Chatting Money

MY BOY!
[4/29/11 9:32:53 AM] Lisa Symington: On your last night in your apartment, right?
[4/29/11 9:33:35 AM] Troy Symington: Yup!
[4/29/11 9:33:49 AM] Lisa Symington: what have you been doing?
[4/29/11 9:33:53 AM] Troy Symington: Tomorrow night we stay in a hostel across the river in Florence.
[4/29/11 9:34:11 AM] Troy Symington: Cleaning. Packing. Seeing everything I still had to see.
[4/29/11 9:34:19 AM] Troy Symington: I climbed the Dome today finally!
[4/29/11 9:35:23 AM] Lisa Symington: Funny to stay in the same town in the hostel. Yay, you climbed the Dome! I'm glad. Was it still great? or did it lose some of it's pizazz because Firenze was more familiar to you?
[4/29/11 9:37:11 AM] Troy Symington: Nope! Don't think so! It was pretty cool to get a veiw of absolutely everywhere in the city! I kept going "that's where ... is, and that's the ...".
[4/29/11 9:37:24 AM] Lisa Symington: :)
[4/29/11 9:37:42 AM] Lisa Symington: Did Accent have a going away party for you guys?
[4/29/11 9:39:02 AM] Troy Symington: Yup! We went to a pizza place nearby our apartment that I've actually been to twice before. We got free soda and pizza! I was stuffed! And we said goodbye to all of the teachers and a couple of the students who left early. Our roommate Sean left this morning! It's so weird!
[4/29/11 9:39:41 AM] Lisa Symington: Seems weird after making a home together for the last 3 months!
[4/29/11 9:40:48 AM] Lisa Symington: Is all going well with your packing? extra storage off to your friend for the ride home? (was it Jordan? i forget whom)
[4/29/11 9:42:01 AM] Troy Symington: Naw, it was our friend Shannon. I dropped the bag off yesterday with all of our stuff (it ended up being pretty darn heavy even though it's just a duffel bag!)
[4/29/11 10:05:08 AM] Lisa Symington: Sorry, I got a phone call from our travel agent. I tried to type in be right back but didn't get the return button hit.
[4/29/11 10:05:45 AM] Lisa Symington: I trust you weighed your duffel bag to be sure you didn't go over the weight limit?
[4/29/11 10:05:49 AM] Troy Symington: It's ok, I know it's because you don't actually love me... : )
[4/29/11 10:05:56 AM] Lisa Symington: Not really!
[4/29/11 10:06:53 AM] Lisa Symington: I have you booked in the tiny, cramped, cheap, inside, windowless cabin with Katie and Nick for our sailing cruise.
[4/29/11 10:06:59 AM] Troy Symington: The wait limit is 50 lbs and it's a small duffel bag. I really don't think we got anywhere near it. It was probably like 30 lbs or something.
[4/29/11 10:07:00 AM] Lisa Symington: Okiedokie
[4/29/11 10:07:52 AM] Lisa Symington: Tell me about your plans that you have booked already for your next couple of weeks
[4/29/11 10:09:58 AM] Troy Symington: Florence for 1 night tomorrow night. Then Dublin for 3 nights. Then a train to Galway and an unknown number of nights there. We haven't booked our Galway hostel yet because we might want to spend an extra night in Dublin.
[4/29/11 10:10:34 AM] Lisa Symington: Sounds like you're city folks :) What is there to do in DUblin?
[4/29/11 10:10:54 AM] Troy Symington: Not a whole lot...
[4/29/11 10:11:17 AM] Lisa Symington: Then why stay so many days?
[4/29/11 10:12:36 AM] Troy Symington: Oh! By the way... I'm probably going to need some more money in the bank account soon. There's still over 500 in there but since we're going to start traveling around it's going to disapear reeeaaally quickly.
[4/29/11 10:13:56 AM] Troy Symington: For the Irish culture! And I know how that is synonomous with drinking, but that's not what I intend to do... much.
[4/29/11 10:14:38 AM] Lisa Symington: OK
[4/29/11 10:14:57 AM] Troy Symington: I got to go mom! We're meeting people for dinner! Love ya!
[4/29/11 10:15:06 AM] Lisa Symington: I'll see what I can do about your bank account. You are going to owe me big time!!!
