The End

"Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things - air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky - all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it."
- Cesare Parese

Well, this is going to be my last post.

It has been an unbelievable and life changing adventure ... none of which I thought I would be able to encounter. Words can't describe how much I have enjoyed this trip and I can't even to begin to describe my feelings towards everything I have experienced. None of it could have been done though without the amazing backing of my family and friends, and of course the immense amount of strength that I gained from God.

A couple days ago, I was in Barcelona. I went with Elyse and we spent some much needed time in the sun. The architecture of Barcelona blew my mind and I absolutely loved the city. It was hard to leave Elyse though, knowing that I was parting from this new amazing friend and not knowing when I would see her again. That has become the hardest part about traveling for me ... meeting so many incredible people and most likely, never seeing them again. I wish I could have kept all the guardian angels that I came across.

My last trip, and where I am now for a couple more hours, was Salzburg. Salzburg was my Grandmother's favorite place in the world. Perhaps it was because of the breathtaking scenery, the Edelweiss flower she so adored, or even the memories of the Sound of Music. Whichever the case, I had to come to Salzburg to be with my Gramere. I felt her and I saw her everywhere ... in the Alps, in the flowers, in the people, and all throughout the hikes I took through the city. Salzburg was everything I dreamed it would be and I am so saddened that I can't spend more time here. I did stay an extra day though instead of trying to pack in Vienna as well ... so now I just have another excuse to come back to Europe and of course, Austria.

I have so many emotions right now just thinking about going back to Roma for a couple days because that means I am only less than a week away from going home. If any of you have seen the movie Almost Famous you will know how I feel. Remember at the end when William has to go home? You know he doesn't want to leave but at the same time he knows home is where he belongs and he knows it's calling him back. Remember the part when he comes home and just collapses onto his bed because he is too tired to even process what he has just been through? That's how I feel right now. Maybe it's just an excuse to compare my life to my favorite movie but in any case, that's how my life can be summed up right now.

Thanks to everyone for reading my blog. However, if any of you would like some true entertainment, please read my friend's blog. Make sure you start at the beginning because her trip was a semester long adventure as well. www.christineprice.blogspot.com

You are loved and prayed for,
Kaitlin

"Adventure is a path. Real adventure - self-determined, self-motivated, often risky - forces you to have firsthand encounters wit the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and the bottomless cruelty of human kind - and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever againbe black and white."
- Mark Jenkins

"At least God doesn't think He's Bono"

Erin go bragh!

Well I am in Dublin ... leaving in a couple hours for Barcelona! :)

I spent about 2 days in Galway, and it was amazing. I loved it. It was a pretty small town along the coast, but it's the 3rd largest city in Ireland. I went on a bus/walking tour that took a whole day. The tour dropped you off on a farm in the Burren mountains. John took us on a tour through the mountains and his farm. He majored in Irish History and came back to his family farm to give tours and help out his family. Ireland, until the 1990s, was mainly a farming country and many families used to be only substinence farmers. It was amazing to just see the country side and the Irish farms. It was beautiful. Green and cows everywhere ... so different from Roma.

The tour also went to the Cliffs of Moher. Holy shit. Beautiful. Just one of those places I never thought I would actually see and the pictures won't serve it justice. The craziest part was watching all of the surfers 200 meters down in some of the largest waves in the world.

On the tour, there was actually a girl from Notre Dame that had been at John Cabot. Neither of us knew we would be in Galway so it was really fun to run into her. I went with her and a couple of other people I met on the bus tour to a pub that night. I had my 2 pints of Guinness and yes, it does taste different and better in Ireland.

On Friday I made it to Dublin pretty early in the day and just walked around the city a bit. I went to the Jameson Distillery (which should be Whiskey History's new headquarters) and St. Patrick's Cathedral. I wish I had more time to explore, but I spent an extra day in Galway which I actually enjoyed a lot better.

Anyways, more to come later. Wish me luck on remembering all my Spanish. The Italian may be mixed in there a bit!

You are loved and prayed for,
Kaitlin

p.s. Sorry, I won't be able to upload anymore pictures on this site and picasa. I am at my quota and they want to charge me money to put up more. I'll show them all when I get home though for anyone that's interested!

"There's such a lot of world to see"

Hello!

Okay, so I am in Galway.
Rome ended on Saturday. It was some kind of cruel joke that my finals finished 5:30 on Thursday night and then I had to leave by noon on Saturday. We had to be out. Went out to dinner both Thursday and Friday nights with the roomies. On Friday, we went to Villa Borghese and had a good going away siesta. I miss everyone already. It was a lot harder to leave than I thought it would be. I left this amazing odd-ball family behind and one of the most beautiful places in the entire world. I am so looking forward to going back before I head home.

Anyways, I left for London on Saturday with Elyse. We made it to London and through the tube without directions from the hostel. Yes, applause is okay ... I will allow it. We saw anything and everything, and the blisters on my feet can prove it. London was amazing. I loved every minute of it. I may have to move back. On one of the nights, one of my family friends, Tom Boyd, took us around for the day and to see Billy Elliot on London's Broadway. It was an amazing show, but as Elyse said, the UK must not have child labor laws for the amount of work those kids must be doing.

Some highlights:
-Minding the gap
-London Eye
-Thames
-Globe Theatre
-Big Ben
-Westminster Abbey
-Trafalgar Square
-National Gallery
-Portrait Museum (with a Dylan exhibit)
-Double decker bus tour
-Tower of London
-London Bridge
-St. James and St. Paul's Churches
-Irish pub
-Abbey Road
-Notting Hill
-St. Jame's Park
-Buckingham Palace - and changing of the guard (yes, Mom, I have video)
-Being broke and loving every minute of it

Today, I arrived in Galway. I traveled all day ... flew to Dublin and then took the 3 hour bus to Galway. Tomorrow I am going on a tour to the Cliffs of Moher. Yes, I love my life too. Also, other funny thing ... they pronounce my name KAtlin. Those of you that know, will understand the irony.


I am home in 2 weeks! Weird!
"Michigan seems like a dream to me now ... "

You are all loved and prayed for,
Kaitlin