Cinque Terre

Every year, Austria has a week off in the beginning of February for what they like to call "Energy break", or ski week. I had the opportunity to visit Italy with a few close friends (Tricia, Matt, and Rachel) from school. We went to a place called Cinque Terre, "the five towns", in Italy. We hiked from town to town along the rocky coast, through beautiful, remote, mountainy hills and along ridges dropping off into the sea. It's a place where mountains meet the sea, and a place where God showed me His unspeakable beauty in unforgettable ways. If this is what our present, sin-filled, fallen world looks like, I can't wait to see what Heaven will be! Beyond words, I imagine.

On another note, one thing I noticed on this trip to Italy is that Italians love cats! They were everywhere we went. On the trail betwen two of the cities, we actually came across a clearing off to the side of the path, laden with cans of cat food; posted beside this table was a sign reading: "Please feed the cats. Thank you!"
All of a sudden, five or six cats came out of nowhere and commenced a chorus of plaintive whining until we opened some cans of food and they dove in. They looked perfectly healthy, so we figured they must get fed pretty often. Wierd, huh?