[4/29/11 10:15:11 AM] Lisa Symington: Love ya too!

Finals in Florence

Troy!
[4/26/11 1:29:39 PM] Lisa Symington: You there?
[4/26/11 1:29:51 PM] Lisa Symington: Hellooo!!
[4/26/11 1:31:06 PM] Troy Symington: Whoa! My mom's messaging me!
[4/26/11 1:35:43 PM] Troy Symington: But Skype's not sending it apparently...
[4/26/11 1:35:54 PM] Lisa Symington: and then I ran away since nobody loved me enough to respond!
[4/26/11 1:36:04 PM] Lisa Symington: Hi honey!
[4/26/11 1:36:40 PM] Lisa Symington: I was about to book the San Francisco de Young museum for June 18, a Saturday, for a Picasso exhibit.
[4/26/11 1:36:46 PM] Lisa Symington: Do you want to go?
[4/26/11 1:37:40 PM] Lisa Symington: We are only planning a day trip with the exhibit time of 12:30, if I can get it.... they are already sold out for the first weekend and most of this second weekend
[4/26/11 1:38:55 PM] Lisa Symington: Did you run away?
[4/26/11 1:40:21 PM] Lisa Symington: Now Skype isn't sending my chats to you!
[4/26/11 1:40:38 PM] Lisa Symington: they are "pending", so what's with that?
[4/26/11 1:41:13 PM] Lisa Symington: It still has you listed as a green check for having your computer open....
[4/26/11 1:42:10 PM] Lisa Symington: oh well, I'm out to mow the lawn with the PUSH mower. The regular one is being repaired and the grass grows fast this time of year
[4/26/11 1:42:20 PM] Lisa Symington: Where's my mower when I need him?
[4/26/11 1:42:35 PM] Troy Symington: I'll have school and work by then... what day of the week is it?
[4/26/11 1:42:58 PM] Lisa Symington: Saturday
[4/26/11 1:43:05 PM] Lisa Symington: Yay! you ARE there!!
[4/26/11 1:44:04 PM] Troy Symington: Whoa! It just sent me your last, like, 10 messages all at once!
[4/26/11 1:44:05 PM] Lisa Symington: We could probably do a Sunday if it's better. I am waiting for Katie's reply still..... but she leaves for Hawaii later that week so I thought sooner was better than later for her sake.
[4/26/11 1:44:47 PM] Troy Symington: I just don't know what my work schedule will be, but I can probably do it!
[4/26/11 1:45:29 PM] Lisa Symington: I suppose you would be able to schedule work around it since, as of now you are not scheduled at all :)
[4/26/11 1:45:48 PM] Troy Symington: Yup! :)
[4/26/11 1:46:04 PM] Lisa Symington: OK, I'll count you as a go! Your ticket is $21 as a student
[4/26/11 1:46:27 PM] Lisa Symington: How was your history essay?
[4/26/11 1:47:37 PM] Troy Symington: Woohoo! The essay went pretty well I think! Afterwards we had a Soc Sci essay that was really easy, but by the time we took it I felt really burnt out from all the writing! (our journals were due that day as well so I had spent the entire night before writing many, many pages).
[4/26/11 1:48:11 PM] Lisa Symington: Last minute journaling for the whole semester?
[4/26/11 1:48:36 PM] Lisa Symington: Congratulations on feeling good about your essays!
[4/26/11 1:48:50 PM] Troy Symington: Ha, no. It's just the last 8 entries that were due today.
[4/26/11 1:48:51 PM] Lisa Symington: SmartiePants!
[4/26/11 1:48:56 PM] Lisa Symington: OK
[4/26/11 1:49:06 PM] Lisa Symington: Anything new?
[4/26/11 1:49:17 PM] Lisa Symington: I saw Anna's Greece photos on FB
[4/26/11 1:49:42 PM] Lisa Symington: Why didn't you go to Greece? I had thought that was one of those places you wanted to go?
[4/26/11 1:50:40 PM] Troy Symington: Started throwing away things today that I'm not gonna need after the program... Ok, stop freaking asking me all these questions at once, I started writing in response to the "anything new" and then you start throwing all these other questions at me! Stop it!
