Ben Folds

O M G (Pretend like I said it like Zoila). Last night James and I went to see Ben Folds perform at the beautiful Meyerson with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. WOW.

Many of you know of my life long love affair with Mr. Folds. Since high school he has easily won the title of my fav and held steady through the years. But last night, he took it to a whole new level. We were seated 8 rows from the stage (thank you sweet husband) and my cheeks are still sore from smiling so much. He played many of the songs from the older albums and threw in a few new ones here and there. The crowd was awesome too, he ended up coming back for a second encore for a jam session once the orchestra was excused. Now, I can't forget the DSO, they were amazing also, I enjoyed watching the musicians smirk at some of the songs.

Oh Mr. Folds, how I love your piano talent, your witty lyrics, subtle sarcasm and most of all your not so perfect voice.

5K - "I'm a weeenner!"

This past weekend I went up to Missouri to visit my sister and her sweet little family. We had a great time playing and watching football and napping:) While I was up there I decided to run a 5K, which was the last item on my 26th year bucket list.

On my birthday last year, I made a list of 4 thing I wanted to accomplish this year: Pass the NCIDQ, run a 5K, go to Spain, and become LEED certified. (I've had to roll-over the LEED goal for next year, due to prerequisites and test cost $$$).

So on Saturday I ran my 5K. Now to many people, 3.2 miles seems like a joke (Jes) but to ME, 3.2 miles is forever. I've been slowly training all summer and then kicked it into high gear once we returned from vacation. I managed to run the entire thing without stopping and my final time was 37 minutes. It wasn't really that fun, but I'm really proud of myself for doing it. I also had Buzz Lightyear at the finish line, so that was a motivation in itself!

Gypsy Queen

When I was little, maybe 3 or 4 years old; my mom dressed my sister and I up as gypsies for Halloween. We were cute. Later in life I thought this costume was a little random, but now I must give her 'mad props'; being a busy working mother, it was a cheap, easy and quite creative costume. A few skirts, old jewelry and a head scarf and we were good to go!

My point... and I do have one... I've turned into a gypsy again. Meaning: we are once again moving.

Since turning 18 I have had 11 different addresses. Maybe 12 will be the magic number?

*ROME*

Coliseum

Pantheon

Trivi Fountain

St. Peter's Square

I am so happy that my CD full of Roman pictures came in the mail last night!

Our day in Rome was a whirl-wind... we hit so many places in such a short time. We covered the Coliseum, the Pantheon, Caesar's Palace, the Roman Forum, Trivi Fountain and the Vatican City (including the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, St. Peter's Square and the Vatican Museum.) Along the way we also stopped for some yummy bread and sausage sandwiches and then managed to find another gelato store on the way home :) We started at 8:00 am and was back on the ship by 5:30, with 2 hours in the car from the port.... so needless to say, we were speedy. Rome was definitely one of my favorites. I think because I grew-up in such a strong Catholic community, and finally being able to see the roots of everything we based our faith around… it was really neat. I’m pretty sure I was the only one in our group with energy for the Vatican City; everyone else was getting a little droopy. Our driving guide, Antonello was awesome. He was so informative and so well traveled; I think James had a little crush on him. (And was personally baptized by the pope!)

**ROMA**

Because of my expert traveling skills.... my camera battery went dead during our Rome excursion. Soooo I'm waiting on some folks to send me their pictures of the day. Once I recieve them I'll post for Rome....

It's a bit of a bummer because Rome was amazing....

*FLORENCE*

Florence was much more relaxed, a day full of car rides through ripe vineyards, walking through farmers markets and listening to stories and jokes from our tour guide, Fritz the Cat (he asked us to call him that).

We started the day in Pisa to get a good picture of the tower. Beyond that, there isn’t much more to the town, so we went on our way. Fritz the Cat (FtC) took us on a round-a-bout way to Florence, hitting the hilly country side and old vineyards with big purple grapes just waiting to be picked in a month for some delicious wine! We also saw a ton of other produce; pumpkins, zucchini, and squash. In Florence FtC dropped us off at the Academia to get a long look at The David then walked us around the city for more architectural marvels and wonders. We meandered our way through the farmers market where I managed to pull my husband out with only purchasing a ‘few’ items (black truffle salami anyone?). We then headed for lunch and a quick sampling of some local Grappa (very, very strong wine/liquor) before heading back to the ship. Florence was a really nice day, the weather was wonderful and the town has a much milder manner in comparison to Rome.

Pisa

My happy husband at the farmers market

*NAPLES*

Now this is when the tourism gets down to business! Wednesday we woke up early for a private tour of Pompeii and Amalfi Coast. We first headed to Pompeii before the crowds and the heat took over. Pompeii left me in awe. I’d like to say it was awesome, but that word just doesn’t carry the impact that it should. Centuries before Christ, mankind had already developed a city-wide sewage structure, street reflectors, and air cooling systems. Even small things, like puppy dog signs and petrified bread loaves made me realize how short my one life is within the large scheme of things (in a good way).

After Pompeii we twisted and turned up the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast to an amazing view for lunch. We had fresh veggies and pasta at an old olive oil farm over looking the coast line. After that we circled through the small towns, stopping for shops, gelato, limoncello and photographs. The views were breath-taking, something from a postcard or a movie.

