Adventures in Siena

The quote of this day is "I hate buses." Yes, we have decided that we will not be traveling on buses any longer while we are in Italy. Friday started pretty uneventfully . . . got up, headed for the bus stop to catch the bus to Siena . . . no big deal. Well, the bus was 30 minutes late (at least). Then, we got to Siena . . . or so we thought! Imagine you are traveling from Kalamazoo to Jackson and need to get off the bus at the East Michigan Meijer, BUT get off at Westwood Mall!! Also, imagine it is a holiday, so the local bus service is not running. Yes, that is what happened to us, we got off the bus WAYYY too early! I am glad I can laugh about it now, but I was close to tears at the time.

After we figured out what happened, I showed a local where our hotel was and showed her the map we had. She pointed off the map for where we currently were and off the map (in the opposite direction) for where our hotel was. Then said, "Buses not running, b/c of Festival. You need to call taxi. I don't have number. Sorry." And off she went. So, we started walking. Now, imagine a busy country road, like M-60, but VERY winding and no shoulder. We see a taxi go by and try to wave it down, but the driver just waves back at us. At this point, I am praying like crazy for some divine intervention as we are now looking like the Griswolds, rolling our big red suitcases down the road. Luckily, we come to a train station or something and the kind woman tells us where we need to go and, more importantly, calls a taxi for us. The 10 minute taxi ride to the hotel cost almost as much as the 90 minute bus ride from Assisi. But I didn't care! We had made it without being hit by a speeding Italian and in less than an hour. Phew.

The rest of our time in Siena was pretty uneventful. We wandered the city, ate and relaxed. We needed it after the events of the morning! We are definitely getting our fill of pasta, pizza and gelato. Hopefully, all the walking is making up for all the consumption. :)

Next time . . . Michelangelo's magnificent David and Pisa's Leaning Tower.

Marriage

I thought I'd take a break from the honeymoon to blog about the wedding. For some pics from the day, you can go here. I have been meditating on "the" day, but I can't wrap words around what just happened in my life. In a way it seems so natural . . . I married my best friend and can't imagine spending my life with anyone else. When I think of my life without Brook . . . well, I don't like to think about that! But it's contemplating the sacrament of marriage that is such a mystery. The other sacraments seem somewhat simple - Baptism, Holy Communion, Confirmation, etc - they were (are) between God and I. Now, I have entered into a sacrament where I not only have to think about God, but another person. The Catholic Church teaches that through marriage, you help to lead your spouse to Heaven. WOW. How do you wrap your mind around THAT?

Back to the wedding . . . it was beautiful and went off without a hitch. I still have trouble thinking about the day without tearing up. We were humbled that people came from so far to celebrate our marriage and can't express how grateful we are to our parents and siblings who helped so much, especially my siblings who were there to set up on Friday and tear down Saturday night. We are so thankful and love you very much!

Ahhh . . . Assisi

We both agree that Assisi is a treasure in the heart of Italy. We loved being here. The 2 quotes of our day in the small city were "We have problem," and "Water is for washing." When we arrived, after taking the train from Rome (with no hiccups), we went to our hotel and the lady at the front desk says the first quote to us. She then says, "You see, we have group staying here and no rooms left." (Imagine her heavy Italian accent and broken English.) I had a feeling this would happen, since I had read reviews about this hotel before making the reservation. They did have another, just as nice, room waiting for us. It was simple, but only 55 Euro, so we weren't expecting the Hilton.

The view of Old Town Assisi from the valley

A pic of our hotel. We had to take this, b/c (as you can see) there is no sign. We were afraid we wouldn't be able to find it when we came back at night!!!

We spent the day leisurely walking through the city and going to the Basilicas of St. Clare and St. Francis. For our non-Catholic friends, St. Francis invented the custom of using the Nativity scene in the 1200's as a way to teach people about the birth of Christ. He is also one of the most beloved saints in the Church. In the evening, we found a quant little restaurant, overlooking the valley. We were enjoying a great Italian meal with homemade wine, when we struck up a conversation with 2 men at the next table. After 3 hours, we found out they were father and son and had walked from Germany on a sort of 40 day pilgrimage! The father also knew the owner of the restaurant and he joined us for much of the night. This is where the 2nd quote comes in. Noticing we had a bottle of water on the table, the men say to us "Water is for washing." LOL. It was a very memorable evening and at the end, we exchanged contact info with our new German friends. They invited us to Germany for Octoberfest and the owner of the restaurant says we have to return to Assisi with "bambino." We told him we would. :) Assisi is magical and we will be back.

In front of the basilica of St Francis - one of my favorite saints!

Our new friends

P.S. A HUGE thank-you to my friend Karen, who was so kind to offer her jacket to me for the trip. It has rained 3 of the 4 days we have been here and the jacket has been a Godsend!

Roma - Day 3!!!!

