Well unfortunately my camera has decided that it doesnt want to download photos anymore, so it looks like there won't be any pictures coming for the remainder of the trip, which I'm super bummed about! So Im sorry that there's only words to read, but I thought I might as well update you all on where Im at currently.
After backpacking Austria, we spent a few days in Vienna where I discovered amazing things like Wiener Wasser (Water from Vienna) and Wiener Gelato (Everything in Vienna is Wiener). The palaces there were beautiful and the three of us had a fun time trying to cook pasta in the middle of a park with Lucas's camping stove. There's a theme park there that very closely resembles the Santa Cruz Boardwalk which houses the famous Wiener Ferris Wheel. I also went to a traveling exhibit on the human body uniquely named "Bodies". They took apart several real human bodies and have them on display with different cuts so that you can see the intricacies inside. It was so fascinating!
A day of travel and we were in Italy! Crazy lightning storms along the way made for a very entertaining train ride with light flashes every few seconds! I actually loved Venice. It's true that you can get a gist for what the city is like in only a day or two, but its really not as dirty as everyone had described it to me. The best part for me was walking along the western water front and sitting in a grassy park eating cheese, crackers, and wine while watching the boats go by in the main canal. We had a very nice room there and it was actually really fun to get lost in the maze of streets and canals there. Its like one giant labrynth. Often the big roads would dead end and the tiny little alleyways would lead to big open plazas!
Another half day of travel and we made it to La Spezia, the town just outside of the Cinque Terre. A bus ride halfway over the mountain to the Cinque Terre dropped us off in a super small town called Biassa where we spent one night before dropping down into the Cinque Terre. Biassa was a really quaint town with probably 500 residents and a very very loud clock tower that rang on the hour and halfhour throughout the night. I think I'll actually miss that sound a lot!
The next day we took a bus into the first town of the Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore. We ended up spending each of our four nights in this small town. It was our favorite of the five towns because of its smaller size and less attration to major tourism. Pictures do not do this place justice. Beautiful blue water at about 75 degrees made for amazing swimming each day! Our first day there I decided to splurge and go SCUBA diving. How often would I be able to do that? It was really amazing to be diving there and I got to see some really neat sea life including a large octopus and some fish that resembled lion fish. We basically spent our four days there waking up and having coffee and breakfast on our porch, hiking from town to town, cliff jumping into the warm salty water, sunbathing, cooking dinner in our apartment, and then watching the sunset on the rocky pier that was in the town that we stayed in. This place made for by far the most fun time that I have had yet in Europe. I think that the beauty was only half of what made it so great. The rest was just that I got a chance to relax, which was so wonderful!
Rome so far: The collosseum was simply amazing to see and the town is just full of wonderful history and ruins everywhere you look. So yesterday was the collosseum and the house of Augustus. Today we visited the Christian catacombs which were as equally impressive in a different way. Tomorrow we're going to spend the whole day at the Vatican City and the Cistene Chapel. The next day will be spent in town somewhere. After that, Im going to try and see as much of Greece as I can in 3 days and then head on back to Paris only stopping in Florence for a day along the way. And that will conclude my trip!
Im so thankful to the Lord for all of the beauty that I have seen recently in Italy. I love seeing the Lord's handiwork in all of this beautiful country. I feel so blessed to be here. At the same time I just cant wait to come home and see my family and friends again. There really is no place like home, and Im really looking forward to going to it!
Sorry again about the pictures. I'll do my best to put some up when I get back to the states and can use a different cord or something. Have a wonderful week!
Ciao!
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