[4/26/11 1:51:11 PM] Lisa Symington: Type faster :D
[4/26/11 1:51:36 PM] Troy Symington: You need to learn proper chat room etiquette!
[4/26/11 1:51:43 PM] Lisa Symington: Pause....
[4/26/11 1:51:54 PM] Lisa Symington: awaiting prior responses....
[4/26/11 1:52:29 PM] Lisa Symington: pause....
[4/26/11 1:53:22 PM] Lisa Symington: pause.....
[4/26/11 1:53:35 PM] Lisa Symington: still pausing.........
[4/26/11 1:53:58 PM] Troy Symington: Ok... I had wanted to go to Greece. But the program that Anna went with was through something called Florence For Fun. And I knew that if I went it would just be a lot of partying and I wouldn't see anything of Greece. Anna told me she hated the Greece trip because of this (as well as the very perverse Greek men). And if you say pause one more time I'm hanging up.
[4/26/11 1:54:19 PM] Lisa Symington: hahahaha
[4/26/11 1:55:27 PM] Lisa Symington: I understand about the partying and the men! yikes! I guess it was all right to miss her trip then, although the boat trip looked wonderful and the caves and shoreline were beautiful.
[4/26/11 1:55:49 PM] Lisa Symington: What did you throw away?
[4/26/11 1:55:58 PM] Troy Symington: She did say that it was very beautiful. But it's not how I want to see Greece.
[4/26/11 1:56:08 PM] Lisa Symington: Gotcha :)
[4/26/11 1:56:12 PM] Troy Symington: Again with the multiple statements!
[4/26/11 1:56:24 PM] Lisa Symington: I'm pausing :)
[4/26/11 1:56:25 PM] Troy Symington: You have no idea how annoying...
[4/26/11 1:56:30 PM] Lisa Symington: Love you :)
[4/26/11 1:57:15 PM] Troy Symington: Just threw away a lot of papers and the museum tickets and city maps that I didn't want (I kept most of them).
[4/26/11 1:57:49 PM] Lisa Symington: That makes sense, especially since you will be carrying everything on your back for the following 2 1/2 weeks
[4/26/11 1:59:00 PM] Troy Symington: My friend Shannon is actually going to take a bag back for us. We're going to pay the $55 dollars baggage fee and buy her dinner or something.
[4/26/11 1:59:19 PM] Lisa Symington: You have that much stuff?
[4/26/11 2:00:29 PM] Troy Symington: I need to send my books back mostly. Plus the souvenirs. I was able to take my carry-on on the flight over here, but I'm not going to be able to when we travel around.
[4/26/11 2:01:25 PM] Lisa Symington: Are your books worth $55?
[4/26/11 2:01:38 PM] Lisa Symington: You could leave them in Italy...
[4/26/11 2:03:04 PM] Troy Symington: Do you have any idea how expensive textbooks are? Any one of them is worth $55. Plus I need one of them for next year. Plus, Alec is paying for half of it. Besides, I need to send back my bowler hat, a large mug we stole from a beer garden in munich, among oher things...
[4/26/11 2:03:26 PM] Lisa Symington: Oh, I get it now...
[4/26/11 2:04:06 PM] Lisa Symington: Are you ready to say goodbye to Florence? How does the timing feel?
[4/26/11 2:04:35 PM] Troy Symington: I feel like I should have another couple of months here!
[4/26/11 2:04:54 PM] Lisa Symington: I'm glad you're still enjoying it!
[4/26/11 2:05:18 PM] Lisa Symington: I bet your Italian is pretty good now, too
[4/26/11 2:05:24 PM] Troy Symington: I feel like there's so much left to do, just in Florence!
[4/26/11 2:05:36 PM] Troy Symington: My italian is still... eh.
[4/26/11 2:05:55 PM] Lisa Symington: I guess 3 months isn't very long, really
[4/26/11 2:06:11 PM] Lisa Symington: I really miss gelato
[4/26/11 2:06:13 PM] Troy Symington: Not really...
[4/26/11 2:06:27 PM] Troy Symington: But I signed up for Italian 3 next semester!
[4/26/11 2:06:50 PM] Lisa Symington: I'm glad. It will keep you connected to this time and to the country.
[4/26/11 2:07:35 PM] Lisa Symington: Any other news? I should get mowing since you're not doing it!
