Day 2/3/4

It's now occurring to me that I have packed way too much to be carrying this around at 715. But until the cruise is over I have no clue what I can get rid of. Maybe I'm just training myself for that women's heavy lifting contest I've seen in tv. Ick I def need to get rid of stuff.

On Sunday we got to see a whole lot more of rome. We had gelato on the Spanish steps. So delicious!! Also they have a lot of fountains in Rome and you can just fill up a water bottle anymore which is really nice. We got to see the Vatican and go inside the church. The Sistine chapel had closed like an hour before we got there so I think that when morgan leaves I'm going to go back and see it before I head to naples. We saw the colosseum circo massimo and stumbled upon the Jewish ghetto where we had delicious pizza! We saw the coolest painting!! This guy used all spray paint and made a picture of the colosseum at night. I really wished I could have bought it.

This morning we got up incredibly early to catch a cab to the train station. It took us a while to figure out where our train was but we finally got on and some really nice people helped us get our huge bags put up. We got nervous at the end because we couldn't tell I'f it was our stop or not. Then we ended up taking the wrong bus around bari's ghetto for like an hour. It turns out bus 20 is not the same as 20/. I have this phrase book and found the word for boat otherwise we would have definitely been screwed!! It was so different getting on this cruise. Every other cruise I've gotten on has these massive lines and is such a hassle. The only real issue we had was that when we went through customs no one was there to check anything or stamp our passports. I think I'm in love with gelato!! It's so tasty. Tuesday (tomorrow) we go to katakolon so we will see what fun things happen tomorrow!!!

Katakolon was nice, we did some shopping and took a bus to olympia and saw some ruins. I tried baklava which was pretty good! I really don't think I like this cruise line. Or maybe it's just really different I can't decide. The food hasn't been all that good and they charge you for everything that is normally included. Anyways we bought some super cool shoes that I will be shipping home along with my extra clothes and stuff i don't need so momma you can look for that and maybe a spoon or two!!

Lesson 1: know what bus you should be on

Lesson 2: realize this ship doesn't have food 24/7 like American ones and eat before you're starving

Made it!!!

Yay!! after some long boring rides I made it! And Morgan found me right away so that was nice and unstressful. we missed our bus to the hotel by 3 minutes so we had to take a cab. We got the hotel which is gorgeous and took a nap. We couldnt for the life of us figure out how to turn on the lights and stuff until morgan put her key in this thing. We got ready and took a bus into town where we found the piazza navonna and the Trevi fountain and the pantheon. The fountain was so gorgeous! We tossed coins in it and had 8000 weird guys keep asking us if we needed umbrellas or for them to take our picture. We got stuck in a downpour and of course had to wait it out with a glass of wine! We had lots of that, and this awesome little truffle looking thing. Mine was coffee and hers was chocolate. We got a bottle of wine to drink on the patio but we both passed out on the bus back to the hotel. Soooo now we are just going back to sleep.

Ohhhh and this guy stopped us and said he knew us. He apparently sees us in his dreams a lot!! Made the whole day!

The last night

Tomorrow is the day! I can't believe it's finally here. The countdown used to be in triple digits but now it's just down to hours. Looking back over the past yr or so it is amazing to me to see what awesome parents I was blessed with. They always told me I could be or do anything and when I decided to do this huge crazy trip all they did was help me accomplish this goal. When I had the second job and thought I couldn't handle the no sleep no time no life no fun they were there to help me see the bigger picture. I feel like most parents tell their kids they can do anything but I wonder how many help them achieve those goals.

Im so sad that this is the last night in my room with my shower and amazing bed and ac and it's just me and little man. I hate that I won't get to snuggle with him for a while. I'm so worried he will think I've abandoned him. I can just hear dads voice saying "He's JUST a DOG!!!" but still, he's like my child. Oh his hair is growing back darker so he doesn't look quite so weird anymore.

I have 3 hostels booked for after the cruise so I am excited to see how they compare to the ones in Australia. Except I'll be alone and not with a group. I'm not so much scared of people trying to pickpocket and do dumb things like that. I'd almost welcome the chance to use my krav skills, but I'm scared of the worse things that could happen. Like the taken situations. Not that I'll be in that situation bc i'd like to think I won't tell random strangers "why yes I AM all alone how nice of you to ask let me tell you where I am staying" which is why i think I'll be staying away from bars!! Plus if I avoid those I'll have money to stay longer. Also it's not like Greenville where I could just leave the bar at 2am and walk home. Man I do miss that.

I'm so excited for all of the things I will see and learn in the next few months and I hope so much that I'll be a better person for it and also maybe figure out my life for when I come home. I'm especially excited to see if I can find the loch ness monster! It's like Santa Claus, you know it's not real but it's still sooo fun to believe in.

Texas

It's our last day in Texas:( I always love/hate when we come here. Theres never enough time to see everyone that I want to see. At least we saw the super important ones. Haley was awesome in legally blonde! We get to spend the whole day with Chad and katey and I got to go out in downtown ft worth last night with some people from jr high. We leave in 5 days and that's ridiculously scary. It's going to be so different from anything I have ever done. I'm really going to miss my dog I wish I could take him with me!

16days

Only a little over two weeks left! It's my last full week of work and of course I get sick. I could be getting so much for my trip done but this cough medicine makes me quite content to lay here and doze off. Mom and dad are in costa rica and come back tomorrow night and then wed we leave for Dallas. Haley is in a play next week so we are picking up grandmother and then going to cheeseport to see them. I'm so excited bc I haven't seen them in way too long. My list of things to do before I leave has gotten pretty small. It's just down to getting euros and a thing for my camera and some other small items. I'm really excited to go on this trip but it's a little bittersweet. While I am not a fan of accounting, I do love the people I work with and caren is like the best boss ever. I think that will be hard to find when I come back. Secretly I want to move to Alaska or some crazy place when I come back.

Ok so I am leaving in 23 days to start my trip to Europe. I can't wait to get over there and get to do everything that I want! It's going to be amazing. I land in Rome and will hang out there for two days before going to Bari to catch our cruise ship. After that we head back to Rome for Morgan to leave and me to go down to Naples. I've already got my first hostel booked and my backpack is packed!! 13 more days left of work!