one moment.

traveling around europe at age twenty. does anything beat it? yes, as i traveled from one extraordinary place to another, i knew that were probably many things that beat did..but i let my glory last while it did. a month of travel, on my own and with friends, and as i moved about spain france germany (and czech repub!) filled with awe, ansgt, lightness, heaviness, hope (and lots of worry) for the future, i knew it was a time to be cherished. precariously poised at every moment, terrified and excited, knowing that you are so lucky to be seeing everything before your eyes, and mostly, praying that you will be able to come back to these places with the people you love the most. my month of travel in europe is not something to be covered in a blog in minute, let me just suffice it to say that i loved (almost) every minute of it.

let me go through a few of the best moments. in rome. anyone who i have spoken to for more than ten minutes since this moment has heard me gush. but let the kitsch kate continue. so i missed my friend running the marathon (daylight savings and her confusion with the difference between a km and a mile). but i did stand at the entrance to piazza navona as the runners came around the bend. the italian marathon is not the new york marathon. people wander through the streets, blowing smoke into the faces of passing runners, the majority of the athletes are old italian men, the aura of BE HEALTHY simply does not enter the picture. this was most clear when one italian man turned the corner and beheld the expansive piazza navona before him. he stopped in his tracks, held up his hands, and exclaimed "que bella piazza!" oh kitsch kate strikes again, as she watched him slowly pace into the beloved square, while germans and americans wizzed by on either side. sadly, the strange band playing in the center near bernini then started playing "living on a prayer" and the moment was over. i had another similar experience when i was at the finish line (again missing my friend), and after playing some very beautiful inspirational italian music, "the final countdown" (a la job from arrested development) finally fully snapped me out of my sentimental desire to run 26 miles on the cobblestones of rome. i put my sunglasses down and lit a gauloise, i mean, come on.

that is all for now. i have to post once, because i havent posted in years. i cant fit everything in, so maybe ill do it in chunks. thats a joke, i'll never do it in chunks. suffice it to say, trainrides, great friends, good food, great art, and everything in between (minus a camera in the sand) made my trip a wonder. i'd love to go back, but as it turns out london has become beautiful, and i can't wait to spend my last month here. i plan to go to brighton (for graham greene), dover (for gloucester), jane austen country (not sure where this is yet, but one of those shires, obviously for mr. darcy), and windermere (with sean, he will have a tweed jacket and a cane, i will wear a wooly cardigan and a floppy hat. we will stay at a quaint b&b, hopefully run by john cleese). and london, oh london - it is green and pink and white and yellow, and there are people OUTSIDE in the STREETS, yes people live in this grey city and it is a very exciting discovery to make.

ah, but there is nothing of my trip. i feel i have let this blog go to a bit of a i will post again! next time with lots of fragmentary thoughts from all over, prague here, berlin (oh! berlin!) there, and none of this inner discussion about whether or not i am going to post. no no none of that you silly little kate. i have lost my mind. good night.