Well, I made it home – home sweet home! I took a little break from blogging and enjoyed my "time off", my first time as a legitimate tourist all year! After volunteering on the farm I met up with my friend Dan in Naples and headed North from there. In this blog I'll just review each city and give you the highlights from each place we visited, along with some pictures. At first I was nervous about the two months; nervous that I would be too tired for more travel, feel burnt out and careless, my relations with Dan while we spend a lot of time together and traveling on my own for the first time in 11 months. It ended up being an amazing and amazingly restful trip. Not only did I get to meet some awesome people and make an impact, starting up my "career" in backpacking missions, but the Lord confirmed some of the things I had been learning about myself on the race and that I am, in fact, not only changed because of the World Race, but because of Jesus and will continue to be because 'on Christ the solid rock I stand'! Well, and, of course, I got to see some awesome places, eat some delicious food and stinkin' travel! My favorite things to do!
[Edit: For those of you English majors… I know! I'm the worst at run-on sentences, but sometimes they just work!]
NAPLES: The first city and my least favorite. We only spend a day or two here, but the city was dirty, Dan bought some not-cheap flip flops that broke right away and there were hawkers everywhere, even the pizza we ate was so-so! I heard the other side of the city was nicer, but since we only had a few days there we didn't see it. We spent most of our time here going back and forth to this 5 star hotel trying to pick up this guys pair of shorts he left there last year and had a post on Craigslist asking someone to pick them up for him. Long story short, we couldn't get the shorts.
Margarita pizza in Naples 
POMPEII: Took the train to Pompeii on my last day in Napoli and I am so glad I did! Brief history report: Pompeii was instantly buried under 5 meters of ash and pumice when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. It was rediscovered in 1748 and found to be one of the most well preserved pieces of history. They found bodies under the ash where you can still see the expression on their face when the volcano hit! The paintings where still on the wall, irrigation systems still in place, pots and bowls still standing and almost every aspect of ancient life can be seen as if it only happened a few hundred years ago.
Pompeii's landscape and sceneryA man praying before dying of ash
ROME: In Rome we saw all of the sights, the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, etc. We had a CouchSurfer lined up while in Rome, but last minute told us he couldn't host us the first night, but could the second. We rushed to find an open hostel and lucked out with one on the outskirts of town. After paying for storage of our things all day and lugging it around for a hostel, I was exhausted. We toured all day the next day and the CouchSurfer bailed on us the second night as well! The hostel we stayed at the first night was full, so we had to cross to the other side of town to find another hostel. Rome was a beautiful city and all of the sights were amazing, but Rome was a bit tough for us. I was tired of lugging my huge backpack, daypack and food bag around town and was debating if staying on this adventure was a good idea or if I should have just gone home with the rest of the Y Squad. Our last day in Rome we went to the Vatican and saw Peter's tomb, which was incredible being in the same building as a man who walked on water with Jesus, even if he had been dead for a thousand years or so. We also visited the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel, which was smaller than anticipated, but still breathtaking.
The beautiful city
As tough as a gladiator at the Colosseum
FLORENCE: Florence was an absolutely beautiful city, one of my favorites! Barbara, one of the girls I WWOOFed with in Sicignano had been living in Florence while going to school and had payed the whole month's rent, but only lived in it the first week or so, so she let us stay there free! It was the smallest apartment I have ever seen (only a sink, small fridge and half table downstairs, small bathroom, single bed, dresser and enough floor space for a sleeping pad upstairs), but SUCH a blessing! We met up with Chat, also a fellow WWOOFer, and his mom for a day of touring around the city. They invited us to breakfast at their hotel on their last day in town which was absolutely amazing! It was so fun getting to see Chet again and to meet his mom! Since we had a free place to stay, we decided to use Florence as a home base and went out to see a few more places, Pisa, Cinque Terre and the wine region of Chianti on day trips.
Covered shoulders for the basilica
The statue of David 
PISA: We had an hour layover in Pisa while taking the trains to Cinque Terre. Basically, we sprinted to the leaning tower, took a few pictures and ran back. A nice view of the main street and the tower, but that's about it.
Holding up the tower
CINQUE TERRE: We didn't have a lot of time in Cinque Terre, the several train rides getting there took a long time. We were hoping to hike the trail between the villages, but didn't end up having enough time. We walked around the villages, went swimming in the Italian Riviera, got an iced coffee at a little cafe and went kayaking. It was completely lovely and I wish I had 100 more days to spend there, I want to go back!
One of the beautiful fishing villages 
The gorgeous coast!
