snapshots on the journey6...

sidetrippin'...


D., Baby Girl & Big Bro~ flown home. Little Man & i remain. crazy eastern european travel buds not yet arrived. what to do, what to do??...


check iRail app, find next train to firenze, of course!!!...stop by my favorite church (Santa Margherita in Maria de' Ricci)...take a passeggiata, enjoying the beauty of this wonderful city...while indulging in a gelato (of course!!!)...& catch the train back to roma for nighty night!...Firenze never fails to call my name whenever i am in the bel paese!


another day of down-time in roma~~ no problema!!! catch another train...visit roma's awesome beach~ santa marinella...have a great night with great friends (still roma's best eats, in my humble opinion!)...catch the even-later train back to roma & sleep well because in the morning its time to welcome more friends from the states & head to romania!...(have crazy...will travel!!!!)...roma, firenze, santa marinella, giugno, 2009

home from rome

a week sure does fly by...in the blink of an eye it seems we are back on US soil, home since the wee hours of yesterday morning. what a trip we had! it was a glorious first week of Advent that left not a fraction of a second for blogging. we were too busy living every moment to its fullest! & being followed by rainbows every step of the way it seemed. first there was our "welcome rainbow" at the airport. a few days later there were rainbows at sunset the entire train ride from firenze to roma~ too many to recall (& me with dead camera batteries & the spares still waiting in roma). & another day, this time with a working camera, we saw this beauty from our taxi...when we last left you at the internet cafe, a whole day of roman roaming stretched out before us before the evening's Mass. Little Man & i did the logical things like enjoy an espresso...eat more gelato (come to momma, you sweet little thang!)...drool all over the bakery windows...inhale deeply of the smells of the season...stumble around undiscovered corners that spill beauty...& even occasionally take a rest...before attending the Solemn Pontifical Mass...sung by Cardinal Hoyos at Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri...one of our friends was a server for this Mass...& another who is also a "blog buddy" was an official photographer (see his 1 december post for more details). should you ever have a question about Catholic roma, jp is your guy!monday found us on a train for firenze...one of my very favorite parts of this trip was seeing all the Christmas festivity...& enjoying the early dusk & all the magical lights...there were open-air markets everywhere, filled with delights to charm the child in everyone!...our favorite meal on this trip (not counting gelato) was hands-down chef chris' homemade spaghetti...jp & chris graciously hosted us for a wonderful evening in santa marinella...the next morning came very early, as we made our way to citta' del vaticano for a papal audience. we arrived in a fog (not necessarily from the late night before!) for a wait that was well worth it...big props to whomever can guess what is missing from this photo...we were very blessed to be indoors & close to il Papa...(karina, this is for you) yes, those are the pope's shoes!...after the audience, it was on the train again, this time bound for pisa! now, everyone assumes pisa is all about the tower...but for us on this trip it was all about blog buddies & science too! we had the pleasure of seeing claudia again & meeting andrea for a tour of his gravitational wave experiment. Little Man was in his element. can you believe that none of us had our cameras?!? after a lovely day Little Man lived one of his life's goals...climbing the leaning tower of pisa! let me tell you, as you are climbing those steps, you know you are off balance! no matter, because the view from the top (at dusk no less) is so worth it!!...our last day in roma found us saying goodbye to friends over a wonderful dinner at our (second) favorite ristorante~ il gabriello, but not before making a last passaggio to some favorite places that included santa rita da cascia alle vergini which has the most beautiful grotto for prayer...& la basilica di sant' agostino with a stop at the altar of santa monica. we stumbled in drenched from a downpour just in time for Adoration, the rosary, Benediction & Mass!

now we are home, but the backpack still stands ready...it has been changed out for a change in latitude~ in the early morn thursday we depart for the more tropical climate of costa rica & some time with Baby Girl!!!

travel...light on blogging but chock full of other goodies!

do you remember why you left...do you know where you are going...or would you rather follow the path of surprises & delights unknown...follow the crowd...or fly solo...will you stop & smell the flowers...do you believe that love conquers all...can you feel the rush of time...as you tread over the ancient ruins...are you willing to bloom where you are planted...or must your wings unfold...

do you seek the shade of refreshment, enjoying every cool drop...do you remember to look up...to look ahead, to look behind...& yet to stand in the present...do you delight in the season's offering, no matter how mundane...do you embrace the day, arms wide open with joy...do you light the candle in the darkness...do you see the window of opportunity...do you shoulder the burden for one in need...do you stop to help one who is lost...do you stand in the awe & let it fill you...travel on, you who journey...tell your story of a life well-lived, in love & joy!we are home, safe & sound...all the richer for having gone.