home sweet home

For the last few weeks, I have had the pleasure of, in the first split second of waking up, not being totally sure of what city, let alone what country I will find myself in. But yesterday I had the joy of waking up in my own bed in Denver.

yep, I'm home. my 2 months of European life is complete. I'll get more photos posted to flickr soon... pro account here I come.

It will take me a while to process, pour through my 800 pictures a few thousand times, catch up on sleep, and realize that I'm home before life will be anywhere near normal again. But I'm getting a good start by working a huge party at the winery this evening. let the fun begin, right?

my phone is on and waiting for your call. ;-)

Thank you all for thinking of me and following with me on this life-changing adventure.

time really flies

Wow, time really flies. I've been all over the place since my last post. I am currently in the magical city of Paris. But since my last post I was in Bologna (for nearly a week with my dear dear friends Scott and Claire- thank you again!) having some of the best food of my life, drinking wine, going to a jazz bar, playing Claire's sax in an Italian big band- i was totally amazed at how quickly it all came back to me, shopping, attending parties, dancing in clubs and really really enjoying myself. Then last tuesday I left Bologna and spent literally a few hours in Pisa admiring the Piazza Miracole which includes a cathedral, baptistry and of course the leaning tower. Then headed to the Cinque terre for a night and full day. That was a very relaxing and beautiful place. I wish that I had spent another day or two there. I hiked the trail between 3 of the 5 villages - three of the five because as I was literally dropping down into the 4th village I fell and twisted my ankle a little. i know, it could only happen to me... I was warned that the 4th to the 5th was pretty difficult and thought I better not chance it on a slightly twisted ankle. Then headed to Nice, France. Nice is nice. :-)

But now I'm in Paris. Went literally all over the city today. so much to see in so few days.

I'm headed to Switzerland on Tuesday and then to the airport to fly home on Thursday. I can hardly believe that 2 months are nearly up. Contemplated *missing* my flight and heading back to Florence and doing another couple of weeks of language school. But alas I can hear the states calling my name....

Biking, goodbyes and Bologna

After many requests I, with some help from my friend Scott, have been able to put some photos on the blog and am working on my flickr site with a more complete set of photos. I should have that up with captions very soon. but until then please enjoy the photos that are there and captionless. www.flickr.com/photos/dtillion

This is the Chianti region. It was absolutely, totally and completely beautiful! 

  

This is the duomo from my classroom window. A lot of the month of March was cloudy like this but I still think that it was a spectacular view.

This is Venice- the water taxis were expensive but for photos alone it was worth it. We had a wonderfully sunny first day and a not so sunny but pleasant second day there.

I've arrived in Bologna to spend some time with Scott and Claire. They are incredibly generous to lend me their futon for several days. It will be the first time I've spent the night in one bed for more than one night since the 28th of March. That's weird to think about. Even though I spent many extra nights in Florence I slept in a different room in my hostel every night. I guess that is the risk you take when booking a hostel on a day to day basis in a busy city.

After a lovely weekend in Venice with Aine I headed back to Florence (couldn't seem to get away from that city) for a couple of last nights. On Monday morning I woke up and headed to Ponte Vespucci to meet up for a bike tour of Chianti.  What a great experience. It was a 20 km (12 mile) ride. Now, to some 12 miles is nothing...  but to me (who is still a very inexperienced cycler) that sounded like a great and challenging ride. It was both. The countryside was breathtaking and honestly so was the last part of the ride. There were two hills in the last part of the ride that were slaughtering me. But I made it to the top and really really enjoyed myself. We made several stops on our ride. The first was a winery in the Chianti Classico region. The wine was quite nice a Chianti Classico and a Chianti Classico Reserva. I very much enjoyed seeing the facilities and a little of the Villa that is a very very fancy hotel. Apparently some of the suites go for 2500 euro a night. yowsah!  Then we stopped in a tiny, cute hill town for lunch and coffee. ( a much needed break after all of the wine we had consumed). Then came the long stretch of riding... then at the top of the hill we had cokes and then headed back to the garage. It really has been a highlight to my trip. 

I've officially left Florence and do not planning on stopping back there this trip. On my final morning I wondered the streets and reminisced about the past 5 weeks that I've been there (well the last week off and on but still). I walked by all of the places I'd visited, places I'd eaten, places I'd had a few drinks or some that I'd had too much to drink, places I had some life changing conversations and some incredible laughs. It was a great way to say goodbye to the city that I've come to admire and love. After my friends finished school we went to one of our regular lunch spots and I was faced with saying goodbye to people that have become very dear friends of mine. Despite my sadness of knowing that I may not see them again (at least for some time) I know that it is time to move on and see some more of this incredible country and continent. 

Santa Maria novella

Roma! What a city. I loved it! Ana and I packed into 4 days what two normal people could do in a weeks time. We literally ran from place to place. I was exhausted after our trip. It was a wonderful city that is full of life, history and a great deal to see. The weather was fabulous: I'm sure that it was in the 60s every day and I even got a little sunburn on my face- despite putting sunblock on in the morning. The Colosseo and the ruins just blew me away. It was quite an amazing thing to be faced with something that was so old and has so much history.
I am back in Florence for a few days. Of course the day that I arrive in Florence it rains- no pours! figures. But today has been beautiful.
I am staying a lovely hostel and have enjoyed a few days in Firenze by myself (at least in the morning while my friends are still in school). I walked along the Arno river this morning and then stepped into a few churches that I had not been in before. Then after lunch with my friends, I climbed the cupola, bought a new shirt, and headed to the last church on my list to see. Santa Maria Novella. While heading to the entrance I was stopped by a 75 year old Italian man (at first I was not surprised- I have often been stopped by Italian men) but this was going to be a different encounter, I could tell by the first words out of his mouth. He spoke to me about the church that I was about to enter and told me all of the artists that had paintins, frescoes, or sculptures within it. He asked if he could join me in the church and of course I could not turn him down. He told me to put on my jacket because it was going to be cold in the church. I, obeyed, paid for my ticket and in we went. He took me by the hand and spoke to me in clear, slow Italian and was my personal tour guide through this incredible church. He, Giulio, was quite a charming man. He told me that my smile lit up the church and that he was amazed at my knowledge of Italian (I didn't have the heart to tell him that I only understood about 1/2 to 3/4 of what he said... but I guess that doesn't matter). It was a wonderful afternoon.
Tomorrow I head to Venice with my friend Aine (from Ireland) for the weekend. I will return to Firenze for one last evening on Sunday and hopefully take a bike tour of Chianti on Monday before I head to Bologna on Tuesday.
All in all a glorious return to the non-student life. (although I miss working on my Italian everyday in school)
Ciao!