i've been away from my macbook Thomas for too long. his battery is dead after 3.5 years of me pounding on his keys, dropping him, leaving him in steamy bathrooms and ultimately failing to scratch off the adhesive from band stickers on his cover. he's been neglected in the past few months but he is still very much loved and appreciated.
graydon and i are doing wonderfully. graydon just started school again and i can't help but feel jealous that he gets to return to the beautiful U of U campus. i miss being able to sit down in a new class and having a brand new notebook to scribble notes in. the anticipation of learning something new was always so strong during the first week of school.
i am currently working and deciding whether i should buy shrimp or chicken for dinner...? this week we are deciding to back down on meat: only vegetables and some seafood. we've also made it a point to walk lucy every day. this is so important. especially when we open our little front door and find her gnawing at the strings she pulled from our carpet. now we have a rug and large crate covering the damage. i am hoping her frequent walks will quickly cure her of her impatience during the day.
i'm not very good at writing informative blogs about our lives. i guess i feel too formal and detached from anyone who might read my blog if i do write a solid report on "what we've been up to". quite honestly, i feel like my best explanations of our adventures come straight from my mouth and not from my writing.
i guess i can attempt to describe how wonderful our trip to Europe was. we have the greatest family. i am so happy to know that we have family that loves us so much to take us around the world to see some of the most fascinating architecture and cities in the world. our trip began in Barcelona. we were able to spend a day there, and naturally, i wanted to see H&M and Zara. those stores light up my eyes. i don't even need to buy anything, just looking at beautiful clothes is fun for me. we were able to take a tour bus around the city on little sleep but it was so fun being somewhere so far from home. being able to stare out into the mediterranean sea and touch its waves was also a little piece of adventure for me.
our cruise left from barcelona and we travelled to beautiful Monaco. when we arrived there i could hardly believe how quaint everything was. from the cobblestone roads to the beautiful ice plants i saw growing up high brick walls to the narrow streets lined with tiny shops and cafes, everything was so pleasant to look at. i especially loved overhearing casual conversations in french. although each word was foreign to me, i loved hearing the language flow so smoothly and neatly. after Monte Carlo we were able to travel to St. Paul, Nice, and Eze. all were scenic and bursting with history. i could have done without the topless girls in Nice though :)
our next stop was in Italy. our adventure began in Cinque Terre. we took a boat ride along the coast and saw colorful buildings. i loved the open markets and the amount of trees overflowing with flowers. we were able to try an authentic meal and i couldn't help but feel jealous for these coastal cities. the meal was simple and lean and i felt silly for all the times i downed a plate of five cheese baked ziti at Olive Garden thinking it was great Italian cuisine. we also visited Pisa and i found myself wondering if there was ever a time when people merely passed its awkward slant without thinking that it was remarkable? the next day we visited Rome and saw everything there is to see. Colosseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Roman Forum, ancient bath houses and of course, Vatican City. our last day in Italy was spent in Pompei where we were able to see ruins from Mt Vesuvius' eruption and of course, bodies that were completely preserved from the disaster. the most painful part of the experience was seeing how the corpses' mouths and nails clenched in excruciating pain. how awful. the rest of the day was spent traveling along the Amalfi Coast and finally arriving in Naples where we would leave for our last destination.
Majorca was a small island but was completely surrounded by bright blue clear water. our entire day was spent riding out in a tiny "boat", arriving at a cave, and "diving" to enter it. i was extremely nervous. the water seemed calm but the sounds of the waves crashing inside of the cave and the jagged rocks that surrounded the entrance prevented me from feeling adventurous. i ended up swallowing mouthfuls of salt water and started to panic, i clutched to the rocks, felt warm blood in my hands, and couldn't believe that i was somewhere in the middle of the mediterranean. eventually the guide took me down under the water and the cave came into view. it was completely hidden from the outside and we were sworn to secrecy about its location. the cave was cool and damp. natural air conditioning kept the temperature from ever rising or lowering. we even found a sea slug in the middle of the cave floor, hoping all the while that the water wasn't going to come rushing through where we stood.
when we arrived back in barcelona, we said goodbyes to the family and then parted for Paris. we had about two days to spend in the city of lights. when we arrived at our hotel, we felt completely immersed in a different experience. "zhat is ze elevator over zhere!" we glanced over our shoulders and saw a small glass door encasing a tiny lift, big enough for the small Graydon and I, as well as our one bag. the hotel was pretty, our view from the window showed us rows of buildings and window sills lined with flowers and plants. we immediately set out for the city, using the nearest metro station, Temple. Arc de triomphe was first. champs elysses with Paul macarons. McDonald's and royal with cheese. H&M. Massimo Dutti. oh i loved Paris. we found our way to the Eiffel tower and i quickly grabbed our paper bag full of chocolate macarons. we each took one and sat on a bench, devouring our tasty treats while staring at the tower in front of us. the next day we visited Notre Dame and began a 4 hour bike tour. we rode on back streets, saw the Louvre (which we later visited that day) visited Jim Morisson's apartment, another trip to Paul's bakery with baggettes and more macarons! We saw bridges covered in locks and the first restaurant to ever use a fork. We admired the architecture and chuckled as we passed overflowing streets with water...workers were brushing and removing trash from the gutters. the next day we visited the d'Orsay museum and saw works from Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Cezanne, and Degas. we later returned to one of the bridges covered in locks and added one of our own, a heart attached to a shiny lock, "G&M" was carefully carved into it by Graydon. we attached our lock and threw the key into the Seine below. we hope we can find the lock again when we come back to Paris some day.
well i believe this pretty much sums up our trip. i am so glad that i was able to take it with Graydon. i hope that we will be able to make more trips in the near future together. i always feel like being away from home for a little while makes you appreciate home that much more. i am so glad for the lovely living situation that i have at the moment. i am so thankful for great family that surrounds me and the little fox-like Lucy. Gray is as sweet as he ever has been and i can't help but feel so grateful to have him.
well my night is pretty much at its close. bonsoir!