Well, today was the much anticipated Papal Audience and, as you can see from the picture, we were pretty close! This was the main reason we came to Italy on our honeymoon and was definitely worth it. It was a once-in-a lifetime experience, we will never forget! The Audience itself was mostly in different languages, so we didn't understand much, but being feet from the Holy Father made that ok! :)


Our time at the Internet Cafe' is almost up, so I have to summarize quickly. Besides the Papal Audience, we spent the afternoon exploring the Colloseum and Roman Forum. We ended the day by going through the Basilica of St John Latern and the Holy Stairs. We are TIRED! Tomorrow, we leave for Assisi and are looking forward to a little peace and quiet after the craziness of Rome. Love to you all at home!

The Impressive Colloseum

The Roman Forum

Roma - Day 2!

What a busy day! We headed to the Vatican early, as we had our Scavi tour at 9:15. The Swiss guards wouldn't let us go back to the place where the tour started and we didn't know why. Luckily, an American priest was standing next to us, who spoke Italian, and told us that the pope was on his way to the earthquake site and would be coming out of the Vatican in just a few minutes. So, a group of 12 of us stood there as the Holy Father drove by in his motorcade - a pretty cool experience! Next we went on our tour, which was a tour of the excavations under the Vatican and the place where St Peter's remains were found. It was an amazing tour to take part in. Next, we toured St. Peter's Basilica and were amazed at the sheer magnitude of the church!! The pieta' was one of our favorite parts. After an over-priced lunch, we went through the Vatican Museum, which ends at the Sistine Chapel - SO beautiful!

Now, it was about 2 o'clock and we had some time to kill before we had to pick up our tickets for the Papal Audience, so we took the Metro down to St Paul's Outside the Walls. This basilica holds the remains of St. Paul and (as the title states!) is outside the city. It is a lot more peaceful here!

Now, it was time to pick up our long-awaited tickets. We stopped at the Trevi fountain on the way back and Brook doesn't think it should be called a "fountain," but rather a waterpark. LOL. It is quite a site to see! We picked up our tickets and decided to climb the 300+ steps to the top of the Vatican (AKA the Cuppola, which is the dome Michelangelo designed.) I now wonder why I thought this was a good idea, since I am deathly afraid of heights!!! Brook held my hand and I stayed FAR away from the edge when we got to the top - what a waste of 7 Euro! Brook did enjoy the experience, though and took some awesome pictures.

We are doing pretty well at navigating through the city without too much bickering and really enjoying our time just being able to be together and finally married!

St. Peter's Square!

The Pieta'

Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

Trevi Fountain

View from the top of the dome (Brook took this!!)

Roma - Day 1!

We arrived in Rome Monday afternoon after a pretty uneventful flight. We were delayed for a bit in Paris - only 30 minutes or so - so it didn't throw our plans off too much. By the time we took the train from the airport to hotel, it was 5:30 and most things (like churches and basilicas) close at 7. So, we went to the Basilica of St. Mary Major (supposedly the place that holds remnants of the manger from Christ's birth) and then out to dinner. We were pretty whipped after a long day of travel, so we just headed back to the hotel to get ready for the next day. Speaking of the hotel - it is beautiful! It is down a quiet sidestreet and is very elegant.

Basilica of St Mary Major

I'm Back

As you can tell from the date of my last post, I've had no desire to blog lately. I have mixed feelings about this blog thing. But here I am again.

Some BIG things have happened in the last 3 months . . .

- Wes and Jaime had their little girl in February - "Julia Joanne." She is a beautie! Julia and Sophie are just 2 weeks apart. They will have fun growing up together!

- I received a job transfer and sold my house all within a week! Can you believe that? What a relief this was! Everything is right with the world again :-) and I can finally focus on moving ahead with my life. For awhile, I was afraid Brook and I would have to live separate after the wedding.

- Brook became Catholic on Saturday at the Easter Vigil Mass at Holy Spirit in Grand Rapids. My parents, Veronica, Brandon, Sophie and Hannah all came up to be there for it and show their support for Brook. I am full of joy knowing we will share the same faith when we get married.

- We signed the lease for our condo in Grand Haven over the weekend. I actually signed the lease before seeing the place! Brook found the condominiums, said how great they were and I took his word for it (wow, who am I?) It's a great 1st little home for us and only a mile to Lake Michigan. We are surrounded by hiking and biking paths and are both excited for the summer.

- And of course, the wedding prep continues. Our family and friends threw us wonderful showers and we received many, many nice things. Brook and I had a blast at our respective bachelor and bachelorette parties! Thank-you to Cory, Veronica, Hannah and everyone else who organized the events and made us feel so special.

Almost everything is set for the wedding. People keep telling me not to be nervous, but I'm not nervous or anxious at all! With the house selling and job transfer finally happening, I am full of peace. I am full of excitement for my move, my new job and most of all to finally be married to my best friend! (Are you gagging yet? :-) )))

I won't pretend my life is perfect. I know it never will be, but I look at it, at this very moment, and wonder what I did to deserve all this? God has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams by placing Brook in my life and arranging everything else to fall into place. I am so thankful.