Italia Ravenna

... as each seat filled the novelty soon wore off. It became cramped and uncomfortable... both physically and socially. As soon as we got to Austria however, the stunning views of the huge, steaming mountain forests, and ice blue rivers took our minds off the traveling conditions. On several occasions we couldn't help but gasp and 'wow' at the surroundings (which I felt quite guilty for doing because there was a blind woman in our carriage).

Nevertheless, it is an understatement to ...

... Why am I willingly subjecting myself to this – is it for fun?? Is this pleasurable??

But it somehow is. Being here has challenged my definition of pleasure, fulfillment, contribution, contentment. I've concluded that , in part, the key is through examination and learning to understand what it is that brings us these things - and - to be open to surprises. Sometimes I think we find what we're looking for it in the strangest places...

Ok – I'll get to it ...

... watching the goats being entirely uncooperative and Mark being determined to outsmart them. I can almost hear his thoughts - "must be smarter than the goats... C'mere you little...#(@^#@*!!" ha! (We do work shifts here - I'm on the afternoon shift - for those of you wondering why I might be allowing the goats to run wild as I sit back and snicker! lol! )

But I'll back up in time a bit and give the low down leading to now....

After saying ...

... besichtigt, die Basilika und einen Spazi**gang durch die engen Gässchen d** Stadt. Kleine Mitbringsel gekauft - und dann nach "Abstieg" zum Parkplatz
Abfahrt Richtung Me**.

Wollte schaun ob ich das Jugendheim wied** finde in dem ich vor 38 Jahren 3 Wochen als Nichtschwimm**, nicht Sonnenbegeist**t**.... jeden Tag am Strand v**bringen musste - und so manche and**e "lustige" und ...

... the world) it was one of the more enjoyable and relaxing days we have had. Also pretty funny was when we went grocery shopping they actually had their own vats of wine in the store but funnier than that was when Jen got caught by the armed security gaurd taking a photo and he started ranting in Italian at her. Not much else to say just a real different kind of beach town that has a historic center. Very relaxing and fun. Now it is off to Verona the next morning...

... and buried it in Firenze’s large international cemetery. She said that they didn’t have fear of the Nazi’s when they took the body, they just did what they felt must be done. After the war the soldier parents came to Europe looking for their son, and the residents told them what had happened and had a ceremony and a celebration for the young soldier and his parents.

From there she moved onto to say that she though both George Bush ...

... Naturally we got a t-shirt and the man showed us then his own garage with bikes he owned which was really special. He invited us for coffee but we had to get moving on. What a top day we had. Heading north we finally left the lowlands and reached the Dolomite mountains and camped by a lovely lake, Lake Garda. The lake is famous for windsurfing most of the year and the campsite catered for them. The views were beautiful of the soaring mountains behind us.

... il mio italiano.
Le cose più belle sono successe in questo viaggio. Ho conosciuto gente dal tutto il mondo e ho fatto amici veramente di cuore. Al corso italiano che andavo ho conosciuto l'amore della mia vita e la persona migliore per girare il mondo. Ho cominciato a viaggiare molto purtoppo finora solo in Europa ma con la intenzione di andare dappertutto.
Milano, la grigia città secondo molti, la città più brutta di Italia, per me era incredibile...

... to jump on the superfast Eurostar train and pay the supplementary extra. Eurostar trains are faster, more expensive, and only late some of the time. So off I ran, to Platform 8 to catch the next Eurostar passing through Firenze. Up the stairs at the Platform I arrived just in time for the Eurostar to pull out. STUPID FRICKIN' ITALIANO BLOODY TRAINS! Finally I jumped onto the next Eurostar, a couple of hours later than anticipated. Such an easy ...

... i guess we shouldn't complain if we have a lot of work to do. Our tour guide of the day was this crazy italian women. She is really power driven and tried to control our entire group. However, people are people. what do you expect. The neat thing about one Ravenna church was that there was water in the basement. I never saw this feature in a church before ...