Beautiful Places

Last week our group went skiing in Abetone, Italy. If you’ve never heard of it (probably everyone) look it up. One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. We survived with minor injuries, and yes I was one of them. Wouldn’t have been a trip if I didn’t almost tear something in my knee. But with a couple days rest and exploring the town instead of skiing, I was feeling good again. I had not been skiing since I was 5, and after a couple hours on the bunny slope with my friends I decided I’ll just stick to water skiing at the lake.

Tap Dogs came to town! They are a group from Australia (no, we didn’t get to hear them talk) that does an awesome tap show. Six guys, ranging from 20-45 years old danced for an intense hour and a half. The group of 9 that went got to eat at a Mexican restaurant before the show. I love pasta as much as the next guy, but this food was a nice change.

Yesterday we took a day trip to San Gimingiano and Siena. I’m quickly discovering I don’t have enough adjectives to describe God’s creations, so I apologize for using the same ones over and over. San Gimingiano is a small Italian village that was known for its castles. It used to have over 70 towers. Now there are less than 10, and I can’t imagine what it would have looked like back in the day. This is one of my sister’s favorite places, so I had high expectations going to visit, and it definitely lived up to them.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and we walked around for a couple of hours just enjoying the day and town.

Siena was our next stop. I’m not sure what it was about this place, but I want to go back as soon as I can.  The main cathedral in this town is the Santa Maria Assunta. Having been to Florence, Rome, and Vatican City before, I’ve seen a few cathedrals. But this one is my favorite. The decorations were incredible, outside and in. Such intricate marble patterns and frescoes (the big murals on the walls from this time period in most cathedrals, like the Cistene Chapel ceiling).  We always joke about the “No Foto” signs, but they aren’t allowed for good reason. Inside this cathedral there is a room that was supposed to be a library but for whatever reason was never used for that. Somehow they were able to preserve the frescoes in this room and they are the most vivid I’ve ever seen. They try to keep people moving quickly through the room so that there isn’t too much hot air being breathed on the walls, and it works.