Home Early, but Oh-So Happy.

We have come home to Cambridge, friends and family! We spent 2 excellent weeks traveling before the Euro decided to gain momentum against the Dollar and just about equalize with the Pound. 'Tis better to be safe than sorry, so we opted to return ahead of schedule, though not before spending 4 days in Ireland and 8 in Italy. We had quite the adventure!

IRELAND: We stayed at a hostel in Dun Laoghaire, 20 minutes by DART train away from Dublin city centre. Dun Laoghaire is situated on the coast, and is a very relaxing city. Dublin, on the other hand, is rather robust and eventful! It has lovely wide streets and sidewalks, loads of history, and friendly locals...unfortunately, there were also a lot of tourists about for St. Patrick's Day, and the city was overall very expensive; moreso than London, even! We did get to go to Dublin University's Trinity College (where they keep the book of Kells), the Jameson Whiskey Distillery, the Guinness Storehouse, Christ Church & its catacombs, and St. Patrick's Cathedral (where we attended Evensong). Apparently the Today Show was in Dublin simultaneously, we should have tracked them down for some camera time! At any rate, we also saw the St. Patrick's Day parade, some real Irish dancing, and nearly got involved in a pub brawl. We also learned that nobody really eats corned beef in Ireland. Hmm! Next St. Patty's Day, make an Irish stew instead.

ITALY: Our first stop in Italy was Venice. We spent the day getting purposely lost; it's a maze of a city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, with gorgeous views and beautiful buildings. We saw the San Marco Basilica, the Bridge of Sighs, gondolas of course, and we even found a Lutheran church! That was a funny surprise. Unfortunately, nobody was inside when we stopped by.

Our next stop, after what I will always refer to as Overnight Italian Train Torture, was Sorrento...another AMAZING and beautiful city in Campagnia, southern Italy, which is famous for ham and citrus. Our hostel there was really a cooking school that offers accomodations, and it has the best showers ever, amazing food, and an excellent location practically overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. I want to go back sometime for a real vacation; Sorrento is extremely relaxing. Oh. And fantastic Limoncello comes from that region.

We then spent a day walking through the ruins of Pompeii, with Mount Vesuvius in the immediate background on a clear, cold windy day. It's truly an amazing place - the bits that have been preserved are absolutely fascinating. Someone took the time in 79 AD when the volcano went off to chisel "Soddom and Gomorrah" into a wall. There are ruined temples to an ecclectic pantheon of Greek and Egyptian gods that've been excavated and found fairly intact. There are paintings and mosaics and tiles and shrines. It is an amazing place.

Rome was next; we saw the Colosseum straightaway, as well as the Roman Forum and Palatino, and the Mamertine prison, where Peter and Paul were supposedly incarcerated. Whether that's a legitimate landmark or not, it was a bleak and moving stone cell, complete with carved hashmark-looking things in the walls. Day two in Rome included going to Vatican City! We went to St. Peter's Basilica, climbed the Cuppolla (my legs still haven't forgiven me), and walked through the tombs of the Popes. It was off to the Vatican museum after that - and the Sistine chapel. That was an overwhelming and wonderful day. Our last day in Rome included the Trevi fountain (Supposedly, if you throw a coin into it over your shoulder, you will come back to Rome. Jaime and I totally did), the Spanish steps, and the Pantheon. The architecture and history and grand scale of everything in Rome was astounding. If it was a bit on the touristy side, at least the content of the things we got to visit negated any complaints we might've had. ...Although I regret we could not ANYWHERE find indulgences to buy. Drat.

Florence was the last stop for us, and in it we saw the Duomo and the Ufizzi...where there are the works of Da Vinci, Boticelli, Holbein, and others. I was excited to see Boticelli's Venuses, Holbein's portrait of Thomas More, and the portraits of Martin Luther and Katerina Von Bora. Michaelangelo's David is also in Florence...and I regret that Jaime and I were not able to see it, having to catch an early train the next day. Someday, I hope.

I suppose you could say we also stopped in Turin, but really all we did was arrive at the train station there and then fly out of the airport. But! The airport is situated practically at the foot of the Alps, and that was pretty beautiful. On the train ride into Turin, though, we passed through Asti...which is where the Zanone family comes from. The funny thing is that it looked like the more decent parts of San Bernardino, haha... In fact, most of Italy reminds me of California, in terms of vegetation and climate. How fitting that the Zanones ended up there.

So! We are home now, and grateful that we got to see so much, and grateful to be in our own bed again, with working showers and laundry facilities. We hope to sort through and share all our photos soon - be patient with us! We love you all, and wish we could have brought back all sorts of stuff with us...or better yet, have you with us on the trip. We miss you!