Our day in the Milan train station was not really even worth mentioning. We arrived and then didn't leave until our train did, six hours later. It was awful.
However, I do wish to use the space I would have used to talk about that awful day, to talk about something else Alan and I have noticed during our trip. It's sometimes hard in every day life when you're stuck in routine and doing the same thing every day--going to classes and cooking dinner and doing the laundry and driving home from work and taking the garbage out, especially when you're trapped behind a phone--it's sometimes hard to notice the ways in which God guides and blesses and watches over your life.
We have noticed.
In Rome, we got off the flight and had no idea where to go to get a bus or change our money. We followed the flow of people, did both things and found ourselves in the Rome Metro Station. Once there, we were unsure of how to acquire a map, and we didn't have water. We found both things immediately. We were blessed with the strength to continue walking in the direction of our hotel at the end of the day when both of us had clearly blistered feet and tired bodies. Even though we were both pretty much so jet-lagged and tired that we were hallucinating while checking in, we made it and had a place to sleep that night. The next day, we were able to find the right train to leave for Florence in the afternoon. We were blessed with the strength to continue walking so that we could make the most of our trip that we had been so excited about. Even with 20+ lb backpacks each, we managed to walk all over the city of Rome without dying (and I count that as an accomplishment that we can not claim as our own).
In Florence, we couldn't figure out the bus system and got off 1 km before our hotel. No one spoke English. We whispered prayers and continued to search, and finally found a nice man who spoke enough English to give us clear directions to our hotel for the night. Even more astonishingly, we were able to climb the formidable hill that lay between us and a bed for the night. I didn't think that we would make it (our bodies were tired and hurting--2 days of continuous walking with heavy backpacks? Also, we're kind of pansies). I said a prayer in my head, and as soon as I pled for the strength to make it, I was filled with a sure assurance that we would most surely make it.
The next day, we were able to find places to fill our water bottles when we needed it and cost effective restaurants when we were hungry. We got off the bus to find that the Piazzale that we so wanted to see was closed, and then had an intensely reverent experience with a church down the road. We were able to walk to our hotel without much water left and find a place to eat again. We also found an employee at the train station who was able to help us find the right train to get on to go to Milan and then on to Switzerland--she gave us information that we wouldn't have gotten on our own.
In Milan at the train station, we felt really stressed out when we couldn't understand anything or find a train that would take us where we wanted to go. I also had a blister on my foot that had formed deep under many many layers of skin that was inflamed and infected, making it difficult for me to walk. I struggled to find a way to relieve the pressure and bandage it up, so frustrated that I cried, when all of a sudden I looked up at Alan and asked if he could give me a blessing. He did, and my blister is healing--almost as if it was never there now--and we were immediately after able to find train tickets to Spiez, Switzerland, as well as a hotel. We arrived safely, and were given the strength to walk all over that city as well. It turned out to be the best leg of our trip (and it was only with the help of Heavenly Father that we even went to Spiez at all). The pictures we took there are the best, and we enjoyed the town and its beautiful scenery more than we enjoyed anything else we'd seen before then.
We were able to find the right train to take from Spiez to Basel, and a kind train conductor was wise enough to explain all of our connections to us (if he hadn't, we never would have made it there).
This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the things Heavenly Father has done for us while we've been away from home this week. There are probably a million other things that he's done that I forgot to mention and another million that we didn't notice. It is in the quiet moments of our trip that I am able to sit and reflect on what God has done for us each day.
When Alan and I started this trip, we talked about what we wanted to gain from it. Alan said he wanted to have an adventure (and I think we can all agree it has been one)! I said that I wanted to open my mind to things I wasn't able to be open to before we left. I really meant culturally, but Heavenly Father gave me what I didn't know I wanted and needed and blessed me with an opening of my mind to His hand in my life. I have felt more full with His love and the Spirit here than I have in a long time at home, and it's been exactly what I need. He has shown us His love for us here, in a place where we can't understand or find anything for ourselves, and He has helped us to make the most of this experience for ourselves. He has guided us to people who can be of most help to us, and He has even influenced our seemingly random actions in ways that end up being surprising and delightful (like Spiez--which neither of us would have ever thought to visit on our own).
While I know this isn't a detailed account of the wonderful sights we've seen or the food we ate, I hope that you know that it is, to me, an important part of my journey thus far. We wouldn't have made it, and it wouldn't be so good and valuable to us if we hadn't had so much help.
