travel – Page 13 – Messy Suitcase Travel Blog

November 8, 2018

Italy, Part 3: Rome

Rome was literally eye-popping. We stepped out of a subway for the first time and were immediately accosted by the enormous, imposing Coliseum. All three of us stopped and gasped simultaneously. The scale of it was, as Lexie put it, “incredible. I don’t even know how to describe it.”

That pretty much describes Rome: Larger than life.

The Colosseum

Since we only had a couple days in Italy’s capital, we decided we had no time to waste waiting in line unnecessarily. So we took a skip-the-line tour of the Colosseum, the largest amphitheater ever built, circa AD 70. (We picked the first person who approached us, but you might want to do more research than that.) Though it was partially destroyed by a major earthquake, it is surprisingly intact, and truly spectacular. We were able to climb fairly high and peered down at the space where gladiators fight and public executions were the spectacle of the day.

The Colosseum

It is flanked by the Roman Forum, which for centuries was the center of day-to-day life in Rome, and Palatine Hill, one of the most ancient parts of the city.

The Forum and Palatine Hill

Our Morning Walking Tour

The second morning, Lexie slept late while Bob and I took the subway to the Trevi Fountain, the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world Again, we got so much more than we expected. It was huge, built into the side of a big stone building, and glorious. Description, legend. It turned out we were there at the least crowded time of the day, so we were able to each throw a coin in the fountain over our left shoulders. (According to legend, one coin means you will return to Rome, two means you will find new romance and three means you will get married. We already have two and three covered.) Suddenly the 1950s song Three Coins in the Fountain makes more sense.

Trevi Fountain

We then had an overpriced breakfast of croissants and cappuccinos across the way from the fountain, basking in the location and the glorious leisure It is in a charming old section of Rome with narrow streets and no cars. We walked along, taking pictures of a large diversity of creative, small shop windows, and came along a Pinocchio shop – ah, yes, that childhood tale about Gepetto, the lonely shoemaker and his wooden doll who turned into a real boy, is Italian in origin!

Gepetto’s workshop

Our wanderings also took us through the Fifth Avenue of Rome – Gucci, Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna, etc. — to the famous Spanish Steps, which we had never heard of, but they are glorious and worth a visit. It’s127 steps up, and nearby is the apartment where Keats died at the age of 29 – just a little literary trivia.

Spanish Steps

We found the Pantheon, an ancient temple to the Roman gods converted to a Catholic Church that was simply amazing. It is circular, 142 feet wide and 142 feet tall, with a hole in the roof that lets light in as well as rain, and a drain in the floor. It is one of the best preserved of all Roman buildings because it has been in continuous use and is still used as a church and to host concerts today. It was also not crowded, and had pews we could sit in to rest our tired feet.

Pantheon

The Vatican

We went back to our apartment (Homeaway did us right; our two-bedroom was gorgeous, comfortable and close to the subway, and since we booked an off-season rental only two weeks before, we were able to get the price lowered) to get Lexie, who had been sleeping late (she is 18, after all), and headed out for the obligatory tour of the Vatican. We chose a 3 PM tour to avoid the morning crowds, which Bob and I had witnessed firsthand the previous morning when we ran past the Vatican and had to dodge the lines. Again, we paid extra to skip the line, and were led through the Vatican Museums by a stylish Liberian woman whose English accent was too thick for Bob to decipher. (Thanks to time spent with a Liberian friend when I lived in New York, I understood her just fine.)

The Vatican Museum (actually, museums) is one of the largest museums in the world, featuring an immense collection amassed by popes throughout the centuries. The tour was a little too quick, but interesting nonetheless, especially the Map Room. I would like to go back in my own and take the time to linger. I also discovered the secret to seeing the Vatican without the crowds is to wait till the afternoon, a time when no Skip the Line premium would have been necessary. Here are some highlights:

The Sistine Chapel was a feast to behold, although Michelangelo’s famous creation image was surprisingly small in the center of the ceiling, and the elbow-to-elbow crowd made it challenging to view. (Sorry, no photos are allowed in the Sistine Chapel.)

St. Peter’s Square

St. Peter’s Basilica was glorious, but I was disappointed to be denied seeing the Pieta sculpture, which was behind a curtain and required a premium to view. I made sure to buy a couple of packable souvenirs and posted postcards to my brother John, who is a Catholic priest, and my stepmother, Katy. Because it was a Saturday evening, I could have gotten a free ticket to see the Pope say Mass the next morning from the nuns in the gift shop. Unfortunately, we planned to travel at the same time, so I didn’t. If you ever travel to Rome, you should know admission is free on the last Sunday of every month, so plan accordingly!

