I woke up this morning to news of a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida. The deadliest massacre in American history. Prior to opening fire the gunman declared his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The FBI are tearing their hair out. World leaders tweeting their hearts out. Loved ones crying their eyes out.
sad that Steph and the kids will be waking up to this as well. Half a world away yet no less close to home.
#InMilan
Today we came to Milan. We were picked up by Paulo’s Dad and his wife at the airport. They dropped us off at Paulo’s Mom’s house and we ate dinner with a bunch of other people. We had pesto pasta and meat pasta. I liked the pesto. I had 4 servings of pasta. I was full. But I didn’t know that there was 2 other servings. So I just skipped the rest and had dessert. I had pistachio, stratiatella, and hezelnut ice cream. It was delicious! We stayed up and talked for a while and then went to bed. By the time we all fell asleep it was around 1:30! We had a really fun day.
Today was really fun. We went to go see the one of the most famous statue’s in the world, it was created Micheal Angelo. I also got to get a charcoal picture of myself done. It turned out really good. When we got back to the apartment, we got to meet one of Lucas’s friends and his Mom. They went to the park but Julia and I stayed home, we were super tired from walking so much. And we couldn’t make much conversation because they didn’t know much English. Today is sadly our last day in Florence, next we are going to Milan. So far Florence has been my favorite place we’ve been so far. It has a lot of cool things to see and has been a really great experience.
Just got Frank to the ferry with seconds to spare to cap off a really great visit. It’s so easy to hang with him but, after 20+ years of being friends, I guess it should be. We played tennis. Ping pong. Poker. Ate. Drank. Went to the pool. Port Townsend. Biked around Ft Word. He helped me move a planter. We face timed with Steph in Italy. He’s really a great friend and it was fun to have him here for a few days.
I was in Capri for three days and I was at a beach for a while and I jumped off a rock with my friends. I’m in Florence And I taught my friends how to play Texas Hold ‘Em. And we went to the top of a big mountain. The scenery was beautiful. We took a motor boat ride around the island of Capri. Then, we hopped onto a rowboat into the Blue Grotto. The Grotto is a cave that the Roman king Tiberius swam in. In fact, there used to be a secret passage from the king’s castle to the cave, but now it’s filled with rocks.
I had an amazing time in Capri! We had a lot of gelato! And we played soccer with other Italian kids. They were a lot better than us. We also took a boat ride along the Mediterranean Sea. We were gonna go to the Grotto that day but it was a two hour wait! So we decided just to wake up early the next day so we can do the Grotto. We had to enter the Grotto in little row boats because the entrance is too small for the motor boats that we took. People have gotten stuck in the Grotto for hours because the tide came in while they were inside of the Grotto. Thankfully we didn’t! But I am sad because we are leaving Capri today. We get to take a two hour train to Florence!
I find myself checking this site numerous times a day. Looking, longing, languishing for signs of life. I get quick texts from Steph (mostly at 5am my time) with some random pics of her with Italian guys in white pants but otherwise radio silence from the kids. They’re not even hijacking my Spotify account which either means they’re dead or they are just so immersed in local surroundings that they’re too busy to write.
I hope it’s the latter but please post. I’m missing you
😉
Did a lot of bike riding this weekend.
On Saturday I went from our house to the Bainbridge ferry, across the West Seattle bridge and along the Alki trail to the beach. It was a shimmering day in the PNW with a ton of boats and activity on the water. I took my shirt off and for a stretch there it felt like I was back in Southern California cruising along the strand.
On Sunday I opted for a different kind of experience. I went to Port Gamble and rented a mountain bike at the Olympic Outdoor Center with dual shocks in front and back. I put the bike in my car and drove to nearby Stottlemeyer where single tracks intertwine with service roads in a 4,000 acre expanse of trails. I had never ridden a bike like that before nor pushed myself on any technical terrain. Grooving to music, trail map in hand, I was careful to check myself before wrecking myself.
I’ll have to take Steph and the kids when they get back.
