Ciao Ciao!

Buon giorno! (good morning) family and friends!

I say buon giorno even though it’s later here because I absolutely loved that word and so even though it should be buon pomeriggio (good afternoon) I say it because I miss it so much! Oh... I wanna go back to Italy... The subject Ciao Ciao is also befitting because it means both hello and bye. Since I’m writing to you all for the first time and also saying goodbye to Italy Ciao! Ciao!

I’m a bit sad being back but I’m also very glad I’m FINISHED flying around the world and can finally rest and reflect on my time there. I just took a little jog after getting back because it was so lovely here in Wyoming, (if you can actually believe that). A jog sounded very good after being scrunched up like a sardine on plane flights all of yesterday. I also really need to work off all that pasta and gelato from Italy! Mmmmhmmm Hehe... I’m definitely a few inches wider then when you last saw me = ) No bueno! After I wrote this email I called everyone from our group and we’re all going to meet for a picnic and enjoy the spring weather.

Italy was absolutely breathtaking! Ohhhhh....... I cannot even tell you how glad I am that I was able to make that journey and see everything that I did. I have so many wonderful memories and experiences. I made many new friends and got to know others even more. Our group was wonderful and I had the best time being surrounded by a group of beautiful ladies from Wyoming. = ) I wrote everyday in my journal and I’ll share some of what I wrote with you all as I find the time. I know many of you are anxiously awaiting my novel like emails like the ones I sent out from my visit to Japan a few years ago. I don’t know if I can live up to those monolithic emails again but I will surely attempt it. They have been a great keepsake of all my memories.

Italy definitely made all my art history studies come to life and the inner boy inside of me jump for joy! I experienced pure joy and had the breath knocked out of me countless times after seeing things like Michelangelo’s David, Botticello’s Venus, the Sistine Chapel, Raphael’s paintings, and stunning sunsets. I was satiated beyond belief by all the art. Now I’m in an art withdrawal. It all seems like a dream, a very lovely dream and I cannot wait to go back! Thinking back on everything now, I am actually very glad I grew up in Colorado/Wyoming because I can go to Italy and really truly appreciate all the art. The Italians grow up with all of this around them and to them it is just everyday normal stuff. But not for me! For me it was I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E and it was by far one of the greatest experiences of my life. Italy was a buffet of art for both my eyes and my soul. I tried my very best to feast upon it all during my short time there.

So... anyway, without further ado... I will write about Day 1.


March 12, 2009

Today I tried to sleep in a bit but I couldn’t. Italy was on my mind. I skipped all of my classes for that day because I wanted to just rest and prepare for my trip. I don’t think I would’ve paid attention anyway. As noon drew ever closer my gut wrapped itself in knots. I’m going to Italy!!! Whoo hoo!

I called everyone I was driving down to Denver and told them I would pick them up soon. I made a few quick errands and then picked up Gary, Stephanie, and Loni. Then it was off to Denver. We packed all our suitcases into my car. Actually it was more like stuffing and jamming them into my car. I was glad to have Gary come along with just two small duffel bags or we would not have all fit. I packed light but took a huge suitcase for souvenirs.

On the way down I took it easy. I was in no rush. Our flight wasn’t until later. We were leaving early just to make sure we got there on time and to relax and have lunch in Denver. The trip down was going just fine until a little bit past Ft. Collins. All of a sudden the car in front of me slammed on their brakes. Ahead of us every car also had their brake lights on. Red lights snaked up the road. I slammed down on my pedal hard and immediately slowed waaaaayy down. Quickly we came to a dead stop. I nervously watched as many cars behind me swerved and went into the ditch since they couldn’t stop in time. Then it was bumper to bumper. We inched forward. Stopped. Inched a few then stopped. Urgggghhh.... I cranked up the radio and we all had a mini dance party for a few minutes laughing and trying to pass the time. Soon, we discovered it was because of a very bad accident. After getting past it the road immediately became unclogged and we were once again off to Denver at a good steady pace. However, that little jam took up a lot of time so we decided to eat at P.F. Changs, a really good Chinese restaurant just outside of Loveland. I would’ve gone to Olive Garden but hey we would soon be having true authentic Italian very soon. Chinese just sounded good!

Now normally I wouldn’t go into all of this detail about traveling except that the experience at P.F. Changs was fun and memberable and so I wrote about it in my journal and I didn’t want to forget it. Our waiter, a dark spikey haired guy with perfect spikes was quite the hoot. He came to our table and every single time gave a play-by-play of what he was about to do. This was to the point of becoming almost abnoxious because it was really everything he was going to do. It was just really funny and we all laughed about it. I dunno... I guess you just had to be there.

We arrived at the Denver Intl’ Airport. With our luggage in tow we met the rest of our group and then stood in line for security. We were flying to Frankfurt, Germany on Lufthansa airlines. I was extra stoked about flying to Germany since I have German heritage and it would be the first country I would see in Europe. We boarded at 6:15pm.

The plane was huge! It had three rows with 3 seats on either side and 4 seats in the middle row. I unfortunately was stuck in the middle. I sat next to a guy from Poland and a girl from somewhere. I think she was American. She never talked to me. It was crowded and I attempted to settle in for the nearly 9 hr flight.

I was just excited to be back in a plane. It’s always fun for me and I get extra anxious awaiting for take-off. I love when the engines roar to life and the feeling of being pushed back in my seat as we kiss the ground goodbye.

They fed as well on the flight. We had two meals and I had lots of orange juice. Mmmmm.... I love orange juice! I don’t remember what we ate because I didn’t write that down in my journal but I assure you it was good.

I enjoyed watching the GPS map on the screens on front of me. It marked a trail of our path to Germany. I was bummed that this flight didn’t have cameras on the nose, belly, and sides of the plane like on my flight to Japan. Since I was no where near any windows that would’ve made it more fun but I had other means of entertaining myself like sleeping and watching a few movies.

We arrived in Germany. It was now March 13th and I felt like crap. A whole day of my life is gone. I didn’t care because I was in Germany! WOW I was jittery and jumping for joy. My first time in Europe! I couldn’t wait to stretch my legs and get outside! A group of us decided to go with me outside of the airport to touch some dirt to prove we were in Germany. It is just something silly I wanted to do. We had to go through security again but it was totally worth it. Now I can truly say I was in Germany and not just at an airport. We even got our passports stamped from Germany. Whoo hoo!

It was very nice too just to breath some fresh air. However, it was a bit disheartening to be surrounding by so much cigarette smoke from everyone outside. Which, I later learned was an experience I would have to get used to as even all of Italy smoked a bunch too. We had four hours to kill on our layover in Germany.

I walked around the airport with Hannah and Steph. We stopped at an ATM and I withdrew my first $100 in Euro. Then we sat down and had a German beer. It was a Beck’s light beer. Yeah very good and relaxing. I loved walking around and hearing German spoken. Then I slept underneath an airport bench to stretch out while we all waited for our flight to Venice, Italy!

Even though it was now March 13 this all happened on the same day. With the flight to Germany we lost so much time and I was awake for so many hours. I was kind of messed up but too excited to care. I didn’t have jet lag too bad because I was running on pure excitement I was just sick of being in a plane for so long. After taking a nap and just talking with everyone in our group, we finally boarded the plane to Venice. I’ll write about that in my next email.

That’s all for now. Ciao!
Steven

P.S. Pictures are to come soon.
P.P.S. Also, feel free to forward this email on to anyone you want, I’m sure I missed quite a few but I hope I got you all.