Some people dream big, but then there are those who DO big. I love dreamers, but my real respect lies with the do-ers. The ones who get out there and chase their dreams and “make it happen, captain.” The three amigas are Danna, Savannah, and Emilie. They are living their dreams. These girls drove their classy old car from Ireland down to Trento, Italy, making several stops along the way in Belgium, Germany, Austria… In a short ten days they will turn around to make the trip back up to Ireland.
They are working remotely during the trip to make this happen. Savannah was studying for her master’s in Ireland, her sister Emilie is at BYU, and Danna was Savannah’s roomie at BYU-Hawaii. They served missions in Mexico and Paraguay (hence why I’m calling them the amigas).
This beat-up old car is falling apart but a vintage work of art. Savannah will get it fixed up soon and restore its functionality… so the floor doesn’t fall through.
I met the girls through our church branch here in Trento. Cristiano Vignati and his two daughters, Maggie and Emily, invited us over for lunch. They enjoy practicing English and sharing what they love about Italy with us.
Cristiano did not hold back. He served us a colorful, flavorful, exciting lunch of bruschetta with several toppings, cantaloupe with prosciutto (an Italian classic), and frozen yogurt with berries and dark chocolate.
We couldn’t decide which sauce/topping we liked best. The refreshing yet original chopped tomatoes with garlic, oil, and basil? The sautéed red, yellow, and orange peppers? The creamy broccoli purée? The savory zucchini with curry and onion? The warm mushrooms with sausage and paprika?
Cristiano loves to consider himself a master chef. He is obsessed with spices and mixing new flavors. He reminds me of my brother James in that way.
After lunch Cristiano and Maggie took us for a walk along a lakeside to a castle. The castle on the lake is open for weddings, so maybe I should send the info to my friends Autumn and Karly who are having weddings soon! Otherwise the castle is exclusively for restaurant guests hoping to spend over 100 euros on their next fine dining experience. Unfortunately that means the doors were closed to us.
The three amigas gave me a ride home, insisting that we stop at their favorite gelato place on the way. I can see what they were talking about. I don’t know why gelato in Italy is SO good, but it’s unlike anything else anywhere.
As we drove along the winding roads from were Cristiano lives in Valle Dei Laghi, I commented, “Y’all are living the dream here!”
They agreed, “Sometimes it just feels normal and then I remember, oh yeah I’m in Europe! This isn’t normal!”
“You’re going to remember this experience for the rest of your lives,” I nodded, imagining them as old ladies looking back on the photos with their grandkids or laughing with each other over a phone call about when they were young and traveled the world together. Somehow it was so easy for me to envision this for them, but I took longer to realize that the same applies for me. What an amazing time of life that I will never forget!
In the same spirit of spontaneity and adventure, we abruptly pulled the car over as we started to pass lake Tenno, a turquoise little gem that we happened across. “We’re jumping in!” The girls clapped giddily, “We can’t not! It’ll just be a quick dip because the sun is going down and our headlights are broken.” This was the same reason Danna held a huge flashlight out the front window and we drove through tunnels, laughing at how stupid it looked. Savannah will fix the lights tomorrow, don’t worry.
The lake jump wasn’t planned, but they were prepared with swimsuits in the car and even an extra for me. The water was as refreshingly crisp as it looked. Lake Tenno was definitely a Tenno/Tenno. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A lesson I learned in France with my family when I was sixteen tour biking in the heat of the day… is that when you have a chance to jump in the river, even if you don’t feel like it,
JUMP.
So that’s what I did here. I jumped into the lake! That’s what summer is for and what life is all about. It takes a little bit of letting go, a willingness to get wet and mess up your hair and walk on sharp rocks. You can’t be too stiff or too serious about it. You just JUMP. You laugh it off. You splash in the water and float on the sparkling blue surface and embrace that moment because it’s a moment you’ll never get back.
La Vita Italian 
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