lost blog post

It's 4:42 a.m. CST and we're home - and of course, awake. We stayed in bed as long as we could and then decided to just get up and get unpacked.

Last night, when we saw my parents, they told us they only saw the one blog post from Florence, which is funny because we only posted one more, but it should have been there. So, my post from the steps of the Pantheon is forever lost. Oh well.

I really wish we could have updated the blog more, but finding an internet cafe wasn't as easy as I had hoped and most of the time, we were just too busy.

I am not yet able to process that we are gone and back already, so instead of sharing stories (of which there are many) - this morning I will leave you with a picture. I haven't downloaded them yet, so I am just going to plug in my camera and we'll see what we get.

This was our last night in Rome. We were attempting to take a picture of us in front of the Pantheon, and this clown performer wanted to join us! Ciao, Roma!

firenze!

Ciao!!

We are to the last day of our adventure in Florence... and it has been quite an adventure. In three days we have done it all - Michelangelo, Donatello, Chianti, espresso, coacolatè, bucatini, ravioli, bruschetta. It has been other worldly. You can't imagine life where every turn of the street introduces you to more masterpieces. Joel keeps wondering why the Catholic church in America can't have some of these pieces. We have walked what feels like 200 miles. This has required us to take long naps in the afternoon before we eat more.

Katie's favorites - Donatello's Mary Magadelene, Botecelli's Primavera, the asparagus Ravioli she had for dinner last night. Joel's favorites - panini's, the Uffizi, the Michelangelo room at the Bargello, espresso, Bucatini alla amartino, and grappa.

Tonight might be a memory we keep forever. We purchased tickets to a trio of violin, cello, and pianoforte in the Michelangelo room at the Bargello. We plan to eat a fabulous meal (at a restaurant recommended to us) and stroll past the lit statues in the Palazzo Vecchio - then partake in some night music.

The timer is counting down at our internet cafe - and Joel is antsy for some churches (Santa Croce and Santa Maria del Fiore)... and of course, food. Katie is hoping for another encounter with some gelato between the churches!

Tomorrow, we're off to the Italian Riviera! Arrivadercì!

luggage

Two, small, rolling suitcases, a BIG backpack (think hiking), and a small backpack - we did it, folks!

Tonight is cleaning out the fridge, charging our ipods, and attempting to sleep even though I feel like a little kid going to Disneyland in the morning - good luck!

two more days of work... will I make it??

In reality, I will. But in theory, I feel like it is just wasted time and energy when I could be doing my last minute planning and packing.

Joel is working tonight - my plan: to unpack all the bags we packed on Sunday and repack them. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but in reality, I think we'll be happy I did it. We didn't pack very strategically and I think if I can pack us better, we won't be pulling everything out of our suitcases all the time, but we shall see.

We are making several assumptions (I know, you should never do that). One is that the apartments will have towels for showering with. We don't have room for heavy, bulky towels. Two is that we will make the time to clean clothes - we really slimmed down and definitely don't have enough to make it the full two weeks. Three - our imagined style is the same as the style that is in Italy.

For example - I am doing something I've never done before - I am dressing cute for our plane ride. Now, usually I could care less what I look like when all I am going to do is try to force myself to sleep at a ridiculous time of day. But I am actually starting to take pride in my body and feel that I can both be comfortable and cute. So, the outfit that won the test? Short, black, cotton dress, leggings, flat boots, jacket and scarf. I think because the dress is loose fitting and the leggings are comfy, the outfit should work. The truth is, no matter how hard I try, sleeping at 5 p.m. our time is going to be a challenge.

A few last details that can't even be accomplished until we get there - train tickets, tickets for the museums in Florence, tickets for a possible opera performance, and tickets to a AS Roma game. Hopefully the first three will be accomplished by Friday night and then completely put out of my mind! Then we'll eat and walk and absorb and enjoy and drink and...

google walking maps?!

A few updates
- Applied for a new credit card that DOESN'T charge me an extra 3% on international purchases
- Ordered Euro and they came in yesterday
- Put a hold on our mail starting in TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY!
- Started to make notes in my notebook about the location, phone number, and money owed for each of our apartments

The big accomplishment of the day was using google maps to get a walking map from the train station to each of our apartments. Each of them is about 1.5 miles away, but that is a good healthy walk after sitting on the train all day. The coolest thing is that each route comes with pictures - so on our walk from the train station in Florence, we will walk past the Duomo, the original location of the David, the Uffizi museum, and the Arno.

Getting less nervous and more excited. We now have all the clothes and shoes we need, my friend Ashley gave us a big backpack to pack in, and we can now focus the weekend on our anniversary. Happy one year to us!

Plans to celebrate? Joel is making breakfast on Saturday, then maybe apple picking, then very nice dinner downtown. Sunday I'm making breakfast, church, and then watching the video of our wedding. Hurray!