St. Peter’s Basilica

Cats of Rome

Bob stayed an extra day and visited Torre Argentina, the spot where Julius Caesar was killed, a ruin that is now a Cat Sanctuary.

Thoughts on Rome

A few thoughts on Rome:

It is OLD.
It is Catholic! I realized this, but still, it’s a surprise to see so many nuns and priests and monks in the streets of a city.
There are no footpaths or grassy places to run, though there is a path along the Tiber River, which was just a bit too far from our apartment.
Because of the density of the center or the city, public transit is limited to the edges and you have to walk a lot, on cobblestones. We skipped the Hop On Hop Off Bus because the reviews made clear the buses couldn’t actually get near the most popular sites, and stops were few and far between.
The menu is extremely limited: pizza and pasta. And more pizza. And more pasta. And gelato, gelato, gelato. It’s wonderful! But after a while, no matter how good it is, you get tired of the same menu.
There are a lot of beggars, who seemed like a throwback to another time. We saw women in scarves lying on the sidewalk with heads bowed in prayer and cup extended, and young men with gnarled legs and feet propelling themselves on skateboards, distorted hands inside of heavy boots and cups extended.
It is larger than life. From the Vatican to the Coliseum to the Fountain of Trevi, everything is so big, it takes your breath away.

Two and a half days was not enough time. We will be back!

Next up — Italy, Part 4: Solofra, and Radical Discoveries

October 29, 2018

Italy, Part 1: Naples

Walking in my Grandfather’s Footsteps

I have one thing to say to my grandfather, Domenico Troisi: Thank you so much for leaving Naples!

A few hours spent around Via Cesare Rossaroll in Naples, Italy, where Domenic lived as a child before immigrating to the United States in 1907, has made me eternally grateful that he came to the United States. This impoverished, filthy, decaying pesthole of a neighborhood, teeming with loud people and louder cars, narrow streets and narrower alleys, ancient buildings with paint peeling off, blowing litter and dog shit everywhere, is beyond depressing.

And this godforsaken alley is where my grandfather lived with his father and two brothers, first in a dingy flat with a shared toilet outside in the hall, and later in a small room separated by a curtain from his father’s “magazino,” or tailoring shop and store combined.

The Memory Book

Domenic described this neighborhood in his 50th Anniversary Memory Book, published in 1970. But his optimistic style does not capture the over-stimulating, exhausting reality of his Neapolitan living situation. Fortunately, my cousin Janice Carapellucci and sister Julie Holm both spent considerable hours and effort researching and digging to locate the home where he lived and the chapels and other landmarks he referenced in his memoir, so that a small group of Troisi cousins could make a pilgrimage to Italy and back to the place from whence we came.

Naples

I’ll be blunt: Naples is no tourist town. It’s working-class, gritty, loud and obnoxious. It reminds me of some parts of NYC and helps me understand how the Big Apple, with so many Italian immigrants, came to develop some of its pushy, in-your-face character. Walking from the train station this morning, first I was hit by multiple flailing elbows while walking the few blocks to get there, then I was almost deafened by a whole line of cars leaning on their horns to express their outrage at some poor sap holding up the line in front of them. This could have happened just as easily on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Life off Via Cesar Rosaroll

But back to Domenic. First, his family lived, as his brother D. Paul described in the memoir, in a small apartment: “Our apartment was called a flat, with community toilet out in the hall; the central heating consisted of our cooking stove in which we burned charcoal when we could afford it. We scavenged kindling at the curb market where we picked up discarded boxes and crates.”

Domenic’s alley

After his mother died in 1906, this Spartan lifestyle deteriorated, according to Domenic: “My father gave up the apartment and put what furniture he could salvage (in) back of the store, dividing the room with a curtain across the entire width. He felt that by so doing he could take better care of his three boys. Many of the meals consisted of pans of spaghetti, or paste e faggioli, which were supplied by a restaurant in Porta Capuana in exchange for tailoring and clothes my father made for the family of the restaurant owner. I cooked most of the meals on a small kerosene stove in back of the store.”

He was only 12.

