Vatican Visit (and a little St Peter)

We arrived in Rome two hours earlier than we'd expected so we tossed out all previous plans, found the metro and made our way to Vatican City. We'd hoped to visit the Sistine Chapel after our 2pm check-in with Nicola and Liana (wonderful b&b, check them out if you need a place to stay in Rome) but the extra two hours seemed like the perfect window to head over in daylight.

Despite what may look like a crowd in the photo above, we got in the doors and through tickets in about five minutes. We'd read that the average wait time could be anywhere from one to two hours and were pleasantly surprised with the timing. God really had a hand in all of our Rome travels (as I'll describe in anxious detail later this week), from the potential disaster at the airport to arriving at the Vatican early and seeing it would be closed at 12:30 that day (not on the website) to our final airport (again, to come) almost disaster and everything in between. He really saw us through. Time and again things slid into place at the last moment and we found ourselves loving Rome more than any city we've been to thus far.

Paris, I still love you, I just think I might need to spend some time alone with Rome now.

 Are there any Elementary fans out there...? Recognize this guy from the vault episode?

Disappointingly, you cannot take any photos in the Sistine Chapel. It is a sacred place but, still. The ridiculous photo above is what we looked like for at least 15 minutes while we took it all in, standing in the middle of the room. Ow, neck. But oh, beautiful. This whole trip I kept thinking "Beauty!" a la Room with a View. Love that movie and love Helena before she went all Time Burton on us (still kinda love her now).

We stepped out into the courtyard (I'm sure it has some official name) and lo and behold, St Peter's! So we headed there next.

Bellissima. Everywhere.

Sitting on one of our train rides home, I asked Chris what his favorite part was. He replied with "the walk to our b&b." Let me explain. We were making our way from Piazza Navona to the place we stayed and along the way we found ourselves walking past the Capital, the oldest part of Rome with all the ruins, and the Colosseum. They were all just, there. And the Pantheon was another one we hadn't remembered to put on our whirlwind itinerary but we literally came upon it while going from the Trevi fountain to Piazza Navona (granted, that time we got a little lost). Crazy pants.

More to come tomorrow. Naptime for now.

A Real Hero

A woman cried out. It came from near the airport bathrooms. It was so loud that Chris woke up, I looked around and saw everyone was staring in the same direction. When I glanced over to the bathrooms I could see a pair of feet on the ground. But there were many pairs of feet on the ground. Everyone was trying to catch a little sleep waiting for security to open up and let us through to the gates area. Then I realized that this pair was twitching. A second later someone was walking swiftly past me to the feet and, turning to look at me, asked (in English no less), 

"Can we call a doctor!?" 
"I don't know how..." 

I quickly, stupidly, but truthfully replied. And not having that knowledge or a phone on me made ​​me feel terrible. The woman was having a seizure. An airport cleaning lady was nearby and people asked in several languages how to get help. Rolling her eyes, she sauntered down the hall and hadn't returned. All I could see were black wedge boots. But she'd stopped shaking. I leaned a little further and caught a glimpse of her face. Closed eyes. Purple lips. The man who had ran past me was on the floor behind her, holding her head, 

"She's choking! She's dying! Where is a doctor??" 

I didn't know what to do, a small crowd had already gathered, standing ten feet back. A young girl suggested to turn her head to the side, motioning to her tongue. I grabbed Chris' hand and prayed. Hard. 

It seemed like twenty minutes passed. Two policeman came walking up with the previously mentioned annoyed airport worker. So slowly. They got on their radios. Suddenly I heard the man holding her say:

"Ahhh, welcome back! Welcome back!" 

She was alive. I started to breathe again myself. A short while later, but still astoundingly slowly for a response team, the paid rescuers showed up with a gurney and trained help. Lights. Ambulance. Hospital. Quiet.



As the initial rescuer walked back to his seat three chairs down from us, he looked at all of us sitting (shamefully) and said: 

"This is Europe?! In America, in New York, she would've been in a hospital thirty minutes already! This is Europe! The civilized world! They call us Yankees! We may be cowboys, but we care." 

