Another Heaven on Earth

We made it Switzerland!

Thats right, we finally worked up the courage to leave our beloved Cinque Terre, and now we camp peacefully a stone's throw from a four hundred foot cliffside waterfall and a view away from God's version of Renaissance art: the Swiss Alps.

Right now I (Austin) am sitting restfully in the dense green forest that we temporarily call home, watching my wife of three years twitch and turn through dreamworld in our tent, even though it's almost one pm. Now call us lazy, but afternoon sleep ins are not the norm, she has a lasting cough that needs less hiking/adventure and more rest (I hope my herbal tea concotion of garlic and honey does the trick!).

Yesterday was adventures aplenty, we hiked the ridgeline above our sleepy waterfall valley, with drool inducing views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, three famous alpine peaks. It was like stepping into heaven. We yodeled and laughed on the trail, ate wild raspberries next to us, and went snap snap! with our camera aplenty. The mountain view looked just like my dream of the Alps; it was powerfully surreal and confirming, it felt so right to be in this place.

Our amazement expanded to bursting as we entered the small, picturesque Alpine village of Murren, where the tourist information desk attendant was the kind, older Swiss MC from a folklore music show we saw the night before! He gave us the inside scoop on the best local hikes, and to out delight told us wifi was free there. Free wifi?! It's the little things that make this trip, and a TI center with free wifi and a power source for charging our wimpy MacBook battery is like winning the lottery for us. We smiled big and plotted moving our campsite to Murren. As if things couldn't get better, we met a young engaged couple, Stephanie and Tyler, in nearby small town Gimmelwald who happened to be UCSB alums and attendees of Reality Carpinteria, our old church. This is unreal! We had dinner with them and exchanged stories and laughs. They not only share our Alma mater and faith, but are also super passionate about healthy eating and responsible agriculture. Tonight we rendezvous with those two again; I am on overload at how amazing this time in Berner Oberland is turning out.

Kindra is awake now and full of garlic breath from my herbal tea, it's time to make something of this day!

Ciao for now!

Goodbye Cinque Terre

It's been three amazing weeks since we arrived in Vernazza as sweaty backpackers, then unsure of our plans and skeptical of Italy. Now we have a whole new appreciation for the beauty of this nation and its people, and our love of these five small coastal towns has exceeded most places of our trip so far. Here we were transported to a world somewhere in between college life and our travels of the US national parks. In college we were able to meet people and make new friends without batting an eye, in the national parks we felt free to roam and explore trails and hidden beauties, to be adventurous. Cinque Terre had both, a melting pot of relaxed and friendly vacationers from across the globe, and endless adventures. I (Austin) remember the first time we took the train between villages without paying. I remember sneaking through hillside vineyards to avoid the outlandish coastal hiking fee booths. I remember all our chats with Brittany at the Internet shop. I remember our romantic evenings eating out of this world good take out pasta and watching the sunset.

The memories go on, like meeting Ines and Muhammed, the Moroccan couple who shared their wine and olives. The Grindwald family who told us of cliff jumping in Manarola.

There was swimming long, lazy strokes before the heat of the day. Listening to the mother daughter team at the local market argue and laugh in Italian. Breathing it all in and wondering if I am dreaming.

Right now we ride the train to Milano, to catch our connecting ride to Switzerland. This morning Kindra gave me for my birthday a beautiful cork necklace that she hand carved into a water drop shape, so I could carry a symbol of the tranquil Cinque Terren waters with me. It makes me think of our Gelateria buddy Powell, a local who said dreamily to us, "Vernazza is in the blood." He is right, Vernazza is now in our blood, in our hearts. Goodbye for now, Cinque Terre. Thank you God for the gift of this place, a temporary home where our hearts expanded and our souls rested.

I hope we return.

Still in Cinque Terre

That's right...the McRobbies are still here.  I (Austin) have personally fallen in love with the place.  Like mad high school crush in love.  Don't call the moving truck yet....unless a Mexican food stand opens nearby.  But still pretty amazing.

