Big Booty

For anyone who doesn’t know, that’s me. My recent nicknames have included “dunkie” from badunkadunk and “TMBITP” or “TMBITS” depending on what I’m wearing. These stand for Too Much Booty In The Pants and Too Much Booty In The Skirt. Run to make it go away, right? Not so much. Yesterday I went on a run and today my booty is sore. It’s a good sore though. I like this feeling. My arms are sore from push ups as well as my abs from sit ups. I hadn’t done any sort of a work out since January. I’ve been pretty busy and it sucks. I have lost weight though. I don’t know how much I weigh, I don’t have a scale, but I can tell when I lose weight from my rings. The first place you lose weight is your fingers and toes. My rings have all gotten too big and twist around my fingers and get annoying. I wish I knew how much I’ve lost. I’ve been eating well and I can tell the difference, I definitely feel good. Now if I can just get back into a work out routine.

Rain Rain

Earlier this week it rained…a lot. It doubled the amount of rain we have for either the month or the year. Since it hasn’t really rained all year, I vote for the year. It was awesome rainy weather. Warm outside without a cold wind and it was steady rain, none of that drizzle crap. There was the occasional thunder and lightning combo and there were flash flood warnings. Monday when I was driving home from class about 7pm I saw 4 college student looking guys all probably about 21 at 24th and Lamar playing in the rain. How much fun it can be to revert to your childhood! One of them had a knee board that they were using to aid in their endeavors and I couldn’t help but smile. Next thing I knew they were off running up the hill, all soaked to the bone. It’s the little things like this in life that I appreciate. If you can’t appreciate the simple things, there isn’t a lot to make you happy. I feel sorry for people who don’t notice and appreciate these things. I wish I had time to play in the rain.

Smiling

So I’ve been so stressed out and so unhappy about things. Project, paper, work, not having a real job lined up yet, money. I just IMed with a friend of mine from HS who lives up in New York and what she said completely changed my mood in about a quarter of a second. She said, it’s funny how God finds a way to make our dreams come true. I thought, I’m just happy He lets me dream. As much as I hate to do these projects and papers, God has opened so many doors for me and will continue to with this degree. It doesn’t matter if I don’t sleep tonight, it doesn’t matter that I’m stressed out for a couple of days. I’m so lucky to be where I am and for the opportunities afforded me. I’m still stressed out, but now I’m smiling because I am able to dream.

Trip Day 10

Sunday we woke up to the phone, but it wasn’t our wake up call, oh no. It was Geraldine calling us as soon as she woke up because she didn’t want to miss us. She said she was going to the Camdentown market and that I was coming, but first she was going to go to breakfast, so not to go anywhere. 15 minutes later our wake up call came and the first thing I heard out of the girls was Kayla: *groan* my head. We got ready and hung out until about noon, but we were hungry, so when I hadn’t heard from Geraldine I called her to tell her we were going to go to the White Horse. We wanted to go back for the nachos we’d had for lunch Thursday…SO good! She came and met up with us there and that’s where we parted ways with A&K. Geri and I headed to the market which was very different from Portobello. It was much younger stuff and lots of clothes. I got a shirt and about froze my toes off. We were very lucky with the weather the whole trip and it got cold that last day. Other than that it was relatively warm in both London and Italy and clear and sunny in both places. We were going to try to go to another market, but couldn’t figure out how to get there with the tube being closed in certain places, so we just headed back to the hotel where the girls were napping.

On the walk back to the hotel we passed a little shop a guy walked out of just after we passed. I could feel him check us out and then he said, “lovely bum.” Sounds better than “nice ass,” but you’ve got to be kidding me. I didn’t turn around, but Geraldine did. He said…I meant her. She said thanks, sarcastically and about 20 feet ahead of us we saw an old man with a guitar strapped around him peeing on a car. Gross. So back at the hotel we hung out for a bit and then agreed to meet up for dinner.

