Naked statues and lots of them

Yesterday was a whirlwind of a day being. I woke up at 6:45 so I could be one of the first people in line at the Uffizi. I was there a little after 7:30 and was in line with about 15 other people. I brought my book along and happily read Janet Evanovich before I was let into the museum at 8:15. When I came out the line was very long and while getting up that early sucked, it was well worth it.

The Uffizi is huge! I was happy that Katie told me to get a map - I needed it. The only thing that I can tell you I saw was the Birth of Venus. There were some paintings that looked familiar but that could have been because I just saw the same general picture in the room before. I was amazed at how well the pictures looked even though they are so old! The effort that goes into restoring paintings is amazing to me. I can say that I have seen Leonardo da Vinci paintings up close; however, if I hadn't read the sign I wouldn't have known they were by him.

I had plans to meet Katie for lunch, but was early, so I wandered around and came upon the Palazzo Vecchio. The Palazzo Vecchio is a rich person's home (Katie says the Medici family) converted into a museum. It was fun to go through. I think the ceilings were my favorite part. I met up with Katie and we had some good lasagna before she went to her final. I wondered around and found myself a pair of pants (I need to wash my jeans and it's too cold for shorts or a skirt). The afternoon was spent in the Boboli Gardens were Katie joined me for a little bit and then I went to Pitti Palace. I really liked Pitti Palace. The rooms were a lot of fun to look at. The detailing on the walls and ceilings were gorgeous.

Katie is part of a small group and has an advisor from her study abroad program. Last night was their last dinner together and I was invited to come along which was a nice treat. We went out to a nice restaurant where we had appetizers, wine, and pasta, with gelato afterwards. It was a nice way to end a busy day.

This morning I got up early, again, to see the statue of David at Accademia. This time I was the first one in line and no one else showed up until 15 mins after me. David is a lot bigger than I was expecting. I'm glad I got to see him. The detailing in his body is quite amazing - he has veins that you can see in his hands! Afterwards I went shopping with Katie and Laura. I took a nap while Katie and Laura watched a movie. I haven't been sleeping well at my hostel.

This afternoon we have been laying low - Katie has to study and my energy level has been sub par. Don't know what we will do tomorrow - I am just hoping that the rain will go away until I have left.

Sicily!

Me in Trapani, Sicily.

Sicily was a lot of fun. There were 8 of us (2 guys + 4 girls from Katie's arch class). We got up at 2:30am to meet at 3:00am for a 3:30am bus to Pisa. From Pisa we took a 30-45min flight to Trapani. We took a bus into town and then wandered around trying to find our hotel. It took a little while but we finally found it. We had two mini suites which was nice because we were able to cook for our self. It was so much cheaper that way too. I found out in general that the food was much cheaper here than in Florence. After finding some food for lunch/snacks/dinner we were off to find a nice beach to sleep on.

I've been to the Mediterranean area when I was 11 or 12 but I really don't remember seeing the ocean and how wonderful the colors were. This was amazing! It went from the clear light blue/green through all the colors in between and then switched to dark blue. It made me very very happy. The whole trip was well worth it just to see the water.

Katie and I on our way to the beach we stopped and slept at.

We ended up walking a lot further than we intended too but the beach wasn't very nice until much, much, further down the coast. We spent the afternoon lying on the beach mostly sleeping. At least half of our group fried themselves. I was, luckily, not one of them. We were all tired from little or no sleep from the night/morning so we laid down and pass out. We were able to cook our self a nice, cheap, pasta dinner before playing a fun game of charades.

Levonzo, Sicily the island we went to.

The next day we slept in and then went to find if we could take a day trip to one of the islands. The island people wanted to go to was too expensive and we wouldn't be able to get back... so we went to the closest island, Levonzo. Levonzo was amazing! It reminded me of Greece! White buildings with blue shudders. Right by the port we were looking in the water only to find some black floaty things... we found out that they were jelly fish! And there were thousands of them.

If you look half way across this picture in the water, close to shore, you will see a blackish area (you may need to click on the picture, it looks like a dot in the water) this is a huge clump of jelly fish!