Transported Back in Time

Walking in the neighborhood where Domenic spent his childhood, I felt transported back in time 110 years. It seems like nothing has changed, except that there are cars and motorbikes clogging the streets now instead of horses and carriages and pushcarts.

Domenic’s door

People still live in the same squalid conditions, with the addition of indoor plumbing. Clotheslines with sheets, socks and pants still flutter in the wind from balconies above the alleyways. Homemade Roman Catholic shrines to the Virgin Mary and assorted saints can be found in every alcove, with some large ones dominating street corners, festooned with plastic flowers and Holy Water, better maintained than any of the nearby homes. People still live their lives in public with their doors wide open. You can look in as you walk by and see an extended family sharing one small, dark living space, a small kitchen behind, people hanging outside the door, smoking.

The whole place probably smells better, thanks to modern plumbing and the absence of horse manure in the streets (although there was plenty of dog poop). Otherwise, it’s largely unchanged.

Where We Came From and What It Means

Seeing where you came from can make you even more grateful about where you are now. In the decision by Domenic’s father, Beniamino, to board the Steamship Bulgaria, we dodged a bullet. No wonder a squalid tenement on the Upper East Side, where Domenic, his father and two brothers lived with his uncle’s family after they arrived in New York in 1907, “was almost a luxury for us.”

Domenic, Donato and Dante (L-R)

No wonder Domenic was so driven to get ahead, to get educated, to learn English, to improve his living situations, to build that glorious house on Vernon Avenue in Williamsport, PA, where my mother and her nine brothers and sisters grew up.

Walking in Domenic’s footsteps was physically draining and emotionally exhausting. I’m glad I did it. And I am really, really glad he left.

Grazie, Nonno.

October 29, 2018

London, Part 3: Running & Other Activities

Running in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park

The most wonderful surprise for Bob and me was the quality of the running in London. Truly magnificent! Kensington Gardens was a block and a half away from the flat we rented, and it is glorious. We were running along, talking about how it reminded us of Central Park, when we realized we were in the back yard of the Royal residences, separated by just a polo field. We speculated about which “cottage” (really, mansions) belonged to Wills and Kate, and which housed Harry and Meghan. Next thing you knew we were at Kensington Palace! Its gardens were beautful and it is actually open to visitors, though we never got there to see the Princess Diana Fashion Exhibit.

We discovered Round Pond on one run, the Serpentine on another, the Princess Diana Memorial on another, and green parakeets that let people feed them out of their hands on another. The morning dew made the park glow eerily.

Kensington Palace

And right beside Kensington Gardens was Hyde Park, not quite as Frederick Olmstead-like, but still large and lovely, with a huge grassy green in the center which doubtless hosts loads of picnickers and probably outdoor concerts in the summertime.

We agreed we would probably get in fantastic running shape if we lived in London, as Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park are only one example of London’s abundance of green spaces.

Other Highlights

Other highlights of our days in London included:

38,000-pound silverplate set at Harrods

Metal art at the V&A

We visited the Church of St. Martin in the Fields, near Leicester Square, where we attended a Mozart concert in the evening in tribute to my parents, who when they lived outside of London in the late 1980s used to attend classical concerts there.
We discovered the London Film Festival was going on and went to see the hysterically funny documentary “I Used to be Normal: A Boy Band Fangirl Story,” in a far-flung London neighborhood (ethnic, not touristy, sort of Queens-like) after an unusual and unexpectedly delicious meal at a Turkish restaurant.
We visited the Victoria and Albert Museum, aka the V&A, which focuses on design and saw a new history of photography exhibition that had been dedicated by Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (just Kate to us commoners), just a few days before. I loved the museum’s display of metal art, and we mostly passed on the paintings of dead people.
We spent a couple of hours in the world-famous, over-the-top luxurious Harrods’s Department store, where we perused 2000-pound ($2,600 US) coffeemakers, 38,000-pound ($50,000) silver-plate cutlery sets, 3050-pound ($4000) purses, swords, wine glasses (some only 45 pounds each – $$60) and so much more, each item more decadent, expensive and unnecessary than the next. We bought nothing but bought picnic food in the surprisingly reasonable little deli in the chocolate section and picnicked out in a courtyard by the Tube station.
On our last day, we visited the Tower of London, enjoying a tour by a very British Yeoman something-or-other, taking in the Crown Jewels, watching a video of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953 (poor girl looked terrified, in my opinion), and seeing the extreme excess and ostentatiousness of the soup tureens and salt containers for royal banquets hundreds of years past. We learned about the checkered and grisly past of the royal family, especially Henry IIX, and wondered if Meghan knows what she got herself into.

