Friday, June 1, 2007, 5:30am

Man, I’m loving this Italy thing! It’s a total rush!

We climbed Casteluzzo yesterday, and that was COOL! My foot actually felt better with the use, and the exercise, fresh air, and altitude all but eliminated my allergies and asthma. I led the pack up the hill, absolutely thrilled to be hiking in the Alps, all the while contemplating the history I was passing through, the stories that the mountain, rocks, and trees bore silent witness to. Again, I wished I could loose their tongues and hear the tales of history, but alas, ‘twasn’t to be.

I realized how much I’d been cooking along when I got to the top in a little under an hour, and we’d been told it was about a two-hour hike. The view was just absolutely, breathtakingly, stunningly incredible. There aren’t words for it. Coming up over the ridge and looking out at such a scene was a truly inspiring experience. It drew from my lungs several whoops of pure elation. The echoes ricocheted over the hills, pastures, rocks, and streams, bouncing around for nearly 5 seconds. I soon heard an answering “Hallooooo!” from far below-- some herdsman leading his flocks through a grassy meadow. I got as near the edge of the cliffs as I could: laying on my belly with my head hanging over, and I gazed below at the rocks, imagining the scene of the followers of Christ being cruelly tossed over and dying such an awful death. As the rest of the group showed up over the next 40 minutes, many gasps of amazement were heard, and many cameras were busted out. We were all in awe at the scene.

We ate our lunch on the cliff edge overlooking the valleys below, among which was nestled Torre Pellicci. Then as the rain began, Ricky and I led the charge down to the cars once more. I had been wearing my faithful flip-flops the whole time, as I have been for the past few weeks. So I had the opportunity to experience downhill trail-running in flip-flops, in the rain. It was a BLAST! It took us less than 20 minutes to get all the way to the bottom, and we lay in the cars napping until the rest of the group arrived.

The museum that we planned on visiting in the afternoon didn’t open for another couple of hours, and the River Angrogna was calling a few of us. So we hurried to the places we were staying, grabbed our swim clothes, and headed for the water! Scott drove us, us being Ricky, Allie, Yvette, Vange (of course), Chrissy, Shannon, and myself. Shannon and Scott were the photographers, and the rest of us were the brainless. That water was SO COLD! We leaped in, screamed really loud, and leaped back out again even faster. A couple of us appreciated the torture, and decided to jump in a second time and soak for a bit. After some pictures and lots more memories, we all climbed out and headed back up to the car. We drove back into town, and Ricky and I piled out at a stoplight at the turn towards Danielle’s house. We walked the 5 or so minutes back to our hotel, both soaking wet and in our swim trunks, me barefoot and bare-chested, and both holding our towels and clothes. Needless to say, we got quite a few funny looks!

Ricky: “Um, Matt? Maybe you should at least put on a shirt or something…” Matt: “Nah, it’s fine, we’re almost there.” Ricky: “Hmmm. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this much like a tourist before.” Matt: “Oh well, I’ll never see these people again, and I can’t understand what they’re saying about me, so it’s no skin off my back.”

So after a change of clothes, it was off to the museum. It was kinda cool seeing an original Bible translated by Martin Luther, a tiny-- and I mean, TINY-- Bible smuggled by the Waldensian “merchants”, and the 2.6-meter-long guns used back then. But all the descriptions were in Italian, German, and French, so it was mostly just looking at pictures for us.

Now it’s early Friday morning, and I’m feeling GREAT! My allergies and asthma have officially abandoned me, and we’re heading to Venice today! We have to drive back to Milan, return the cars, and take a 3 hour train to the City of Canals. So we’ll find out what happens when we get there. Ciao for now...