The map we had said that there was a grotto that you could get to. After following the main road in the correct direction the path ended up getting smaller and smaller until finally we didn't have a path at all. The path started out being the a road that cars could drive on. We walked/hiked/climbed/scrambled for 3 + hours only to find out that the grotto wasn't a grotto (it was just a cave) and it was closed! Oh, and during part of this time, while we were scrambling over very pointy rocks, we had to stay as close to the sea as possible because we were walking right through where seagulls laid their eggs and if we got too close they would come swooping in on us! We finally found an establish trail and had to walk all the way to the top of the mountain to use a road to get back to town/port. We didn't think this through every well when we left and none of us had a lot of water. Luckily, we reached an area on our walk down the mountain that had a few houses and asked in broken Italian (the others did – I can only say thank you and excuse me), a man, if we could fill up our water bottles. The man took us into his home and he and his wife filled our water bottled. We were very happy to have something to drink! We said thank you very very much and walked back to town. I think we all decided that we had a great time, we were very tired, happy to get water when we did, and even happier to not have to goback the way we came.

This was our map. We went from the bottom port (where the houses are) to the left following the road and then following the coast and then the road again and back to the town on the road down the middle of the island. We then walked to the beach to the right of the town.

We spent the rest of the time by the water where a "beach" was suppose to be. The beach looked more like a boat launch to me and I still think that we didn't really find it. A few people went swimming. I decided that with the wind it was way too cold to jump in the water. At 8pm we took the ferry back to Trapani where we made dinner and went to bed. It was a very successful day and well worth it to go to the island.

Here I am before we climbed down to the white rocks. We walked all the way to the end of the coast you can see in this picture and then some!

This morning we got up at 5:15am to catch our 8:25am flight back to Pisa. From Pisa we took the train into Florence. Katie and I went and found my hostel . A week before I came Katie's roommates said that having an extra person in the apartment would be too much.

Now we are in the architecture studio. I am having fun playing on my computer while Katie is working hard on hers to finish up her project.

Our travel plans has changed quite and bit and we now have something a little more manageable in terms of money and time. On Saturday we will leave for Venice, then onto: Monaco/Nice, Paris, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Berlin, and then visiting a friend in Kent, England before I go home and Katie will visit with family.

Watching Katie work on her project is fun and confirms that I have no desire to be an architect.

Duomo, Italian men, and more

The view of Florence from the top of the Duomo.

I was going to walk up to the Piazzale Michelangelo this afternoon while Katie was in her architecture critique but it looked as though it would rain and I didn't want to be caught outside. And sure enough it is raining right now.

This morning Katie got up and went and took a class picture while I stayed at her apartment and read. When she came back we went wandering around where we stopped at the Duomo (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore) because the line was so short. We climbed 400+ stairs to get to the top and look down into the church. The view from the top was wonderful -it was sunny and hot at the top. We came back and ate before heading off to Katie's Italian class where the teacher was treating the class to gelato. We are trying to nail down our plan before we set off for Sicily at 3 am. I should be researching right now.

Traveling again isn't as easy as I thought it would be. Having been home 5 weeks I had just settled in to Seattle life, a place that I know so well, and now I am starting over again. *I just heard thunder!* Plus because Katie has been here for 4+ months I'm more willing to rely on her vs being on my own and figuring it out on my own. By the time I left Asia I felt just fine and I more or less knew what I was doing and how things ran... but Italy seems so foreign to me. People keep telling me that Europe is was easier than Asia in terms of traveling but I'm not so sure - I was quite happy in Asia.

I've had my first taste of Italian men. While walking between on a narrow path with parked cars on one side and bars so cars can't get through on the other when a man stepped right in front of me and said "5 euros" as in that is what I had to pay him to get by. I gave him my "fuck off" face, said no, slightly nudged him aside and passed him. How that would be cute, sexy, or funny I don't know.

Time to really get cracken on where we will be going soon. Next update about Sicily! *I just saw lighting and heard more thunder - I'm really glad I didn't go sit on a hill!*

Katie and I on the top of the Duomo.

