April 8, 2012
3:42 am
Well, it’s Easter Sunday, and I am sitting on a bench in the Milan airport with Madison and Rachel, waiting to head to Thessaloniki after a wonderful last few days in Como. We took the train from Florence to Milan, and then another train from Milan to Como. We were expecting warm weather and a beach. Sure didn’t get that! Good thing I forgot my swimsuit. If I would have gone swimming, a full body wetsuit would have been more appropriate! Let’s just say, I wore Big Blue pretty much the whole time. Anyway, our train dropped us off at this tiny little station outside Como. So we just started walking, and went inside a café to try to ask for directions to our hostel. The nicest old man saw our directions written on a piece of scrap paper, and walked us outside to point us in the right direction. He didn’t speak English, and we didn’t speak Italian. So it was kind of like playing an important game of charades.
The directions were good though, and we found signs that pointed us toward the “Eco Hostel.” Up the mountain and into the forest we hiked. Every time we saw a sign for Eco Hostel, it said that we were 15 minutes away. That’s a little frustrating when you’re climbing a mountain in non-hiking clothes carrying all of your luggage on your backs. But by the grace of God, our buddy Mario came and happened to be driving a tiny square “shuttle” and gave us a ride up the mountain. Actually his name isn’t Mario, we just named him that and called him that all trip. But up, up, up we go… up crazy cobblestone “paths,” bumping and grinding in the shuttle. We see our hostel at the top of the mountain, and it is absolutely gorgeous! It’s in the wilderness, quiet and cozy. I absolutely loved it. Our friend Mindy, however, is more of a city girl (to say the least) and isn’t a big fan of the wilderness. She wasn’t a happy camper (pun intended). We checked in, and realized our room didn’t have a door. Interesting. So going to sleep that night, we were a little scared. Five girls, at the top of a mountain, in an ‘Eco Hostel” in a room without a door or lock. Hmm. So we decided to put chairs in front of the entrance to the stairs. I don’t think it would have done anything, but it helped us get to sleep. Everything worked out fine though; Eco Hostel gets a good review!
Como is a smaller town, and I loved the fact that it was less touristy after coming from Venice and Florence. I can’t handle the big city feel with vendors at your throat trying to convince you to buy crap for too long. Como was a nice break from that. We went to the lake, which was drop dead gorgeous. Mountains and a lake together are such a great combination. I felt like I could feel God’s presence, and was amazed by His artistic ability as I gazed at the water and mountains and sky. Awesome is the only word I can think of to describe it.
The next day was Good Friday, and we were out and about exploring the city. As we were walking, we noticed mobs of people on one of the streets. The people were all walking the same direction, and they seemed to be unending. What are they doing, and where are they going? We were so confused. Then, we realized that it was Good Friday and close to 3:00. It was some sort of church procession. I really wanted to join, and see where it ended up, but we didn’t. I liked it though, it helped focus my mind on Christ that day.
We went to the supermarket and bought food, just like we have been doing our entire trip. I honestly wonder how much time we have spent in supermarkets, and how many apples, 22 cent yogurts, and bottles of juice we have gone through. Every time, I spend so much trying to pick out what I want, and every time I come out with the same stuff. Then we go and eat together on a staircase, or a picnic bench, or a curb. We trade cookies and fruit, get full enough that we’re not “hangry” and continue on our way. Definitely have saved money by not eating out much. Florence was so expensive I could hardly afford to eat, but Como was more similar to Graz.
I went for the most beautiful run around the lake. The closer you got to the mountains, the more you could see the sky and the clouds behind the mountains. It was so cool. I went through some hotel courtyards, and through a park, and saw some statues of naked Italian men. Loved it. I stopped for a minute at the edge of the lake, where the water was washing up, and just soaked in the view. It brought me straight to my knees, thanking God for His beautiful creation and just for who He is.
Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”
Psalm 33:6-9 “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth… Let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the people of the world revere Him. For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.”
Isaiah 66:1 “Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool.”
Psalm 47:7-9 “For God is the King of all the earth; sing to Him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations, God is seated on His holy throne… the
kings of the earth belong to God; He is greatly exalted.”
