Almost famous...

Apparently I'm a celebrity...click here to read all about it!

Lost in Translation

Just wanted to share a few tidbits I collected throughout the trip. These are messages from throughout Spain and Italy that make creative use of the English language...or just make no sense!

• Hotel in Florence: "Towels are not gadgets of the hotel. If they are less, it will be added to the bill."
  
• Hotel in Seville: "This hotel accepts no responsibility for money or valuables be posited in the safe box of the hotel."
  
• Hotel in Granada: "The prices stated by your hotel appears in the document which will be handed to yous at the reception desk and signed by yourself."
  
• From my ticket to the Alhambra in Granada: "Do not photographies using a tripod. Do not eat or drink, except in the specific areas allowed to it. Get a 50% discount showing your Alhambra ticket for the same wek."
  

The Great Andalusian Roadtrip...

...becomes the Great Andalusian Nightmare.

Hi everyone! I'm back safe and sound in the US, but I wanted to update here. After I wrote my last post, I left for Granada and saw the Alhambra, but I just wasn't feeling right. Well, by my second night in Granada I was miserable, with a fever, a horrible sore throat and cough, and so tired that I could hardly get out of bed. I ended up heading to Seville the next day as planned, but I was too miserable to leave the hotel room after I got there.

The fourth day of my roadtrip (fortunately!) took me to Cordoba, where I was staying with a friend of my host mother, whose husband is a doctor. He told me he thought I had mononucleosis. I went with his daughter (who is my age and a med student) to the emergency room the next morning, and they did a blood test there that came out positive for mono.

Well, spent another miserable night in Cordoba and a few more in Madrid before I finally headed home. I have never been as happy to see my mother as when I finally made it through Customs in Chicago. We went to the doctor the next morning, who told me I have strep throat and POSSIBLY mono...he said the test in Spain could have been a false positive. (I don't know...I'm really tired, I think I have mono. We'll see.)

In any case, the end of the trip was less than romantic...and obviously I didn't get to see Pedro before I left! (But maybe that's better...I hate goodbyes!)

Still sick as a dog and should be in bed now...but I just wanted to update the journal. Don't tune out yet, because I still plan to write a little more in the future about the Italy trip and Spain in general... why should the fun stop just because I'm home? :-)

Back home again...in Spain!

Left my hotel in Rome at 4:30 a.m. yesterday. That was a bit of a trip. My travel agent set me up in a hotel "near the train station, so I could take the 8€ train to the airport"...but what she apparently didn't factor in was the fact that my plane left at 6:30...and there aren't any trains that early! No airport shuttle...a few unreliable, confusing, and dangerous night buses...so, I had to get a taxi. And how much does a taxi to the airport from downtown Rome cost at 4:30 a.m., you ask? Oh, only 60€!!! Holy crap. That's enough to rain on anybody's Roman Holiday, but I forked over the cash.

At least it was a REALLY nice taxi, and the driver was wearing a suit and really good-looking, a regular Mr. Italy. However, my flirting skills are non-existent at 4:30 a.m., and I was still bitter about the 60€, so he barely got a "buon giorno" from me.

So anyway...after a LONG layover in Brussels, and a challenging Metro ride to my lodging in Madrid, I barely had the energy to take a shower and say hi to my hosts (my former host mother's sister-in-law's sister...yeah, I'm confused, too).

However, I'd told Pedro (remember PEDRO?) that I'd give him a call when I got back to Madrid. It was so great to talk to him...but he's leaving for Valencia (the beach) tomorrow. (His little vacations wreak havoc on my love life.) Anyway, he told me he'd call tonight, and maybe we could go out...I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but I wouldn't mind one last date!

¡Hasta luego!

At long last...

Back in Rome after 12 days (more or less) on the road!

I've been keeping a journal the whole time, but haven't had much Internet access to post anything here. I'll give more details later, but in a nutshell, I've seen...

In Rome...

• Colosseum (inside and out)
• Roman Forum and Palatine Hill
• Mouth of Truth
• Pantheon
• St. Peter's Basilica (I climbed all the way to the top of the dome, EP! What an amazing view!)
• Vatican City (and the museum) and the Sistine Chapel! But no Pope.
• Spanish Steps
• Trevi Fountain (every time I go by, I'm compelled to toss in some coins...it's like at the Glenbrook Mall fountain, but much worse...)
• Piazza Navona
• and about a million other places in Rome!

Other notable places...

• The Duomo in Florence (I went to Mass there)
• The Academy in Florence, where we saw the David (he's better-looking in real life)
• St. Mark's Square, The Bridge of Sighs and the Ponte Rialto in Venice...and we took a GONDOLA RIDE!!!!! (Highlight of my life, I think...)
• The Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi
• Pisa and the Leaning Tower!
• Verona
• Pompeii
• The beautiful hill towns of San Gimigano and Urbino
• A winery in Tuscany to sample the local Chianti (YUM!!!)
• Lake Como, one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen
• Sorrento and the island of Capri (two of the other most beautiful places I've ever seen...we swam in the beautiful blue water and took a boat tour around the island and into the Blue Grotto)

That's not even all, but that'll give you some idea why I haven't had the time or motivation to find an Internet cafe! Tomorrow morning, it's back to Madrid for a couple days, then off to southern Spain for some last-minute sightseeing before I head home on August 13.

Arrivederci, everyone, and thanks for all the comments and e-mails! I'm getting through them slowly but surely. :-) Check back for updates soon...because I know you've all been starved for entertainment lately.

And how about those Cubbies getting Nomar!? Allow me to mourn the loss of Alex Gonzalez's pretty face for a moment...but I guess that's not a bad trade. ;-)