Internet drama in Italy

So we have internet access in Florence!

Yay!!

That is what I thought at first as well, then we realized I couldn't connect my camera to upload pictures!!

Boo hoo!!

I am so sad!

I have so many great pictures to share and no way to get them to you until we are somewhere else!

We are here (Florence) for two nights and then we head up to Kufstien, Germany to stay with some of Kevin's other family members, so maybe I can upload them there. If not, I will have so much picture uploading and blogging to do when I get home I will need a week of vacation time to get it all done! (Not to mention all the t.v. we have to catch up on, hopefully all the rain in GA didn't knock out our DVR or we will be out of the loop with all our shows!!-Oh well, we have lasted this long and so far I am not having withdraw issues!! I will say my choice of books was only o.k. I of course loved the Lisa Scottoline (which G&G Binkley got me hooked on) book I bought for the trip, but I haven't been impressed with the Sense and Sisibility and Sea Monsters book. The parts Jane Austen did are great, just all the silly sea monster stuff is too much really! I guess I should have known what I was getting into after having read the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but that one was actually entertaining (maybe since I know how much Betsy loves Zombies), this one I just try to forget all the sea monster nonsense and enjoy the rest of it!)

I will say time goes by very strangely while on vacation. In a way it feels like we have been away from reality for ages because we have done so much, yet we didn't even get everything done I would have liked to have done! (Although, I don't think there will be any disapointment with our overall trip, it has been sooooo wonderful!!) But also time flies because we have already been gone two weeks!

We are down to our last week and I again want to say thanks for all the prayers and keep them coming because we have a lot of traveling to do this week!!

Oh! I wish I could post some pictures!!

Venice was soooo beautiful and soooo different from anywhere else we have ever been. The canals and waterways (and the lack of cars was fun!) We took a water taxi around and also did a TON of walking. All the alleyways are tiny, since you can't have a car anyhow (I guess) and it felt like another world! I am not sure if I can really say for sure, but I think that is my favorite spot in Italy. (Of the three places we have been, all were AMAZING, but I think Venice wins!) It is just so unique!

Rome was amazing!! (Even just because of the age issue alone!!) Such an ancient city and yet, modern as well! There is so much to see and do your senses are on overload, (and our feet are killing us!! Well, actually mine are fine, just Kevin, because his shoes are giving him blisters, not cool!!) Everything we saw was great! I actually even loved the Hard Rock Cafe! (Best bathrooms in town!!) Speaking of bathrooms...I don't think we have gotten any pictures of the bathrooms so I will say a bit about that now. Italian bathrooms are very....interesting.

The showers are

the

smallest

things

imaginable!

Mom, you could NEVER take a shower in Italy! (or at least not any of the ones I have seen!) You would die of claustophobia! (I don't know if I spelled that right, and there is no way to check it because this computer doesn't like anything I type-since it is Italian! So far the Italian keyboard is actually easier than the German!) I feel so tight in the shower, I really can't tell you how Kevin fits, I guess he hits his elbows alot while trying to wash!! The toilets, pretty much everywhere, have no toilet seat!! (Except in the Bed and Breakfast's we have stayed at & at the Hard Rock Cafe-hence that is why it is my favorite!!) Even the public restrooms, where you have to pay to get in (like in Germany-although here it is even more! It is 1.50€!!) are this way!!

(Isn't it fun hearing about Europe from the view of a person with IC, you get to hear about all the great and not so great bathrooms!!! Believe me, I have seen a ton!!!) Thankfully, I have been feeling better, so have only had to use a few of the pay-for public restrooms while in Italy, most of the time I just go when we are at a museum, or restaurant and don't have to actually pay extra! So far, the most interesting one I have used was at a monestary we went to today (in Florence) where I had to squat Indian style. It brought back the good ol' days (and smells) of India. Maybe someday I will get Kevin there, highly doubtful, but never say never right!?! (Kevin's input...as he is watching me type this..."Keep trying!! Especially after the Indian couple sitting behind us were smacking their food the whole time at dinner!"-One of Kevin's biggest pet peeves!!-I can't eat cereal around him, or else he wants to throw me out the nearest window!!-Oh yeah, food...I will comment on that in a moment...Mom asked me about that!)

While we are on the topic of tight spaces...the lines and crowds to get into the Vatican city would have gotten you (Mom) as well! Hopefully we got some great pictures (which I will eventually be able to show you) and that will be enough, because you are literally SMOOSHED and SMASHED against what feels like a million other tourists. (And in warm weather too!! I couldn't imagine doing it in August!!) I don't think you would have made it to see the actual chapel. Sadly though, you can't get pictures inside, so I can't show you that! (Although, we did see people taking pictures, so rude!!)

Florence so far...so we have only been here since around 2 this afternoon (it is just after 9PM here), and I like the fact that I have internet access, and I think this is the best bathroom we have had in our B&B's, but other than that I think Rome and Venice beat out Florence on my list. I may change my mind after our day tomorrow, but so far, I am not overly impressed. It is still a neat city, but there seems to be a ton of grafetti EVERYWHERE and maybe we are just already over seeing all the churches after churches after churches. They are beautiful, but are all starting to blur together into one image in my mind! (Kevin was over them already after our first day in Venice, but he is a trooper and has come along as I dragged him all over the rest of Venice & Rome & now Florence to see more...which yes, there are more on the schedule for tomorrow as well!!)

O.K. so now for the food update:

(Which means if you are not Mom, you can just click on out of here, because I am sure you don't care!)

While in Gemany I was able to eat some bread and some noodles and veggies that I got our first day in Munich.

I bought some corn cakes (like rice cakes, but made with corn) and some carrots the day before we left Germany and I ate on those while in Venice. (Although one night in Venice and one in Rome I was too exhausted by the time we got back and didn't bother eating-but I have been really tired on this trip and I think that is most likely why!-There is also all the walking we are doing!) I actually have some of the corn cakes left because I purchased two packages and have only eaten one.

While we were in Rome I was able to eat REAL food two of the nights. The B&B we stayed at ran a restaurant as well (It was a little family ran B&B and Restaurant), so we stopped at the market and bought a Zuchinni and some plain noodles and they cooked that for me (along with the carrots I had brought from Germany). However, last night we were too late getting there, so back to just rice cakes. (Which I had found at the grocery store where we bought the zuchinni and noodles. Thank goodness for English writing on the packages or else I wouldn't have felt comfortable getting them, but there is was in plain English that these were plain ol' regular rice cakes!!)

On our way out of Rome today we stopped by the grocery again and made sure I had enough rice and corn cakes and some more noodles and carrots, but sadly the noodles and carrots will be of no use to us here in Florence because there isn't a kitchen I can use. Oh, well. Rice & corn cakes & some raw carrots will be my food for the next two days until we get to Kufstien, then I am sure I will be able to cook up the noodles (and get some more veggies) while we are staying with Kevin's family. I don't think I have really lost any weight, but my bra is not a filled out as it used to be. That is always the first place I lose and the last place I gain! Oh well!! It wouldn't be so bad if I lost some of the Binkley arm massiveness...but I think my arms are still as large as always!! Thankfully, Kevin loves me anyway!

O.K. That was for you Mom! Now you know I am fine and eating while away!! I will tell you I am going to be sooooo ready to eat some Bryers Ice Cream and some chicken & rice cheese and maybe even try adding some food groups again once I am home, because I miss eating regularly!! All the foods Kevin has eaten while we have been in Italy looked absolutely delicious!!!