20111217 Ciao, Italia!

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. - Romans 8:26

SAT - Great weather greeted us on the day of departure as the snow-capped peaks smiled at us from a distance.These 20 days had been a very enjoyable and memorable holiday. See Sonya's Journal and Ethan's Journal.

We have travelled 2,459km over 20 days, visiting 14 interesting places: Milan , Bergamo, Reggio Emilia, Verona, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Siena, Montepulciano, Rome, Pisa, Genoa, Courmayeur - Monte Bianco, and Malpensar; including the Big 3s (Venice, Florence and Rome), 4 Christmas Markets (in Bergamo, Verona, Florence and Genoa), 4 Duomo (Milan, Florence, Siena, Pisa), 2 outlet malls (The Mall and Valdichiana Outlet Village) and two 7 Wonders of the Medieval World (Colosseum and Leaning Tower of Pisa). We built 9 snowmen, ate loads of pasta and many pizzas, and drank lots of hot chocolate and great Italian wine. And had wonderful time of Uno almost every night.

Praise and thank God for his protection throughout the holidays, especially during the foggy night at Reggio Emilia, the impossibly steep way down from Montepulciano, and the icy way down from Monte Bianco.

Praise and thank God for this great and wonderful holiday. We hope to be back again.

20111216 Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. - Romans 8:26

FRI - We had thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Courmayeur, Monte Bianco. We love Courmayeur ... it was quaint and charming. We love the clean fresh air. We love the snow ... a lot of snow that made Christmas even more like Christmas! But snow on departure was scary. Look, even our little snowmen were totally covered with snow. And our Mercedes Vito was half buried in the snow, with a thick layer of snow icing on top. What seemed so nice and fun had prevented me from getting into the car. I had a great 2.5-hours work out in the morning clearing the snow on both sides, underneath and behind the car so as to make a way for me to reverse the car out of the parking lot. But the floor was iced up, making it impossible me to control and move the car. With great perseverence and twist-and-turn of the steering wheel, I managed to reverse the car by a disappointing 2.5m out of the parking lot after 2.5 hours. God sent His Words to me (in the scripture above) and all of us prayed for help. By 2pm, the man from the petrol kiosk (whom Aunt Janet and Marissa had helped arranged) came but with the wrong snow chain. We had to wait another 5min for him to return with the right snow chain (€170) and helped fixed them on our rear wheels before we could finally depart at 2.30pm. But the 1km way out of Courmayeur was not easy and took us about 30min as I could not control the car properly in the snow. All the other traffic had to stay clear on both sides as I swayed from left to right, and left again. It was with God's mercy that we finally made it to the autostrada.

Then, our windscreen wiper broke, which I had to fix it at the petrol kiosk before we could move on because it would be impossible to drive in the snow without the wipers.

The drive down was trecherous due to the heavy snow. I was driving at 40-60km/hr while the rest behind were praying continuously. I was still hopeful to make it to Serravalle Outlet Mall (the largest outlet mall in Italy). We sighed a sigh of relief each time we entered a tunnel (as there was no snow and visibility was better), and hoped that there would be no more snowing at the exit. It took us almost 2 hours to reach the bottom of the mountain! Praise the Lord for His protection!

Just when we cleared the snow, something else happened. The snow chain fell apart along the autostrada! I only managed to remove the chain on the left-rear wheel but had to drag the other one until the next petrol kiosk where there was light for me to see and remove it. It was 6.30pm by then. With Serravalle Outlet Mall closing at 8pm and we were about 1.5hrs away, we totally miss our third outlet mall shopping today because of weather. Sigh!

We went directly to Malpensar and checked into Grand Hotel Malpensar near the airport. We made up our eventful day with pasta! This would be our last night in Italy.

20111215 It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Humility is the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honor and life. - Proverbs 22:4

THU - Today was another white and snowy winter day. Our snowmen were covered with more snow. The scenery outside our balcony was whiter than before. And we could not ski again. We can see 'bianco' everywhere, but no sight of the monte. But still we had fun! We indulged in nice pastries and hot chocolate at Dolce Voglia Cafeterie. The kids went tobogganing again at a different slope. They really enjoyed tobogganing. Being our last night at Courmayeur, Monte Bianco, we had dine out at an authentic restaurant, recommended by Marissa, the owner of Residence Le Grand Chalet. The ambience was fantastic and the food was really delicious, although pricey. As it was snowing heavier and heavier, we could not ski or drive to Chamonix. So, we bought crepes from American Bar and enjoyed the night back at our chalet, eating crepes, drinking wine and hot chocolate, and playing Uno.

This was our last night in Courmayeur, Monte Bianco. And it was snowing heavier and heavier. We could feel "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas", but could not help wondering if it would be safe to drive down the mountain the next day because "Oh, the weather outside is frightful!"

20111214 Happy Birthday, Michele!

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. - Isaiah 55:10-11

WED - We woke up to a whiter day at Courmayeur, Monte Bianco, and a whiter birthday for Michele. Overnight, more than 10 inches of snow had piled up. Everywhere was white, and whiter! Charming, but don't think we could ski today too. Residence Le Grand Chalet surprised Michele at the door with a birthday cake (thanks to Aunt Janet for the secret arrangement). Look, we were all suited up (more than yesterday) to walk the streets of Courmayeur. Everywhere was whiter than yesterday. It was such a lovely sight and nice feeling to walk in the cold, even as tiny snow flakes were falling. See the layer of snow cake on the table! In the afternoon, I took the kids tobogganing at a slope next to a nearby supermarket. It was very enjoyable!
Then, we built a 2m-tall snowman just outside Residence Le Grand Chalet. We even build 6 little snowmen at our balcony (representing Aunt Janet, Michele, Nathaniel, Sonya, Ethan and me). Again, we were spoilt by Aunt Janet's and Michele's cooking (even though it was her birthday). Tonight, we had spaghetti al ragu ... the best we've ever eaten during this Italy trip! Happy birthday, dear. May the Lord bless you with great health and happiness, and may all your dreams come true.