nice & monaco

there are so many amazing stories from all these places and so many wonderful people ive met along the way, hopefully i will have time to write of all this more later. i am now in geneva and stayed a night here before leaving for the swiss labri today. its about 2 hours outside of geneva in the swiss alps. im soooo excited for my stay there. well here i go+++

milan

venice

split, croatia

i have so many more, but internet is really costing me so here are just a few of split.

the end of croatia shots

the green lizard, such a great place..

the view from the green lizard, hvar island.
me walkin to the beach..
the water was crystal clear

you were always on my mind..

aahh, italy. what can i say? it is as beautiful as the pictures claim. i took that overnnight ferry to ancona the other night and then hopped a train headed to venice yesterday. i was lost in venice, in the architecture, glaring water, quaint gondolas and in the streets with no names. i was only there for a few hours but felt like i was able to experience the peacefulness of that busy place. i sat in a little cafe reading some tozer and eating authentic italian pizza. pizza seems to be the only thing for cheap around here. i have been writing again, a few poems here and there and it has been so nice. its funny every place ive been in europe so far i always get mistaken for being italian, so now that im finally in italy i feel as though i already fit in.
i am currently in milan and stunned by the fashion and ornate buildings. it would be so fun to experience italy with an unlimited budget! all i can really afford here is an americano, but that part of my trip has been very humbling and rewarding. i have to admit that ive loved "roughing" it. when i arrived at my hostel last night after taking a couple wrong buses i was a tad dismayed at the dirty outside appearance of the place, but after getting settled in and meeting my lithuanian roommate i found beauty there. the hostel owners were so incredibly nice and even drove me to the train station this morning where i am currently waiting to catch a train to nice...

here are a couple cool quotes ive been reading...

"To have found God and still to pursue Him is the souls paradox of love..." -Tozer
i love love love this quote and think the newboys must have enjoyed tozer as well..

"Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified." -Tozer
o how often we get this so wrong in the church today..many friends i have made on my travels so far have this issue with christianity, because the social religion can be so surfaced. i hope to continue to become purified privately as i believe this is the only way to true joy in Christ. this trip has been so amazing for that private time..

and ofcourse i always seem to have a Piper book at hand..
"The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by one great thing." -Piper

"Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts." -Isaiah 26.8

oh, croatia

making dinner last night..

view from my hostel. gelato. mmmmmmmmm.




this was a tradition croatian meal that i had with my new friend kathryn, shes great and the food was good too.

croatia is GORGEOUS. most beautiful place ive been so far and im having an unbelievable time here. i was also here the other night when croatia beat poland in soccer and the streets were crazy with people cheering and screaming, it rivaled when the white sox won in chicago. i met a couple new friends here that have been amazing, God blesses me so much. i am currently on hvar island and yesterday i took a ferry out to another island for some quality beach time. it felt so great to relax. today i hiked up to the top of the hvar castle and was on the beach for a little bit, but this afternoon i went on one of the most beautiful/best runs of my life (if only you could have been there with me, mom, that would have been tops!) im hoping to go on another one tomorrow and take pictures for you all. here are a few snapshots from the past couple of days. i will leave hvar tomorrow night for split and then the next day take a boat to venice!!

love,

bets

wholl stop the rain?

its funny how God always brings me the right people in life at just the right moments. I met Ada and Chris while cooking my last package of instant soup in the hostel kitchen. After discovering that Ada worked as a graphic designer in seattle we had an instant connection and began discussing music and politics. to my delight she mentioned that her and chris were going to the john fogery show that night because they had seen a poster for it. i had also seen this poster, so after some more conversation we walked 10 minutes from our hostel to where he was playing and i have to say the rest of the night was pure bliss. fogerty put on one of the best shows ive ever seen. here are a few of the songs he played - fortunate son, who will stop the rain, down on the corner, heard it through the grapevine, have you ever seen the rain, lookin out my back door. the whole experience was so thrilling and nostalgic for me. between the lights, the fiddle and cowboy hats, my soul was dancing that night.