up to speed

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last time we had our one sided chats we were in athens. oh the places we´ve been since then. from athens we took the fairy and headed to cinque terre, the italian rivierra. we ended up traveling for a total of 32 hours straight. literally our bodies were traveling as we just sat there for 32 hours. anyway. cinque terre began with a car ride from the campsite we had booked with just a little outside of town. most of the time we decide which place to stay based on their location rating. this particular place had a rating of 91% and although there was a risk that we might be indeed camping, it was worth the amount of money we´d be saving. we began to wander how it got this rating as we were driven on a windy road far far away from the train station. they were kind enough however to open the market for us to get water which we had been rationing because the water at the train stations makes you thirsty. strange but true. waters in hand, we followed them to our tent. and there we were, no flashlight, there were beds though, but not very warm clothing, we pushed the beds together and went to sleep early since the darkness left us with no choice. we stayed there the next two nights as we walked around three of the five little cities on the coast.
next was our revisiting of munich. we had to make the long journey back because the concentration camp had been closed last time we were there. it was definitely worth the visit. it was quite sobering as you stand where so many were brutally murdered and worked to death. the strange part about revisiting munich was being in a place we knew and not having andrew there. we kept feeling like we should be meeting up with him again. we did revisit the best italian we´ve had though, and enjoyed lasagna in munich once again. and of course a revisit to munich would not be complete without a revisiting of the hafbrauhaus (please ignore the spelling this time...notes in a different internet cubicle). we sat across from a man whose beard tony envied. it moved so methodically with his chewing that we couldn´t stop staring. he was probably looking at tony thinking "ah, i remember when i was just a young beardling." and there was indeed the toasting with him and two of his countrymen at the german songs even though we had no other way of communicating. it was a good time.
then, we were off to interlaken and we jumped off the train for an hour and a half really quick to see the reformer zwingli´s church. the tower provided quite the view of zurich which was good since we had just climbed almost 200 stairs...tone counted.
back on the train we were off to interlaken switzerland which was absolutely amazing. it was so beautiful as we walked back to waterfalls inside the mountains. it was like nothing we had ever seen as the thunderous sound made yelling necessary in order to be heard. then, with one swift jolt, we were up the tram which is more like a little box on a string up the mountains to one of the highest parts of the swiss alps. the mountains were still blanketed in snow as skiiers and snowboarders got their last fix before spring. plus, you all have homework....one of the bond movies..."in her majesty´s secret service" from ´69.....was filmed at the top where we were. it is actually a restaraunt now but in the film was i believe the villan´s house. the only down side to interlaken is what we believe might be a few bed bug bites. on me that is, tone managed to get by without but i have quite a few. oh well...goes with traveling on a budget.
we again stopped on our way to nice france to jump off the train for a few hours to see spurgeon´s church. there was quite a bit of information in a little side auditorium where he apparently taught (although not his school) and where knox was a pastor for a while. we did make it to the church though to take a picture of the pulpit and over to the school which we found out is still in use. feeling quite reformed, we were back on the train and off to nice france.
it was extremely nice to be able to stay with a missionary family that tony´s aunt knows and go with them to church on sunday...our first sunday with believers. there was another swedish couple that didn´t know french, so thankfully the wife was translating. we knew a few of the chorus´and so sang quietly as many of the words we could remember. the rest of the day they let us wander around nice....the french rivierra....and enjoy the sun, side streets and since we were saving money staying with them....a italian meal that night.
we were on the road again the next morning headed to spain where my gaze has been fixed toward. that required another two full days of travel as we had to go through barcelona, a night train to madrid, and another day of trains to the southern tip of spain...cadiz...where we are now. it is beautiful and the beaches remind me quite a bit of good ol ventura. the Lord really blessed us with allowing us to find a cheap place to stay right in the heart of the old city the day we arrived. we even have our own little sink and the room to ourselves. it is quite spanish looking with tiles on the walls and an open courtyard with the stairs and rooms all facing towards the middle. we couldn´t ask for anything better.
we will be headed to the rock of gibraltar tomorrow morning and on to a little town called marbella where we will be for i believe the next 4 nights. if the internet is as easy to get to and as cheap as here, i will write again.
can't post pictures this time but promise we continue to try. we love getting all the messages and comments. time is flying now as it gets closer to the end and our days are less busy with more relaxation. hope everyone is doing great and can´t wait to catch up and share all the stories we don´t have time to write.
until next time.

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