Svizzera!

I am sorry that I have been so lazy. It must be this whole, you know, living in the Eternal City thing that is making me slack when it comes to keeping an online journal. I am going to blog about Switzerland right now. Then, I promise, very soon, I will blog about Tunisia and Germany.

Switzerland:

Perhaps the most beautiful country... The Swiss Alps drench this country and the landscape with such a natural beauty that my words are completely worthless in trying to describe how great it was. 

Thursday night, Morgan, Courtney and I hop on a plane to Milano. There, we stayed with Andrea (Chiara's cousin). We had a very nice night. Andrea was overly nice and hospitable to nice. He took us out to a quite delicious pizzeria. I enjoyed a spicy salami pizza, with a beer, and a caffe to top it off. :) I love Italian dining. We went back to his place, talked for a bit, and then went to bed. Good first night.

Friday morning: we wake up and walk with Andrea to his work. We say our good-bye's and then walk into the amazing and mesmerizing Cathedral of Milano.

I would put up more pictures of the Cathedral, but the only way to do justice is 1) visit it yourself, or 2) look it up online--the pictures will probably be better. Anyway, the architecture is gothic, and it took 400-500 years to construct. All I can say is that when I entered into the sacred space, my eyes were oriented toward a greater reality, that in fact I was not walking into another building, but I was walking into a majestic temple, a sacred space where the Sacred rests. I was walking into a sanctuary where God, in Jesus Christ, meets man.

Leaving Milano, we took the train to Switzerland. This country is so beautiful. We stayed in Interlaken ("between the lakes"). It is a small town resting in between the lakes and the Swiss alps. Every direction I looked, I was just taken by the natural beauty of the land and sky. The mountains reaching into the skies, and clouds and fog animating them by touching the tops of their bodies. Always a touching experience to see the glory of the Divine Creator shine so magnificently within creation!

So, Friday. We get to Switzerland, and find out very cool hostel: Balmer's. It's one of the most famous hostels in Europe. It basically rocks. We met some sweet people, and had some fun (maybe too much fun!). Friday included going to the grocery store, Mass, walking around town, walked into a crazy cool chocolate store, watched a movie, and at night, we went to the bar at Balmer's, and hung out, talked, and danced--of course. 

Saturday: the day for sky diving. So pumped. We get the the sky diving place, and all the divers are really cool people. Morgan and I are incredibly excited, and the anticipation and excitement only grew as we saw the first group take off and fly into the open sky. It was so cool seeing little dots fall from the sky--very fast--and eventually open up into parachutes as they soared through the sky. Then stupid clouds decided to wreck havoc upon our lives. We were unable to sky dive on Saturday. Heart broken, distressed, and everything else sad, we returned to our Hostel, but hopeful that Sunday--the Good Lord's day!--would bring us better luck. 

Saturday night: what a night...

Sunday! We did have better luck. This was the day when I would fall from the sky, over 11,000 ft high, for a good 45+ seconds. So let me give you the story. I walk into the plane. It's a small, small, small thang, and 12 of us with the pilot pile in. At this point, I am just pumped up. Flying into the air, my professional strapped me to him, and I took some pictures. It was so, so, so beautiful! I loved it. Then, the door opens on the side of the plane. Holy hell... That's when it got just a bit scary, but at the same time, a bit more crazy. I felt like a basketball I was so pumped up. Then, all of the sudden, a jumper and his jumpee dive off the plane. Wow. Then, three other jumpers dived out at the same time. My turn. I can't even explain the feeling. I sit on the plane, and my feet are dangling off the side. Then the professional I was jumping with says, "here we go!" and bam we roll out of the plane doing flip after flip after flip. I was screaming my lungs out and put out my hands like Superman. I flew and I loved it. Can't wait to do it again. I would tomorrow. 

Leaving Interlaken, we spent the night in the airport at Milan and arrived back to Roma this morning. It was a great weekend, and all I want to do is dive again. I'm starving and am going to get dinner now, but I will put up some pictures shortly.