I've made it to Florence

It only took a day of traveling but I arrived safe and sound in Florence last night. Katie came and picked me up so I didn't have to worry about trying to get anywhere on my own. I flew from Seattle to London, London to Rome, and finally Rome to Florence. While I was in the Rome airport I treated myself to a cone of cafe gelato! After catching up with Katie I took a sleeping pill and blissfully went to sleep.

This morning we got up, had breakfast, and then walked around Florence. I should be able to tell you what I saw (and I saw a lot) but my head is in a daze from jet lag. So instead of wondering around while Katie was in class I happily read my book outside her classroom. Now I am in her architecture studio checking my mail, looking for accommodations for the next part of our trip, and will most likely end up reading some more.

The weather is nice here. It was in the 60's this morning. It was perfect fleece weather - not cold, not hot... and it has warmed up a bit this afternoon. No clue what I will do tomorrow... most likely more wondering with or without Katie.

Plans change and that's life

Well, I went to the ENT only to find out that they're taking out my tonsils. Lucky me. The bad news of all of this is that I will be coming home a few weeks early to get them out. I will be saying goodbye to Katie in Paris and while I get surgery on June 1st she will be visiting England without me. I'm bummed,  but it could be a whole lot worse, right... I could not be going. So I will be finishing up antibiotics while traveling plus I have a three weeks supply just in case my tonsils decide to flare up again. We are hoping that they don't. 

This trip is a whole lot different from the last one. I have have a "whatever" attitude about what will happen. What could happen, I mean, I'm in a first world country and I have someone with me! A lot... but at least I'm in a first world country and I have someone with me...  All I need is my passport and credit card. How I get places and where I am sleeping is very far off in my concerns right now. This amount of time before SE Asia I slightly freaking out about what needed to happen... how I was going to get places and all that fun stuff. Katie will be picking me up from the Florence airport. What more could I need - she knows what she is doing. 

So our master plan, which because nothing is booked, is completely flexible, and may change 20 times before we even leave Italy:  I will get into Florence on Tuesday April 21. I will spend a few days wondering around Florence (or going wherever Katie tells me to) while she is in class. We will fly to Sicily for the weekend to sunbath with her friends. I will spend more time wondering around Florence while Katie stresses about finals. I'm so happy not being in school right now! We will be planning where we are staying and how we are getting places before setting out May 1st or 2nd on our adventure.  We plan to hop by plane or train to: Barcelona, Monaco/Nice, Geneva, Zurich, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Berlin, Holland, and Paris. Tried yet? We will be spending 2 nights in most places before going to the next place. It will be quite the adventure and so different from my last one. I'm excited! 

Stay tuned. I will have a mini computer and I will see what kind of updating I can do while we are on the road. I'll be back May 28th. 

Katie and I last spring while I was back at WSU for a visit. We were put together freshman year in the dorms and it has been friends ever since! 

I have gone through my 4000+ pictures of SE Asia and have narrowed it down to 370ish pictures so you can see a mini version of my trip. I figure this way anyone can see them if they want and you can go at your own pace. Plus I have added comments so you can hear a little bit about each place as well. 

Take a look if you like: http://picasaweb.google.com/aewdenton

I'm off to Europe! 

While at Home

I've been home just over four weeks now and I realized that I missed my blog. So... I will update you on what has happened since I have been home. The first week was spent hibernating and adjusting to be back in the states. I finally started catching up with everyone. I spent ages combing over picture so I could get a slide show of my trip together. Some times a digital camera isn't a good time. 

My boyfriend, Michael, and I were able to take advantage of Seattle's 3 course meal for 30 dollars! We got all gussied up for the occasion. This is the dress I had tailored for me in Hoi An. 

While I have been home I have also been snowshoeing and camping on Whidbey Island. Snowshoeing was a cold experience but I was happy to finally use my snowshoes that I bought in June. 

The weather was wonderful for camping! The best weekend so far since I have been home - the sun was out and shinning! 

But while I have been home I have also had tonsillitis. And not just once, but twice! Talk about a miserable experience. And in a two week period! I haven't been a happy camper and have been getting to know the Group Health staff quite well. 

My plan is still to leave for Europe a week from Monday (!) April 20th. But before that I get to see the ENT to see if they would like to remove my tonsils for me. 

Happy Spring! It feels like maybe it has finally arrived.