In fact, we even tried to leave last week.  That's right, we packed up our tent and heavy Deuter bags, found a helpx host in Tuscany, and caught the graffiti covered trenitalia headed towards small town Montepulciano.  Our hostess, a middle aged Italian woman, picked us up twenty minutes late from our arrival station and took us to her gorgeous property up in the hills.  She seemed nice enough initially, and left us at our room to settle in.  Waves of loneliness crashed on us in the room; despite our hopes, leaving Cinque Terre and our beloved, friendly Vernazza was growing into a stormy looking choice.  Oh well, I thought, let's make the best of it.  We settled in, and then strolled around the property, and found a cool outdoor bookshelf and dining table.  Perusing the books, we hardly noticed our hostess making dinner, except for her request to set the table.  And then the storm hit, as she expressed strong disapproval at our not helping with dinner (oops, I guess we could have offered, our bad, first night and still finding our bearing I suppose).  Ok, not a big deal, I could see someone being upset, let's move right?  No.  She continuously mentioned our lacking in helping our dinner, pointing to the fact that this is not a B&B, and we are there to help.  Ok, point made, our bad, we will help, water under the bridge?  Umm, no.  She then made utter mince meat of just about every purpose or dream in our trip, finding details to criticize and challenge.  Neither of us have ever felt so directly insulted or demeaned, it was almost comical.  Almost.  We tucked our tails and put up with it all dinner, as each flung remark furthered our regret of leaving peaceful Cinque Terre and hardened our resolve of leaving this God forsaken farm of forgone human compassion.  Needless to say, we promised each other we would work the next day to be polite (perhaps we are too polite?) and then declare our departure.  The next day was worse, starting with more insults about starting late at 9 am (the night before she insisted we start when we want), and constant putdowns our farm capabilities.  Kindra finally said, yeah we are leaving, which she readily accepted.  We packed our bags, happily walked down the road (no way she was gonna give us a ride), and hitchhiked back to the train station (nice older guy picked us up, some redemption to our temporary fuming contempt with Italians).  Sweating and wounded, we connected on the train ride back with each other and God, reevaluating our trip values and swearing never to helpx again (that will probably change). 

So, we are back!  It's different here in Vernazza, but still our beloved Italian escape.  I am learning the deep needs of my heart to rest, to relax, to feel, to enjoy, not to add more guilt or checklists to my life.  So many stories to share, but I guess I can't type them all (well, I could, but that wouldn't be fun), so you'll have to ask about them when we return :)

We are probably headed to Switzerland next, I had a dream about Interlaken the beauty of its nearby Alps, and it inspired me to consider getting there for my birthday.  What a place to wild camp and hike and breath fresh Alpine air, and eat chocolate and drink fresh milk and....ok I don't know about you but I ready to head there now!

Have a great day wherever you are reading this, smell the roses and enjoy something you love!

Switzerland, the land of happy dreams.

Beautiful Italy...Breath It In!

Waving from our favorite swim spot!

 Hi there!

Austin bloggin at ya from Cinque Terre again, we just can't seem to get away from this place!!  It has captured our hearts, not only with its lovely beaches and grub, but the friends we have made here as well.  Example: Brittany, the Texas girl married to a Vernazza local ( Vernazza is the village that we make our humble adobe of the five), who helps at the internet cafe we frequent; her kindness and helpfulness with getting to know Cinque Terre has been amazing.  Then there is Andrea, a Roma local vacationing here at his past away grandmother's mom, who makes us smile and feel so important.  And, of course, the local shopowners, who remain genuine and friendly despite the mass tourism present.

Enjoying our three year anniversary dinner.

Another layer of depth in our experience hearing stories of the flood that hit Vernazza and killed three locals.  It was October 2011, and what assumed to be just a few inches of flooding in shops became within moments a ten foot high water surge through the main street, dragging cars, debris, and even people into the ocean.  One powerful story is the sacrifice a local Gelateria owner made by holding the shop doors shut against the rising water while his family climbed to safety.  He was swept away in the surge; the full story in English is here: http://savevernazza.com/testimonials-2/.  Kindra and I were in tears just reading about it.