At 8:15 we headed to the tube to meet Geraldine who’d gone home to change and hang out with her friend and then went to meet Megan at the tube stop the restaurant was rear. We were all sort of in the mood for Italian so that’s what we had. Seymour something was the name of the restaurant. Very good, but not like Italy. One of the waiters, who couldn’t have been my grandpa was very flirty. At one point he brought over a “cappuccino” and offered it to me, then pretended like it slipped. Instead of ending up with scalding hot coffee in my lap I ended up embarrassed and laughing. The “drink” was a display and plastic. *grumble*

After dinner at the tube we parted ways with Megan who I can’t wait to see again in New York and then at our tube stop we parted ways with Geraldine. I hope I don’t have to wait another 12 years to see her. We went back to the hotel, packed our things, printed stuff for homework out for the plane ride, and went to bed so we could catch our cab to the airport at 7:15.

Trip Day 9

We got up really early so we could head to Portobello Market. We were out of the hotel by about 9:15. Walking down the street was much different during the day than it had been Wednesday night. George Orwell actually lived in one of the houses there…I think it was light blue. They had a thing on the front of the house that said when he lived there. There were a lot of antiques and jewelry at the market. It was actually kind of like a garage sale. None of us really found anything. Well, that’s a lie. I found a really cute skirt in a little shop called Appletree Boutique on Portobello, but it wasn’t really part of the market. I almost bought a cheap cashmere scarf too. I wish I had now too, it was really cute. Once we got bored (after about 3 blocks and 45 minutes) we headed to Chelsea to do some real shopping…where I saw a red Mercedes SLR…hot car. About 10 feet later I saw a black Ferrari…not sure what model. Hor cars in Chelsea apparently.

I, by far, did the most shopping of our trip, but dammit, that’s what I saved for! I didn’t buy anything I could get in the states either. I think it was well worth it. In Chelsea I found a French Connection and found that skirt I’d seen the day before. I just love it and I looked on the FCUK website and they don’t have it available in the US. Even if they did, the skirts are more expensive there than here. Then I found some really cute grey, patent leather, mary janes by Kate Kuba which is not only not in the US, but they won’t ship to the US either. They’ll go with both my skirts! I was talking to the girl who worked there about how patent is just getting big in the US this spring and she said it’s been big there for 2 years. They do say the US is 2 years behind in fashion. Boo. Aarti bought a bunch of stuff at Reiss. We found a bigger one than the one we’d shopped at Thursday and I didn’t even look there, it’s too expensive for me. They did have a smoking hot guy working there though…maybe I should have asked if I could bring him back with me. He actually looked like one of the actors who used to be on Young and the Restless. The only reason I know this is because Becca used to watch it in the dorms. Whatever, it’s culture, right?

On our way to Knightsbridge to get Kayla a pair of shoes at Curt Geiger shoes before we headed back to the hotel to get ourselves prepared for British style drinking on St. Patrick’s Day we stopped at Sisily. Kayla wanted to try on a cute Easter looking dress and I ended up buying a light scarf.

Back at the hotel we just hung out and rested until dinner at Wagamama. Yes Scott, it was as good as everyone said. The wasabi chocolate cake was a bit iffy though. From dinner we headed back to the hotel to call Geraldine and Megan. We made a pit stop at a convenience store and the girls thought it was really fun that you can drink in public in London, so they both got a can of Strongbow cider. I just bought chocolate. As we were walking back I said something about how if we were in the US we’d be in trouble for J-walking which we were doing at the time, open container, possibly public intoxication depending on the cop and Kayla said, “but we’re in London!” Haha. So they had me take a picture of them in the middle of the road with their drinks looking like they were trying to be 007 or something. Amusing.

