The Holy See-gull

You heard it here first.

Fumata nera

Smoke on the screen (bottom left) and the chimney (right)

I met some friends at St. Peter's this morning. Some off-and-on drizzle, but nothing too bad. We all expected bigger crowd in the basilica. At 11:45, we saw the black smoke. We were all interviewed by various media outlets. We all said the same thing: Yes, we're excited to be here for the historic occasion, but no, we don't have any expectations for who might be elected. Yes, it would be exciting if it's a non-European, and no, we're not disappointed that it's black smoke this morning. Caitlin and I will head back over this afternoon for the second vote of the day.

Pho! But still no pope

No pope yet. Forse domani. I have the day off and will head down there to make sure things are running smoothly. If the conclave is waiting for sunshine, it'll take a few days; thunderstorms are forecast until Friday. Who wants to greet the world as Pontificus Maximus in lightning and thunder?

Big news here: We found a Vietnamese restaurant that serves PHO! And it's right across the river from us! I don't think most of our readers fully appreciate what this means. Remember Popeye, and what happened when he ate spinach? Well let's just say there are steam engines running inside us right now.

Armani pants, rain, and the Pope

Andy just almost purchased a pair of Armani pants. He backed out at the last minute. They looked very nice on him. Maybe I can get him to go back to the store tomorrow. 

Things are otherwise are going well. Italy is kind of a mess right now since we have no government or Pope. The conclave starts tomorrow though and we're hoping to have a new Pope by the end of the week. 

My head is better. I took a week off of work, on doctor's orders, and went back to school last week. I was tired but mainly good. I missed being at school with my kids and started to get a little bored at home by myself.

Andy & I on Ponte Sisto

This an Italian model that looks exactly like Andy!  

Ospedale a Bosa

Andy and I had a great couple of days in Sardinia. We went hiking, to the beach and ate some really good food. On our 2nd evening, however, I fell down a spiral staircase in our hotel room. We went to the hospital and I had to get several stitches on the side of my head. I also had several brain scans and, on the second scan, they found a very small amount of blood in my brain. Therefore, I have been in the hospital for the past 2 days and nights so they can keep a watch on it. I feel fine, just a little tired. The doctor is preparing my discharge documents as I'm typing this. In Italy, if the doctor says you have to stay from work for a certain number of days you are legally required to do so. He said that at first he was thinking of 10 days but I may have talked him down to 7. He laughed and said that Italians always ask for more time off. It's a very different system than we're used to.
We'll see what he says. Here's a few more photos from our first few days here...

Today's Highlights

1. Homemade ravioli for dinner at the agriturismo.
2. An owl that lives on the roof that meows like a cat.
3. Talking in 3 different languages at the same time.
4. A wild fox sighting.
5. A not-so-wild sheep sighting.
6. Befriending all of the dogs on the island.
7. Flamingos.

Sardinia!

after 1 tram ride, 2 trains, a cab ride, a flight and a 2 hour drive...we made it to Sardinia! we're staying at an agriturismo on a lagoon (with pink flamingos) and a cute dog named Milli. Tonight for dinner we're having ravioli and pork from the farm. Now we're off to the beach!