Switch from Sails to Steam

Last night was the final night we all spent at the Villa. It may not be the end of an era, but it's certainly the end of a great three weeks, and while I didn't always get along with everyone, we had a good group and at least kept each other entertained (Chiacchiera, anyone?).

MR, ABo, ABe, PK, DI, CD, and I went up to J. J. Hill's late - after some of us had finished first drafts of our papers and others (DI) had not even started. We saw Francesco, who asked repeatedly after RK, and had a drink and fries while generally making fun of DI for whatever he did or said. Luckily he's a good sport and a sweetheart - otherwise I think we would have left him alone*.

This morning most of us slept in, then spent a few hours working on our papers. The printer broke, so we resorted to emailing our papers to CJ and CL, and I also managed to lose my key** and break my IPink***. Luckily, I found my key in the dryer - it was dirty and wanted to hang with my laundry - and ABo fixed my IPink. Meanwhile, BMo, KM, and RK took pictures and made video tours of the Villa, and DI watched basketball and pretended to begin his paper. The maids let us be lazy - they left breakfast out until 10:30, which is unprecedented. I was shocked and awed (in the best way possible) to return from my run**** to find I could still have a roll with honey. The maids also waited until late morning to make our beds and clean our rooms. Have I mentioned that daily maid service is really nice?

MR and I are currently on the train to Venice, where we'll spend the weekend before heading to the Amalfi Coast. We'll be back at the Villa to spend Sunday night and have a party with OK, ABo, and DI (if we can convince him to come back up to Fiesole). Monday we'll hop on a 5-hour train to Sorrento, where we'll stay for 3 nights while exploring the Amalfi Coast (MR has an awesome itinerary laid out for us, so I'm pretty excited).

Now that business is out of the way, I should mention that I've been thinking a lot about oceans recently. Maybe it's because CJ loves teaching about the ocean, or because I've been writing about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or because Jimmy Buffett is currently playing on my IPod*****. Aren't oceans interesting, though? I can't imagine such huge expanses of seeing NOTHING but the same everywhere - waves, I mean, on the ocean; I hear (okay, read) that you can sail for days in the Pacific just seeing waves and nothing else. There's no sign that you're even moving absent the wind in your hair. Is that thrilling or terrifying or just boring? I can't decide. Thinking of it makes me want to go out and try it. I think it must be one of those things you either love or hate. I would miss land, I'm sure - but it seems that every time you do something new and exciting there's something to miss, and I don't agree with living by the Aerosmith philosophy ("I don't want to miss a thing", anyone? Sidenote: how creepy was it that in "Armaggedon" Steven Tyler's daughter had a sex scene to that song? The answer is, "very").

It's a Catch-22, kind of, because to miss things you have to create experiences with people and places to miss on the next experience.

I think I would like to see the Great Pacific Garbage Patch for myself. I want to go through the Horse Lattitudes. I learned the other day that they got their name because ships would hit a wall of no wind there and throw their horses off the side to conserve water. Freaky for sure. I wouldn't want to hit doldrums in the middle of a giant horse graveyard. Luckily, ships have switche from sail to steam (Jimmy Buffett says so), and if my adventure to and through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch ever actually happens I won't have to rely on the wind.

Anyway, I'm off now to try and focus back on canals and Venice so I don't concentrate on oceans all weekend. Ciao -

*Maybe. His boy-diary, Justin, is pretty easy to make fun of. None of us managed to read it, but he says it has complete descriptions of all his meals sÍnce January 2nd. He likes to remember what he eats, I guess.
**Really, on the last day.
***Ít's an IPod, but pink. It's also used exclusively for evercising, particularly running.
****Cue "Chariots of Fire", please
*****Markedly different from the IPink, especially since I am definitely not running right now.