Back at the hotel we called Megan and she still didn’t know what was going on. Later she called and said she wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t going out, so we decided to do our own little pub crawl (which we’d been planning with her and her friends since Wed) right around the hotel. I called Geraldine to tell her what was going on, but she wasn’t answering her phone. I was afraid meeting up wasn’t going to work out before we left to go back to the states. Of course, when we got back that night there was a message from her 10 minutes after we’d left. So the 3 of us….Kayla who was already tipsy, my sober behind and Aarti headed out. On the way to the first Pub we saw a rat run across the sidewalk and into a drain. We walked in and ordered a round. The girls chugged, I sipped. The bartender was nice, so we talked to him a bit. At one point one of them was pouring a drink and we asking him what it was. He said Pimm’s. We didn’t understand after about the 3rd time of him saying it, so we had him spell it. When he did we repeated it. Hello, this is second grade. Then he went on to tell us it’s the drink they have in Wimbledon. Kayla, without missing a beat said, “well, I’m not very good at tennis.” We laughed like it was the funniest think we’d heard all night (it probably was) and he walked away. Then another bar tender asked us where we were staying. Kayla told him, “the Parkcity…just past the rat.” So this is how our night started. Don’t worry, the more we drank the more fun it got.

Pub #2 was kind of a bust. We laughed for a bit at an English guy laying it on this to some American bimbo. I’m almost guaranteeing he got some that night. She was ridiculous. We couldn’t shake this guy from Plano though who’d seen Kayla’s Texas ID when she had her wallet though, so we took off.

At pub #3 there was a big group of Australian guys who were drunk and loud. One of them said to Kayla in her bright pink pea coat, “Nice tits…I mean buttons” and from then on we hung out with them. They gave us their Guiness buttons…”Tall, dark and handsome,” “worth the wait,” and “full of Irish charm.” We had fun taking pictures with those. Then Aarti started pointing toward some guy at the bar saying she knew him. He’s a frat boy from UT. What are the odds?!? He and his brother hung out with us for a bit and his brother eventually went back to the hotel. The pubs there close at 11 and 12. They ring a bell for last call at 10 to 11 and then one of the bartenders agreed to let Kayla ring the bell at 11 signifying them being closed. After tha t we left the Australian guys and headed to another pub that was open until 12. We had more drinks there and started drunk dialing people in the US. Mara, Sharen, Devin, Perry. When they closed at 12 Aarti wanted KFC, so we went to KFC. From there we headed home and to bed, but first we got a dance performance from Kayla to a small selection of hip hop she put together. There is nothing more entertaining.

Trip Day 8

We got up early so we could get all the touristy stuff done. The girls decided they wanted to see Wicked that night and Geraldine, my friend from elementary school who was in town, had a friend’s birthday party to go to. I didn’t want to be alone in London on a Friday night, so I decided to go to Wicked with the girl, although I really wanted to see it in New York. So, we went to the ticket office, got them for half price and set out to be Americans. Well, Japanese really, with how much we used our cameras.

We caught the tube to Westminster. When we got out London Bride (even though the original one is apparently in Arizona), the London Eye and Big Ben were all right there. We got sandwiches at a little deli, took lots of pictures and walked the 2 blocks to Westminster. Aarti and I didn’t want to go in (is was $20!), but Kayla did, so we waited. We like to people watch, so the time went quickly. There were these women there trying to raise money for something by giving people little weed looking flowers with the stems wrapped in foil and then asking them for money. Some people would give them money, some people would give the flowers back, and some people wouldn’t even take the flowers, but just say “no thank you.” If people resisted taking the flowers, as they walked by the women would still attempt to slide them under the strap of a bag, a collar, into a pocket, whatever they would…then chase the people down and request money. It was a big ridiculous. The people already told them no, the answer wasn’t likely to change. People would get annoyed, try to give the flowers back, the women wouldn’t take them, so the people would try to walk away, then the women would harass them for taking their flowers. Anyway, Kayla finally came out and we made our way to Trafalgar Square.

