on a 60% downgrade, and they are about 2 feet wide at the most probably smaller, so you are going down this trail that you can hardly fit down, if you are more than 170 pounds and a stick figure... None of us guys are even close to it. and it had rained so the steps were a little slippery, so it was some tricky climbing. We eventually made it to the town in about 45 minutes which is about half the time it took Rick Steves, and right as we were exiting the trail this huge group of German tourists headed on the opposite direction. So we went into town had a little bite to eat were going to hike back and then the terrential down poor that we had been waiting for showed up. We had watched the electrical storm out over the water all climb, so we decided that taking the path back would not be so good. So we rode the train back, got cleaned up and then went to the Pirate Bar, which is the place owned by the twins and had the most amazing pastries and hot chocolate ever! It was unbelieveable! Of course it was still pooring so we got switched onto an earlier train and headed back to Siena early. Returning home about 4 PM which gave us enough time to shower, nap and eat before mens and womens time! All and all it was a very very relaxing trip, and very refreshing. Not to mention beautiful! "Look at your problems in the light of God's power instead of looking at God in the shadow of your problems"