~Not All Who Wander Are Lost~: Je t'aime. Ti amo. Life, I love you.

[scribbled on board the train between Venezia e Firenze]

My birth took four hours. My mom literally had to talk the doctors and nurses into believing that I was ready to come out, and much to their surprise, out I came, as if to say 'ready or not, world, here I am.' I've written before that I am happiest when I'm in motion, content as long as I'm going somewhere. Today I'm sitting on a train on the way to Florence, watching the Italian countryside go by. Yesterday I was in Venice. The day before that I was in Paris. The night before that I was sipping champagne in London. Tomorrow I will be in Rome. I wish I could live like this forever. I don't even know which window to look out - to my left I just saw a castle peeking out from behind rows of cypress trees... to my right long rows of vineyards, alternating with fields of bright yellow flowers keep passing by. My life began so quickly, and I sometimes feel like time can't quite keep up, but being here, right now, I wish I could stop and stay a while, allow time to catch up just a little bit. There is so much to see and feel, and touch, and hear. There is so much warm bread, peach tea, homemade pasta, and fresh-caught pesce from the sea. We're arriving in Bologna now. On top of a hill in the distance there is a basilica looking down on a sea of terra cotta rooftops in the village below. We're getting closer to Firenze, our next destination, and the closer we get the stronger the smell of leather on the train. It seems silly, but it's true. More and more Florentine people are joining us on board, and really, truly, they are all wearing so much leather, even in the stifling heat; it's a huge part of their city's culture.

Being in Firenze is like being home. After living and singing here for just weeks back in 2007, I found myself understanding and learning Italian far more completely than I could have imagined, before I had formally studied the language. Getting to go back again was such a gift, and getting to be there with my best friend was unbelievable. Kevin doesn't always let you know what he's feeling, or if he's profoundly impacted by something, but watching him look out on the city from the top of Piazzale Michelangelo was one of the happiest experiences of my life. The whole experience was only made better when we found a touristy but lovely little Italian restaurant just beyond Ponte Vecchio and made a new friend in our waiter, Angelo. I attempted Italian, and he attempted English, and between the two of us we successfully made a delightful evening out of it with lots of delicious food and wine. The backdrop of the Ponte Vecchio didn't hurt either. Oh, and I sang for free vino and limoncello. Kevin really gets credit for the free limoncello; he successfully lured lots of passersby into the restaurant, much to the appreciation of the ristorante's manager (who, by the way, had the deepest, gruffest, mafia-esque voice ever which made the whole thing even better). On the long walk home, back across the Arno River and through the city we found ourselves drawn off course by the sound of organ playing. It was Widor, and off we went in search of it. We ended up finding a free concert taking place in a small but beautiful church to the Virgin Mary, where the organist was giving concerts every night in order to raise funds for organ restoration. He finished with Schubert's 'Ave Maria'. I didn't have much to give, but it was probably my best-spent euro of the whole trip. La bella vita indeed.

After Firenze came Roma. I've only ever been to Rome for one day. It was an incredible day, (despite rain) but there is just way too much to do and see in Rome in only a few hours time, and we managed to make it to Vatican City in that same day as well. My dear friend Sarah and I ended up being blessed by Sisters of Charity passing by, a memory worth holding tightly to forever. While the whirlwind of that first experience was wonderful, and I'll remember it fondly for the rest of my life, it was definitely great to have the luxury of time this time around. I got to spend an entire day in Vatican City, got to spend hours in St. Paul's Basilica, got to let long minutes pass while I wondered at Michelangelo's Pieta. The only downfall of my day at the Vatican was a sore neck that made it really hard to look up at the ceiling in the Sistine. I'll just have to go back again : )

Trattoria Tritone in Roma, THE best ristorante

Rome is not my favorite city in the world, but we made the best of it, and I did end up loving my time there. I loved visiting Trastavere, the Roman equivalent of Greenwich Village. Stepping inside the Pantheon for the first time literally took my breath away. Walking around Piazza Barberini felt comfortable after just a couple of times making our way there at night. Seeing the Colosseo peak out from across the Piazza Venezia, just beyond the white marble of Il Vittoriano (where the eternal flame is lit for Italy's tomb of the unknown soldier), is indescribably awesome. And there's nothing like finding the only unreserved table at an unbelievable restaurant wrapped in vines and roses, and deciding it's worth going back to just for their pasta caccio e pepe (literally cheese and pepper) because it really is the best in the world. I'm young and I don't have much money to just spend irrationally yet, but I can still enjoy the simple pleasure of cheap yet amazing house wine, and the house wines in Rome, Florence, and Venice have to be the best in the world. We were more selective in Paris, but in Rome even the house vino is unbelievable. We found our favorite spot at the Fontana di Trevi, a gorgeous, flowing fountain in the center of the city. During the day it's bubbling with tourists, almost uncomfortably, but at night it's heavenly. When evening falls the crowds of tourists are exchanged for one smaller crowd, made up of both locals and tourists, everyone eating gelato on the warm stone steps, couples lying about and cuddling in little grottos. I loved it there because we were there on weeknights, not even the weekend, and the people were out indulging in beautiful simplicities, taking in the beauty that this city has to offer. We did our best to do as the Romans do, and it was molto bene.

Fontana di Trevi

Our journey began in Paris, and to be honest, I wasn't expecting to love it. Instead, much to my happy surprise, I fell utterly in love with that city. It was absolutely my favorite place we went, even despite losing Kevin in le Louvre and nearly missing our flight to Venice. In part I think this is because I speak the language well, at the very least convincingly, and almost fluently once I've had a few glasses of wine. It was also because I loved where we were staying. We were at a fantastique hostel, right near a metro that could get us everywhere easily. And we had almost four days, so we really got to settle in and make it home. I loved every minute of exploring Montmartre, especially climbing up the steep streets toward Sacre Coeur. The energy in that place was incredible and warm. And looking down onto the lights of Paris at night could have been a dream. I didn't expect it to have retained as much of its Bohemian past as it does, but there really were people spilling out into the streets, some praying, some drinking and partying. There were artists and musicians everywhere. It's a great place, surprisingly magical. I also learned with the help of our new friend, Daniel, that 'moulin' must mean windmill. I love learning new words because of/within their context. The highlight of my vacation was also in Paris. Kev and I made our way one early evening to Notre Dame Cathedral for a Vespers service. We were actually heading for an earlier service but got side-tracked by ice cream, so we ended up at the later one, and it proved to be a blessing in disguise. We ended up singing in the congregation, simple but admittedly beautiful music, all in French. The cantors' voices were really nice, and the space made singing there completely striking. It was definitely the most spiritually fulfilling moment of the holiday, even if it was a Catholic service : p

Now I'm home, and, naturally, sleepless once more. I think I'll learn some Charpentier music until I fall asleep. Bonne nuit, mes amis x