El Fin (well sorta)

I cannot believe that I have failed to blog since we were last in Napoli. Regret. Regret. Regret.

So here is the best recollection of events the past month that I can muster.

After the nightmare that was Napoli, we boarded a night train to Geneva, Switzerland. Man, was that a switchup from Napoli. We went from one of the dirtiest cities I have ever seen to the most pristine city I have ever seen - all to my extreme delight. It was clean and gorgeous. The lake is pristine blue and crystal clear. We ditched our bags in the station and set off into a spectacular day. After grabbing some snacks (surprise, surprise) we bolted to the lake. Which, to our actual surprise, was hosting the European Triathlon Championship. A huge public event = free portapotties everywhere! Yay! The triathlon was incredible to watch. The lake was beautiful and clear. The chocolate was to die for. The hotel prices were through the roof. So we boarded a train and set off for Lyon, France. About 2 hours away and stayed in an airbnb with a kid our age.

*Turns out this was to the favor of the Lord. This kid, Theo, told us about his experience using "blablacar", which we ended up using when our train pass expired. Blablacar is a carpooling website, similar to uber, where drivers enter their trip detail and riders pay the drivers a set price for gas and maintenance. I would highly recommend it.  

Anyway, this led to a Sunday in Lyon. Where there is a Hillsong. So we attended church in France, where they only spoke French. We had a earpiece translator and we worshiped in very broken French. I still am overwhelmed with feelings that I worship a God that is glorified in every language. After two nights in Lyon we headed to the infamous South of France: Cannes (pronounced Can). Many puns were used.

Cannes was beautiful. Sort of a French Beverly Hills on the beach. We treated ourselves to a $50/night 5th floor loft apartment. Holy French it was SO hot up there. So, we spent most of our time on the beach. The French Riviera is warm, clear, pretty crowded, and gorgeous. We love France.

We love France so much that after Cannes, we boarded the train back to Paris. Then, transferred to Compeigne - where Trav's friend from high school lives. We explored his adorable town, saw the most impressive castle in all of Europe, his mom cooked for us and we ate like Royalty (thank you, Claire), drive to Reims for the Pommery Champagne tour, and had a really really good time. We love you France, we will return someday.

 France to Barcelona. Where we thought we may actually be able to communicate with the locals. Lol. Good try, Wentworths. You learned Mexican spanish. Spain Spanish is entirely different. They speak so incredibly fast and combine their words. Such a beautiful language, just not one we were able to understand very well. BUT we could read all of the signs and most of the menus, which was encouraging. Barcelona is beautiful. I would say that it is Santa Monica, CA in Spanish. Which I loved. Fun fact: the Barcelona beach is man made. They constructed it back in 1992 for the Olympics, along with most of the other modern art throughout the city. We went to Hillsong Barcelona, which is held in a prestigious night club. It was awesome. We didn't catch everything that pastor said but the worship was unbelievable. You know that song "This is Living" by Hillsong Young and Free? The bridge is Lecrae rapping. Well a 17 year old who was leading worship whipped out this Lecrae rap. In Spanish.

On to Madrid. We spent 8 hours in Madrid. It was 104 degrees. Travis pooped in the Royal Botanical Gardens. Literally.

On to Seville. So hot. Another 104 degree day. The architecture in Seville was gorgeous, there were loads of tourists, and it was sweltering. We ate ice cream, sweated through out clothes multiple times, and slept in A/C. Praise the lord. It really is gorgeous in Seville.

Here is where our train pass ended. And where blablacar began. We found a "resort" in Albufeira, Portugal. It was a beautiful resort about 30 years ago, and hasn't been changed since. So it was cheap and right on the beach, sign us up. So we found a blablacar from Seville to Albufeira. The kid and his girl were going on vacation. They didn't speak a lick of English. It was hilarious. But, we made it to Albufeira safe and sound, dropped off at our hotel door! We spent three nights in this beautiful paradise. Where the cliffs meet the beach. The water is freezing but dazzling. We bought this paddle game where you stand next to the water and hit a little ball back and forth. Oddly entertaining. This toy turned into one of our only souvenirs. The food was cheap, the sun was hot, and it cooled off at night. It was amazing, one of my favorite vacation spots in the world.

After some days in paradise, we blablacar-ed to Lisbon. En route, the dude ran out of gas. In 100 degree weather. Hilarious. How does this stuff even happen? So he paid some 30 euros for 5 liters of gas from some insurance guy that he called and we were good to go. Lisbon was AMAZING. I want to go back now. Seriously. I think some may compare it to San Francisco, though I have never been. There is a Golden Gate Bridge replica, a yellow trolly is Lisbon's signature, and there are some incredible hills. So, I have been sunset chasing all over Europe, and I finally chased the sun to the most western point of it all. Travis drove a 50cc moped with me on the back 30 miles to the west coast topping out at 30mph downhill. I am not joking when I say that it was the strongest winds I have ever experienced. We could barely walk and the sun went down over Guincho Beach. Travis and I spent the afternoon hiding along the cliffs, sheltered from the pelting sand, having conversations that I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life. Then the sun set and it was magnificent. The waves were crashing, the sky was a show of colors, and God's creation was dominating our thoughts. That night, we drove back to Lisbon on the moped in the freezing wind with the memories of the night warming our hearts.