Chris told him "Thank you" and he waved it off. 

I don't know why everything moved so slowly. Maybe because everyone trying to help spoke different languages or maybe because that sauntering woman was having a terrible day and didn't care who lived or died on her janitorial watch. But since I froze, I have nothing to say. Maybe I'm not so much like girl-Superman as I thought. But I do know that I'm extremely thankful for that New Yorker in his yellow Hilfiger shirt who came to the rescue. 

A life was saved that night at 3am in the Brussels Charleroi airport thanks to him.

thank you

Rome to come. We loved it but this was too important not to share first.

Last recap of 2012 (but no promises)

Happy New Years recap! In 6 hours Chris and I will be on a train headed for the airport and there we will spend the night a la Antwerp waiting to board our very early flight to Rome. Woo Hoo! Lets say for that reason I slept in til 2:30 here. 12 hours after I went to bed. Whoops.

Anway, recap time. This was the first New Years that we attempted to party hop. We've been the hosts/organizers the last few years when I lived with my girlfriends and when it was our first married New Years in our apartment last year. This time we had too many options of places to go and really good friends to see so we didn't attempt to choose, we tried to make time for all of them instead. Time-wise it was a success. But heart-string-wise, not so much. Mine were tugged on every time we had to get going to the next place. My friend Madison, upon finding out that the party she was at was our first stop of the night, said "That means we're the lamest one!" Actually, the truth was far from that. I could've stayed there through midnight and beyond for sure! The "Lumberjack" themed party she was at was filled with my oldest friends and wonderful food and I knew dancing was to come, (my favorite, and the Sortores (hosts) have great taste in music, and dancing), they were the first stop simply because that party started before everyone elses. And when you've committed to two others, when the time comes, you have to go. UGH. Hard. Here's the video for their themed shindig. Hilarious:

Next up was my college roommates bash about a mile away. We knew their eventual plan was to head to a bar for drinks and then a different locale for the rest of the party that night so we had to time it right and get there before they all departed for the fancy-shmancyness that is Trata (which my Dad's Architecture firm designed by the way. Shameless plug for their facebook too). We made it there with about a half hour to spare and the lovely Hannah sneakily changed that into over an hour so that we could hang out longer with everyone. Yay! We ate some more food and danced! And then when they did leave for Trata, we left for the third and final party of the night.

The last one was hosted by more good friends, Billy who Chris has known for almost his whole life and Nicholle! It was really nice to end the night still fancy but eating some good dip, sitting on the floor next to the couch (okay and next to the food), with sparkling grape juice provided by wonderful people and watching the ball drop. The picture at the top is from this last location and that panoramic view shot was hilariously done with help from the bookends of Dan and I. Dan and Kelli (foreground of last photo) were our partners in party hopping this evening since no matter where we've gone or who we've celebrated with, they've been right there with us every New Years since I started celebrating out instead of on Main Street in Canandaigua.

I still miss celebrating with my family so I always make sure to spend the day either on the 31st or the 1st with them and of course a call or text at midnight depending on getting through. I guess I'm still a home-body nerd at heart.


And saying that, I'm going to finally unpack from our U.S. trip and repack teeny tiny bags for Rome. Have a wonderful weekend!

If I were a Superhero...

I would probably be something like the girl version of Superman. Is that Wonder Woman? Can someone with some geek skills correct me here? I say this because I think I recently discovered what my kryptonite would be. Clouds. I'm not talking happy little puffy white ones. I mean deep gray, one solid shade, 200 foot thick ones that don't let even the possibility of the thought of such a thing as the Sun enter ones mind. Also being injured, that's got to be another part of my kyrptonite. I have to be able to move.

Thankfully, today, neither of those things hindered me and I was able to run like the wind (a very soft and slow breeze of a wind) this morning and found myself staring in wonder at that blue BLUE hint of sky poking through puffed clouds.