There are 4 large lion statues there that you can climb on and take pictures with. It’s difficult really, but people figure out a way to climb up the 6’base. We stopped to take pictures and after helping Kayla up while we were trying to take her picture this old Indian man started climbing all over the base trying to get up. Scuse me jerk-face, we were here first! Finally he got the point and went to another lion. Then after we helped Kayla down another Indian family jumped right in there while I was trying to get up. The guy pushed the girl up and then literally threw his little girl up there. We had to wait a good 10 minutes for them to get on with life. Near the square there were some red phone booths, so we took pictures in them and got a man to take a picture of the 3 of us. So cute.

This was followed by a walkthrough Green Park to get to Buckingham Palace. While in the park we took pictures down the road of the palace…from the middle of the road and then took pictures sitting in the fields of daffodils. Everything was so green and lush. Very beautiful. After we looked at the palace and took a few pictures (surprise!) we walked to the subway via some trail in memory of Diana through more of the park.

Harrod’s (apparently another tourist attraction) was next on the list. It’s a high end department store where you can buy any designer you’ve ever heard of, including a $50,000 diamond ring if you like. You can also sit in one of their many restaurants or at one of their bars to get lunch. They have everything you can imagine and it’s completely overwhelming. We didn’t stay long, we couldn’t handle it, so we went to do some smaller shopping nearby. I was in a bad mood that day, so I really wasn’t in the mood to be in a department store with all those people. Actually, at one point while we were there I stopped to look at the Feragomo handbags and when I turned around Aarti and Kayla were gone. I had no idea where they’d gone. Ferragamo was near an escalator, and doorways into 3 other rooms, or they could have gone to the other side of the room we were in and taken one of the 2 doors down there. I was so not feeling being lost in London, a city I don’t know in a country I don’t know with no phone and no key to the hotel room the hotel doesn’t know I’m staying in. So I tried a couple directions and couldn’t find them. It really worried me. Finally, the 4th room I tried they were at the other end of looking at Valentino handbags. I walked up to Kayla and in what I’m sure was a pretty short voice said, “please don’t leave me again.” Getting split up from them would not be a good thing at all. I was very conscious of staying together, but I guess it just hadn’t occurred to them just then. Anyway, we explored more and on our way out found a really pretty bronze sculpture of Princess Diana and Dodi al Fayed as well as a book people could sign in memory of them. Crazy to think they died almost 10 years ago already.

Anyway, after Harrod’s I went to Zara and bought a dress I found in Milan but wasn’t in my size. Then I got some Cadbury, and met the girls at French Connection where I could spend way too much money. I found a skirt I really liked that the girls didn’t think flattered me well (Aarti said it made me look dowdy), so I left it but continued to think about it…I swear it would look better with heels. We tried to go to a pub that was right there for a snack, but it was pretty full. Amazing how everyone in London seems to drink all the time. We caught the tube back to Earl’s Court where we were staying and went to a pub there for our snack. After a bit of the cricket world cup and a snack we headed back to the hotel to relax a bit before Wicked.

We had dinner at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen that really wasn’t anything special and I forgot it was Friday, so I had meat on Friday during lent…oops. From there we went to the show which was Kayla’s first musical and AMAZING! I really wanted to see it in New York, I thought it would be better. Alfeba, however, was incredible. I’ve never really wanted to buy a musical soundtrack when I left the show, but I wanted that one because I loved her voice that much. She definitely stole the show. My new aspiration in life is to be Alfeba in Wicked on Broadway. I still want to move to New York when I graduate, but screw advertising, I wanna sing like her!

After the show we again, were tourists and took some pictures outside the theater and then headed back to the hotel. All week I’d been planning to go to a party with Geraldine that night and the girls said they’d come. Well, they decided they didn’t want to come, which was irritating because I didn’t want to go alone and they’d told me they’d come. If one of them had an old friend they wanted to meet up with and didn’t want to go alone I’d go because it’s the nice thing to do. It’s what I’d want them to do for me, but they went to bed. So, I called her and told her I wouldn’t be coming. I felt like a complete ass hole, but I wasn’t comfortable traveling around the city by myself late at night, especially when I didn’t know exactly where I was going and when I’d most likely want to leave before her and come home alone.