[4/26/11 2:08:18 PM] Troy Symington: Not really, I should get to bed... I have 2 more finals tomorrow...
[4/26/11 2:08:33 PM] Lisa Symington: Love you. Good luck on the finals
[4/26/11 2:08:40 PM] Lisa Symington: Mwah (h)
[4/26/11 2:08:49 PM] Troy Symington: Love! Ciao!

Hiking and Biking

[12:04:35 PM] Katie Symington: Troy-o!
[12:05:37 PM] Troy Symington: Well, hi!
[12:05:52 PM] Katie Symington: Hey! I'm talking to mom right now. What are you up to?
[12:06:17 PM] Troy Symington: Sitting in my hostel in the Swiss Alps!
[12:06:42 PM] Katie Symington: Dude, how awesome is it that you can even say that? ;
[12:06:45 PM] Katie Symington: )
[12:07:14 PM] Troy Symington: I know, right?
[12:07:57 PM] Katie Symington: Super coolio!
[12:08:03 PM] Katie Symington: What did you do today?
[12:08:57 PM] Troy Symington: Hiked around the mountains all day! That's seriously all we did. What are you up to?
[12:10:30 PM] Katie Symington: I am talking with mom and planning out our day. Nick and I will go jogging outside soon--it is BEAUTIFUL out, today will probably be in the eighties again. Mom might come visit us for a bit, maybe dad too, and I want to get some flowers for our patio. Then we are havin dinner with Nick's parents--homemade burgers, yum! Mom and Dad are going out for dinner for their anniversary, which I hope you said congrats to them about!
[12:11:23 PM] Troy Symington: I... might have forgotten it...
[12:12:19 PM] Katie Symington: Uh-oh!
[12:12:39 PM] Katie Symington: You'd better get a postcard or something from Switzerland and send it to them (or keep it and hand it over) because it's neutral territory and they can't get mad at you. ;)
[12:12:56 PM] Katie Symington: It was their 31st anniversary!
[12:13:02 PM] Katie Symington: they will go out probably tonight
[12:13:49 PM] Troy Symington: Very nice! And I don't know how anyone expects me to remember when their anniversary is. The only reason I even remember YOUR birthday is because it's the day after mine!
[12:14:18 PM] Katie Symington: lol
[12:14:34 PM] Katie Symington: Well hmm. I don't know how to help you there.
[12:14:47 PM] Katie Symington: I just remember it
[12:14:50 PM] Katie Symington: ;)
[12:14:57 PM] Katie Symington: Oh well. But perhaps you could give them a belated happy anniversary message on facebook
[12:15:36 PM] Troy Symington: Okay, sounds like a plan.
[12:15:56 PM] Katie Symington: :)
[12:16:00 PM] Katie Symington: What will you do tomorrow?
[12:16:06 PM] Katie Symington: And how is your hostel? Is it nice?
[12:16:55 PM] Troy Symington: Our hostel is pretty standard. It was a bit overpriced just like everything over here in Switzerland (plus this is a total tourist town). But the people are really nice!
[12:18:20 PM] Katie Symington: Awesome! I've never been to a hostel though bud. Can you describe it a bit better?
[12:20:01 PM] Troy Symington: Ummmm... we're in a dorm. Two bunk beds so it fits six people total. But by some stroke of luck we're the only ones in the room! The bathrooms and showers are downstairs, and this hostel is weird and makes you take off your shoes before you go to your room.
[12:20:42 PM] Katie Symington: LOL
[12:20:47 PM] Katie Symington: sounds like fun!
[12:20:55 PM] Katie Symington: What day do you come back again? Sorry I keep forgetting ;)
[12:21:08 PM] Troy Symington: May 19th.
[12:22:40 PM] Katie Symington: I just registered for the Race for the Cure on May 7th
[12:22:42 PM] Katie Symington: :)
[12:23:05 PM] Troy Symington: Do tell...
[12:23:50 PM] Katie Symington: It is a 5k race for the breastcancer cure--you know, Susan G Komen thingimagigger
[12:24:00 PM] Katie Symington: It's right by our apartment and starts at 7:30am
[12:24:05 PM] Katie Symington: I get a t-shirt for my $40!