CHIANTI CLASSICO: We missed the bus to Chianti by literally a minute, but decided not to let us down. We grabbed some placemats from McDonalds, made some signs and hitchhiked our way through the little towns. One guy who picked us up was a wine-maker himself and gave us an update about the current weather conditions in Italy and heir effect on the vines, which was interesting. He took us to the small town of Panzano, where we met the world famous butcher Dario Cecchini who had cheeses, meats and flavored lard for you to try at his shop. From there it was easy to hitchhike to Greve, 10 minutes down the road. Since it was Sunday, the Wine Museum was closed, but we went to a wine tasting place and saw the main piazza where we met a couple with a car traveling through Chianti as well. We rode with them to Gaiole where the Chianti Classico blend was created and saw some amazing views of vineyards, local markets and another wine tasting. Since I had given up drinking back in Sicignano, I was assuming it would be very difficult to go through Chianti with only a few tastes. God is good though, unfortunately sometimes haha. I had an unexplained stomach ache all day! I thought I was going to throw up in the car on our way back from Gaiole. I was able to try some of the wines, but only a sip or I would get sick.
The beautiful vineyards of Gaiole 
The Canadian couple we met and us
VENICE: We had more trouble with CouchSurfers in Venice, apparently CS in Italy is difficult in general. We ended up finding a corner of the train station and sleeping there for the night. I'm pretty sure it was illegal, but we didn't have money for another hostel and, really, no other choice. I was awoken by a train coming in at 6am about 10 feet from my head. We stayed at a campsite we found on the very edge of town, off the actual island of Venice and was super cheap. Venice is an amazing little town, one of the most interesting I have ever seen! There are no roads, only canals, so everyone either walks to work or takes their boats. We hadn't splurged on eating out the whole trip yet, only eating baguettes, things we can make at home cheap and out of the bag of food I had stored up from the last few months of the WR. Our second to last night in Venice we went out and the food was absolutely amazing! We ate some pizza, scallops (they are known for sea food), pasta and tiramisu! I was drooling even after eating it all, it was amazing (especially after eating mostly bread for the past few weeks).
Venetian masks 
Canal and a gondola
AOSTA: We met a couple CouchSurfers (FINALLY some came through for us!) in Aosta. Actually we forgot their number and sat at an internet cafe trying to figure out what to do when they came in with a sign saying "EMILY R B". Apparently they figured we were lost and went to the train station, where people pointed and said "the foreigners went that way", where they found us. The girls were absolutely fantastic! They made us dinner and breakfast and even payed for our bus trip to Courmayeur to start the hike! We didn't get to spend much time sightseeing around Aosta Valley, but we had a great time with our friends!
The whole gang! 
TOUR DU MOUNT BLANC: Probably the highlight of the entire trip! I love getting a chance to see all of the historic towns and villages, but my soul jumps at the chance to hike through mountains and live in tents. The Tour du Mount Blanc is a 12 day hike around Mount Blanc, usually starting and ending in Chamonix, France. We started in Courmayeur, Italy, hiked through Switzerland and into Chamonix, completing the second half of the tour (and the prettiest!). The first couple of days was pure rain and one of our hardest assents over the mountain pass in to Switzerland. We stayed at Refugio Bonnati one night and in my tent the others. The trail went over mountain passes, into caves, through little towns and over vallys, with 1-3k meter assends and descents each day. It was an absolutely gorgeous adventure and something I will remember forever! Along the way we hiked with some guys from Israel that we had seen at the Refugio and a few of the campsites along the way. We hiked with them our second to last day and got to know them. All 5 of them are practising Jews and we got to have a great discussion about what Judaism meant to them, how they act our their faith and I got the share with them my views and relationship with Jesus and what it means to me to live by His grace! It was a really great experience and opportunity to share Jesus with people on trails, please continue to pray for these 5 guys!
Beautiful view while in Switzerland
Loving living out of my tent! 
NICE: In Chamonix we rented a car, which ended up being an overly nice 2013 Audi A4 that I was terrified to scratch! We drove under Mount Blanc through the tunnel, back to Aosta to pick up our things and spend the night, then off in the morning to France! We stopped in Nice to sleep and see the Southern France coast. It was a beautiful city and I wish I had more time there! We walked around the pier and restaurants, but didn't get to see a whole lot. We couldn't find a campsite or afford hotels, so we slept in the trunk of the car, uncomfortably and made food out of Dan's JetBoil on the sidewalk. We left early that morning so we wouldn't have to pay the meter.
The rental car for France
AIX-EN-PROVENCE: A few years ago I dreamt of living in France and finding a baking teacher to study under and learn the craft of French breads. The city I fell in love with while researching this dream was Aix-En-Provence, so of course I was very excited to come check out this dream city of mine! The city has a carousal in the center of town and the second most beautiful street to walk down. My lovely friend, Lilly Walker, from the WR had spend a year or so in Aix in college and wrote down a list of places we should check out. Our original CouchSurfer canceled on us, but we found another one last minute that ended up being amazing! Jean Phillippe, our host, had a friend playing a jazz concert that night and invited us to come. Little did we know it would be in the courtyard of a castle, looking over the entire valley, with the sun setting, catered with a feast! We got to go for free and it was an amazing concert! The next night he offered to drive us to Marseille to take us to his friends barbeque. His friends were people he knew from his Capoiera group, so we ate delicious barbeque, met some awesome locals and saw a Capoeira 'fight' show!
