October was a busy month. This was the sunrise from the car as we headed out to meet with the other senior couples from our mission. Our destination was La Spezia near the Cinque Terre. It was a long trip across the country to the western coast of Italy. We drove up a mountain to find our
agritourismo lodging. I was sure that we were lost the higher up we went on little winding roads, but finally we arrived at the correct place. That's always a blessing in Italy.
The main home where most of the couples stayed is over 600 years old. Amazing!
This armor takes us back a few years but added to the atmosphere of ancient days.
There are many stories of fairies and elves in the woods near by. It was such a fun place to visit.
Three of the couples staying only one night stayed here in the home of the proprietor's parents.
This was our bed for the night. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the humongous spider that shared the room from the opposite corner up near the ceiling. I'm not kidding you when I say that he was a good 3 inches in diameter. I just hoped that he stayed in his corner for the night.
We all went by car to the La Spezia train station and then took the train to Vernazza, one of the 5 cities of Cinque Terre. The really brave or crazy took the challenge of hiking from Vernazza to Monterosso through the mountains.
Leaving Vernazza.
It's getting farther and farther away.
About half way there we came upon these mangy looking cats. I don't know how they got here or why but apparently they are fed by the hikers. They were nasty looking cats.
The path took us over this stone bridge at one point.
Looking ahead to Monterosso in the distance. I hope we make it.
It's getting closer.
Ahhh!! We made it. I think it took us about 2 1/2 hours of many steps of ups and downs.
The next day we went to Portovenerde, another beautiful city along the coast. Some of the couples left this day but others took the boat and visited more of the Cinque Terre cities.
This quaint narrow street houses the many shops that tourists love to purchase souvenirs from.
This stairway took us from the street of shops right back down to the sea. We weren't long in Portovenerde but it was a very pleasant trip connecting with the other couples from our mission. It gave us a fresh start with a renewed spirit. They are some of the choicest missionaries out there. We love them all.
We also had our Young Women's Evening in Excellence in October. They are singing "Walk Tall, You're a Daughter of God" It's great hearing it sung in Italian. They are such beautiful young women all striving to become better.
Our next event was a visit from Salt Lake City by the general Young Women's President, Bonnie Oscarson, and the Relief Society General President, Linda Burton. This conference was held in Milan. We were invited to attend, transport sister missionaries and help prepare and serve their meal.
I loved how the visiting authorities were able to mingle with the sister missionaries and just get to know them better.
Sister Burton
Sister Oscarson and Sister Burton
The young elders who serve in the general area of Milan were privileged to also attend. Besides our meetings with them they also held two other evening meetings for the local leaders and members. They are such dedicated sisters and true followers of Christ. We loved every minute spent with them.
Going on at the same time in Milan was the World's Fair, Expo 2015. Since we were all going to be there, tickets were purchased in advance so that the senior couples could attend. It was an amazing opportunity. The theme this year was "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life." This is a picture of souvenirs with the mascot symbol for the fair.
There were hordes of people there
It took us forever just to get through the entrance.
We did a ton of walking and saw many exhibits from the outside but the lines to enter the exhibits were hours long.
This water exhibit was located near the entrance.
We stood in line for over an hour just to enter the Israel Exhibit. That was enough to deter us from going inside any of the other exhibits.
We did see the outside of the U.S. display. We can at least say that we attended the World's Fair.
The next morning we boarded a cram-packed metro to try to get tickets to see the Last Supper. Most of the couples had gone home by now so we were on our own getting there.
We didn't have any problem finding the church, Santa Maria delle Grazie, but tickets were sold out until later afternoon. We think that the World's Fair and all of the fair goers probably had something to do with that. We couldn't wait that long to head home so the best we could get was a picture of the Last Supper. Maybe on another trip to Italy we will be successful.
It truly is amazing how it has been preserved over the years. Leonardo da Vinci probably had no idea at the time how famous his masterpiece would be.
Since we were already in downtown Milan, we decided that we should go visit the Duomo once again. It was on our way back to the car and at a metro change,
This was our first time actually going inside of the Duomo. It is immense!! There is no other word to describe it unless you also add beautiful.
Work began on the Duomo in 1386. It was a work in progress for many years and then after the bombings of WW 2 there were repairs to be made. It has survived a lot.
The tile floors are unique and beautiful as well.
The Milan Duomo is the third largest Catholic Cathedral in the world.