I ran along with my music today thinking of superheros when a song I hadn't heard in just over a year came on. Now, don't judge, I like a little Rihanna now and again. Most of you probably haven't heard her song "Farewell" but this is the one I'm talking about. You see, last year, Chris, our friend Elissa and I took a road trip to watch Chris' friend Jake play in a soccer game in Virginia. On the way home, this song was playing and since everyone else was sleeping I paid close attention to the words (and the road, don't worry guys). Though it doesn't exactly describe our situation here in Belgium, it was right around the time I was realizing what leaving meant. And I didn't want to. So I cried all the way through the song. And the next time it came on again, (we had the cd on loop initially to annoy the boys but when everyone fell asleep it continued to play over and over as I drove along, and I didn't turn it off), I found myself losing it, quietly, all over again. I vowed it was the last time I'd let myself drown in pity listening to this song thinking about how far away we'd be from everyone soon. So I found other songs. But I did keep my promise.

When I heard it today, it had a different effect on me. I didn't run along the pathway crying my eyes out. Instead, I realized how it's been a whole year since the last time I'd heard it. A year! And about 11 months from now I'll probably be packing us up here in Belgium to head back to the U.S. for good! Suddenly I felt like I really could superman my way through the next 11 months until our return. So take that, you nasty gray skies. No matter how much you drown out the sun and no matter how slowly I get back from this injury, time is going to keep on moving and bringing me closer to home everyday. Boo. Yah.

Birthday Dinner Time!

The Maloneys have a family tradition that for each person's birthday throughout the year, we all go out to dinner at a restaurant of their choosing. We tried a new place this time. Come to think of it, I don't know if we've ever been to the same place twice yet. Maloneys, correct me if I'm wrong there.

Anywayyyy T Bones was our destination this time and I'd say it was probably close to a 7 or 8 out of ten. Everyone loved their meals but it was the little things they forgot. My meal was pretty fantastic but the fried mozzarella was more fried than mozz and I do love my mozz so...points off there.

Bringing two kids under 5 to a fancy place is always the tricky part. This time went very smoothly excepting the part where the only other under fiver had to give up the sole high chair in the place for teeny just over 1 Kaelyn (the boy was actually more of a size 6 than anything, c'mon now) and put up a hissy fit because of it. They left soon after.

And Kaelyn was not squirmy but throw-y that night. Everything was going on the floor with a little laugh to follow. So she was handed across the table to me. And that's when the fun began.

We had the camera facing us and wow, the faces this girl makes! Please pay attention to the blonde in these, the brunette was beyond hungry and making inexplicable faces too.

After dinner festivities we headed out to open presents back home and then it was off to another birthday celebration downtown.

Seriously, guys, who lets me be in pictures (I'm talking the third one here). And that's ginger ale in my hand. Kelli I'm still loving the bangs. Best decision I ever helped talk someone into.



In other news, we'll be in Rome on Saturday! YAY! Finally something other than these junky quality photos. I need a pocket sized camera with better picture quality. See these second two of me and Kelli? Those are taken with an iPhone. I can't WAIT to get one...this time next year. Boo. Oh and also yay Rome because woohoo Italy, I've never been to you before.

Okay, Rome this weekend, only a few more days of recap and then we're home free!

A little more Christmas catch up

I'm trying to go in chronological order here with the few photos I took so that brings us up to...Christmas Day. We spent it going back and forth from the two family houses and as much as this is my favorite holiday, trying to share it with everyone I love and want to see is a little difficult. It's hard to stretch the day out but we got as close as we could.

One of my personal favorite traditions over the past few years has been waking up early and going for a run before the rest of town has really woken up yet. Early is a relative term for Christmas Day considering most of the years previous to, I don't know, 22? I woke up by 5am to check my stocking and go downstairs to await the rest of the family's arrival. Anyway, by 9am I've usually grabbed my Christmas playlist and set off into the snow and wow, a white Christmas is beautiful. (Hi Grandma!)

We played a new game at Christmastime this year and funny enough, I ended up playing it at three different Christmas events when all was said and done. My parents bought 20 presents that were divided up between the five of us "kids" and then you got to trade as they were passed around. As one who usually has an aversion to any holiday changes, I actually really liked this twist and thought it was fun. And a surprise Taco Bell gift card? Who can be upset with that find!?