After I told her I wasn’t going I felt really bad and was very frustrated and all I wanted to do was talk to my mom, so I went downstairs, bought an hour of internet time and got on the computer. I IMed Athens and asked her to call my mom, since they know each other well and I know she wouldn’t be uncomfortable calling. I asked her to tell her immediately that nothing was wrong (because if she didn’t Mom would worry) and ask her to get on my brother’s IM so she could talk to me. Shortly, I was able to talk with Mom who I missed and just vent to her about how I was feeling. I think a lot of it was just that I’m not used to spending so much time with anyone. I’m pretty independent. I live alone, I like to shop alone, and sometimes it’s just nice to stay in at night and have alone time, which I hadn’t had in over a week. In the basement on that computer I was alone. No one in the world knew where I was, not even my mom. She made me feel better and it was the only time during the trip I felt that way. After my hour was up I went to bed. End of a long, productive day.

Trip Day 7

Aarti (talking about her shirt): This is kinda wrinkly.
Kayla: Just like your balls?
And this spiraled into a conversation about balls and what they are and why God made them.

We got up and headed out about 11:30 ready, yet again, to shop until we drop. We headed to Oxford Circus and got lunch. Then we started in on the shopping at Top Shop. I expected more from it…not that they don’t have a TON of stuff, but it’s not very my style. I ended up finding a cute pencil skirt, a little white jacket thing, and an actual jacket though. I also found some cute accessories as they have a whole floor of them and I am an accessory whore. Whatever, the right accessories can make the outfit. Megan met up with us there after class and after we paid we headed to the smaller shops in the area. I didn’t find any shoes, which is disappointing, but I did find some I love and can’t afford. They’re at a place called Reiss. Very much too expensive for me, but oh-so cute!

Once we were all kind of sick of shopping we decided to go to a pub to have a drink and chit chat. I ended up getting tea. Gotta love tea, plus cold wind warrants tea. From there Megan left us and we went back to Top Shop so Aarti could get a jacket she’d seen earlier. Ok, so all day I’d been on the look out for my friend Geraldine (from elementary school who I haven’t seen in about who’s in about 15 years.) and odds aren’t I would never find her, but I thought it might be possible. When we left the pub we saw some red phone booths and Kayla wanted a picture in one, so we stopped to do that. As soon as we finished and turned around to go into a shop Aarti wanted to explore I heard my name. Oh my gosh, there she was, standing right across the street!! Big hug, introduction of friends, and talk about how we’d been trying to call one another. It was such a surprise to see her and the thought of it makes me smile. I can’t wait until I can hang out with her. After a few minutes of talking we parted ways. I told her I’d call tonight to tell her what we’re doing and we went back to shopping. After we went back to Top Shop I decided to find the store I work in that was just down the street. It had some really cute things, including the collection, but mostly the same things we have in our store, which was nice to see. It made me happy to go there.

After we were tired of shopping we headed back to the hotel. I wasn’t hungry, so I went ahead of the girls who stopped to get dinner. We just hung out, showered and relaxed for a while until Megan called to tell us what’s going on tonight and where to meet her. We didn’t actually end up going out with her. She was unsure of exactly what was going on because they were jumping around, so we just went to a nearby place. Earl’s Court Tavern. We got there 11:30 or 11:45 and they closed at 12. So, the girls got a drink and we went back to the hotel for bed.

