Cinque Terre

Several weeks ago, I went with two other seminarians to an area on the northern edge of Tuscany known as Cinque Terre. This area is named after the five main towns which sit on the side of the mountains where they rise out of the Mediterranean Sea. There are also other little towns in this area that sit further above the sea on the mountains. All of the little towns are connected by an extensive trail system, and the five main towns are connected by a train. This entire area is terraformed, so as you hike from town to town you are passing through vineyards and olive groves.

The trip was amazing for many reasons. We stayed in a little town called Volastra which sits on the mountain above the main five towns. I was nervous about the weather because it rained while we were on the train, and the weather reports forecasted rain for most of the weekend. We arrived at the train station late, and the owner of the B&B where we were staying picked us up in his car so that we wouldn't have to hike through the rain. If you ever find yourself in that situation, I recommend hiking through the rain. Anyone who has been in a car with an Italian driver will know why! He began by nearly running over some pedestrians as we left the train station. Then he proceeded to drive us over mountain roads, while it was still raining, faster than a sane man would drive on a dry, straight road during the day. Remember that he is Italian, which means that he talks with his hands. So now we have someone driving at night on wet roads really fast while talking with his hands (ie off the wheel). To make matters even more exciting, he begins passing people. Not on the straight section though because that would be too easy. I remember passing one car as we were going around a hairpin turn, and then passing a big truck as we went through a tunnel. I am grateful to him for offering to drive us to his hotel, but it was more of an adventure than I was expecting.

We stayed in a little town halfway up the mountain called Volastra. It only had one restaurant which tells you how small it is, but this restaurant had the best seafood I have had in my entire life. The next day we went to mass in Volastra where we met Padre Carlos. I was blown away by the mass. Most of the poeple there were involved with the Focolare Movement which started in Italy. The name means "Hearth" because it was started by a few girls who would gather around the fireplace in their homes for prayer. The music was beautiful, and the depth of faith in these people was more moving than I can express. Visiting this little church was one of the higlights of my trip. When I came to the North American College, I was told that I needed to travel to experience the universal church. To be honest, I thought that was nothing more than an excuse to travel around the world. This trip really made me aware of how important it is, and how much of a blessing it is, to see how the faith is lived in different places. I never would have expected to find such a vibrant community in a little run down church clinging to the side of the mountain. Everyone says that faith is dead in Europe, but that will never be true as long as little communities like this survive.

God has been teaching me a lot about trusting in Divine Providence lately, and this trip was one of the ways he spoke to me. He was there to guide us every step of the way. I was initially worried about the weather, but it ended up not raining at all the entire time we were at Cinque Terre. We were heading down to the first village when we ran into some tourists from Canada who told us that the trail below was washed out. We turned around, and hiked up and over the mountain which was absolutely beautiful. We were high enough that we got great views of the cities down below us. Eventually we made our way down to the sea, and we found out why some of the trails were described as "airy". Many of the trails were little more than goat tracks perched on the side of cliffs. There were a few spots were a slip would have been very bad if not deadly. We got off route sometimes, and ended up wandering through the vineyards which was a lot of fun. Eventually, we made our way down to the main trail and began exploring the little towns.

The towns were all filled with brightly painted houses and streets covered with old painted wooden boats. Apparently it is not good to leave the boats in the water, so they are oulled up into the streets whenthey are done fishing. The harbors were rocky with only a few spots broken down by the sea enough to be called beaches. We ran into the same tourists town after town which got to be very amusing. We made it through most of the towns, and even ran into some other seminarians who came to Cinque Terre for the day from another nearby city. The food was amazing everywhere we went, and the views were always incredible. After a long day, we went back to our town by train.

The next day, while we were walking down to find mass in another town, we ran into Padre Carlos. He let us know that the other masses would make us miss our train home, so he offered to drive us to the next city after going to mass with him. The entire trip was filled with moments like this. In the end, we eventually made our way back to the train station to begin our journey back to Rome.

I learned a lot on this trip although it is hard to put most of it into words. I learned to put even more trust in God's Providence, and my faith was rekindled by those I met. Having time away from Rome also allowed me to see the ways that I have been changing since coming to Europe. I can only thank God for all he is doing, and ask for His continued guidance. All of you back home continue to be in my prayers, and I ask that you also continue to pray for me.