Today is the Day

Today was a better day in Cinque De Terre. The three women put aside there emotions and explored the villages together. We never made it to all five but that is okay. They are all beautiful and unique in their own way but I enjoy ours the most. Montorosso (our village) is closest to the sea and has the most beach to explore. I am so in love with the water. It just makes me feel at peace. We made our way to a couple of the villages and took pictures. We decided to sit down and enjoy some wine in one of the villages. My grandma kept saying how thirsty she was so we decided wine was the best way to cure it. I ordered the sweet wine that Cinque De Terre is know for and my mom asked for something fruity like grape. While the locals speak really good English you have to remember they really only know the common phrases well. They still struggle with some words and phrases. But as soon as our waiter heard grape he pointed to something on the menu called "Grappa". He said-"You want to try Grappa?" and my mom replied-"Si" and my grandma followed. A few minutes later our waiter comes with one glass of wine and two little shot glasses with clear liquid in it. All it took was one smell of this liquid to get drunk. This was no fruity wine. This was pure, hard alcohol. My mom took the first sip and her face said it all. My grandma took a tiny little sip....I thought she was going to pass out. This little shot glass broke any tension left between us three. We were all laughing so hard that they ordered grappa. The couple next to us filled us in that while it is made of grapes it is very "alcoholic." Needless to say my grandma did not quench her thirst.

Once we got back to our village we went in search for pizza. We found this cute little pizzeria that was just a little hole in the wall. The man that owned it made awesome pizza and sang at the top of his lungs while making it. We enjoyed the pizza with some wine of course. We have noticed that in these villages there are more stray cats and dogs running around. This cat came to our pizzaria while we were there. He must have been a stray but he was well fed. His name was Pedro and he was there for some broschito. The owner kept telling him to sit outside and wait and he would bring him some broschito. Mom and I love cats so we kept trying to pet him. We were calling him City Kitty-dad would understand that. As soon as he got his ham he went off to the next little place for some more food. 

We wandered to the next place for some dessert and some cappiciouno (much like the cat)-I might be a little over weight when I return. I had one of the best cholocate croissants I have ever had! This is where we met Niccola. He is 22 and just finished his Bachelors in Biology. He wants to be a doctor. He was sweet and kind of weird. He reminded me of my friend, Lance McWilson. The Italian version! After we enjoyed our dessert we walked back to our room. We decided to take a detour and walk in the water. Well I walked in the water and mom and grandma walked further up because they had tennis shoes on. I love the water. I stood there and as soon as the water hit my feet my eyes filled with tears. Something about the water washing over me made me feel alive and made me feel like myself. I was immediately brought back to a memory of Hawaii. Cinque De Terre has reminded me a lot of Hawaii. My first night in Hawaii my dear friend, Sarah and I stood on the beach at night and we talked. I told her I was going to Italy after I graduated with my Masters and she told me she would try to come visit because she was hoping to be stationed near Italy by then. (She is in England but was too busy to leave work and come visit) We talked more about what our life would look like in three years. In some ways I think is looks the way we thought and in others so different. I think we thought we would have more yet in other ways we do. It is interesting the way God takes your life. It is better that way though because we would always take it in a way that was wrong. He knows best. I wonder what my life will look like three years from now. How has your life changed over the past three years? Are there things you wanted to accomplish that you put off? It is not too late. Today is the best day. There will always be a reason to wait. I often think about that with Italy. There would have always been a reason to not go to Italy. With some things in life you just have to go and you just have to do or you never will.

MMMMMM Grappa!

Waiting for the train to go back to our village.

Niccola and I :)