Other stories include numerous close calls and absolute miracles that resulted in lives saved.  The shopowner of the Internet Cafe was in her brother's wine shop across the way, and they for some odd reason chose to keep the door propped open during some of the flooding, which later gave them an unexpected escape.  Another woman was hanging on for dear life in the flooded street, when the water level dropped for a few moments, enough time for her to float down to the square, where she was rescued by those on higher ground.  Here is a video of the flood:


In the aftermath, the Vernazza townspeople had their hands full clearing loads of debris, but were able to get open for the following tourist season.  Locals are more united from the event, but uncertain whether is would happen again (this kind of flood hadn't occurred since the middle ages).

Tomorrow, we may leave for Tuscany to pursue a wwoofing option.  In the meantime, we release the uncertainty of the our future plans and instead play in the sun and enjoy the adventures and lessons that God has for us here.  :)

More photos:  https://plus.google.com/photos/117860913937238604610/albums/5905291286111365617?banner=pwa

Kindra leaps into the smooth Mediterranean.

Cinque Terre

Austin here :) Yes we lag on blogging big time. Yes we re having a whirlwind amazing time. And yes, we are in Italy, sun scorched and happy, our bellies full of pasta and the views of Cinque terre surrounding us. Kindra is off in search of a local orange colored cocktail, and I am resting on a town bench in Manarola (one of the five towns, we are wild camping above another one called Vernazza.) Just hours ago we jumped thirty feet off rocks in a deep ocean pool (eight year old kids were doing it, so why not us?) Here in Cinque Terre we celebrate three years married. I can't believe one of those has been 90% spend on the road! What a crazy life we live. Our blog may be getting a revamp, as we switch from sharing every logistical detail of our trip to sharing learning expeirences and feelings.

Right now we are happy, relaxed by the ocean calm and slow Italian rhythm. We spent three weeks WWOOFing and exploring Switzerland with my mom (what a sport she is), but not a lot of time getting qt with each other of God. So our focus changes, as we slow down and seek the deeper things of life. Time to enjoy the evening and get off the Internet. Ciao!

PS check out our Picasa web album for more pics of our time in Italy =)

This is Kindra now! wow what an amazing time we had with Austin's mom, Vicki! I was surprised by how much I responded to having another girl on the trip with us....we seem to get a lot of boy time with people we meet on the road or hosts, most of the women we meet on the road tend to be busy tending to their kids or otherwise unavailable to have adventures and giggle time with. It was a terrific time in Switzerland, and our hosts Tobias and Olga couldn't have been more perfect for the season-we even learned a new awesome game, kubb! After wwoofing in Trubschachen, Switz, for 10 days, we went to a vrbo in Andermatt, where we hiked basically every day in the GORGEOUS alps, then took trains to our Lake Como apt where we had lake and mountain views. Niiiiice. Between fondue, dinners of bread and cheese, tasting as many Swiss chocolates as we could, and then pasta, breads and meats, our bellies have been full and happy =) It was certainly a tearful goodbye, and I still can't believe how quickly the time went by.

Now in Cinque Terre, we are finding the pace of our hearts on the road again, wild camping, hiking, and plunging into cool waters every day. God has been teaching us both so much about Him as our Father, and it has been touching us to our core. I am seeming to see him move and work everywhere we go, and I am loving reading about Jesus' life in Mark right now (how spiritual do I sound right now! lol) He is seriously just the most INCREDIBLE person ever, and it's like a breath of fresh air every time I read about how he lived here. We are falling in love with the Italian people and culture, much to our surprise since it was initially extremely abrasive and exhaustingly hot.

Until next time, we remain your sort of faithful bloggers!

With mom on Lake Como

The view from our campsite at Cinque Terre

Beaches, Bicycles, and Jazz

 Kindra says: Corsica. To most Europeans, this word evokes images of dramatic mountains meeting turquoise warm waters, smells of fresh breads and pastries being baked by the local boulageries, sounds of music festivals floating in the air, and tastes of Pietra beer, the local amber beer of Corsica. To most Americans, this word evokes, at best, some thought of a corset perhaps, and at worst, a ringing “what the hell is that?”

