Arrivederci!

I don't know about you, but whenever I book a vacation, I usually book it so far in advance and I feel like the day is never going to arrive when I am actually getting on the plane. I booked this trip to Italy back in September...when I was only 48. I knew I would have to go through the fall and winter before I went to Italy...and that I would be turning 49 before the trip. And now...and now...and now...that day is here. I am leaving this afternoon for a trip I had planned so many months ago...and it is the spring of my 49th year...and I'm going to Italy.

I had always planned to visit Italy before I was 50...I had also wanted to visit Paris...and I did that trip a few years ago. I still have so many places I want to visit in the second half of my life...I'd like to go to India...I'd like to go to Africa (my friend went on an African safari...how cool is that...she is a very cool friend)...I'd like to go to China and Japan too. Closer to home...I've never been to Santa Fe, New Mexico...or Santa Barbara, CA (just heard on the radio about Jeff Greenfield, the reporter, who spent time in Santa Barbara teaching journalism......maybe I can aspire to be like Jeff Greenfield and take a sabbatical and teach...will have to go get my masters first...maybe I will get my masters in Santa Barbara and then teach.)

For now, I'm focused on Italy...I'm all packed...way too many clothes as always...why did I pack two pair of jeans when I will likely only wear one...and I needed some comfortable shoes for my brown outfits and my black outfits... plus all my toiletries (do you know I spent more than $150 on mini-toiletries at Target...those mini-things cost more than the maxi things...well I guess I bought a few extra things...needed a larger disk for all the pictures I'm going to take...especially since I don't know how to get the pics out of my digital camera...and new headsets for my IPod...need to have better acoustics while I'm on the plane...plus the cute little bottle of Listerine...need to have good breath in Italy...especially if I can't speak the language and need to ask someone something in broken Italian...wouldn't want to turn them off with bad breath.)

Hopefully, the hairdryer will work in my hotel...if not, I'll have to buy a hairdryer while in Rome or Florence. What is it with the hairdryers in European hotels...don't they know that American tourists don't want to have flat hair days every day while on vacation or in their pictures from vacation...we need more than a spit of air to fluff up our hair.

All my magazines are packed and about half of my vacation reading books...which I will likely not have time to read. They will move back to the retirement reading pile when I return...although without TV there could be a bit more time for reading...or for shopping.

Oh, I am so excited...the cappuccinos and wine I will drink, the pizza and pasta I will eat, the gelato I will consume...no scales for me...and if there is a scale it will be in kilograms so I won't know what I weight anyway.

Oh, I am so excited...the leather gloves I will absolutely have to buy (still remember the salesperson at Borders during Christmas time who told me not to pass anything up...or I will regret it...yes, I will remember that lovely lady's advice whenever I hesitate on a purchase...especially if I love the item)...and I may have to succumb to a leather jacket or purse...I just want to buy something fabulous that will provide memories forever.

Oh, I am so excited...the sites I will see and the people I will meet...The Colosseum...the Vatican...the Sistine Chapel...the artwork...the buildings...the Borghese Gallery...just love that name Borghese.

And most of all...I will get to enjoy this with my daughter and son and my sister...how fantastic...my 49th year is turning out to be filled with memorable moments...

I'm off to Italy...to the Trevi Fountain where Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck met and fell in love in Roman Holiday...one of my favorite movies...I should have downloaded it on my IPod so I could watch it on the plane ride over...will have to learn how to download for the next vacation.

I'm off to Italy...and maybe...if I have time I'll stop at an internet cafe and give you all an update while I'm there...but if not...I'll tell you about my adventures when I return...stay tuned.

Arrivederci!

Judi