Monkey loves the earth, too.

I suppose I should be a good little earth-lovin' girl and talk about something Earth Day-ish. But, in reality, I am spending the day hiding from the rain and dampness and making cupcakes for my sister's birthday celebration tomorrow. In my defense, I appreciate the earth every day in my choices to cut down on my own water consumption, waste production, and product use. I feel I have made a huge difference in my environmental-friendliness in the past year and a half, so I can rationalize not specifically celebrating Earth Day.

Can you tell I feel a wee bit guilty? Now on to my real post:

Over this past Christmas holiday, the boy and I took a trip to Italy, leaving on December 27 and coming home on January 6. Our trip started out in Rome for 5 days, during which we popped down to Pompeii on New Year's Eve Day, and we left for Florence on New Year's Day, where we spent the rest of the trip. We had originally tossed around the idea of hopping over to Pisa (we realised that the only thing there to see was a leaning tower that doesn't lean as much anymore) and Venice ("ooh, there's a canal! ... and ... there's another canal...") but, with our tight timeframe and so much to do in Florence, we decided to stay there for the remainder.

We spent so much time walking and visiting places, and drinking wine. I knit a couple of headbands (I finally answered your question, Michelle!) with my plastic airplane-approved needles as well as a pretty sad kerchief. At least it helped me pass time on the plane and the train. Varied vegan food was a bit scarce in Rome, where I mostly ate pizza crust with sauce only. In Florence, however, Spaghetti Carritiera (a spicy sauce with tomatoes and parsley) was common. And delicious.

And now:

~~ Monkey Does Italia! ~~

It is stupid o'clock in the morning

at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, where we had a stopover.
Monkey says "Hallo en feestelijk inhalen!"

Of course, he wasn't the one getting felt up by the customs officer*.

It is a very rainy day,
and Monkey is having trouble finding Colosseo.

Silly, Monkey. It's right behind you.

In Pompeii, Monkey is a little afraid of a volcanic eruption,
but all worries subside when he catches a chance glimpse of
the Olympic Torch** passing through the city!

Monkey poses for a photo before heading into
the Basilica di Santa Croce in Firenze
- that's Florence to most of you... Monkey is a travel snob -
to see the tomb of that guy who painted that ceiling.

/slide show


* I was the one who had my boobs grabbed by the customs officer. We found out, on our way home, that body checks had been suspended because a woman complained that she was inappropriately frisked.

** We really did see the torch go by as we ate our lunch in a small cafe outside the ruins!