Walking on the shady side of the street

I am loving Rome. It's hot and full of tourists, but that's ok because it's beautiful and there's lots to things to explore. I've located the few places in Rome that sell vegan gelato and have been eating it daily, but alternating between the stores so the staff don't get suspicious. Spaghetti pomodoro and pizza marina are also featuring pretty heavily in my diet at the moment.

I went to The Vatican yesterday, and even though I'm happy I went, I'm also happy to say that that is one country I will never be visiting again, haha. The crowds were just horrendous.

This is in the hallway leading up to the Sistine Chapel. Photography is forbidden inside the Sistine Chapel because a Japanese company (Nikon, I think?) cleaned it a few years ago and now have the copyright on it.

This is me, in St. Peters Square. Just finished the 3 hour tour and was in the process of getting as far away from any person/crowd as I could manage. Behind me is St. Peters Basilica, which was beautiful to be inside and look at, but as I said I was a little sick of all the crowds at that point, so I barely spent more than 5 minutes in there.

Tonight is my last night in Europe and tomorrow I will be getting on a plane to Singapore. I am MOST EXCITED about this. I would like to go out and be all crazy tonight, but to be honest I just don't see it happening. I might just stuff myself with enough pasta to hold me off until the next time I come to Italy and call it a night.

So I get back to Perth in... 9 days now (!!!) and I'm so excited to see my friends and family. I'm also interested to see how things have changed, and, in that, ever-so-slightly worried about how I will cope with these changes as I encounter them. I'm expecting to see changes within my friends group (which is something I cannot control, so no point in worrying), as well as in my personal relationships with certain individuals (which is something that I can control... or really, I can control my part within said relationship). Um, so yeah, there's that.

I'm hoping to put up another post or two before finishing up this blog, but still, the end is fast approaching. I like blogging, I'm really glad I chronicled my exchange/travel adventures. It'll be interesting to look back on once I'm done.

Ciao,

Cathryn.

Things to do when I get back to Perth/Goals for the next 6-12 months

I'm in Rome at the moment. Here's a list of things:

-Take up hula hooping.
-Take up yoga.
-Get more involved in Perth art scene (Friday night openings, voluntering/internships/entering competitions)
-Do final semester of uni. Do it really, really well.
-Get tattooed.
-Get accepted into honours (my grades are good enough, so hopefully I do).
-Move out of home (time frame: by the end of the year).
-Work over the summer, possibly phonebook delivery (I did that last summer, it pays really well) as well as gallery work.
-Travel US and Canada June/July 2013.

Revelling in wunderlust

Oh man, getting myself to sit down and write this update has been hard. My laptop has had some problems (not turning on, keyboard not working, fun stuff), so that was hindering me at first... and now, now it's just me. I'm being the hinderance. I just don't know what to talk about. Expect lots of rambling.

I'm in Munich, which is my half-way point, both time-wise and geographically. Prague was amazing, I get warm-fuzzies just thinking about the good times I had there. I miss it already, haha. Vienna was beautiful - ornate, austure buildings and clean/orderly streets (a noticable difference to Berlin). After the craziness of Berlin and Prague I told myself I'd give myself (or really, my liver) some down time, so in terms of socialising Vienna was unremarkable. Vienna was like this: art, art, food, sleep, art all over again. Satisfying.

I've found that what has been standing out for me on this trip to far has been the experiences I've been having with the people I meet, rather than being awed or challenged by my surrounds. I've met some really cool people (Canadians, US-ians, Germans, Irish, etc) and it's those experiences and interactions that make me most happy, and are most fulfulling. Again, satisfying.

Yesterday a small bird fell out of the sky (it hit the pavement with a soft smack) just behind me and a friend from my hostel. It was in shock, so we just held it for a little while (it was in the road, we couldn't leave it), and then it flew away when it was ready.

A few days ago I met up with some people from CouchSurfing and visited some art galleries. Great art, great people. I might never see them again in my life, but that doesn't matter.

Last week I went to a Czech beer festival, had a few steins of beer and then went on the bumper cars with a friend. This one is a warm fuzzy memory.

This is Munich:

And... this is me awkwardly, and abruptly, finishing this post.
Thanks for reading :)
Cathryn.