The jazz concert at the castle 
The Capoeira fight in Marseille
BOURDEAUX: After we left Aix we went a bit out of our way to discover Gorges du Verdon, the 'Grand Canyon' of France. We didn't get much time there, but hung out by the beach, saw the canyon and past through a million sunflower fields that were incredible! In Bordeaux we stayed with another CouchSurfer who was already hosting a girl from Northern France on holiday. It was a very different experience than the other CS hosts we have had. Our host was very hospitable and nice, but hated Bordeaux and thought the Illuminati and Free Masons where out to take over the world. Every time we went into the city center he would only show us images in the architecture than confirmed his theories. Regardless, we loved the city and the pieces we did get to see seemed lively and wonderful! He took us out to the coast one day to get fresh oysters and snails, which are surprisingly delicious! I love shellfish, but had never tried snails before! After spending two nights on his couch we left for St. Emillion, one of the most famous wine regions in the world. We toured a winery and the quaint historic town and a lovely, but very hot, day!
Our CS host and us eating oysters 
St. Emillion, Bordeaux
NANTES: I had first heard of Nantes from a Beirut song, but one of the girls I WWOOFed with had told me Nantes was one of the coolest cities she had ever been to, so I had to check it out! We found a CS host the night before and seemed extremely excited to host his first guests. Remi is a divorced man with two kids, a child at heart and a world traveler that absolutely loves meeting new people and trying new things. He was probably one of the sweetest people I have ever met and absolutely loved hanging out with him for the two days. His apartment was right downtown, he gave us his bed and he slept on the couch. He had been traveling through SE Asia for a while now and so had only slept in his apartment about 10 times. He was excited to swap stories about our experiences through Asia and my travels on the WR. He cooked every single meal for us (he LOVED cooking for people) and didn't ask a dime from us! We were only in Nantes for one day, but he took us on a little tour all over the city and saw tons of unique art projects, community hang outs, random rooftop games of Banana Ball and even a life-size electric elephant that roams the streets and blows water on people! The city was one of the most unique places I have ever been! They had fruit trees growing everywhere for people to eat from, community picnic tables and grills right downtown on the sidewalk, people everywhere and a rich culture. I wish we had more time there!
Our amazing host, Remi 
The giant, city dwelling elepant
PARIS: Finally, we arrived in Paris. Our last city and at this point coming home seemed surreal, but it was only a few days away! I met a girl online through a Christian Backpacking Facebook group who lives in Paris and let us stay in her apartment. She had just moved in and had most everything in boxes, so we slept on our sleeping pads and sleeping bags. Our first day in the city we returned the rental car and headed to Montmarte. We roamed through the streets, checking out street vendors and street musicians, visited the Basilica du Sacre Cour and the Moulin Rouge. We realized the subway was a bit expensive (at least for our very tight budget), so we rented bikes the next day. You can rent a bike for only a couple Euro for the whole day and travel all over the city! It was so fun to ride a bike again and great excersize, I recommend it! We saw the Eiffle Tower, Arch of Triumph and the Louvre. We had lots of plans to go to more places, but once we got to the Louvre we decided to stay until it closed. You could spend months in there! There were SO many cool pieces of art! Honestly, the Mona Lisa wasn't even that impressive… I loved the Ancient Egypt room and the old Iranian/Middle Eastern stuff the most. Venus was an amazing statue as well! Once the Louvre finally closed we went to Notre Dam and saw some cool street performers do fire dancing and bike off ramps. The next day we just went into the city center at night to see the Eiffle all lit up and went out to eat for one last splurge. You can travel so cheaply when you cook yourself or eat mostly 20 cent baguettes, but having an actual meal at an actual restaurant is SO nice, even if it is a cheap restaurant 🙂 The next day I took the subway to the airport and headed home! Dan stayed in Paris a couple more days by himself, but I was amped to see my family back home, in the United States of America!! Home SWEET home!
Leaning on the Eiffle 
Streets of Montmarte
You can see all of the pictures from the trip on my Facebook!
Backpacking Italy
Hiking the Tour du Mount Blanc
Road Trip France
Backpacking Italy
Hiking the Tour du Mount Blanc
Road Trip France
I've had a couple people email me about being on a Prayer Support List and I would absolutely love/need that! Especially with Argentina coming up and some more missionary work I am going to be doing, without an organization. There are just some things I need prayer for that I can't write in a public blog. Comment with you email below or send me an email saying you would like to join the list and I'll send out the first email with a few stories and people I met along the way on this trip that I would love some extra prayer on/about.
Thank you everyone for your continual support as I re-assimilate back home and prepare for the next big journey!
You can learn more about my upcoming mission trip to Argentina and donate online through my fundraising website: http://bit.ly/M2AsLb
