Blogs from Imperia, Liguria, Italy, Europe

Because of Ferragosto (vacations in Italy around the 15thof August), there was no camp for me. ACLE has free shared accommodations in the village of Baiardo, which was on the other side of Italy from me (the far northwest). I took a 12 hour train ride to San Remo then an hour bus ride back and forth up the mountain. Then I hauled my heavy backpack up Baiardo’s hill to the farthest possible room and got unpacked. Baiardo had suffered an earthquake on Ash Wednesday of 1887. Unfortunately, 600 people were worshiping in the church when the roof collapsed on them, and one third of them died. This was a quarter of the town’s population. Instead of rebuilding the town, which was mostly destroyed, the survivors constructed a ‘new town’ a bit farther down the hill. ... read more

Finally we are staying put in McKinney for a couple of weeks. Our trip to Indiana for most of August was wonderful. We enjoyed spending time with Regina (Terry's mom), Dolan and Mary Louise (Susan's parents). We especially loved being there for Dolan's 90th birthday. Dolan taught his dog, Tinker, to bark out "I Love You" and so his children - 6 of them - barked out I Love You to Dolan on his 90th. He threw us triskets for treats! Jennie, Martin & Elliot, along with Amanda & Hans Henry, spent a week at Lake James with us. We also loved spending time with Susan's cousins, Tutti (from Albuquerque) and Billy, at Lake James. We miss walking the hills with Tutti! Zesto and Ritters (frozen custard) called to us every day and we are having ... read more

Yesterday was a special celebration at one of the churches in Triora, Sant Agostino. We walked from Jennie & Martins flat uphill to the church. Terry and I attended mass there, which was also first communion for 5 boys and 1 girl, so there were many young people in attendance. Many of the young people visited the bar on the street below the church while waiting for mass to end. We understood the creed, Lordàs Prayer and passing of the peace - pache. Some people review their grocery list during the sermon, I reviewed gelatto options because I couldnàt understand a word of the sermon. At the end of the service, the procession through the town with 16 men carrying the platform of Mary and St. Agustine. Luke Germann was one of the people carrying the ... read more

Saturday 12th August Left Draguignan late. Knocked off disc antennae from roof of van only realising when stopping at supermarket. Spotted incredible clouds of smoke in distance which turned out to be forest fire in the direction we were travelling. Huge plumes of smoke. Stopped to take photos. Dramatic scenes as 4 planes swooped in to drop water in ‘bombing runs’. We could see raging flames and fire was spreading quickly. Eventually original site of flames died down but then new one was starting further down as we left. Ended up in Nice trying to find the start of the Corniche loads of diversions due to installation of what appeared to be train tracks. Eventually found the corniche which is an incredible route high along the mountains which border the Cote d’ Azur between Nice and ... read more