The official, delicious beer of Corsica with the Tour de France playing in the background

Austin and I have had the distinct privilege of staying on Corsica exploring the western coast for the past 10 days, and are certainly the better for it. Although we weren’t terribly impressed in Bastia where our ferry landed, we had only to board “The Trembler”, what the locals call the train (for good reason, it shakes so badly!) to have our opinion totally reversed. The soaring sheer mountains and the tropical looking greenery captured our hearts instantly.  We didn’t get a chance to see the semi-wild pigs that roam the island freely and apparently stop most train rides, but the scenery made up for the disappointment every time. When we got off the Trembler at Calvi, tired from our traveling day, we were greeted with a small town feel, a long white sand beach, and live jazz music walking through the streets-and we smiled at each other, knowing we had found a special place for us. We ended up staying in Calvi for 5 nights-2 longer than expected, thanks to us discovering the truth of what other travelers have said about the local bus- “it can be one of the most frustrating experiences of your entire life, so avoid it at all costs if at all possible,”- but worth it. We met new Austrian friends, found our local best food place (most delicious herb quiche in the universe!), lounged at the beach, snorkeled, and even got to play on what can only be described as a Wipeout-esque inflated water playground, which was easily one of the most fun things we have done ever.

A view from 'The Trembler'-you just see all the places you want to go and explore as you ride through the island

The Cali beach

Calvi sunset

The amazing Wipeout reminiscent playground! The big kids one was in the background-you better believe we climbed up that huge white rock wall and jumped off the top!

To top it all off, little did we know that not only was it the 27th annual Calvi Jazz Festival, with a different jazz band playing at the harbor for free every night for 5 nights and culminating with a Glenn Miller Tribute Big Band show on the beach, at the base of the castle, but it was ALSO the Tour de France! Coming to Corsica for the first time in history for the 100th anniversary of the race, starting the day before we left the island. Perfect timing or what!!

A volunteer percussion only energy filled part of the Calvi Jazz Festival that would play every night through the streets

An upbeat jazz group that would play through the streets after the more official performances of the evening were over.

From Calvi, we *finally* caught the but to the tiny town of Osani, meeting more friends on the way, to hike in 7 km to the renowned town of Girolata. We stayed there 2 nights, all the more appreciative of the quiet and solitude after being in fun but slightly crowded and noisy Calvi. Even though it was windier than should be allowed in the Med for that first half of our time on the island, in Girolata we marveled at the red towering faces of Scandola, a World UNESCO sight, and had a spectacular hike in and out. We even met an Italian family on our hike out, and they gave us a ride on the cliff hugging, winding, one/two ? way roads to our next stop- Porto! After our 2 nights there, we finished it off by heading back into the wild, but this time to the renowned mountains. Although the waterfall we hiked to wasn’t the most memorable we’ve seen, our time in the mountains was a needed, peaceful place, where we both had opportunities to enjoy extended time connecting with God and each other.

Our campsite in Girolata

Little, beautiful Girolata

While in Girolata we had a little climbing adventure!!

Finally, we got to see the Tour de France on day 1! It was a very flat stage, so they whizzed by us in all of about 15 seconds, but the adrenaline and energy from the caravan giving away free stuff, the crowd’s excitement and the rush of the pelaton finally  rushing by us was totally worth it. For our grand finale we got to camp for 1 night on Bastia on the beach, where we had 1 final swim in the Med, and after saying I wanted to  every since Spain, I FINALLY was brave enough to do beach the European way ; ) If only for 15 minutes.... 

All our free caravan goodies

Waiting for the riders with our official gear

And there they were! It was over so fast, but such a rush!

And here I sit, on the ferry heading back to Italy as we make our way to Milan on public transportation today and prepare to meet Austin’s mom Vicki tomorrow! I already miss France so much, the culture our hearts have now fallen in love with on 2 separate occasions, the language I at least partially speak and understand and food I am familiar with. But we can say this much about our time in Corsica-we are going back, and want to take everyone with us!

