I recently got a haircut.

It looks like this: http://www.managesmarter.com/managesmarter/photos/2006/12/smm_20061201_office_jim.jpg

I am not even kidding.

I will soon be home!

--

Erm, not much else to say. Sorry, will be better when things get a little less crazy.

Florence - The Reckoning!

Again, see two below to begin at the beginning.This time, it's personal?
The Ponte Vecchio.
"A thing unexpected can become quotidian." Um, sure, Florence.
Happy Days is my favorite theme song.
The aforementioned ridiculous key for our hostel.

Florence - The Semi-Beginning!

See the post below. Daunting Dante in front of Santa Croce.
Assorted parts from St. Francis. (Cape, Cowl, Bat-Rope.)
I just love this. For some reason, this was my mind's-eye picture of Italy prior to coming here.
KUNG FU MOVIE? Don't mind if I do.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T. We found out what it meant to them.

Florence - The Beginning!

Go here if you want the story behind these belated bepictures.
In Florence, a sudden gust of wind gave me a superhuman build.
This is our first view of Santa Croce.
"Quick, look awkward!"
Joe ha molto fame.

The beautiful square outside Santa Croce in Florence.

An A-Paul-ogy

I am very sorry. This is obscene. The events of the past week-plus have mostly gone unchronicled due to internet not moving fast enough to keep up with my life. And my picture-uploading has been abominable. This cannot be countenanced. I will give you many pictures in order to make up for this transgression.

There is an Italian restaurant nearby (wow, talk about tautologies) that let me cut off a piece of the prosciutto for dinner. I was really excited about, then I asked him (in Italiano) how I did. He just smiled and shook his head. Oh well.
In the cloister in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, there is a pillar that supposedly is Jesus' exact height. I do not measure up to Jesus.
Mamma mia! This may be my best Halloween costume EVER.
On the beautiful isle of Ischia, just before the trek down to the hot springs.
Chris and I lounge in a naturally-heated pool.

That's the way I like it and I never get bored

I had one of the best weekends of my life last weekend. We went to Ischia, an island off the coast of Naples, where I had two meals that EQUALED Il Gatto e Il Volpe. We were taken care of by a quaint family that ran the youth apartments who cooked us the best home food I've ever had. Each family member had a different speciality (pizza, pasta, seafood, fruits) and all of the food (including the fish) was as fresh as could be. I had a swordfish steak for 9 EURO.

And here we run into the principal problem of this chronicle -- I'm having too many adventures too quickly to adequately recount. I have written them down in my notebook, and maybe at the end of the trip I will go back over them.

But for right now, life is moving too fast for verbose contemplation.

I am gonna be on ANOTHER trip (Iscia) this weekend.

So if I don't respond to e-mails, that's why.

Still having trouble uploading pictures. Maybe tomorrow?