a whirlwind trip...and home again

Alright, so it is absolutely ridiculous that I have not updated this blog since the end of June. Now, mind you, dial up internet has a lot to do with that, mixed with the fact that I'm home! And I have better things to do ;)

Our end of the year and end of year trip to Europe was pretty amazing. I've finally finished putting many of the pictures into a photo album...but I have a ton that didn't fit. This doesn't necessarily pose a problem, as I'll just have to get another book ;)

We went to Italy first...I LOVE Italy. I could go and live there for a couple years. I liked it most because it reminded me of home. Venice was cute...maze-like...and full of beatiful views. And CLEAN! Looking back, I don't remember seeing garbage anywhere. Now that's what I like - people who can respect their environment. From Venice we went to Florence, which is a beautiful city. We walked everywhere, and from Florence we did a couple day trips - the first one to the leaning tower of Pisa, where en route my camera died on me (this being the THIRD day of our trip...) and another day we went on a wine tour of Tuscany. I highly recommend one of those! Especially after youève been living in a desert city for 8 months. From Florence we went to Rome, which was another great city...but much much busier. A day trip from Rome brought us to Pompeii (although we never made it up Mount Vesuvius), and Pam missed the train...that was a day to remember. After Rome we flew to Paris, and hung out there for a week. We saw Versailles. We had wine and baguette picnics on the sidewalk. We went to many a random museum...like the Sewer Museum? That was an experience.

And then we went to Frankfurt. Frankfurt was our last stop before home, and suddenly we had this rush of new-found energy that kept us in excellent moods, despite our exhaustion. Our flight home was perfect...most of us had emergency exit seats! Best. Seats. EVER.

Home is great. When I got home it was green and cool, and rainy and sunny, and I could go for walks and no one would honk at me, in fact - some days, I would see no other person or car for the 45 minutes that I was out there! Country life is the way to be. I love it.

I'm currently in Ottawa, visiting Sarah - and last night we went to the Sound and Light show at Parliament Hill. It was really neat! And excellent if you speak both French and English...most of the things they said were not translated in the other language.

And to finish this off, to be a little corny, I'd have to say that in all the places I've been this past year, I do love Canada the most...because it's home and it will always be home. It's not perfect, but it's MY normal...and it makes me happy to be here, even for just a few short weeks.