CINQUE TERRE

The view of Maranola from the hiking trail


The porcelain hole had Grace bamboozled


Our balcony lunch in Vernazza with Mary and Jill


We are almost to Vernazza on the Cinque Terre National Park trail

Yes, we hiked this high. Can you believe this view?

I've always wanted to come here to Cinque Terre ("Five Lands") ever since Rick Steves started writing about it in his Europe Through the Back Door books. It's about an hour north of Pisa and is simply a group of five small villages perched on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and connected by a 10 kilometer walking path. Here's how the day went:

6:49 a.m. Took the train from Pisa to La Spezia, then changed to the local train to Monterosso, the first of the five villages

8:16 a.m. Bought tickets for the National Park, which includes the walking path

8:17 a.m. Gloria threw up, dashing from inside the train station to a trash can mounted on the wall at her chin level (very flexible manuevering on her part)

8:20 a.m. Cleaned up Gloria and sat at the cafe while she sipped her Coke and we waited to see how she was feeling

8:35 a.m. Grace had to go to the bathroom, but couldn't figure out how to use the toilet

8:57 a.m. Wandered slowly toward the center of Monterosso to see what we could see

9:28 a.m. Noticed that we were right at the start of the trail and that Gloria was feeling good

9:29 a.m. Began the 3 km hike to Vernazza, the next village, not realizing that this was the most strenuous section of the trail. We climbed up and up and up.

10:03 a.m. Stood gaping at the incredibly cobalt sea below, the green, grape-laden hills above. Snapped photos right and left, landscapes, seascapes all.

10:35 a.m. Paused to rest and eat a little snack. Chatted with two fellow hikers, one an American nurse from San Francisco/New York named Mary and her traveling partner, Jill, a doctor from Cambridge, England. They had met while working in Cambodia some 20 years ago.

11:45 a.m. After climbing up and up, we then hiked down and down until we arrived at Vernazza. Mary and Jill invited us in to their hotel room to use the bathroom and to share some lunch.

12:00 The six of us gathered on Mary and Jill's balcony to share a delightful lunch of bread and cheese, salami and olives, cherries and nectarines. Gloria discovered two new open sets of ears for her incessant chatter and Grace loved talking with two new interesting English speakers (besides her ever-present, ever-interesting parents.)

12:54 p.m. We all wandered to the harbor to buy some Italian gelato. No other ice cream as good!

2:12 p.m. All six of us took the train to the next village, Corniglia, then hiked up 356 steps to the town center. Gloria got stung by a wasp and Jill just happened to have a bug-sting stick in her bag. Plus acetametaphine. And who knows what else. Doctors and Scouts hike prepared.

3:25 p.m. Bid a fond farewell to Mary and Jill as they began the hike back to Vernazza and we headed the other way toward Maranola, the fourth village. Mused about buying property on the Mediterranean as we walked, on flatter ground now.

4:45 p.m. Wandered through Maranola, getting tired now, but looking forward to the last trail section, a flat 20 minute walk to Riomaggiore, the last village.

5:32 p.m. Realized we couldn't be on the right trail, as we had been climbing for 30 minutes toward the high hills. Headed back downhill.

6:14 p.m. Found the right trail, but were too tired to manage the last leg, especially after we learned that we had to be back in Monterosso to catch our train to Pisa and that we couldn't catch it in Maranola, as we had supposed. Took the train back to Monterosso (a 13 minute ride).

7:03 p.m. Caught the express train back to Pisa. Talked over our perfect day, despite throwing up, wasps, strange toilets, and losing the trail. Smiled over the surprises of travel, the new friends we made, the stunning beauty of this area of the world. Looked forward to sleeping in the next day.

8:30 a.m. Got up the next day.

PISA

We arrived in Pisa late Sunday evening, Father's Day. We took a taxi to our hotel. The place was really nice. The room had a big kitchen but we had one problem. There weren't any dishes, no plates, no cups, no anything. The next day we got up, went to the supermarket and bought food(only food that we didn't need a knife for ). After a filling lunch we headed up to the Pisa square. We took the traditional picture of pushing or holding the Leaning Tower. It was great fun. The leaning tower had been closed for 10 years and they just opened. So we had a chance to climb to the top. While we were walking up we could feel the sensation of the tilting. It was very windy at the top. We had an awesome time in Pisa.

