Back to the Euro’s
Rimini
The day we left Scotland the weather was terrible! We were waiting on the tarmac under this shelter thing, which only had one side to it. I thought, “What’s the point?” then was grateful I had at least one side to keep me sheltered – lookin at the positives in amidst the circumstances. So we got on the plane a little bit wet.
We arrived in “Milan darling, Milan” and caught a bus into town to catch a train to Rimini. We arrived at the station and were greeted by this “nice” guy who helped us buy a ticket to Rimini, which cost us a couple Euro extra - for his services. I did think it kinda strange to receive help for free, sad but my suspicions were correct. We had to wait a little while before the train was leaving so we had our first Italian meal of pasta – ahhh. When we got back to the station the notice board said that our train was 1 hour delayed, I thought, “Welcome to Italy, must remain flexible…again.” It turned out it was okay and it left on time…dodgy.
Once again I underestimate how big countries are and we are on the train for four hours, arriving at our hostel after midnight. Some of Dan’s Ulti team were already there so we stayed and chatted for a while. Good bunch they were.
The Paganello tournament was a lot of fun. Dan’s team (Shocker) were awesome and there was a mixture of people living in England, Germany and Australia (well, just Dan). They did really well out of the competition and came 5th in their division. It was real close though, from what I understand there was a 1 point statistic loss in the semi-final pool (Dan’s terminology). Basically, they could’ve come closer to the top if not first, but they were 1 point out when they did the statistics…but we won’t dwell on this in case someone from the team is reading this – love you Shocker :o) I really enjoyed watching Dan play again. The weather held out for most of the tourney. There was one really bad day when there was loads of rain and wind – Monday. This was the day I didn’t get to see them play their last games because I was being pounded by a migraine and cold at the same time – nastiness! I vowed to stay away from caffeine for the rest of the trip (however since then I’ve had tea…why do we not learn from pain, however extreme…this may come in handy when having children, so grateful…kinda) – a revow is required. Anywho…
Rimini was a beautiful town and there is so much surrounding it. We went for a bike ride along the coastline after the tourney and checked out what was down the road. We got a few beaches up and there were teams from a few Uni’s in England who roadtrip it to Italy every year and play a bit of beach Ultimate. Dan played a game for them. IT WAS THE FUNNIEST ULTI GAME I HAVE EVER SEEN!!! These guys were half serious about playing, I think it’s more about the holiday. There were a couple of guys who played in an “interesting” uniform, don’t know how they did, but they were laying out and everything…let’s just say sand got everywhere…EVERYWHERE.
Roma
A long train ride to Rome (after stopping at a stop we didn’t need to) and into a hotel, which we were shown to a room where there was still someone living in it. Never had that happen, kinda funny and strange at the same time. Oh tip – if you ever want free internet go to Hotello di Roma, they don’t have a password to their WIFI.
The hotel was a bit out of the Rome area. So, we walked A LOT! My goodness, every night I came home with legs and feet aching, but saw it as good exercise. We saw a lot of things of foot. It was suggested to us to walk everywhere rather taking the Metro and buses, cause there is always something to see – so true! Dan is awesome as well cause he doesn’t do the typical touristy stuff and walks into the weirdest little alleyways – it’s rubbing off on me.
Rome is really expensive and we didn’t want to spend too much on touristy things. I figure I can see the inside of the Colosseum and Vatican on the internet. I think the museum inside Vatican City would have been awesome though, but oh well. The Vatican City was a lot smaller than I anticipated, but I guess if you consider the size of Rome, it’s pretty big. Loads of history and old stuff. Was the best city thus far cause there was so much to see. We stayed here for only 3 nights, so we saw Rome in 2 days.
I’m still not used to the breakfasts over here though. It’s granita (a flavoured icy thing), or sweet cakes/croissants with coffee. Un Caffe, their staple diet along with pizza, pasta and gelato. How ever do they balance their blood sugar?
On from Roma
We flew from Rome to Catania - which was an hour delayed, they attempted to charge us excess baggage when I’d already paid online, and they gave me an extra ticket – someone else’s, but I didn’t realize this until I got to Catania when we went to lodge a “lost and found” record for our umbrella. Happy times in Italy :o) We waited for our baggage at the carousel, which ours came out first, pretty lucky considering there were three flights’ baggage coming out on the same one! When the carousel started up the Italians started cheering… … …comforting!
We waited for a few hours for a bus (to go to Siracusa) because we couldn’t find where to buy tickets. We think they may have been closed for siesta and the “Information desk” couldn’t help. We arrived in Siracusa where Ben and Huiber-Jan from the Next Wave picked us up.
We stayed in the Siracusa port for one night then we had to anchor in the bay, where we stayed anchored for 2 nights. The weather held out and apart from a little rocking it was fine – love being rocked to sleep and the pitch-black room was awesome. We all went out for gelato one night, which we had to travel by dinghy for…I wasn’t keen and was holding on for dear life, but I couldn’t not do it for gelato! It was a big call :o)
We then got the go ahead to dock at the Augusta Navel Base and headed off on a sail just after 8am. We had four Italians join us for the ride and they bought sweet pastries…ah you can’t beat Italian hospitality…it didn’t sit too well during the sail though. It was nice laying on the deck in the sun. Had to look at the horizon for a little while then the stomach calmed. We were sailing cross-wind for a while and there was a huge swell, she was rocking back and forward – I had to remain flexible. Dan and I were “crew” for the sail and getting into the base, we looked the part in our shirts.
It was kinda exciting as I approached the Next Wave in the port in Siracusa when we first arrived. I was a bit apprehensive working and living on it because I didn’t know what I could contribute. I had an amazing thing happen before I got there and I really believe God was speaking to me. Before I arrived was thinking about how I could serve. The current period on the Next Wave is preparation for the Sicily Tour they are doing in the next few months and are doing a lot of maintenance. So, I had some thoughts go through my head and I came up with re-organising the library and maybe some sewing but I fobbed it off thinking, “there are more important things to be doing on the ship than that stuff!” So, I get on the ship and they have a list of “priority” jobs that need to be done and guess what! - “organising library” was on the list! I couldn’t believe it! The library is now all labeled and looking saweet! I had to resist reading all the books! But I had to type the list out for borrowing purposes so I have a list of them mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha :D I also did some sewing, formatting/creating of documentation (I used Powerpoint for a flowchart – glad I learnt that from you just before I left Kerry!), created a drawing of the Sconsin (where the library is, and a whole heaps of other stuff I don’t think they knew existed) and a list of what is under the seats – it was AWESOME! Listened to music and sermon jams – introvert HEAVEN! Tehehe.
So, there is still no hot water but at least the toilets flush when you need them to (the ‘yellow mellow, brown down’ rule still applies though). I was conditioned on outreach so it wasn’t too bad. The community onboard is really awesome. Everyone is out for helping each other, keeping each other sane…and out of the way if needed. These guys do it tough living in a small environment and all for the great cause of Christ. Such a self-sacrifice for the sake of others. I am really excited for them as they prepare for the tour of Sicily to share the good news and work with the local churches and communities.
So, I leave you now not knowing whether we’re going to be able to fly in and out of Rome to Athens. There’s been volcanic activity in Iceland, which has caused ash to slowly cover Europe in a southerly direction. Its currently Saturday 17th and we’re supposed to be flying out Monday 19th at 8am. We’ll see…keep you updated on Facebook.
Stay safe ya’ll. Peace, love and hope to you all.
Love Liz
xoxo
