All Work and No Play Makes Lisa a Dull Blog

Yikes! I haven't posted anything since July! I was hoping that I would become less busy as more of our project staff arrived (including my boss) but somehow the work just seems to keep increasing. I have had some small amounts of fun over the past few months, like discovering a big mall above my grocery store. And discovering more restaurants to eat in - although I still haven't made it to the Mexican restaurant. And just today we discovered a pretty good cappucino place! And I got to go to the beach in Italy! It was great, although very very hot. It made me miss my little room air conditioning units! But now that September is here in Kyiv, it's actually already starting to feel chilly. The nights are getting down to the 50s, but the daytime is still in the high 60s or 70s. So it's nice crisp weather. Well, more like October weather back in DC, but it's still nice. We'll see what I think of the weather here in a few months! And when it gets cold, I'll just have to try and remember how I also don't like the heat... Actually, the weather right now is perfect, so I'll do my best to enjoy it while it lasts.



The highlight of the Italy trip (besides seeing I.M. and finally going back to the Baths of Caracalla) was our trip to the "Grotte di Pastena". The signs promised us "emozione in piu" - emotions and more! But the sign also made it look as if the Grotto was a local attraction, perhaps in the next town if not the one we started in. Two hours later.... still no grotto!!! But there were still signs, just when each time we thought we were lost and would never find it. Luckily, we made it in time before it closed and got to go see it. It was pretty cool, but I don't know about "emozione in piu". We think the emotions referenced on the sign referred to the hopelessness and mild distress about driving through the middle of Italy in search for a grotto that may or may not actually exist... But it was neat. There were pipistrelli! (bats) And a few parts made me a little claustrophobic. Especially when they mentioned that we were 50 m underground! :( But we survived. And also realized where we were so that we could make it back to our campsite in just 1 hour instead of the 2 it took to get there. But I will say that the drive there was beautiful. So maybe that was the "emozione in piu". Isn't that saying that life is about the journey not the destination? That should be the Grotto di Pastena's motto also! Hee hee. The website sortof makes it look very dramatic!
~L

(outside the grotto - actually above it technically)

Walkups Abroad!

My mom, dad, aunt, bro and I returned safely (if reluctantly) from our Italy vacation!  It was lots of fun, and although it rained a little bit (the whole second week!) we got to see and do everything we wanted!  And of course we got to eat lots of great Italian food!  Also, everyone met my boyfriend who was very well liked by all - especially when he was helping to carry the suitcases!  We went to Venice, Rome, and Florence.  Luckily, we were in Venice the weekend before the flooding!  It snowed a little bit while we were there!  In Rome, we had lovely weather, and a perfect day to have a fabulous picnic in the Forum.  We enjoyed proscuitto, braesola, bread, and cheese, and of course prosecco and some white wine!  It was amazing.  Some of the other tourists were even taking pictures of us eating (that was weird).  Thanksgiving we also had amazing weather and got to eat Thanksgiving lunch at the same restaurant that I went to last year on the Appian Way.  But then the rain started when we went to Florence.  It wasn't too bad, or at least not when we couldn't wait it out in the hotel drinking vino and snacking on fruit and cheese before going to dinner!  And playing bananagrams!  I did not end up running the marathon on my birthday, but it was a lovely birthday none the less, actually all the more!  We saw the marathon runners though, and it actually looked quite nice and not too crowded.  Sadly, even 2 weeks went by in a flash, and it was back to the real world.  But, as you will see in the next post, I did get to come back to some exciting news....  (to be continued!)  But first, I am going to attempt to add a Picasa Web Albumn to show the rest of the photos from the trip!

~L

Buon Viaggio!

I had a great trip to visit my friend in Italy! We went to lots of cool places. I started with a trip to the Vatican museum while he finished up work. There is definitely lots to see there! I had been before, but enjoyed revisiting. I rented an "electronic tour guide" and got to learn about the Egyptian collection, the Etruscan collection, the sculptures, the tapestries, and the Raphael Rooms. Very neat stuff. Most of it was "purchased" by various popes as they worked to assemble the Vatican collection. Being in Rome always reminds me of how little of history I know!

Then we rented a car and went on several adventures outlying towns. We tried to go to the Tivoli gardens but it was too crowded! But we had a nice lunch in Tivoli anyway. We saw the Acropolis of Alatri and would have looked at the stars that its alignment is based on, except it was a little cloudy. It was very cool and the walls are very old - over 2400 yrs!

Saturday we drove in traffic with all of the other Romans to go to the beach. We went to the beach in Terracina which looks up at "Il tempio di giove" (The temple of Jupiter) which is shown in the picture. After having a nice picnic on the beach we drove up the mountain to visit the temple. It was very cool, although we didn't actually fully realize what we were looking at until the end. But then it all made sense!
We tried to avoid some traffic and drive home on the old Appian Way, however, the roads aren't exactly marked in any consistent way, so there was some adventure involved! We ended up in the Castelli Romani area and in the town of Frascati for a great dinner (and of course Frascati wine).

For my last day in town, we had a relaxed lunch and went to the Park of the Aqueducts to people watch. We had a great supper at the restaurant on the Appian Way where we ate for Thanksgiving. It was still very yummy! And we even had room for dessert!

So a quick but fun filled trip! I can't wait to go back! I'm not sure yet if I'll get to go next for work or vacation, but at least I know I'll be going for my birthday... and my birthday marathon in Florence!

Ciao!
~Lisa