MAROC

We loved Morocco! It was a bit of a surprise to me to fly into Marrakech and find a clean, organized city full of the friendliest people we have yet encountered. I guess I expected more of a third world experience, but no, Maroc (Morroco) is a progressive, prosperous country. It was the first place we've been where the language barrier had a real effect on our (in)ability to talk to the locals. Given time and lots of luck, Stephen and I between us can figure out what many French signs and instructions say, but jabber at us in French, even in short bursts of childish speech, and we are helpless. I thought, with its proximity to Spain, that there would be more Spanish speakers in Maroc, but perhaps Marrakech is too far south. Luckily, as is true everywhere, we found enough people who could speak enough English so that we could get by.
ButI noticed that the less language skill I have in a place, the more I feel like a stand-out tourist. It's inevitable in world travel, but I never like that feeling. It's impossible to blend in.

We stayed in the second-home flat of a French family in a lovely villa outside of town. It isolated us a bit and made transportation challenging, but it was comfortable and spacious and had a great pool. We are so grateful for the generosity of the Bouvin family who shared their flat. We met them online at homelink.org, the home exchange organization that we use to arrange home swaps. In some cases, such as this (and our stay in Verona, which begins Friday), the exchange families do not have current plans to visit our area, but are kind enough to let us use their home anyway. We look forward to welcoming them to Washington at some point in the future. Our experience in Maroc exemplifies the spirit of home exchange, which I so appreciate and value.

We hired an English guide for an interesting tour of the souks of Marrakech, and another day, we took a bus tour to Oarika valley, where the highlight of the trip was visiting a Berber home and meeting the funny and interesting host family. Morrocans are very outgoing and sincerely hospitable. Traditionally, a guest is served mint tea in little glasses, so we drank hot mint tea on several occasions. Gloria and I, in particular, loved the tea, but on the days when the temperature soared above 40 degrees (104F) ice would have been nice.

Our camera was acting up, so our Morrocan shots are not the best. But check out the video of Grace and Gloria dancing with the Berber ladies in the Oarika valley restaurant. Grace rather wished she were elsewhere, but we certainly enjoyed it.

Sometimes you visit a place and know it's a place you'd love to return to. Morocco is such a place.

FOR OUR FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS

We have been in Marrakech for a week and we loved it! But we didn't have access to internet, so we are way behind on blogging.

We are in Pisa, Italy now and back in connection. But we are so busy trying to fit all our Tuscan plans into ten days that we are still way behind in blogging.

This is a little note to beg your indulgence and patience.

We'll be back soon with a plethora of news and photos.

Ciao!

The Amusement Park (Grace)

Today, all four of us went to the amusement park in a city called Benidorm near where we’re staying in Denia. The park is called Terra Mitica and it means Land of Myth. It has sections for Egypt, Greece, and Rome. We arrived there early in the morning and got started right away. First, we went through the Egypt part and saw a huge pyramid. We went on rides that got you sopping wet. And Mom and I went on this old wood roller coaster. It went so fast. It was better than California Screamin, in DisneyLand. We also rode these horses that went around a little garden. We had lots of fun.

Gloria's thoughts:

We went to a cool amusment park and my favorite was a kid rollercoaster.

THOUGHTS FROM TARRAGONA

We've been in Spanish-speaking countries for two months now and we're all becoming quite accustomed to the Latin rhythms, the smooth and sonorous sounds of Spanish. For example, Gloria's report of her experience in Primary at church this morning: "I didn't know what they were saying, but I could still sort of understand them." That's pretty much the way it's been. As the (sadly) most proficient Spanish speaker of our group, I can understand about half of what I hear, and about three-fourths of what I read. I can negotiate transactions and understand most instructions, but I am always aware that I don't get it all, and I am always wondering what I'm missing and hoping it's not important. It's at once comforting to know I can get around and frustrating to know I can't really carry on a decent conversation. So I feel isolated within the confines of my limited knowledge of the language, and yet, I also feel a real part of my great extended human family.

One of the greatest benefits of world travel is experiencing the humanity of the whole human race, no matter the language or cultural context. We are in Tarragona, Spain now, a beach town an hour south of Barcelona. It's dotted with Roman ruins 2,000 years old. and sprinkled with medieval buildings half that old. Europe has always fascinated me that way. We can be eating in a modern cafe, looking at medieval architecture and Roman ruins all on the same street. There's nothing like it in the United States -- this sense of human history all around. Europe feels so old, and somehow, I feel connected to all these people that have come before us. I don't think it's because I have European roots, because the same feeling hits me in Asia. I think it's simply that it makes me feel more human, a part of some great saga, full of pathos and glory.

Last night, the girls and I wandered downtown and joined in the fun of a local Children's Festival. We got purple balloons and ate bread and chocolate and threw confetti all over each other. Gloria made friends with some local girls and ran up and down the Rambla, while Grace and I sat on the curb listening to the band and watching the little one and two-year-old Spanish kids try to figure out what sort of silliness their people were engaged in now. We had a ball.

Tomorrow we fly to Marrakech for six days. New culture, new language, new experiences.