Our guide

A beheading about to happen at the Tower of London

And now … goodbye London, off to Italy!

October 25, 2018

London, Part 1: A Great International City

How do I begin to describe London? International, sophisticated. Incredibly diverse, both ethnically and culturally. Royal and earthy. Multi-faceted. Surprisingly, a foodie’s paradise.

We got lucky in London: Perfect weather – mostly sunny, in the 50s and 60s every single day. None of foggy London’s famous wetness whatsoever. Perfect location: A reasonably-priced two-bedroom flat just two blocks from Kensington Gardens, and two blocks from two subway stations on different lines.

We also got lucky by scoring Hamilton tickets.

So after a few days visiting our oldest child Aryk at Keele University in Newcastle-Under-Lyme, we drove 120 miles to London, a steering-wheel-gripping, teeth-clenching journey on the wrong side of the road through several traffic jams that took almost four hours and severely tested our marriage. After handing off the car to Europcar with relief, we happily relied on public transport for our five days in London.

First Up: The London Eye

We booked a combo ticket of the London Eye and a Thames River Cruise because adding the boat ride cost just 6 pounds ($9 US). It was glorious! In 65-degree sun, we sat on the deck of a smallish boat and took in the sights of London from the river, enjoying witty, drily British commentary from our guide, John. It gave us a great lay of the land as we beheld the Tower Bridge, the Parliament Building and Big Ben (covered in scaffolding), the original site of the London Bridge, Royal Albert Hall, the Jubilee Bridge, Cleopatra’s Needle, the replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, London’s orb-shaped glass City Hall, and a number of shiny new high-rises such as the Walkie Talkie Building with its Sky Garden, the Shard, and one with what looked like a generous backside that John nicknamed it “Kim Kardashian.”

When we got to the queue for the London Eye, Lexie looked up, shivered, and reminded me of a crucial fact that I had stupidly forgotten: she is afraid of the heights. So, 25 pounds ($33) squandered, the rest of us enjoyed the ride to the sky while Lexie waited in a park.

The London Eye is ridiculously, blatantly touristy and over-the-top, but nevertheless worth every penny for the incomparable views from its slowly rotating cylinders. The structure of the Eye makes it even more interesting. You can’t take a bad picture from it.

Hamilton and Zizzi’s, and then Zizzi’s again

That evening we went to see Hamilton, an event we have been dreaming about for several years. Lexie, Aryk and I have been Lin-Manuel Miranda fans since we discovered In The Heights, his first Tony-award-winning musical about an immigrant neighborhood in northern Manhattan, 2008. We bought and listened to the soundtrack 100 times, saw it at Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) and at several local theaters, and were really excited when Hamilton came out.

Similarly enthralled by its story and its ingenious blend of hip-hop and classic musical theater, we were dying to see it but failed to snag tickets in the lottery when it came to DCPA or during a trip to NY in March. Luckily, I happened upon an article that said Hamilton was coming to London. A Google search revealed that a new batch of tickets had been released sale the day before, and I got three in the 11th row for just 400 pounds ($130) each.

The show surpassed expectations, and we were ecstatic to experience it. Afterward, we had a late dinner at Zizzi’s, an Italian Restaurant near the theater, where we had incredibly memorable dessert – melt-in-your-mouth tiramisu and a divine chocolate caramel brownie.

(We returned to Zizzi’s several days later for an encore presentation of the same scrumptious desserts.)

Altogether a spectacular night!

Next .. London, Part 2: Harry Potter!

October 17, 2018

Spain, Part 1: Or is it Catalonia?

Next destination: Spain!

We spent several days in Barcelona on our way to Reus to visit the family of our exchange student, Laia.

Well … I know I said we were in Spain, but Laia’s family would tell you we were in Catalonia.
They are separatists, like many in this province in the northeast corner of the country who are seeking independence from Spain. Since I’m not a historian, I will refer you to a nice article from the BBC explaining this political crisis “in 300 words.” (We are of course on the CatalanTeam.)

Source: BBC News

We saw signs of this conflict everywhere.

There are two official languages in Catalonia: Catalan and Spanish. More fiercely loyal Catalan enterprises would have signs and menus only in Catalan, which seems to be a mish-mash of Spanish, French and Italian. Most people in the city speak some English, although this was more of a challenge further afield.

