Italy: three cities, one post. sorry.

Hello and Ciao from Florence, Italy! Well actually, I am outside of Florence by about forty-five minutes. Currently I am being hosted by some of the most wonderful people I have met journeying thus far. This family has made me really feel comfortable and at home. Whether it is harvesting their own honey, painting and designing, or even cooking, they do it with all of their hearts. I will miss them and remember them when I leave.

That being said, you can be certain that the food here is awesome. Italy has shown me some of the best food on my journey. I even enjoy eating olives here!

Sorry France.

Alright, down to business. Last time I updates I was trying to get a few quick words in about my plans. The past few days have been, to say the least, interesting.


Let us start in Cinque Terra.

This has been one of the most magical places I have visited. As you train through the tunnel laden mountain side you catch quick glimspes of small villages. Finally I came to rest at my place of interest, the village of Vernazza. I stayed here three days and spent my time hiking between the five villages, or terras.

I could not begin to describe the views, smells and people. I did finally have real italian coffee and I love it! However fears have begun to grow in me concerning my new ability to drink espresso so quickly and feel no affec ts...to be continued. I will return to this place, and I hope to bring my family. I know they would fall in love with the place, even you Mom.

Hiker-Gorn









NEXT TO ROME!

Dear Rome,

How are you? I am well. So rry I only could stay for a few days. You offer so much to see and I felt overwelmed w ith the history. You do not smell as bad as Paris though, so cheers to that.

The Colloseum was awe inspiring. The Forum, not so great . I am glad I had a free ticket. The people I met in my hostel though were great. Tha nks to you Rome I was able to travel with folks from Washington, Boston, Hong Kong and Israel. Not to mention I did in fact meet a recently retired Dipolmat of Isra el.

All in all, thanks Rome for a great few days. Next time I visit. Perhaps there will not be so much Easter going on, that way the crowds will be less.

Love,
Euro-Gorn

Ok, here is the most recent, FLORENCE!

The start of my trip here was interesting. I decided to make a day trip to Naples to try pizza. I did not have enough time to find the classic "we invented pizza here" type pizzaria so I did my best. Not bad, but not great.

When I finally arrived to Florence my goal was to catch a bus leaving the city to meet up with my hosts. I was suppose to get off at the Casa Rossa, or the red house. I surmized this to mean Street Casa Rossa, or a specific stop named, Casa Rossa. I was way off. Literally, I was suppose to get off at the big red house. This could be classified as dumb traveling move number 36.

To make things more fun, my cell phone died. So please, for your viewing enjoyment, see the following photo called "Chris Gorney lost in Italy with a bus driver who speaks no english and a dead cell phone." Long name, but you get the idea.


The whole thing ended well with my feeling like a five-year-old lost in a Walmart toy section right before Christmas. As the bus driver let me use his phone, he ended up talking to my host so he could figure out when to tell me to get off the bus as we made the return journey towards Florence. Well, at least it is a good story.






The rest of Florence was not as eventful but no less enjoyable. I spent the whole day wandering through streets looking for back roads and hidden shops. I was able today just to slow down and appreciate what was around me. I really enjoy Florence. To return here would be a pleasure.

Gorn-Seige of the Castle.

Over the past few days I have been blessed with lots of time to think. As you can see from my posts I have walked around a lot. The thing that keeps coming to my mind is the idea of quantifiable looks into how Jesus saves and changes us.

Then I was brought back to something I read in Ezekial. God talks about how when we are saved He actually removes our hearts and replaces them with new ones. He takes our sinful hearts of stone and puts in new flesh beating hearts now beating full of the understanding of His love for us.

Simply, God loves us like a perfect Father loves his son. He knows what we need, we need not repeat mantra and penance to redeem ourselves. Just remember who He is.

I can remember feeling as though I had a heart of stone. Even though I would have said I was a good person, deep down I knew that I was missing something, that I was off the mark and hurting.

Now though, I see and feel more each day how God has changed me. When I remember and look back God shines large and mighty as the one true God, as the one who began this whole crazy thing called life. And when I remember who He is, it is a lot easier to know who I am. And that is Loved, by a Dad. One great and awesome Dad willing to do anything to get His children's hearts back.

Well sorry for the long post. But from here on I will try to update more frequently so as not to extend a little into a lot.

Love you all.

Ciao from Italy.