It smells like spring!

Ah! I bet you love the smell of spring. Freshness, cool breezes, flowers ... In Gaming the smell brings me back to my childhood. Every year, at this time of year, I would go to springtime on the farm at lake farm park. This, my friends, is exactly what Gaming smells like. Apparently, some where around here are farms. I think I saw one, once when I was walking.
No, but in all honesty, even though the snow made it look like Narnia here, it sure is nice getting to go outside for once without stiffening like the tin man and getting frozen boogers.
Lesson I've learned: If you think you might like traveling to a certain place and you've dreamed of going there all your life, go, even if people are debby downers about it and offer many disparaging comments on the city - you will probably love it. Paris was (AH! i can now say was) my number 2 on my go to list. Paris. Paris. Paris. And it was fantastic. There is a reason why it is such a great city. Not because it has the Eiffel Tower or Napoleon's body. The people there were so passionate about their city, so in love with it that it made me love it too. Plus, I really saw how it is a city full of art. Not just in the museums but everywhere throughout the city. It was so wonderful seeing my mom and Mrs.K. I hope I wasn't too annoying and wasn't to much of a map hogger. It was like a dream getting to be with my family in another country. I also really just like that little old lady I met at Notre Dame. But the French language really scares me...

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
I hope you are all celebrating it and appreciating Ireland and St. Patrick :)
We're celebrating it here ... but not like how we celebrated it when I was younger - with the east side irish mass, dancing at my aunt's school, freezing in the parade and all the dance shows before.
Last night Meg and I stayed up late baking Irish Soda bread and making Irish Potatoes ... which is candy like, not real potatoes.
This past weekend I went to Venice Italy! Michelle and I took the over night train and got to the main island at 8:30 am. Going over the bridge to the island/lagoon was so amazing, i just kept looking right left right left - I'M SURROUNDED BY WATER!
This was the color of the water. Ice ice. And I don't know how to get rid of this underline ... so it's staying. I loved Venice partially because of how there aren't any cars - it just makes it that much sweeter, picturesque. The canals were just perfect and some of the gondoliers were wearing stripped shirts. Ah! I loved it all. Some people told me it smelled horrible and was dirty, but I mean it smelled fishy sometimes (esp. since our hostel was by a fish market) but I mean, we were surrounded by water. Ok, well I don't know how to handle technical things like blogs and this is funny looking, yea. Off to class.

My Roman Holiday

Ok, so more on Rome.
I am not princess. I did not take a sleeping pill before going out and then fall asleep on a genteelman and upon waking, go on a vespa ride. But I did go to the Spanish steps (ahh... the water from the water fountain tasted so good).
Actually, all throughout Rome there were water fountains. Soo Good! So, after this picture was taken, we went to go back to our hotel. But the metro was closed. That happened twice to me. Both times I was determined to walk back to the hotel ... however, not everyone was so enthusiastic with that idea, though (think of walking west of St. Peter's).
We went to a lot of churches and sadly I have trouble keeping them all straight in my mind. But I really liked seeing Caravaggio's paintings where they were intended to be seen -- not in a museum -- and same with Bernini's St. Teresa of Avila ... and Michelangelo's Moses.
It was really fun - Meg and I went on the Metro for the first time and on our foreheads was tatooed FOREIGNER! TOURIST! and this nice old man told us to go to the Etruscan museum - because it really surprised him. So much so that he went 5 times. :) he was funny...
Marta and I went to Nutunno for an afternoon. We went to the church where St. Maria Goretti is ... and to the ocean. We met these two elderly women on the train (who thought we were English) and then this really sweet old couple. It is so good to meet people, especially when all that are common are facial expressions and gestures.

So today I double booked my flight to Ireland. After spending 4 hours finding the right flight, too.
Then I lost the confirmation number for my train tonight.
I'm leaving for Venice in 3 min and everything has worked out, though! The train station finally found my confirmation number (they mispelled my last name) and then ryan air cancelled my flight, just like that! Ah! I just wanted to share that, since it was a major part of my day. :D
I'm so happy to go to Venice and get away, though!
Bye!!

On an Evening in Roma!!

So, every night in Rome I would go to St. Peter's Square. I didn't even know I could like a place this much. The whole city is obviously full of life, but St. Peter's was my life. I had never been there before, of course, but it felt so particular to me. On Sunday morning we went to St. Peter's. I went to the top - to the cupola. It was kind of funny being on the top of St. Peter's, since I hadn't been inside it, yet.
It was so exciting ... being on top of the world. haha. There I could see the funny flat trees and the gardens behind the Vatican walls. It looked like the perfect place to take a walk ... and run into the pope.
After mass the Pope came out of his lil window and said the Angelus. He was the cutest dot I had ever seen. I was so happy to see him, well I mostly just heard him, though.
The days in Italy were so full, but they also went by soo quickly. My feet have never hurt as much as they did in Rome either. I would wake up in the morning and take a step on what felt like knives. But I actually miss that ache now. I wish my feet were sore from walking on the cobblestones. We went to all the churches (ok. definitely not all of them...) through so many piazzas, walk through so many streets. o yum. dulce.
well, more later... !!