begin scene of nostalgia.

After Venice I had a decently hectic week. Kate was in town so I had to juggle schoolwork and finding time to hang out with her. Mostly she wandered around on her own while I was in class, which she is used to because she is quite the traveller. I did accompany her to the Pantheon, unfortunately just too late in the day and we missed the sun, Trevi Fountain, and attempted to at the Vatican. We didn't end up finding each other there, but that was cool with me cause I really just wanted to get home and work on studio. We also made some pretty delicious Italian dinners throughout the week after going to the open air market Monday morning and doing all the shopping for it. Kate left yesterday morning very early, and I left a couple of hours after her for a class trip to Fabriano.

This trip was our last here, not including Spring Break, and was technically for Italian class. It was a lot of fun. Fabriano has been famous for paper making for hundreds of years, and we got to make our own paper. We had lunch in this amazing little restaurant, a kind of artsy store and restaurant fusion. The food was delicious and we had this salad with barley and carrots and peas and it was amazing. The second I tasted it I could imagine myself eating an entire bowl of it on a hot summer day. It was perfect, and I'm going to figure out how to make it. The part of our day yesterday that was by far the best was on our way out of Fabriano where we stopped in a couple of parks with playgrounds. Some people took turns on the see-saw, and most everyone took at least one turn on the zip line. I was taking pictures of it all and got some priceless photos. It was such a relaxing day, and we were able to forget about school and reality for a little while and just be kids again. It was great. I think we all miss those days sometimes.

Today we made our way back to Rome with stops in a couple of towns. The first place we saw a gorgeous cave. It's amazing what nature can produce. That took longer than expected, so we switched up our itinerary and went straight to our final stop in Spoleto. It was raining and I didn't have my umbrella, but it wasn't cold so I was fine with it. We saw a former papal fortress that was converted into a prison until the 1980s, and got to go across this beautiful medieval bridge over the valley between the mountains. The view was breathtaking, and all I could really think about was how much I want to go back to Ruidoso as soon as possible. I can never get enough of that place.

On Friday night or Saturday morning, I have yet to figure out which, I will be heading off to Budapest to kick off Spring Break. I am very excited, but I just have to get through my Italian final on Friday first. It should be fairly easy considering I've got A's on every quiz in that class. Now it's time to get some homework done. Not the best way to end a relaxing weekend, but it's gotta be done. Only 5 more weeks!