Dear all, I cannot afford to go to Italy every weekend so several weekends ago I convinced a few of the interns to go check out the authentic Christmas Markets of Germany. We talked about going to Germany for a while but failed to ever set a date or buy train tickets, by the time we got around to it the tickets were exorbitant and it was cheaper to rent a car, hooray for the Autobahn. Four interns and an intern mom piled in the car on Saturday morning equipped with “Harriet”, our on board automated direction giver, and headed for Deutschland.

All I seem to tell you about is Italy lately but I must say that I am addicted. After ten days in late October and early November over the school break I returned to Brussels rejuvenated and ready for the six remaining weeks of school before Christmas break. I also started flight shopping for tickets back to Italy practically as soon as I stepped off of the plane. Over October break one of my fellow interns, Carrie, had to return to the states because of a family emergency and was unable to travel around Europe.

From Venice my roommate Bridget and I literally crossed the country; we went from Venice on the Adriatic Sea to the town of Levanto on the Mediterranean Sea. I loved my time in Venice and wished I could have explored and soaked up more of the surroundings but I was truly looking forward to getting away from some of the crowds. The Cinque Terre is a series of five villages connected by a 9 km, slightly less than 6 miles, foot path that follows the coast over slightly rugged hilly terrain.

I just spent three days in Venice; jealous?

I miss hiking without purpose. It used to be I enjoyed the freedom of the hills without thought to purpose. I would hike with intent, but with no special place to go or destination in mind. The whole point was to hike, no reason or justification; walking through the affordance of it all was purpose enough.

Thin-air hallucinations sparkled in my peripheral vision. The ringing in my ears I put down to trolls murmuring their seductive but sometimes treacherous counsel. Wind cracked through the sky in shears, utter joy to ravens, and carried the sound of water tumbling in the valley below. Other times, only silence.

Someone must have had a reason for naming Treasure Mountain as they did. From what I can tell, surrounding mountains and Treasury Mountain next door actually hold the goods. Treasure Mountain is geologically responsible for the booty, though, and maybe some old-timer figured that out and named it appropriately.

It’s a challenge to walk through the mountains and not think about geology. Those who know nothing of mountains walk and wonder. I’ve heard them speculating about what this is or how that got there. I almost never go hiking that someone doesn’t ask me something about rocks.

Dear all, this past weekend my fellow interns and I went to the beach. When visiting a new place and especially when trying to figure out how to live in a new country you often rely on the kindness of others. One day shortly after arriving in Belgium several of the interns were mistakenly waiting for a tram to arrive that was temporarily out of service. After a while a girl around our same age approached and let them know in perfect English that the train would not be coming and directed them to where they should be waiting.

May 12-Greetings from Bimini! Our gateway to the Bahamas! What a great place to rest and get into the cruising rhythm! Three days zipped by as we explored the island and enjoyed the beginning of our cruise.

Several years ago I made a pass through Ice Lakes Basin on my way to climb Vermillion Peak. At that time I was struck by the beauty of this incredible basin and the surrounding mountains. There are pristine lakes, amazing rock formations of different colors, and fields of wildflowers, all above tree line. Therefore, I was determined to come back and enjoy it again.