Trip Day 6

We woke up about 11:30 and had to leave at 12:30 to make it to the airport for our flight. Aarti and Carlo went to his University to get her a tshirt (which she didn’t buy because they didn’t have any cute ones. He actually told her that before they left.) while Kayla and I got ready. They came back and we left about 12:30. We caught a cable car, then another cable car, then a bus and made it to the airport. We got to EasyJet to check in and our luggage weighed too much. It’s a cheap airline with bag and weight restrictions. They don’t serve you drinks or water or anything on the plane either. I packed very lightly for this trip, but Aarti and Kayla didn’t. We put some of Kayla’s stuff in mine and Aarti’s bag and she tried to carry on one of her bags, but it was too big. Kayla ended up paying 10 Euro for her extra bag and then they split the cost for the extra weight. 7 Euro 50 per kilo extra. In total it ended up being about $140. So, was it really worth it to take the “cheap” airline?

Flying from Milan to London you could see the mountains like you come on the way to Milan. Amazingly gorgeous. I took some pictures out the window so I can show Mom how beautiful it was.

We landed a little bit late and set out for the hotel. We took the train and then had to take the Underground. The stairs down and back up sucked, but we made it. Then we walked about 10 minutes and finally got to the hotel, who only thinks there are 2 of us in our room, so I stood outside while they checked in. I waited about 10 minutes until Aarti came down and got me. We acted like I live here and she was telling me about “their” room and everything. Hehe.

After we relaxed for a bit we went to Portobello Rd. and met Aarti’s cousin Megan for dinner at a place called Electric Café. It was very New York and I liked it a lot. The atmosphere was loud and alive and the food was very good. It was so nice to catch up with Megan too, I always love getting to talk with her. I hope it doesn’t bother Aarti that I’m friends with her cousin even when she’s not around. So we hung out and talked for a couple hours then headed back to the hotel for sleep. We were girly and giggly for a bit and then finally fell asleep…3 of us in the “king size” bed. I swear it’s a queen. It got SO hot. Kayla and I ended up sleeping without covers and I got up twice to turn the thermostat down and once to open a window. I got up again to get water. I didn’t sleep very well which is very uncharacteristic for me. I rolled around a lot, nearly pushed Aarti out of the bed a few times and elbowed her in the face once. Oops. Whatever, we made it and have to do it 4 more times.

Trip Day 5

We woke up about 11 yesterday, got ready and headed toward the Duomo. It was about a 15 minute walk and it was beautiful. It’s apparently one of the only gothic cathedrals in Italy. It is in the middle of a very large shopping galleria and it’s definitely the focus of attention if you take your eyes off the shoes and handbags. We didn’t go inside; it didn’t look like they were letting people in. It’s ok, just seeing the outside was enough. I was a little disappointed in that half of the front was covered for cleaning, but the rest was striking enough. At the top of the tallest point on the church was a gold statue of I’m assuming a saint. It was really pretty in the sun. Duomo means house of God in Latin…I think. Something like that. It reminded me very much of all the churches in Germany. One specifically. I don’t remember the name of it, but I think it’s in Hamburg…If I remember right (it’s been 9 years since I was there) the church in Germany was one of the few things left standing in the city after WWII.

Anyway, from the Duomo we went to this circle in the galleria called “the lucky buffalo” in Italian…whatever that is. There’s a little hole in the middle of it you put your heel in and spin in a circle for luck. So we went there, did that and got our shop on. We walked through all the stores we can’t afford…Prada, Gucci, Feragamo, etc. Some pretty things, but the whole designer thing just isn’t me…I can’t spend lots of money on one thing. We went to Zara where I got a dress, a skirt and a shirt. Then I went to Intimissimi and got some cute matching sets of underwear because I don’t have any and dang it, they were cute! We explored a bunch of other places, but I didn’t find anything. We shopped for probably 5 hours. I was really good. Usually I get bored and bitchy when I have to be out shopping for that long. I’m not the type to just go and shop. I usually know what I want and go for just that and if I end up seeing something else I like I’ll grab it. It’s been kind of fun just to look around at everything though, and I came here knowing I was going to spend all day almost every day shopping. I’ve been good.

