Can we go back on vacation?

Stop #4 on our "Tour of the Ugly Places" is done. Alaska, England/Scotland/Wyoming, California.

Well, we're back. California is beautiful, but very different. I like the wild places, but there are too many people in the city. And most of them tourists! I know the fact that none of us wanted to leave was a sign that it was a good vacation.

And now we're home. To all of the things we forgot to do. Can we go back?

The baby seemed to like traveling. He/she took the opportunity in the late afternoons to pummel my bladder to pulp. Made it interesting finding a place to pee while we were out hiking. I can't wait to go back when my heart and lungs are not at the mercy of the little one... there were so many trails I wanted to do but couldn't because they were too difficult. Ben is and has always been a great trail kid - so we'll start early with this one too!

Why is waiting so hard?

I admit it... I suck at waiting.

Especially when I'm waiting for news... For good news and/or bad news... sometimes the wait is the worst.

And then there's the "good" sort of wait... Which is just insane too. The days crawl by, the seconds drag out... and then you look back, it's almost May, five weeks have gone by.

Human percpetion of time is weird.

Merry Christmas....

Ben and I were watching PBS tonight, Boston Pops Holiday concert. They closed with "Let There Be Peace on Earth." Is there any better song than that for this season?

We went to the Christmas Eve service tonight. It was the first time I had ever been to the grownup service, and it was beautiful. My faith is quiet, and constant, for the most part. But tonight I felt it shine, along with the hundreds of candles lit by the congregation for the service.

Merry Christmas, every one. Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

Ahh.... Italy.

I'm not sure I can capture in words the experience that George and I had in Italy. I had never done much traveling until my early thirties, and Italy has been a goal for a long time now. And we went on our honeymoon!

We deliberately tried to avoid tourist traps. We tried to pass for Italians, or Europeans at least. We decided to visit fewer places and spend more time in those places so that we could explore them more fully. I'm glad we did that.

Cinque-Terre (or 5Terre)
These are five ancient terraced towns along the Ligurian coast, between La Spezia and Genoa. Their specialties are seafood, lemons, olives and olive oil, pesto, wine, and gorgeous scenery. We tried all of them.

You can drive between the towns - Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore, but it's really easier to take the train. Or walk. We stayed in Monterosso, the western-most and largest. It has two beautiful little bays, a couple of very old churches, and a graveyard on a mountain at the edge of the sea. It also has a very friendly dog who will beg food from you if you eat at one of the sidewalk cafes. A cat, too, who just looks at you. You, in return, are supposed to share with him some of the excellent seafood you are eating.

We hiked up into the hills one day, 7 km straight up, and were rewarded with an incredible view - all of the mountainside below us, and then the island of Corsica, far of on the horizon.

We hiked between the villages one day, too. The scenery was incredible - postcard-like views upon views. My favorite place was just outside of Vernazza. We'd climbed up the #2 path, past the gate, and stopped against a slanting cliff of stone. Below us was... the sea. I sat there for a while, soaking up the sun and meditating on the fact I was hiking in Italy.

Vernazza was my favorite village. It had a charming village square overlooking the bay and a beautiful old church. It was very much an Italian village - the houses so close together, the bright colors... The afternoon sunlight just glowed on the sides of the buildings.

I can't wait to go back.

Florence
We spent the second half of our trip in Florence, with a brief stop in Pisa. I must say, it was slightly mind-bending to see the leaning tower of Pisa in person. It really does lean, and at a disturbing angle that's not quite captured in photographs. It'll be a shame when it finally falls over. Just hope I'm not on it when it does, LOL.

Florence is, well, Florence. Probably about as opposite as you can get from 5Terre. A city, with all kinds of drama and history. Once again, I loved the buildings - such wonderful stone! The people-watching was also excellent.

I think my favorite of all places was the Duomo, the cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore. (Our Lady of the Flowers). It's an incredible feat of artistry, of engineering (Brunelleschi's Dome), of faith. We climbed to the top of the dome the first day we were there, and went to mass in the church on our last. Both experiences were deep in some way. Going up the dome, you're climbing something laid by an architect nearly six hundred years ago. Sitting at Mass, you are worshipping in a place where people have been worshipping for a thousand years or more.

We did the usual touristy things too, going through the Uffizi Gallery, which had an excellent Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit, and visiting Michaelangelo's David. It is kind of cool to see these works of art in person....

In Florence you eat steak, pasta (gnocchi with gorgonzola cream sauce, anyone?) and drink really excellent chianti. I had this wonderful salad that was greens, walnuts, pecorino cheese, and a roasted pear that had been cored, slice, and reconstructed on the plate, then drizzled with honey. yum.

Did I mention that I couldn't wait to go back?

A perfect day...

A couple days before I got married, my sister warned me about "wedding hangover". How, once the wedding is over and done with, the feeling of depression or feeling lost because the big day is done and there's nothing left to do...

I think I've escaped it.

There wasn't a lot of anticipation - I was so busy before that it just crept up on me - there was very little stress the day of - and after, well, after I get the excitement of living my dream so no problem there.

The wedding day was wonderful. The weather cooperated. The service was beautiful (to me at least). There was much laughter and tears at the wedding ceremony AND the reception. George smiled the whole time. George's dad smiled the whole time. Ben was an absolute angel.

And yet... I was glad to get through it. Yes, it was a special day - one of the most special of my life, ranking right up there with the day (ok, night) that Ben was born. But I had been ready to get on with life for a long time... the life where George and I figure out how to live together, and where George and Ben and I begin to make a family.

On to the adventure!

A traditional wedding...

... in many ways our wedding is going to be very traditional, which to be honest I had not planned for my second time around (once I knew there was likely to be a second time around, but before George was in the picture). This is his first and only wedding (his words ;) and so he gets the traditions.

I'm trying to make it non-traditional in small ways.

Ben will escort me down the aisle and he will be involved in the ceremony.

My bridesmaids are wearing different dresses (tho the same color).

We will have NO chicken dance, macarena, electric slide, etc at the reception.

...and then my favorite. Our guest book will not be the "sign on the line" type but rather a photo album. George suggested we take pictures of ourselves (as babies, kids, teens, etc) and put them together to make an album that people can sign. I think that is such a cool idea :) he really does get it sometimes, ya know?

not an anniversary to celebrate.

Yesterday marked three years since my Mom died.

The immediate grief has faded, but I still miss her. It comes upon me harder, now, as I am planning a wedding. These are the things I would share with her.

I deliberately planned that we would be at the beach this weekend. She loved the coast and it is there that I feel closest to her, though sometimes I do see an echo of her spirit in Ben's smile. We wrote a message to her in the sand - "We love you, Ma" and collected shells to take to her grave.

I miss you, Mama.

the cat that worships the printer....

We spent the last week at the beach, so the cats are alternating between ignoring us and sitting on us, as if that will prevent us from leaving again. They're odd little critters. Soldier is on my lap now, staring in rapt adoration at the printer as it does its thing. They were known to sit on the output tray of my old printer.

The beach was wonderful. I was actually sad to leave; the drag of my real life, with a work situation that is unsettled at best, and actually having to deal with the day-to-day routines of school (camp), being in close proximity to Ben's dad (yes, 10 miles is too close)... George was ready to turn around too. It was a small slice of paradise.