A little trip to Italy

Well, I can now say that I have been to Europe. Courtney, Lisa, and I had been anticipating the trip for almost a year, so on December 11^th, we were so excited and ready to go (even if that meant sitting on a plane for hours on end). This was a big trip for me, so this post is super long.

It was actually my first time in a country where I did not speak the language at all, and that was a little frightening for me at first. Even though I tried to say a few things like “hi”, “please”, and “thank you”, Courtney told me that I just sounded ridiculous and should just not even try. So, for the whole trip, I just nodding and smiling and acting like I know what was going on.

After we landed in Milan, we had our first and only experience with a taxi. Lots and lots of money later, we got to our hotel and headed out to the Duomo in Milan. It was massive and interesting to see. We spent time out on the piazza in front and window shopping by the little shops nearby.

The next day we got on a train to Alessandria and spent a few days with Nonna Angela, who is the cutest Italian lady ever! She was so good to us. She took us to shop at Oviesse, drove us around in her tiny blue car, and took us to church with her on Sunday. Courtney and Nonna even favored Lisa and me with a lovely duet of Homeward Bound by Simon and Garfunkel.

On Sunday night, we took a little train ride to Genova. We walked around the city trying to find the Mediterranean Sea. Since I couldn’t talk to anyone and Courtney wouldn’t ask anyone which direction the sea was, we ended up following our noses to the harbor.

We spent a few days in the city of Bologna next. My favorite place we went was the San Luca church. We had to hike up the hill and pass through the 666 arches that led the way in order to get to it. Once at the top, we were able to see the whole city and were able to see the beautiful countryside. We definitely got a workout to get there, but it was worth it.

Next, we visited, my favorite city, Florence. That is one beautiful city! We saw the Duomo (which as you can see is under construction), the David by Michelangelo, and just wondered the city. That night, we met up with a friend of Ron and Carol Mumford, and her and her little family drove us to a hill that overlooked the city (that was gorgeous!) and to a pizzeria. They gave us a real Italian experience and we had so much fun with them! I wish I could have spent more time in Florence.

The next, though, we headed to Rome. After our arrival, we went to the Colosseum and the Pantheon. The next day we went to the Vatican and that was an interesting experience. We also got to see the Sistine Chapel, but we couldn’t take pictures of it. At the end of the day, we decided to go back to the Colosseum and enjoyed our last little bit of time in Rome by looking at the famous structure that still stands after about two thousand years.

Our next destination was Rimini, Courtney’s last city he served in. We shopped in the little store that lined the streets. After seeing the west side of the country, we were all the way on the east side of the country, where we saw the Adriatic Sea.

By then, we were so worn out and ready to get home, but little did we know that we were blessed with an extra day in Italy.