While we were at the lake, Madison and Rachel and I decided to walk out into it a little bit. We took some sweet pictures, and I felt like Pocahontus when I took off my shoes. Wish I would have had a canoe! But I still sang “can you paint with all the colors of the wind?!” Good times.
We were walking toward the city, and stumbled upon some festival or something, with all kinds of tents set up selling a bunch of crap. I bought a little bead for 50 cents to put on a bracelet or something. I don’t know what I’ll do with it, but it was cute and I happened to have a 50-cent coin in my pocket that wasn’t quite as cute as the bead. Then I passed a candy vendor. They had a lot of strange candies, and so I was just kind of looking at them, not really wanting to buy anything. But then the guy offered me a sample, so of course I took it. Then I tried something else. I didn’t really like either of the things, but because he was giving me samples I felt obligated to buy something. The prices weren’t on there, but it was priced by weight. I figured it was probably pretty normally priced, so I went ahead and ordered some gummy bears. Can’t go wrong with the classic gummies, ya know? Then he weighs them, and I couldn’t believe how expensive they were! You savor each and every one of those gummy bears to the very last drop of flavor when you’re paying like 50 cents a bear!
Friday night, we were sitting in our hostel and having some good conversation. It had been pretty sunny out earlier, but then out of nowhere we heard a loud boom of thunder. The sound came crashing into our hostel and startled us. It’s kind of like God focused my attention back on Jesus. I was reminded that it was Good Friday, and reminded of the cross.
Isaiah 53:5 “But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”
I have to just take a second to distinguish the difference in the words associated with Jesus and the words associated with us. Check this out.
Jesus: Us:
-He was pierced -our transgressions
-He was crushed -our iniquities
-His punishment -our peace
-His wounds -we are healed
His death and resurrection changes EVERYTHING about life. I pray that I never, ever lose sight of that!
That night, we did some laundry, washing our clothes in the sink and hanging them on the balcony to dry. Then we realized that we were only allowed to bring 10 kg with us as luggage for the flight to Greece, and that had to include a purse or anything inside the bigger bag. I have my laptop with me too, which weighs 5.6 pounds, so I was going to be way over. So I had to cut my wardrobe about in half, and send my towel and a lot of my clothes with Mindy and Bella on the train back to Graz. It sure wasn’t easy to part with half of my things when I only had a backpack with me from the beginning, and it’s a three-week backpacking trip! Had to do it though, it’s a 100 Euro fine if your bag is over the weight limit. No thank you!
Saturday morning, we got up and checked out of our hostel. Had to say goodbye to Franchesca and Mario, but we left them a tip for the shuttle service up and down the mountain and for printing off our train and plane tickets for us.
We took the train back to Milan, and explored Milan for the day. We saw the Domo, and fed some pigeons. I couldn’t stand being there for very long though because of the crazy vendors. They would try to tie bracelets around your wrists and then guilt you into buying them, or give you popcorn to feed the pigeons then demand money from you. No, I didn’t ask for any of your popcorn seeds Mister Trickster. We saw Napolean’s castle, which was pretty sweet. Then, we went to a café and got some lunch. I had a salad, and it was so great because I’ve been so deprived of vegetables lately, eating fruit and bread from the supermarket all the time. Then, we went and sat in a park for a while, and I saw a kid playing soccer. He was juggling and was pretty good, so I decided to go play with him. His name was Gerald, a 12-year-old kid from the Philippines. We juggled together and had a great time! He didn’t speak much English, but he said “Happy Easter!” with a huge smile on his face when we had to leave. Super cute.
Then, we hung out at the train station for a while, waiting for Mindy and Bella’s train. It was so sad to say goodbye to them! It’s funny how close you get to people in only a week. I didn’t even know these girls well last week, and now I’m so sad to think of leaving them! So now it’s down to three: Madison, Rachel, and I, headed to Greece! Our flight leaves at 7:20, so we’re staying the night here at the airport. But the airport security guys won’t let us sleep. They keep rounding up the people, kicking out the homeless people, cleaning the floors, and waking us up when we lay down on the floor or the benches. Guess I’ll just have to drink some coffee tomorrow and make it to Greece! About to start reading 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians to prepare for Thessaloniki, so excited. That’s all for now, Hoppy Easter!
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