Hitchhiking, Tuscany, and Hotels

 Kindra here- Oh my goodness! How much has happened since our last blog post....where to begin? We have been in internet silence for the past several weeks since leaving Duruxa, as hitchhiking doesn't exactly provide extensive internet opportunities. Now, however, we are splurging in a hotel *gasp!* and going logistics mad, catching up online. Anyways, here's at least a few stories of our past few weeks traveling from Cangas de Onis, Spain, to Tuscany, Italy.

What became a common site as we hitched

Things got interesting for the last few days at Duruxa when Austin had a few back episodes, cramping, etc., but God completely healed him as soon as we hit the road! We have met the most interesting and kind people while hitchhiking, even if it took us an average of 1 hr while waiting on the road to meet them =) We were picked up by young Spanish couples, middle aged single French  men and women, and groups of Spanish and French men-all as unique as can be imagined. Mary in Spain, for instance, was living in her big white van with her bf (who is a mountain hiking and canyoning guide in the Pyrenees!) teaching art to children and the elderly in Bilbao-hands down one of our favorite cities we've been to, while Jean Christophe in France (with his gorgeous Peugeot) works in the technology with chips in passports and credit cards-and both were equally warm and eager to tell us all about the region we were driving through. Needless to say, hitchhiking if nothing else broke many stereotypes I had coming in-not a single ride from a big rig!

Another common sign, literally, for us as we tried hitching to San Sebastian

Chorizo and cheese with bread-our Spanish version of pb&j on the road

An incredible grown up playground in Bilbao, Spain we discovered! Rope courses, big slides, rocks-it was so much fun! Incidentally the guy in the left of the picture turned out to an American, and the partner of a Cirque de Soleil acrobat that was working in a show across the river!

We saw the Gugenheim in Bilbao....from the outside

So between hitchhiking, trains, buses, trams and metros, we made it to Mr. Millers in Tuscany, the land of rolling golden hills, olive orchards, abandoned castles and plenty of local traditions, and where his patio view and REAL BED! awaited us-a bed and shower has never felt better or been more needed. He was a wonderful host and eager to show us the surrounding areas, such as Sienna, which was full of rich, bizarre Italian history, such as the Palio di Siena horse race. Seriously, check out this race, it's hard to believe! While there we had some needed time to rest and recuperate from our taxing albeit adventurous journey getting there, and realized something: Austin and I haven't had a space of our own or alone time NOT traveling since April. At all. And we realized something-while being a tourist is exciting, it is also exhausting, and we needed to recharge alone together. Hence, the current hotel splurge.

Montpellier-where some kids stole about 3 euro from our out of a tram ticket machine. Sneaky little ones.

Enjoying being a girl in Cassis

Cassis!

Feeling the toad tiredness in Nice.

We have set aside this season of our trip as a time to reconnect with each other, apart from the exhaustion of traveling and figuring out how we're getting to the next place; and just as important, to reconnect with God. We so believe He has a desire for us on this whole trip experience, and we have not been prioritizing time with Him to sit and listen as we would like to. I am convinced there are specific things He wants to reveal to us, show us, tell us, on this trip and no other time in our lives, and I don't want to miss this incredible opportunity to deepen my relationship with Him. So we are reevaluating our trip, assessing what has been good, what has been hard, and how/where/when we want to continue our journey. To help with this, we are going to the French island of Corsica tomorrow for 10 days-with NO real plans =)))) We will arrive on the ferry, take a train to the northwest, and start looking. Listening. Walking. Camping. Sitting. Being. And nothing else. My heart is already so looking forward to the room to expand and rest there!

Tuscany

Our host, Mr. Miller, on the right getting ready for his flute concert at the pizzeria next door to his apartment in Murlo.

Once our time on the island is over, we will joyfully bound back into Italy to meet Austin's mom in Milan, who is visiting for 3 weeks!! We will be WWOOFing with her in Switzerland for 10 days, then just enjoying the area with her for another 10 days or so until she flies back to America. As we haven't seen any family since we left in January, we are SO excited about this gift of time with her!

It's hard to believe our time here in the hotel is already coming to an end and our internet will again be a luxury not a norm, so the blog is short as the night gets late. And, after all, we have been wanting to finish watching Return of the Jedi for about a month and tonight is our last night ; ) Let's go and see what Corsica is like!