We decided to wait for her checked bags, but to get some lunch in the interim. After a leisurely lunch and a little more waiting around, we had her bags and were off to Florence (aka Firenze) by train.We arrived in the evening and found the hotel without much trouble. The owner was very nice and set us up with a notated map and dinner recommendation. We had a lovely dinner and walked back to the hotel without seeing much of the town – we found out later that we probably missed some good Christmas lights. The next day, after a nice breakfast, we were off to see the city. We went to the Duomo and up into the top of the cupola, where Michelangelo painted the ceiling. Pretty cool. 
In the afternoon, we continued on to Pisa to meet with Jacopo. The next day we saw his defense, I wouldn’t say we heard it though, as it was given in a lecture hall that wasn’t isolated at all from the commotion of previous graduates celebrating in the hallway. It went well, and from what I understand, Jacopo got a perfect score plus honors!
That night we celebrated with a huge, wonderful dinner with his family and roommates. The next day, we went to the mountains with Jacopo, Jacopo, and Cal (Heather’s brother – who caught up with us the evening before as another stop on his round the world tour). Also, that’s no mistake – we really went with two Jacopo’s. One is the one many of you may know, the other was his roommate.
In the mountains we did some snowboarding. There was some minor drama when Heather got separated from her group and didn’t make it back at the agreed time. Turns out she was a little lost and got some bad directions. I found her at the ski rental shop in the process of getting directions back to the hotel. The other drama was my overreaction to a wipeout where I hit my head at the end of the second day. I had a headache that didn’t go away and began to fear it was significant. One interrupted dinner, one doctor consult, one hospital visit, and one CT scan later, I was essentially given the okay and out 15 euros. I plan to try snowboarding again though. This time I lasted 2 days instead of just one. I’m curious to see whether it’s 3 days (increasing by 1) or 4 (doubling each time) that I last the next time.
After snowboarding, it was back to Pisa and then on to Rome. In Rome, we were able to meet Luca and spend an evening and a day with him. Good to see him and eventually find him and the hotel. Rome’s roads are awful in that most are restricted access, preventing Jacopo from taking anything remotely like a direct route to our intended destination. Also, in addition to the unfortunate rain, Jacopo’s friend was unable to meet up with us because her flight got canceled. We did get an extensive tour of the back streets though on our walk to dinner. On the following day, with Luca and Cal, we were able to tour the Coliseum and see some of the Forum and Paletine hill. 
Cal left before Heather and I on his train to Zagreb. We were able to go to “Trevor” fountain and see Piazza de Espagna with Luca before we had to depart ourselves to catch our flight to Zagreb. However, it turns out we needn’t have gone quite so early as that flight was ultimately delayed 2.5 hours.
Igor and Jelena were wonderful hosts, loaning their apartment to us, and allowing us to experience alone the joy of waking up at 5 or 6 something in the morning to Cal’s arrival to let him in. After a little extra sleep, we were introduced to the city of Zagreb. We had a wonderful dinner with Jelena’s parents and a night on the square with their friends in addition to a tour of Igor’s offices. On our way to Zadar, Cal, Heather, and I saw Lake Plitvice and its famous waterfalls. A heavy snowfall a few days before had the water really flowing and really cold. The park was also nearly empty as it was Christmas Eve.
On Christmas day, we awoke in Zadar and exchanged gifts. Among other things, I got some wonderful slippers that I’m wearing as I write this to keep my feet warm. We saw the river Krka and its waterfalls (again out of its banks) and had a nice dinner at the roadside restaurant nearby (the only place we could find open).
The next day we saw the smallest town in the world (Hum – really, that’s its name…), though perhaps it’s now just formerly the smallest town in the world as its done further downsizing of its services. We also got to see “Motourvun” twice before seeing Split.
We spent one more night in Zagreb before Heather and I flew back Rome and Cal caught the train to Warsaw, Poland. In Rome, we spent just an evening before Heather flew back home to see Nevaeh. I had an extra day in Rome to see the city and the Vatican before flying back to Marseille…
wow sounds like you had a great holiday! glad to see the pictures of you and find out more about your life =o]
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