DENIA

Here we are in Denia, Spain, about 100 km south of Valencia. The beaches are lovely, though, believe it or not, we´re getting a bit tired of beaching it. And as in some other places, we have to seek out internet cafes to get online and do anything like update blogs and check in for flights to Marrakech (next Monday.) But after the busy bustle of Barcelona, this has been a nice, quiet week. The highlight of the week comes tomorrow, when we are going to an amusement park. It´s in the same town (Benidorm) we drove to on Sunday to go to church, but we never could find the church, so it turned into a nice drive involving high highway tolls.

Getting here was a bit of an adventure as well. We rented a car in Barcelona and set off for the 5 hour drive south. Nine hours later, after a lovely, unplanned detour through the rolling hills of Murcia, we rolled into our timeshare complex, only to be advised that they were having a problem and would need to put us up in a local hotel for the night. Hotel rooms here (even the 4-star variety, which this one was touted to be) are small and never set up for 4 people. Once we get all the beds set up, there´s no room to walk. But we like jumping on beds, so it all worked out well.

We will try to send photos of Morocco as we can.

A DAY AT THE AQUARIUM (by Grace)

Today, we went to the Barcelona Aquarium. It was really cool. When you enter the aquarium, you start walking down a really cool ramp with bamboo hanging over you. The fish were really amazing. They were all different colors, different shapes and sizes. We got to see sea horses. We also got to see Nemo and Dori, from Finding Nemo. There was also a big tube that you would walk through and above and around you would be sharks and stingrays. It was an awesome experience. We had a great time. I hope you like the videos.

MONTSERRAT

I love monasteries. Perhaps it's because whenever I am at a monastery, I feel the pull of the monastic call once again. I would have been a great monk. A life devoted to worship, study, focused work, and prayer seems ideal for one like me, one who loves God and silence and song and spiritual community.

Montserrat is an old monastery; it's been around for 900 years or so as a Christian site, and was a religious site long before then. It's perched way up on the side of some lumpy limestone that incredibly, was once underwater. The view is magnificent and the mountain setting inspiring.

We took the train out of Barcelona, traveled for an hour, then rode the cable car to Montserrat.
The boys choir performed for us in the beautiful, acoustically-incredible basilica. We admired the Moraneta, a statue of the Virgin Mary that is about 900 years old. It is one of the few famous Black Virgins, made so by centuries of sharing space with sooty candles. There are apparently some lovely hikes from the monastery. We hiked the shortest of these, the "Way of the Crosses" since it's not worth the moaning and groaning from certain of our party to attempt anything lengthier.

Despite the hoards of tourists, there is an aura of serenity at Montserrat, a subtle feeling of Something behind and beyond what we see and do every day. I admire monks, Christian and otherwise, for the work they do to bring that kind of spirit to the world. We could all use more of it.

GAUDI'S PARC GUELL

Today, we walked in the park. It was very pretty. There was this long, curvy, mosaic bench that was made out of very cool and interesting tiles. Then we sat in the shade and fed the pigeons. We fed them like all of our chips. They came in swarms. The birds were fighting over the big chips. They got really close to the four of us. Some of them tried to eat my thumb. And others tried to eat my toes. One pigeon landed on dad's arm. And this really weird one was trying to get inside mom's pants pocket. It was hilarious. While we were enjoying the quietness of the shade, we saw this man playing the guitar and singing. He was really good; I even recognized some of the Spanish songs. When school groups came, they gathered around him and started clapping and singing along. It was all good fun. We also got a chance to see the famous Gaudi lizard near one of the exits. It was really gorgeous. We had a great adventure today.

~Grace

MY SECOND "BEST DAY EVER"

We are in Barcelona and we rode two Metro trains today to get to the statue of Chrisopher Columbus down at the port.

This is me and my Dad on the bridge across the harbor. There are restaurants, a big mall, an Aquarium, and Imax on the dock across the bridge.

Then we walked up the Ramblas. My favorite part of our walk was seeing all the street performers dressed up funny. This picture is my favorite picture because it's a guy sitting on a toilet. A little boy stood by the toilet man to get his picture taken, and the guy pretended to fart really loudly.

We explored several alleys on the sides of the main Ramblas street. It stunk a little like the sewer. We saw many stores in some of the alleys. I like alleys.

This is a picture of little mice that are very cute. We were passing a little stand on the side of the Ramblas walkway and we stopped and looked at the animals. There were gerbils, ferrets, chinchillas, bunnies, chipmunks, birds, turtles, chameleons, and more for sale. It was funny, because where we live they don't have pet shops in the middle of the street.

There was a big tile mosaic in the middle of the Ramblas made by Joan Miro, a famous artist from Barcelona. He gave it to the city.

Everything we saw was very cool!

THE HORSE PHOTOS FROM MALAGA