Ravenna

Allison and I went camping in Ravenna this past weekend. Ok, we actually camped about 8 km outside of Ravenna in a sweet woodsy campground right across the street from the beach on the Adriatic Sea. Ravenna and the surrounding area is a lot like the Midwest in the following ways: it is extremely flat; the region actually produces food instead of just consuming it; its pace and feel are generally mellow. Some differences include: being on a giant body of salt water (the coastal thing is similar to parts of Michigan (e.g.), but not the salt!); having a lot of 5th and 6th century churches; people speaking Italian.

I don't have the pictures loaded on the computer yet but hope to get some up here soon. Ravenna has incredible mosaics and is just a beautiful place in general.

Allison and I started off the two mornings of the weekend with a run on the beach, followed immediately by a run into the water. Let me tell you something: running on the beach is one of the hardest workouts I've had. That doesn't sound like much coming from me, but I think Allison would agree, and she ran a marathon, people. Especially when the type of sand the beach has is deep and soft and when the sun is beating down on you and the humidity is skyrocketing. Invigorating. And the water was perfect.