We went home in the evening and relaxed for a bit while Carlo, his roommate who’s name I still don’t know any 3 of this friends from school made us a curry dinner. There was Evans who is from Kenya and runs fast, Matteo who studied at UT with Carlo last semester, and Siddarth who is Indian and goes to the University with them. Evans said they make that same food in Kenya, so he started it before Siddarth got there (he had class until late) and then Siddarth finished it when he got there. Dinner took them FOR-EV-ER. I think we finally ate about 11. We had wine and some homemade liquor Carlo’s grandmother made. Good times. Lots of laughs. The boys were a lot of fun. About 12:30 they all left, Aarti, Carlo and his roommate went to bed, Kayla went to cot and I went to couch. So nice not to have a rock hard pillow.

Spring Break Day 4

I’m going to start today out with last night. Kayla and I stayed up kinda late last night and were sitting in bed talking and reading when through the ceiling we hear a girl moan, then a guy moan, then the bed go wiki-wiki-wiki…then silence. We laughed for probably 10 minutes…hard! Then about 2 the loud people from Whales came back to the hotel. I’m guessing from the bar. They were in the room across from us…all 12 of them and they were SO loud. They woke us, Aarti and Carlo up and I’m assuming anyone else who might have been in our little, rock hard pillowed hotel. I opened the door to ask them to be quiet, but one of the guys they were with had been trying to shush them and that wasn’t doing much. Finally, they all went to their own rooms, but they were still SO loud. At one point I went and knocked on the door of the loudest room and they shut up. I was back in my room by the time they opened the door. They weren’t too loud much after that. We were probably awake from 2 to 2:45 though…ass holes!

This morning Kayla and I were woken up by a phone call from Carlo asking if we were about ready. We weren’t. Maybe if we’d stayed in a hotel with an alarm clock in it we would have gotten up on time. I told him we’d call when we were ready. Our plan was originally to leave about 8:30. At 9:15 we met in the lobby. From there we dropped our luggage at the hotel office to hold until our train, got breakfast and caught the Metro back to the Vatican for a second go round. We got in line for the Sistine Chapel and waited about an hour and a half. We had to walk through a bunch of galleries to get to it. One had rugs and tapestries, one had paintings of maps on the walls, another was just a long hallway. The ceilings were BEAUTIFUL!! We finally got to the Sistine Chapel and people were taking pictures, which is not allowed. Anyone who’s been to a museum knows that flash will ruin artifacts and paintings and things. Really, why are you taking pictures? Especially when there are men standing at the door telling you not to! Idiots. It was incredible in there. You see it in books and pictures, but it’s just not the same. So much detail in the paintings and it’s just so incredible. I don’t know how long it took to paint and I’m sure I could find out, but it had to have taken like 5 years!

From the Sistine Chapel we headed to a little café where we could sit in the sun and got lunch. Then, we were going to try to go to the loft that is in St. Peter’s that we didn’t get to do yesterday, but the line was so long and not moving that we decided we were ok with having seen everything from the ground and headed to the Roman Forum. That place blows me away! To imagine there are things there that are close to 3000 years old just laying there. Things Julius Caesar just hung out around or temples he hung out in. To see the way the ruins have fallen and where things lay is just incredible. I put some awesome pictures up on facebook. The forums are something that literally just put me in awe, even more so that the Vatican. Is that bad? The Vatican is beautiful and incredible, but there was just something about the Forums. Maybe that the civilization is dead, maybe it’s because it’s fallen, maybe it’s because it seems to much less civilized, but it made me speechless.

Once we were finished with the forums we headed back to the train station where we got Gelato and looked around in the stores. We all decided to save our money for Milan, got our luggage from the hotel, bought sandwiches for the trip back to Milan and got on the train. The ride back was long and boring, but the beginning was very pretty with the mountains in the background and all the vineyards in the foreground. Nothing like I will see in the US…well, maybe unless I go to Northern California which has yet to happen in 24 years.

When we got to Milan we had to catch a cable car and then walk a block or so. We have just relaxed since then and now it’s about time for bed so I can be awake and have energy for shopping tomorrow!!!