When we concluded the present opening Chris and I took off for Irondequoit and the Maloney family side of things! So fun to see everyone finally all together and such a change from the age-groups in Canandaigua. 4 and a half year old Brady and almost 16 month Kaelyn helped pass our presents and more importantly helped us unwrap them as part of the delivery service! They are a pretty patient pair for little guys. The hit of the evening might have been Kaelyn's cabbage-patch doll thanks to Anna and Ryan, even Brady was concerned for the plight of little Rose (yes?) and her pacifier.

Best part of the night before I jetted back to see the rest of the extended Hanlons was putting all the wrapping paper in the bag. Brady helped for a bit but then, with a smirk and a laugh, began pulling as much back out as he could before anyone stopped him. He was laughing and looking at us all as each grown-up in turn corrects him to put it away and stop goofing around to which he slightly adheres...then Kaelyn sees the fun and, as more of us are helping Brady to put the paper back in the bag, she launches her little self at it a la leaf-pile in Autumn in hysterics. To this everyone smiles and laughs and no corrections are made. Brady again looks at all of us and is probably wondering why she can mess up clean-up time and not him but before the fun can stop he quickly joins in with a leap and for a few minutes wrapping-paper pile with two kids jumping in is the best game ever.

Back on Main Street dinner is underway when I walk in the door to tiny caprese-salad bites from Erin, ham, turkey and the rest of the spread. One of the most anticipated parts of the evening in Canandaigua is always the opening of Dawn's present filled with dozens of goodies for kids slightly older than those at the party I'd just left. This year brought LED finger-flash-lights, 7 (or was it 9?) rubber duckies in humorous attire, nail polish (YES), and at least ten wind up animals set to have a race akin to the one in Friends.

Merry Christmas (two weeks later) Everyone

Tree Hunt (Throw-back Monday?)

2013 has been pretty good so far. But the week and a half we spent closing out 2012 was better than I could have hoped for. Wow do I miss being home already. Landing in Brussels brought on something I'm dubbing instahomesickness. And since I actually am physically sick now, maybe it's a real thing, it's possible. But before I go ahead and bum you all out for three paragraphs or more, instead I'm going to catch you up a bit on our last two weeks. 

I was planning on posting once or twice while I was home and then it just never happened. I didn't even use this computer during the entirety of our stay. It was awesome. What was not so awesome is that I also rarely brought out my camera. The good one, at least. The crummy .3 megapixel iPod camera was toted around with me daily so there's those...get ready for some sub par photography this week, friends. I apologize. 

To begin: 

The morning after we "landed" (I'll get to those quotes a little later on) in Rochester, my family and I headed out to get the Christmas tree. Yes, they waited for me. All the way until December 23. It would have been my first time missing out ever on the trek through what is usually snow and medium to high winds to find the perfect one and I was trying to come to grips with it when I got the call from my mom that they were waiting for us. YAY!

We walked all the way around the tree farm in search of the 10 foot beauty certain to be destined to grace our living room and front windows. In the end, it was probably a quarter mile from the car that we found it, but we got our exercise in for that day, I'd say it was a win win.

Back to that "landed" for a second and then I'll let you go for today. You see, our initial flight out of Belgium was completely uneventful. Until the last 30 minutes. I'd had 7 full hours of movies one after the other when then the captain or flight attendant or some other important flying person comes on the speakers (and also directly into my ear, at above volume-set levels) and lets us all know that we're heading into some turbulence and would we all quickly get to our seats and fasten those seatbelts? Well, yeah I'm going to definitely do that especially when you sound as frantic as you do, sir. I've never felt sick on a plane like I did immediately following those words and for the remainder of the flight as 40mph+ winds knocked us around until we landed safely in Newark. And that was the last time we landed for the rest of the trip home. 

I promptly asked Chris if we could drive the rest of the way and he responded unexpectedly with a simple yes and no arguing either way. It seems he realized how close to passing out or tossing my cookies I was getting and wasn't looking forward to the next two flights of enduring the possibility of a repeat (or worse) either! 

6 hours in a rental car later, we were in Rochester. Big huge smiley face here for that one :)

See you tomorrow!