I Am Lion, Hear Me Roar

The other day when I rode the bike into Sacile, I noticed that the best shoe store in town had practically everything on sale.  In Europe they don't do the whole clearance rack/sale rack thing.  They generally have sales twice a year, and EVERYTHING goes on sale.  Kind of like Victora's Secret's semi-annual sale.  As a seasoned rider/runner, I know never to leave the house without some money, so I was prepared to buy myself some shoes right then and there.  My Italian isn't good enough to decipher the hour signs, which usually have multiple sets of hours on them because of the odd hours stores are open here.  I hung around until 4, and then decided the store probably was just closed because it was Sunday, so I headed home.  I asked Christine if we could go back in town so I could get some shoes (there were several pairs in the window I had my eye on), so Christer got a ride to work today so we could have the car.  It turned out that they didn't have any of the shoes I wanted in my size anymore, so I left empty handed.  I STILL don't have a single pair of Italian shoes!  I'm striking out everywhere we go.  Christine and Jameson got gelato, and a bunch of kayakers were practicing on the course on the river that runs right through the middle of the town.  It was super cool to watch.  I would compare it to the precision of downhill skiing, and maneuvering through the poles, but you're in a kayak and have the flow of the water to mess you up.  It takes some serious upper body/core strength to turn these boats on a dime, like they were doing.

I don't have any other recent pictures, but I do have a collection of oddities/cool things I've seen throughout our travels.  First, I present to you: Wells.  Most every city we've been to has multiple closed up wells that used to serve as the peoples' water source.  Instead of destroying them, they've just been covered to prevent any accidents.

Italy also has quite the collection of ornate door knockers and entrances in general.  Lions seem to be the common theme, but I've also seen angels, and scary looking people.  Either way, they're pretty cool.

That's all I've got folks.  I was going to take my camera along for a bike ride this evening, but Christine and Christer ended up going over to Sylvia's for dinner, so I had to stay home with Jameson.  Tomorrow I'll try to get some good shots.

So far this week has been really hard for me.  Between missing people and the actuality sinking in that I'm going to be without the ones I love for my birthday, it's all just hit me at once, and it's been really tough.  It's the blog comments, e-mails, and letters in the mail that are getting me through, honestly, so thank you to everyone who has taken the time to write a quick comment or has taken the time to send a letter or somehow sent your love my way.  I honestly live for them, and they really mean a lot.  I have never been more excited for a package to come in the mail than I am for the one from my mom that should be here (keeping my fingers crossed) tomorrow!

Today my favorite thing about Italy is:  Outdoor recreational activities.  (I've got to be honest, when you're having a rough week, it's hard to come up with something positive.)  We always have the bikers pass by the house, but today we saw a group of about 30 runners pass by, and then there were the kayakers in Sacile as well.  It's just an outdoor recreation type of country.