She Turned Me Into a Newt! ... I Got Better...

I watched/am still watching this. Classic!

It has been another lazy day in Settignano and I wouldn't have it any other way. It's nice to just relax and think about everything that has occurred in the past month (not even!). These past three and a half weeks have felt like an eternity, but I have loved it. I spent most of the morning organizing my room and yes, my half is finally clean.

This evening I was able to call my brother Anthony for his birthday and they were out for his birthday brunch, so I was able to talk to my entire family. It was awesome. Hearing their voices again makes me miss them, but I'm glad to know that they'll be there when I get back. I've got to keep moving on, like I have been, and experience this with an open mind. Rarely have I been at a lack for words, but it is becoming more difficult, as I've mentioned in one of my Ireland posts, to really put my experiences and thoughts into words. Really it comes down to the gentle reminders for myself to help me remember what was going on each of these days. Hopefully future Dominic thinks present Dominic did a good job.

One more week. Venice. Two more weeks. Germany & Austria. Four more weeks. AS Roma v Fiorentina then Umbria/Perugia. Six weeks. Rome! This entire trip is going to fly by before I even realize that it's gone, but that'll also mean that I've enjoyed my trip. To amend a popular quote, the reward of a good (life) trip, is a good (life) trip.

Although, I must say, I'm kind of hurt I'm not getting any comments. Don't you guys love me?! Hah anyway...

I have an N64 Emulator on my computer... so I can kind of play some of my favorite games...
Anyone remember Harvest Moon 64? Freaking awesome!

I'm about to get dinner here in an hour, so maybe I"ll update again after if something interesting happens. Otherwise... God bless!

An Untitled Post from Your Gracious Host

It has been a slow, relaxing, day, as you can probably tell by the 'rhyme' in my title. I went into Florence today and ended up taking a wrong turn somewhere as I've found myself liable to do lately, but I really enjoyed just wandering. I was finally able to catch up on some reading and skype a few people I had meaning to get in touch with since I've arrived. That's about all. Sorry to disappoint.

God bless!

Mountain Biking. No. Really. MOUNTAIN Biking.

Today has been very, very, interesting. Woke up early and walked twenty minutes to rent mountain bikes for the day. When Pietro had told me we were going mountain biking I assumed trail biking, like I had done in the states... man was I wrong. Hills and peaks like I've never ridden before. It was awesome, but incredibly difficult.

Countryside I was riding through.

So after all of that working, we made it back to the Villa where we were late for lunch, so Pietro called ahead and they more or less made a feast for us. It was incredible. After all of that, I went to dinner, which, as usual, was absolutely delicious. I probably had more wine than I should've, which I got great wine at the supermarket for under €3. After dinner, Bridget and I went outside to have a cigar and drink more wine and we invited Father Meinrad to join us after he had finished with confessions. One thing led to another and we ended up going into Settignano to drink with him and Pietro. It was a fantastic night and a great overall day.

Tomorrow I plan on resting my tired bones and sleep in. A lot of the group is going to Siena, but I'm planning on going there later this semester. Hope everything is going well in the midwest (even if it's cold). Oh, and a shout out to all my St. James Academy peeps: Thanks for reading and following my travels -- I really appreciate it and I'll try to make it up to SJA before you guys get out of school.

Salute di Settignano, Firenze, Italia!

Settignano & Villa Morghen

We have made it! It was a beautiful day in Florence, Italy, when I awoke this morning. Fathoming an unpleasant day is almost impossible for me. The whole town has me in awe. Europe finally seems real to me; I will be immersed in this culture longer than I had ever imagined and it has me excited to experience everything this wonderful country has to offer. I just got here and part of me doesn't want to have to leave, even though I know that it isn't for another three months. So we hopped on the number 10 bus out of San Marco square and took the forty minute bus drive up the hills into Settignano. We checked in (Room 33) and relaxed, showered, and unpacked.

Florence from Settignano

Nathan and I walked around the Villa exploring our new home. Around one we had lunch. I was expecting a simple lunch with just pasta or something similar. Boy was I mistaken. We had a four course meal complete with pasta, chicken, fish, wine, and bread. It was absolutely awesome. There was a lull between lunch and the second wave of arrivals, so we relaxed in the room since we didn't really have anything else to do. Lauren arrived around four, so we caught up on travels and set out to explore Settignano and Florence. We walked for about an hour and a half. It was an amazing walk through a beautiful town. We just got out of mass at six and will soon be eating dinner at seven fifteen. Classes start tomorrow. It seems like it has taken forever for us to finally get here, but I'm glad to be onto Italiano and such. I have all of my photos up online, if you'd like to look through them I can send you the link.

I was looking through my pictures and I was surprised at how many instant memories and good feelings sprung from those pictures. My pictures from Connemara and Cong are now my shuffling background. I feel like in some of my posts, especially recently, I'm leaving things out. As much as I try, the inner monologue in my head is always saying more than my fingers can put into the keyboard -- especially after I'm done with the post. I'd love to go off on tangents about the buses, and the buildings, and the people, but it's just difficult to get it concisely done inside my head. Anyway... you might see some of my posts that are done earlier in the night updated with new information. So scroll down a little, see if something has changed, you might be surprised how much I edit these in one night.

Blessings from Settignano, Florence, Italy!