The time came when we had to leave Lisbon. We battled the Lisbon Airport, sprinted through the airport, got our beach umbrella taken from us because apparently my lime green striped umbrella is a "violent weapon" lol wow, nearly missed our flight, and finally landed in the good 'ol US of A. By "good 'ol" I mean, best damn country in the world.

We love America and have a newfound appreciation for how smoothly the entire country runs, the workers, the language, and our car.

We had a few more adventures in the US before we finally settled back into Charlotte. But, that's going to have to wait for another time.

So much love,
M & T

It's not up to date, but it's an update.

So I'm sitting in the floor of Rome Termini Train Station. Soaked in sweat waiting in line to make a reservation for a 1 hour train ride to Naples. They are on ticket number 678. We are ticket number 752. It's going to be a long night. 

So, once again a bunch has happened since I last blogged. But mostly, it's been a sweaty ride.   

I believe I left you hanging in Prague. Prague was...interesting. Trav was feeling super crappy so we basically took a vacation from our adventuring. We did a small walking tour to which we ditched half way through due to heat exhaustion and stomach pains. We tried to rent a paddleboat but literally no one in Prague takes cash and nearly every currency change is a scam. So we ate from grocery store food. Which is preferred anyway. Oh boy, I miss my kitchen back home. Overall, Prague was gorgeous but the people we encountered were pretty rude. We were honked at multiple time for walking across the cross walk when we had a "green man." We got scoffed at for trying to pay with a credit card and talked down to when we tried to make a train reservation. I wasn't sad to leave. But hey, it's gorgeous and I'm just one person. Please judge Prague for yourself! 

Next stop, Budapest. Turns out everyone and their mother goes to Budapest from Prague on the weekend so we didn't take the night train. We took the 15:42-22:30 train. With no air conditioning. In 90 degree weather. Aka after about 4 hours I thought I was going to die. Until some random kid took a wrench to the windows and opened them, saving us all. Budapest was awesome. By awesome, I mean incredibly cheap. We stayed at an awesome airbnb owned by a kid named, Daniel. If you're ever going to Budapest, let us know and we'll give you his contact info. Day 1 in Budapest, we went to the thermal baths for a little r&r. It was so nice! Cold waters, hot saunas. We definitely needed the detox. We left the baths and stumbled upon the Redbull air race on the Danube River. So that was awesome. Day 2, we attempted to go to church (a Hillsong plant called Budapest Connect) and failed because apparently they meet on Saturdays despite their website's information. That night we splurged with a drink boat tour along the Danube where we got to see some awesome buildings lit up at night but we mostly talked to the Americans behind us and the Canadians in front of us. We ended up hanging with Joel and Heather Alexis (Canadians - who do in fact say 'ey' frequently) til 2am, spending our time talking about Crohn's Disease and a quick run through a ruin bar (a bar literally made from garbage and the like) which was much to crowded and loud for us all. We shopped a bit the next day and headed off to Salzburg, Austria mid-morning. 

Salzburg. Apparently the hills are alive with the sound of music or something. Or alive with euros. We tried to hike to the castle but failed when we were told to pay 8€ per person to continue on the gravel path. So we marched back to the station and went to Wallersee. A beautiful small lake surrounded by small mountains. The water was clear and cold. The old man speedos were a plenty. And the sun was hot. After a day in the sun, we shopped a bit more and took the night train to Rome. Praise moment: our train from Salzburg to Innsbruck (where we would connect to the night train to Rome) was running 20 minutes behind and we only had a 5 minute layover to begin with. Aka we had missed our train (with our $70 reservation) BUT that train was running behind as well and we made it on to our crowded 6-person sleeper cabin with time to spare. Amen. 

Note: when I say "shopped" I usually mean walk around in air conditioning which just happens to be in malls with the occasional purchase of something small on sale. 

Rome was hot and crowded. I'm not saying this in a bad connotation, just as a fact. Seeing ruins from BC was astonishing. Walking 15-20 miles in two days was exhausting. But we loved it! Vatican City was so cool. The walls were incredibly impressive (we walked the entire way around them.) we pulled a classic "us" and definitely cut in line instead of waiting 2 hours to get into Saint Peters Basilica. We waited about 12 minutes, oops sorry guys.  We enjoyed a very classic Roman Apertivo in which you order a drink and the bar has a buffet of snacks. Did someone say free food? We love free food. So Rome treated us well and we headed off to Napoli. After a long, sweaty wait in the Train Station. 

Napoli, Italy. I honestly don't want to write much about Napoli. It was dirty. I was sort of sick. It was incredulously hot. I'm sure it has its perks, I just didn't manage to find them. Instead of deluging into my struggle with Napoli, I will just brag on my husband. I was a hot mess, crying and wanting to go home. Travie stood by my side. Wiped away my tears. Held my hands. Hugged me. As unfortunate as it was that Napoli didn't meet my expectations, I truly believe God wanted us to go there for me to learn something. To learn that Travis is as full of grace for me as is humanly possible. He has seen me at my worst and hugged me and loved me still the same. Tears still threaten my eyes as I think about how blessed I am to have Travis by my side. As my travel partner, best friend and lover. I've seen utter, undeserved grace only given to me by the grace he is filled with by the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

We are out of Italy and back in France. We love France. More to come soon! 

Much love all,

Mo&T