Spanish National Day celebrants near Placa de Catalunya

We were in Barcelona on Oct. 12 for National Day or Fiesta Nacional de Espana in Spain. It was a national holiday and people celebrated with huge rallies in the central square in Barcelona, Placa de Catalunya. But separatists rebuffed the event, working as usual and displaying their version of the Spanish flag, which has yellow stripes, from their balconies.

Anyway, back to sightseeing …

The weather

The weather, mid-60s to mid-70s in mid-October, was balmy compared to frigid Iceland, though we did need to keep jackets on hand for the occasional rain showers.

We will share a few tidbits about our days in Barcelona and Reus in the next couple of blogs.

Next … Part 2: Barcelona

October 10, 2018

Germany

Our five days in Germany were mostly about being with family, but we mixed some tourism in, visiting the city of Hamburg a couple of days.

Pinneberg

My brother Patrick, his German wife Ines, and their two children live in Pinneberg, a suburb of Hamburg, Germany’s second largest city. We stayed in an Airbnb house a couple miles from their home and it was truly amazing – large, clean, pretty, and only 61 euros a night. The local forest was only a block and a half away and we had a lovely run there. The nearby Hotel Cap Polonio served up some of the best French fries I have ever tasted – crispy on the outside, most inside, not oily, perfectly salted. They were accompanied by mayonnaise and ketchup, the German way.

Pinneberg has a beautiful Rosengarten, which was a nice destination for a short walk with small children. The roses were in bloom and a group of old men were playing bocce.

We ate a lot of bratwurst, currywurst and other kids of wurst. (It was the best!) Also a lot of potatoes, a huge staple in Germany. And lots of brochen (bread). The breakfast pastries were to die for.

Hamburg

Hamburg, located on the Elbe River, is Germany’s largest port and commercial center. It boasts a lot of energy, style, music and culture. Its many waterways and canals make it feel a little like Venice.

The Harbor area is huge. We took a harbor boat ride up the Elbe and saw marvels of German nautical engineering, including a humongous dry dock and several Navy ships under construction. We also saw Hamburg’s theater area, reachable by ferryboats decorated to match the shows. Currently playing: The Lion King and Mary Poppins, among others.

We walked through the Old Elbe Tunnel, under the Elbe River, which used to transport port and shipyard workers but is now an interesting stroll to get a fabulous view of Hamburg from across the Harbor (Hafen). Watching cyclists and rollerbladers navigating through the crowds of families and tourists out for a stroll is very entertaining. The elevators in this structure were massive.

We went up to the observation deck of the brand-new opera house, the ElbPhilharmonie, known by the nickname Elphy, for glorious river views.

We rode the elevator to the top of St. Michaelis Church for awesome 360-degree views of the city of Hamburg.

We visited the St. Nikolai Memorial (Nikolaikirche), which was bombed out during WWII and never rebuilt. The front façade remains but the interior is an open shell, left as a tribute to all affected by war. The website calls it “Hamburg’s central place of remembrance for the victims of war and tyranny of the years 1933-1945.”

German Food

For Bob, who lived in Germany for 4 ½ years in the 1980s, being back in Germany was like coming home. And a lot of it revolved about food and drink. He wanted to have a German pilsner and pommes (French fries) in every outdoor restaurant in the city of Hamburg! He wanted to eat all his favorite German pastries – apfelstruedel, pretzels, franzbrochen – as well as currywurst and spezi (Coke and German Fanta) from an imbiss (casual, quick restaurant).

That’s it for Germany. On to Barcelona!

October 5, 2018

The Retirement Itinerary: Europe First

LISA

People are asking, “Why are you in Europe? We thought you were moving to Mexico!”

Well, we are … but not yet. We are not going to Mexico till January 2019.

First, Le Tour de Europe

First, we are launching our adventures with five weeks in Europe — Iceland, Germany, Spain, England, Italy and Greece.

We are visiting family — our oldest child Aryk at Keele U. in Newcastle Under Lyme, England, and then London because why not? (Also got tickets to Hamilton and the Harry Potter Studio Tour.)

We’re visiting Lisa’s brother Pat and his wife Ines and their family in Pinneberg, Germany, outside Hamburg.

First we gotta visit Aryk at uni!

We are spending a few days with the family of our awesome foreign exchange student, Laia, around Barcelona and Reus.

