Trip of a Lifetime: Italy and Switzerland 2016

At the end of May, Tony and I got to take a trip to Italy and Switzerland. Definitely a bucket list item and a trip I am so thankful we were able to take. We ended up renting a car and using Air BnB, my first time to use it. This cut our cost and Air BnB was much less expensive than hotels. Some Air BnBs that we went to were better than others. Air BnB is a website/ app that allows you to book homes, bed and breakfasts, apartments at a lower cost. They even have couches you can rent and small rooms for the night. We also found that renting a car gave us a lot of freedom and was less expensive than the train in the end. We went with another couple which was a lot of fun and allowed us to split cost on a lot of things. 

Here are some highlights:

Venice

Venice turned out to be packed with tourists. It was our first stop. Not our favorite city, but so beautiful. We went up the clock tower to get pictures of the city and also went into St. Mark's Basilica and Doge's Palace.

St. Mark's Basilica

Our next stop was Bologna which turned out to be one of our favorites. We took a food tour and met a local who told us some quirky stories about their city. Bologna is home to the oldest University in Europe. Our food tour included pizza, pasta, gelato, espresso, and wines. We loved the architecture and feel of the city. The city also introduced us to "apertivo" which is the pre-dinner drink. There were little restaurants on the streets that would advertise apertivo and you could stop in for a drink and appetizers, kind of like happy hour. We loved it! 

The University

This shop was a stop on our food tour, and we ate some meats and cheeses. Bologna is also were bologna originates from and where lasagna and tortellini came from. The man that owns this shop has a certificate showing that his family has owned this shop since the Middle Ages. Pretty amazing! 

Part of our food tour- we highly recommend the food tour, we had a blast!

Our next stop was Poppi castle, which was right outside Tuscany region. I have never toured a castle before, it was worth it! One highlight of this particular castle is its library with some very old and interesting books.

Next was Perugia. We enjoyed a dinner here and walked around the city. 

We also made our way to Assisi. We toured the St. Francis Basilica and also toured another castle right near the Basilica. Breathtaking!

We also stopped for a wine tasting and learned a lot about how to properly taste wine and tell the quality of a wine. We got to try wine from many different Italian regions while touring! 

The next stop was Rome. We went to the Vatican on our first day. It led to a lot of discussion and just enjoying artwork. I loved the passion and history here. 

The Room of Tapestries in the Vatican

Trevi Fountain

Roman Forum

Colosseum 

The Pantheon

Gelato, of course.

Next was Tuscany, which we called our "vacation from our vacation". So relaxing and peaceful. Our trip included a lot of sightseeing, so we really enjoyed getting to just take a break for a bit. 

We also took a cooking class where we learned how to make gnocchi, fettuccine noodles, a red meat sauce, and tiramisu. This was one of the best things we did together, the class took a few hours and then we got to eat the dinner we had made while overlooking Tuscany. Amazing!

Our gnocchi 

Our tiramisu

Enjoying Tuscany with Bryan and Laura

Next was Florence and checking out David. Worth the wait. Absolutely stunning and one of those things you have to go and see for yourself. 

The Duomo in Florence. Other than St. Peter's Basilica, The Dumo was one of the most beautiful churches we saw in my opinion. I loved the painted outside. 

Florence

Our final stop was Cinque Terre, a set of five coastal cities. There is a hike that I highly recommend where you an hike to each city. Apparently, there was a flood that cut off access to the hike to the last two cities so we were only able to hike to the the three first cities. You can take a train to the last two, and I believe they are doing construction at this point to maintain connection to the last two cities. 

A view you will never forget. I loved the turquoise waters with the multi colored homes nestled in the cliffs. 

These towns were quite touristy though, there were Americans and other visitors everywhere. One of the reasons we enjoyed Bologna so much was because it was not on everyone's list of places to visit in Italy and so it had a lot more local feel and speaking Italian. In some of the highly visited spots, there were so many Americans and English being spoken that it didn't quite feel like we got the cultural experience. 

You can't beat that view!

We also spent our last few days in Zurich, which is where we flew out of. We loved the fact that we got to get to know Switzerland a little bit. It was very expensive here.

I got to try a Rosti, apparently a famous Swiss dish. We also stopped at a Swiss fondue restaurant that was delicious. There are different variations but it is basically hash browns in different ways. Pretty good!

We loved our trip and are so thankful for the rest. Physical, emotional, spiritual, mental rest. A change of scenery can be so good for the soul. The only thing is that it sparks desire in you for more travel. You catch the spark and you just can't wait for your next trip. 