One of the most memorable parts about this tour was the driving… wow. There are very few rules and regulations when driving in Italy and anything goes, especially if you are on a scooter. BUT, the great part was no one had road-rage: there were no horn honking or impatient drivers. And we did not see one wreck the entire time. It was interesting, and definitely a product of their lackadaisical attitudes; something we should maybe take note of.

Pompeii

Amalfi Coast, beautiful, beautiful!

Sorrento Lemons

*MALTA*

After a day at sea we docked at Valletta, Malta; a small island in the south of the Mediterranean. It was only a short day, so we went exploring on our own without a tour guide. The weather in Valletta was much hotter than Barcelona and James and I were pretty sweaty by the time we made it back to the ship.

Like I said, Malta is small. It's best known for it's knights and gardens, as well as a beautiful church with an original Michelangelo painting. James and I basically spent the morning strolling the town and then headed back to the ship. We knew we had some pretty intensive sight-seeing ahead of us, so we kept it easy.

"Probably", we're just not totally for sure. The language barrier at it's best.

The steps in the city are very short, so that the knights could climb them easily with their armor.

There are 365 Catholic churches on the tiny island of Malta. No excuses huh?

The beautiful limestone forts.

*NCL*

Sunday night we boarded the ship. This was my very first cruise, so I had NO IDEA what to expect. All I knew was to take the stairs to avoid massive weight gain (thanks Kathy) and to eat green apples for sea sickness.

There was some sort of confusion while checking in that secured us a major upgrade: BALCONY! Heck ya! We aren't sure what happened, but we also didn't want to ask too many questions. I'm not sure I will ever be able to have a room without a balcony again. Sitting outside at night or watching the boat dock at each port in the morning, were some of my favorite times. It was fascinating to think of myself in the middle of this large ocean with the bluest water I have ever seen. The boat was pretty new, so everything was still very sparkly and clean. And of course the service was great. There were only two nights of boat rocking, but nothing a little ginger ale couldn't fix.

I'm still not sure though if I am a cruiser... I did enjoy the cruise very much, but I think the ports of call had a LOT to do with my satisfaction. I was bored often, there were a ton of people, and way more kids than I expected.

Every night we had some sort of towel animal with chocolate mints on our pillows. This particular animal is a monkey.

James being a lazy bum: acceptable on vaca.

My new favorite color.

On our balcony before we left Barcelona.

The ship was huge, I was constantly lost.

*BARCELONA*

We arrived in Barcelona on Saturday afternoon after a long flight and lay-over in Amsterdam. The weather was so beautiful, mid-80's with a great ocean breeze. Since James and I had not slept in over 24 hours, we were dragging a little, but managed to take a long walk around Placa de Catalunya and Las Ramblas (basically the city center). The next day was spent on the "hop on/hop off" bus, and saw tons of great sites. Sagrada Familia, Park Guell and many other beautiful pieces of architecture were on the route. I think my favorite part of Barcelona was the architecture, Gaudi's buildings are so amazing, the word 'creative' doesn't even begin to describe his mind.

Sunday evening we had to leave for the cruise, but we returned the next week once the cruise was over, to fly back home. Once we were back we stayed in a really great hotel, Casa Camper. They are based off of the European shoe brand; Camper. The hotel is very small, but the service was great and the design kept me thinking. On our last night we went to Picasso's old stomping ground: 4 Gats. The atmosphere was really cool and vintage, but the food lacked. There were sketches of Picasso's all over, even the plates were small drawings.

In short: I realllllly liked Barcelona. Maybe is was the familiarity of the Spanish language or the mix of modern and historical architecture, but it really made my heart smile. It was hard to leave.

A great view of the mountains behind.

The view from our hotel room.

Gaudi's Sagrada Familia

Placa de Catalunya

4 Gats

WARNING

If vacation stories and pictures of other people's vacations bore you, please exit page now and do not return for about a week.

Thank you,

Management

You know it was a good trip when.....

You are pulling wet clothes from the washer to put in the dryer and a wine cork falls on the floor.

HOLA!

Hola Amigos!

We aren't quite home, but we are at the first hotel that offers free internet, so I thought I'd take advantage and get a blog out... trust me, there are many more to follow.

At the moment, we are in Barcelona, Spain. We get on a flight back to the States tomorrow morning.

So, you ask, 'How was the trip?'.... 'Ok, I guess?'... SIKE!

It was AMAZING. For me, it's been a trip of a lifetime. I've seen so many wonderful things, learned so many interesting facts and experienced more than I imagined.

The cruise was very nice but for me the ports and excursions were the highlight. Each morning I woke up knowing my brain would be submerged in history and mystery.

I will blog later on each city we visited with pictures to match. But for now I will make my top ten list (in NO order... there's no way I could rank these top ten)

La Sagrada Familia

(Gaudi was insane)

Vatican City

(the whole thing)

Pompeii

(to walk on streets built centuries before Christ, wow)

Casa Camper

(inspiring hotel)

Rome in Limo

(best touring company in South Europe)

Gelato

(there was no shortage in Italy)

NCL beds

(there was no shortage of naps in Italy either)

Lunch in Sorrento

(Fresh pressed olive oil? Yes, please.)

Paella

(licking my lips)

Balcony Upgrade

(bling bling)

Ok, once I get home I'll bring on the photos.