We are joining Troisi (Lisa’s mother’s side) cousins in Italy as part of a family genealogy trip. So we’ll be in Rome, Naples and Solofra.

Then we’re wrapping it all up with a few days in Athens before flying home Nov. 7.

Then, New England

Then, we gotta hang out in Vermont!

We’ll be spending about a month at our vacation home in Ludlow, VT – hopefully taking a couple grandmas and Bob’s sister, Beth.

Next, Holidays with Family
We’ll spend the winter holidays in PA with Bob’s Mom and Lisa’s stepmom, sister Julie and any family we can see.

Finally, Mexico
After Aryk goes back to Uni after Winter Break, the first week of January, we’ll begin the next road trip, taking the cats and Lexie on the road from Pennsylvania to Tlaquepaque, Mexico. The trip is about 37 hours, so we will stop in Nashville and spend a couple of nights in New Orleans on the way.

Stay with us — it’s going to be a blast!

October 4, 2018

Iceland, last day: Reykjavik!

Despite cold weather and biting winds (Iceland is a COOOOLD place), we explored the waterfront of the capital city, Reykjavik.

We also visited the Harpa Concert Hall and saw an amazing 3D film called Iceland in a Box …

and the Hallgrímskirkja Lutheran Church.

We also walked through the old city.

Finally we attended attend a film called Phoenix at the Reykjavik Film Festival.

October 3, 2018

Iceland, again: Hot Springs, a Geyser and Spectacular Waterfalls

Part 2: GOLDEN CIRCLE

Day 3 – Wed., Oct. 3 Golden Circle

This is what we did today:

Bathed in the Secret Lagoon, the oldest hot spring in Iceland – est. 1891.

Visited the incredible Gullfoss Waterfall.

Watched the Stokkur Geyser blow.

Drove through Thingvellir National Park, at the point where the North Atlantic and European tectonic plates collide, creating this land of fire and water that is Iceland.

Celebrated my 59th birthday with fish and chips, Icelandic beer and chocolate cake.

October 2, 2018

Ellie Smoit, the Adventure Cat, Part 7: Aunt Julie’s House

and the Monster

ELLIE SMOIT

Our humans put us back in the cages again today, and back in the big gray box on wheels. We weren’t happy. Kaylee was just getting comfortable at Grandma’s house, and Noxy had started hanging out with Grandma on the couch!

I explored while they put all the food and all the cat toys and all the litter and litter boxes in a couple of boxes and a bag. And before I knew it, we had been shoved into our cages and were back in the car.

Mine seemed a little softer now – I feel like there might be something new and soft in here – but I complained a lot anyway. The road was very windy, and Noxy threw up bigtime. (Now we’ve had the trifecta in the car: Poop, pee and throw-up. And Mommy’s purple quilt and the seat cover have protected the car seat every time.)

We weren’t in the car very long this time, thank goodness. Suddenly we were out, and in a very loud, crowded kitchen full of people.

Mow Mow. OK, she was cute. But she pulled my tail! Kaylee found a good hiding corner upstairs, so I stole it from her.

All us cats and the stuff that came with us to Aunt Julie and Uncle Mark’s

At Aunt Julie’s there was a baby! The little terrorist was chasing me around and flailing her arms and saying

When they took the baby off for a nap at her house across the street, I came out to explore. I like it! I inspected Uncle Mark’s office and deemed it acceptable. I like the couch, too. There’s also a tall box that say’s “Audrey’s House” with a doorway in it. I might take it over and hide in there

Aunt Julie and Uncle Mark are nice and quiet. I think I’ll try to sleep with her; she looks like she might be allergic to cats. My favorite kind of human. He grew up with cats, so I think I’ll ignore him.

We were greeted by a cute little terrorist.
Her name was Audrey.

Noxy refused to come out of his cage, and when Grammy (Lisa) lured him out with wet food, he scarfed it up and the bolted into the deepest corner of the closet under the stairs, where I think he might stay for the next two days.

Kaylee came out after the baby left, too, but then she went back upstairs.

Then Mommy and Daddy and Grandma left! Cousin Catherine promised she would send Lexie a picture every day. I hope she shows me pictures of Mommy, too. I have the feeling it will be a long time before I see her again.

Ellie Smoit, the Adventure Cat, is chronicling her journey from her house in Colorado across the United States and to Mexico, with a little help from her owner, Lexie Greenawalt.