Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre was easily in my top two, so I have a lot of pictures. We were meeting Jamie and Megan in La Spezia but before they got there, Shane and I headed to a grocery store to stock our apartment. We had 15 minutes till the place closed, so Shane shoved a basket into my hands and instructed me to get the breakfast stuff and he’d do dinner. So there I was wandering around the grocery store trying to look at pictures to figure out what I’m buying. This box has a cow on it… it’s probably milk… Shane took one look in my basket and had to run back and make some corrections for me. “I forgot you’ve never shopped in Italy before.” Well YEAH! We met the girls and took the train to Corniglia . Corniglia is the smallest of the five towns that make up Cinque Terre. It’s also the only one that’s on down on the water. It sits 382 steps up a cliff. It was late when we got in, so the busses weren’t running anymore. Sweaty and tired we entered the village and were immediately charmed by its narrow, windy walkways, colorful shutters and laundry hanging out to dry. I’m in love with Corniglia. We also arrived on Good Friday and just in time to watch the town gather and follow a procession through the candlelit walkways. It definitely felt like we were guests in a small village rather than tourists.

This photo is so classic. Anywhere you go in Italy, just look up and there will be some old man or woman at the window, just checkin' stuff out.

Jamie, Shane and I got up at sunrise the next morning to go take pictures and explore the town. When everyone else was up, we took the train to Monterosa and dipped our feet in the Mediterranean. Then we hiked from Monterosa to Vernazza. The hike is GORGEOUS! (but a little crowded). Vernazza hasn’t changed in size or shape for the last 500 years! We went back to the apartment for Lunch and met up with Amy. We spent the remainder of the evening in Manarola.

I think this is the only picture we have of all six of us.

Killing time at the Train station. We had a lot of photoshoots at train stations to help pass the time.

We woke up easter morning to find little zip-lock bags of easter candy for everyone. Megan is such a sweetheart! We dressed quickly for church, loaded up our gear and walked down to the train station. We took a train to La Spezia and then a Taxi to help us find the Mormons. It was a neat experience to hear the gospel taught in Italian with Shane whispering sweet translations into our ears. The gospel is true no matter where you go.

ROME

My flight to Newark airport was delayed; enough that I had to move to the front of the airplane as we landed, so I could sprint off the plane to make my connecting flight. A shuttle ride and another security check point later, I skidded to a stop in front of my gate as the Lady said, "You must be Amy Walton." In all that panicked running, it never occurred to me to turn on my phone, so I missed the three phone calls telling me that Shane and Dave would be late to pick me up in Milan. I only waited 45 minutes though before they found me and we headed to the train station. Unfortunately all the trains to Rome that day were full. We could only purchase tickets for standing room only. So for the next four hours we stood/sat on the floor next to the train bathrooms. Initial impressions of Italy were that it was rather unremarkable. Milan is like any modern city, billboards and graffiti, business men and bums.
Rome reminded me very much of London with its cobbles stone streets and tiny cars… a perfect juxtaposition of ancient, ornate buildings with a giant Hyundai ad hanging off the side. We checked into our hotel and then headed straight for the Coliseum. We walked around the forum (we never did find the entrance) and then headed to Trevi Fountain.
That night I had the best Penne Carbonara I’ve ever had, but the worst gelato. The next morning, we headed to Vatican City. We didn’t really know if we were going to go in, but pretty soon we found ourselves buying a guided tour. Dang salesman! It was cool to see inside the Vatican (it’s crazy how much art work they have in there), but I could have done that tour in half the time. Then we would have had time to see the Pantheon, but as it was, we went to the train station and hopped on a train to Cinque Terre.

Dave and I waiting for our Vatican City Tour to start.

Piazza de Venezia

Moab

Eleven people from my ward headed down to Moab over the weekend. It was a pretty relaxed trip since we just stayed at Bryan's house, but we had fun hiking. On Saturday we got up at 5AM to be at Mesa Arch for sunrise. Perfect! I didn't expect I would be able to drag people out of bed to enjoy the perfect lighting. They didn't expect that I could take 200 pictures in two hours! As indicated in the Scott Kelby book, other photographers know about Mesa Arch... lots of them! And they were there with tripods ready when we arrived. They had the whole area cornered, so we took our group up around the side of the arch and watched the sun rise. After the photographers left, we walked out on the arch which sits on the edge of a very large cliff. Don't worry, Mom. That arch is very wide.

Amy McNeil, Amy Walton, and Amy Brienholt (AKA, The A Team)

After a delightful Denny's breakfast and enough time for my fingers to thaw, we headed out on our next adventure on the Moab Ridge. We hiked to the top, enjoyed the view of Moab Valley and explored a small cave.

To cool down after the hike we went to Golden Bar to dip our feet in the water. You can't really appreciate it by these pictures of us leisurely soaking up the sun on the water's edge, but that water was probably cold enough to have ice chunks floating in it. So we started a contest. Who can keep their feet in the water the longest? Only four people participated and of course after you get past the initial pain your feet are numb enough to endure all kinds of time. Thanks to pride this contest went on forever. We finally said that if you just jump all the way in, you automatically win. So Andy, who was not participating in the foot numbing activity jumped in and took the winning title.

It's starting...

On Saturday we got 70 degree weather. I opened my neglected bottom drawer and blew the dust off of last summer's shorts and capris. I love this time of year. People emerge from hibernation and become social again. There is hope and promise in the air with the change of season. Granted March is a very moody month. It snowed today, a healthy reality check and reminder to use your sunny days well. On saturday we went up the canyon for a campfire and tin foil dinners. It's starting...

Molly likes olives

Count down (these aren't "tack sharp" but still cute)

THREE

TWO

ONE

ZERO

Congrats Brian!

Brian opened his mission call on Friday night. It was so fun to be a part of the excitement.
He's going to.... (drumroll)

... TEMPE, ARIZONA!!! (of course, everyone who checks this blog already knows that. I just thought you might want to see some pictures.) I'm so excited for you, Brian.

...and still more Snowboarding

Are you getting sick of this yet? I'm not. A couple weeks ago I ran into Lynn Adams. Lynn and I became friends about eight years ago. In the last couple years we've fallen out of touch even though he only lives in Salt Lake. Anyway, Lynn invited me on a snowboarding weekend up at Bear Lake. Why not? It could be a great way to meet new people and if nothing else, I love snowboarding. It turned out to be Lynn, a guy I had gone on a blind date with last year and six very cool, but very intimidating girls. The snowboarding was a little icy and I was grateful for my new helmet after I landed on my head going off a jump. Wearing a helment just makes you try crazier things. It was fun though and the cabin we stayed in was really cool. After a long day of snowboarding, playing games and watching movies in a cabin is just perfect! Add a little beer and we'd have been living the life of a professional snowboarder.