"So long, Sweet Lime!"

The surgery went great! It usually takes 4,000 shocks of waves to break up a stone, but it only took 2,000 for mine. Yippee! After surgery I slept for a little while at the hospital. No complications except throwing up from the medicine wearing off. But I was released around 12. I got home and slept for about 5 hours. I felt pretty nauseous and it wasn't until a couple of hours ago that I was able to eat and drink a bit. I'm very sore from where they administered the shocks, but besides that I'm alright. A bit weak, but should wear off in a day or so!

EUROPE TRIP TIME!

This summer I spent two weeks in Italy and Greece. Two summers ago my mom and I went on a tour of France and Germany with a group from St. Fred's. We had a blast and this time many of the same people went on this educational tour with us. I loved our group. We had such a great time together! We visited Rome, Florence, Capri, Sorrento, Pompei, Athens, Delphi, and the Greek Islands of Mykonos, Patmos, Santorini, and Ephesus.

DAY ONE: Flying to Rome. After long flights we finally arrived to the airport in Rome (where I narrowly avoided being puked on by a fellow group member). We met our tour guide, Gloria, who proved for lots of education, stories, and laughs. We arrived at our first hotel in Rome. It was pretty neat, with individual towers instead of being one large building. Leading to all the towers were pathways that were tunnel-like, completely covered with greenery. It was beautiful. After we got checked in, we headed into the city for dinner where we enjoyed some... well pasta of course!

DAY TWO: First day of ROME-ing around (so punny). It was a marathon long day. No joke. I don't think I have ever walked so much. The day started early with a 7 am trip to the Vatican for Mass. Because I was with the St. Fred's group, the majority of them being Catholic, we had Mass at the Vatican. It was special because their priest, Father Long came along on the trip with us. We had the privalege to enter the Vatican, and go below it in the corridors containing small chapels. There, Father Long assisted by a friend studying in Rome, lead our Mass. What a way to kick off our trip! Below is a picture of one of the chapels (not the one we were in) and in this chapel, you are the closest you can get to the bones of St. Peter.

After leaving the Vatican, we traveled to the Coliseum and the Forum. I had to have my knees and shoulders covered to enter the Vatican so I opted for jeans and a light sweater. BIG MISTAKE. BIG BIG MISTAKE. I nearly died of heat that day. Trekking around Rome in the hot sun with limited shade... Whew. Miserable. Note to self: don't wear jeans and sweaters in the summertime in Rome.

I just can't get over the beauty of the man-made structures in Rome. The Vatican, the Coliseum, the Forum. It was truly amazing. It is hard for me to fathom that this was made at the hands of working men.
I couldn't get over the natural beauty of Greece, but that is later to come :D

So while walking around in Rome, Italy I bumped into a friend of mine from school, Mary Dean! Crazy, huh?

Melting in the blistering hot sun

After spending time at the Coliseum and the Forum, we returned back to the Vatican City and toured for a few hours. Here are a few pictures:

After touring the Vatican City a smaller group of us had plans to go see the opera Madame Butterfly with dinner after. Well, on the way we got a bit lost... and by a bit, I actually mean a lot. We walked in circles for at least an hour or so. We had a map, but that proved to be no help. We asked various Italians who could offer no more advice than "Go 1-2-3 blocks down and take a right." I don't know how many times we went "1-2-3 blocks and took a right" but it felt like about twenty times. We miraculously arrived at the opera house, about ten minutes late. The show itself was in Italian with no translation. Good thing I had wikipedia at the tip of my fingers. It was a very small theatre and the opera was by no means of any grand scale. (I hate to admit it, but many of us snoozed a bit through it). It was enjoyable all the same though. After the show we had dinner at a small restaurant. I wish I could remember the meal, but all of it can remember was the lentils (which were very good I might add). We finally arrived back at the hotel sometime after midnight. What a day! I don't know if I've ever been more exhausted. There were times when I wanted to cry of exhaustion and heat. But there were also times when I couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably at the delirium of being lost in such a grand city on the way to an opera. There's even magic in that.