We are hoping to make England, Scotland, and Ireland our next priority but we will see :)

 “Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain

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Lessons on Humility, Belief, and Making Plans

Sometimes stories seep easily into our souls, like sweet hot cocoa into a cold body. Other times the stories have to be forced into our minds and hearts, told over and over and over again until the message finally massages its way into who we are.

This is how I feel about God's Word. Sometimes it is like a fresh, spring rain, like a renewing, cleansing, restoring drink that I am desperate for on a searing hot day. Other times the lessons, the stories, they whisper quietly, delicately, they take their time, they gently find their way in. Sometimes I choose to be a selective listener to God's Word, hearing what I want to hear, forcing out what I don't want to process.

In the end, the truth finds its way. Sometimes it is the same lesson, glaring back at me, staring at me again and again. I think I have conquered it, "I got this now, God, I get it!" and then there it is again, seconds later, reminding me my heart has not quite conquered all that it once thought. My sinful beast of a heart makes its ugly appearance once again. Truth is curious like that. I have come to believe that I always have the victory of Christ in my mind, heart, and soul, but there are lessons that nag at me and will until the day I meet my Savior and I get to let go completely of the wrestling with sin.

I have been fidgeting with a few lessons lately, turning them over in my mind, exploring.

One is humility. I once heard a definition of humility that will forever stick with me. It was one of those instant lessons, the kind you soak in and feed on, you never forget. Humility, the speaker said, is seeing yourself rightly through God's eyes, seeing yourself exactly as God sees you. We can lean to one side or the other and we do this often, daily, moment by moment.

One side is seeing yourself as higher than God sees you, a "god" in your own right. This is the boastful, prideful, arrogant, self-seeking side. The side that wants to direct every conversation to how awesome we are. The side that wants to believe that every accomplishment we have achieved in life is because WE did it. That scholarship, that job, that award, that promotion, how "good" (but not) our children are, how "perfect" (but not) our marriage and home is, all ME. "I don't need you God, I got this, can't you see I've handled it this far and done a pretty stinking amazing job so far", this side says. "God is an afterthought, I get to lead my life, I get to make my own choices, I clearly know the best way", this side says. This is the side that is not choosing to believe and see that it is God and only God to whom the glory belongs for everything we have in life, down to our very breath by breath. This side of humility is the pride side. And man, do we all ever struggle with it. If we can ever actually admit it.

The other side of humility though, is the forgotten cousin. The neglected, less talked about side of humility. This is the side that believes it is worthless, a failure, it can't do anything right. This is the side that pushes away compliments. "I don't deserve compliments, I'm a mess up", this side says. This side does not see that God spent time creating us all uniquely and with no mistake, with talents, gifts, and abilities, some we may choose not to see or believe, but certainly there. This side is not seeing that believing you are worthless is just as much sinful, self seeking thinking as the most despicably arrogant person we know. Dwelling on our failures and mess ups is false humility. Humility is not believing we are worthless, it lies in knowing our worth in Christ.

Whichever way we lean is dangerous, a spiraling path of self indulgent thinking. I see this scale of humility in my life thought by thought, battling. True humility is seeing ourselves exactly as God sees us: worthy of love, a child of God, washed clean of sin, ready to walk in faithfulness to our Father.

Another lesson I am learning is about believing God is who He says he is. Believing it with who I am and living it out with my actions and thoughts. One thing my pastor says is that we can often live as a "functional" atheist, saying with our mouth that we believe God but living our lives with no love or obedience to Him, no sorrow for our sin or desire for repentance.

Another truth bomb I am grappling with is making plans. I am a planner, an organizer. I LOVE it. Last summer, I organized the entire house, even labeled the fridge and snuck into Tony's closet. He tolerated it. :) I love making plans and seeing them through. I love setting a goal, crossing off the to do list. But the truth bomb question is: do I want God or do I want my best laid plans? That is what our pastor asked us today. We can plan all day. We can Pinterest our plans, we can talk to our friends about our plans, we can dream in our little moments throughout the day. We can picture the life we want, making steps towards it each day. But when God throws something at us out of left field, how do we respond? Do we choose to believe our plans are still better? Do we choose what we want or do we choose to believe that God wants what is best for us? Do we actually believe that God wants what is best for us? Do we believe that when we give up our plans, we aren't actually giving up at all, but choosing the better life?

You can see why these are lessons that tear at me. Lessons that have to ooze and trickle their way in, and never quite permeate.

God, I'm desperate for you. Help me, help me. Help me believe your plans are always, always, always, incomparably, unimaginably better than my plans for myself. Help me see myself as you see me, to believe you are God, and to believe your words about me are true.

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