Thirteen Things about LINDSEY
1. Realized that I hadn’t scratched off #35 on my 101 in 1001 – yup, by now I’ve traveled to Europe, LOL!
2. Update from before – I released one book in France and two in Italy through Bookcrossing. That was really cool 
! In Italy, our tour guide found the books not five minutes after I released them and thought someone in our tour group had lost them. He was asking everyone if they belonged to them, and my whole family kept saying “you should say they’re yours” . . . but I didn’t, and he finally put them back. Haha, it was a close call .
3. The second night we had supper, our chatty couple was not there and we had the whole table to ourselves, which was nice. Then the third night we had a fun British couple sit at our table, and they have been our tablemates ever since. It has been fun 
.
4. Last Thursday was the day we spent in France. We docked at Marseille, then rode a bus to Arles (where we saw several locations that van Gogh painted, including the famous cafe painting) and Le Baux (which was a cute little village with shops and an old church). I bought a great table cloth and matching napkins to go on my new table in the apartment when we were shopping in Le Baux.
5. On Friday we went to Florence, Italy. It was amazing to see so many old buildings, bridges, and churches! We saw Michelangelo’s David. It is HUGE! I didn’t realize just how tall that thing is! And carved from one piece of marble. Amazing . . .
6. On Saturday we were in Rome. The first thing we did was go wait in line at the Vatican. We got into the line around 8:15AM. And we waited. And we waited. The line snaked all around the outer wall of Vatican City, probably a mile long. We didn’t get into the Vatican until about 10AM. I was sooo sunburned once we got done, haha. Bought sunscreen that night on the ship!
7. Once we got inside the Vatican, it was amazing. First we went through this long hallway that was full of amazing paintings – like, the walls were all painted, not hanging paintings. Then the next long room was full of tapestries that are about four hundred years old. It was crazy! Then, the next room was the Sistine Chapel. Wow. There just aren’t even words. It was so incredibly beautiful, and the whole room just had this feeling to it. Then we went into the main church which had so many wonderful things in it. It was also HUGE – there was this boarder around the roof with words written in Latin. It looked like a small boarder compared to the rest of the church, but then our guide told us that the letters are SIX FEET TALL. Crazy! And as we were leaving the church, we saw a baptism happening. It was nice to know that not only is the church in the Vatican, not only is it full of amazing art, but it is still a church that is in actual use!
8. Then we went to see the Coliseum, which was really cool! I kind of knew what the inside would look like with the different layers and seats and stuff, but I never knew what the bottom looked like! Under the floor there was a whole other layer of hallways and elevators and things – there were about 60 trap doors in the floor! From a theatrical standpoint, I was facinated.
9. On Sunday we went to the Napoli region of Italy. We first went to Pompeii to see the ruins. I was thinking we’d see some rubbled city buildings and a bunch of pieces of pottery. No no no. They have uncovered a MASSIVE city. There are still two, three story buildings there, massive columns, and all the streets. That was crazy – the city is so large, and there are still obvious distinctions between the various shops and such. It would have been amazing back in its peak. Then we went to Sorrento, a fun little city that is full of shops and beautiful flowers. We bought som beautiful ceramics there. Then we took a boat to Capri. My goodness, it’s so beautiful!!! I have never seen so many green things. Trees, flowers, plants . . . it was breathtaking. We mostly just had shopping time there, so we wandered around the shops a little bit, then we wandered into a residential area. It was near to see the different little houses, mailboxes . . . I’m facinated by the life in these other countries!
10. The next day was a day at sea, which we were most definitely needing by this point, haha! We just rested, read books, did some laundry, hahaha.
11. Then on Tuesday we went to Mykonos, Greece. It really is all white houses with colored shutters! I didn’t see a single building that wasn’t white. We went in lots of shops there and I got an exquisite painting made by the daughter of a shop owner. It is a painting of the Annunciation, with 18 carat gold leaf. My first substantial piece of art. I am absolutely thrilled.
12. Yesterday was Istanbul, Turkey. We saw the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. They were OK – they were not in as good condition as all the buildings in Italy. I guess they just don’t take good care of their historical buildings. It was neat to see them though – I’ve never been in a mosque before. Then we went to the Sultan’s Palace, which was quite lush. We didn’t have time to go into the harem, but we did go to the treasury. There so many beautiful jewels – thrones, cradles, sabers . . . it was really cool. Then, the coolest thing. There were relics. John the Baptist’s hand and skull. Slightly creepy, but still really really cool. Then we went to the Grand Bazar, which was waaaaay more tourist-y than we had thought it would be. However, I did get a really cool hookah though ! It’s got a ceramic base, so cool. Today we are going to Ephesus, Turkey. As in, the book of Ephesians – sooo pumped!
13. Every day, as a part of these tours, they arrange lunch for us. Just had to mention that seperately, because lunch is always amazing, especially in Italy. We keep taking the business cards for the restaurants . . . just in case we ever get a chance to come back . I will update more later!!!
And as a bonus, I still have yet to hear from Ben about his mother, so please continue praying for her. Thank you!
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