[12:24:12 PM] Katie Symington: Nick and Andra will do it with me :D
[12:24:22 PM] Troy Symington: Oh wow! Are you gonna practice for it?
[12:25:18 PM] Katie Symington: Definitely! Otherwise I would be totally urgh on the day!
[12:25:45 PM] Katie Symington: I have been running in the gym here with Nick, and I can do 1.5 miles without being too dead. but I definitely need to work up to 3.1! We are goin for a jog outside soon.
[12:26:59 PM] Troy Symington: Ha! That's awesome. Yeah, 5k really isn't as far as it seems. When Quentin put on the run in the park it was a 5k. And I think I ran that pretty well.
[12:27:20 PM] Katie Symington: Cuz you are AWESOME
[12:27:26 PM] Katie Symington: I have never run 3.1 miles, I think.
[12:27:43 PM] Katie Symington: Unless I did in those 20 minute runs we did in pe in weimar
[12:27:51 PM] Katie Symington: But it is a goal for me to work up to!
[12:27:52 PM] Katie Symington: :)
[12:27:58 PM] Katie Symington: Nick and I biked 16 miles yesterday!
[12:28:52 PM] Troy Symington: That's awesome! There's a lot of mountain biking trails around here and it really makes me miss mountain biking. Is there any particular reason you guys bikes 16 miles?
[12:30:43 PM] Katie Symington: Nope. We wanted to go for a bike ride, and around 8 miles or so we realized we had to get back for me to go to work. I'm glad we turned around then though, because by the time we finished getting home my endurance was waning! :)
[12:31:48 PM] Troy Symington: I bet! Back when I was biking a lot we usually only did about 10-15 miles (but that was over hills and trails).
[12:32:00 PM] Katie Symington: Nice!
[12:32:35 PM] Katie Symington: Okay bud, I am gonna get going. I need to make Nick get up and jog! :)
[12:32:41 PM] Katie Symington: I love you! Be safe and have tons of fun, okay?
[12:32:51 PM] Katie Symington: Mwah!
[12:33:21 PM] Troy Symington: Do I have to be safe?
[12:34:13 PM] Katie Symington: YES
[12:34:16 PM] Katie Symington: PBBBT
[12:34:23 PM] Katie Symington: *that was a raspberry*
[12:34:35 PM] Troy Symington: *sigh*
[12:34:36 PM] Troy Symington: Fine.
[12:34:41 PM] Katie Symington: lol ciao dude. love ya!
[12:34:43 PM] Troy Symington: Love ya!
[12:34:54 PM] Troy Symington: Ciao!

Switzerland!

Lisa Symington 12:14 PM
Hey buddy, are you there?
Troy Symington 12:14 PM
Hey Ma!
Lisa Symington 12:15 PM
Where are you?
Troy Symington 12:15 PM
In my hostel in Switzerland!
Lisa Symington 12:15 PM
Care to share? Like in case you die and I have to come and pick up your body?
Troy Symington 12:16 PM
Ha, we're in the Valley Hostel in Lauterbrunnen in the Swiss Alps!
Lisa Symington 12:16 PM
You're supposed to let me know where you are, at least WHICH COUNTRY YOU ARE IN!!
12:17 PM
You bad boy! So, how is Switzerland? and the alps? and how cold/snowy is it?
Troy Symington 12:21 PM
Not very cold at all! And the valley we're in has hardly any snow. It's a big carved out glacier valley with sheer cliffs. It's very much like yosemite. And out of our hostel window we can see Jungfrau, the highest point of the alps!
Lisa Symington 12:21 PM
Sounds perfect. I was just looking at the website for the hostel and it is gorgeous. Are mosquitos out?
12:22 PM
You will need to go hiking on some of those beautiful trail I saw in the photos
Troy Symington 12:24 PM
As far as I've seen there have been 0 mosquitos (I think it might be a little too cold). It got a lot colder once the sun set. Tomorrow we're going to go hiking around for most of the day. That's more or less the entiretly of our plans, because the trains around here are SO FREAKING EXPENSIVE!!!
Lisa Symington 12:27 PM
Ooh, sorry about the trains.... but it looks like a good place to be stuck and you can relax not having to cram another city/spot in this weekend. How long did it take to get there? another night train?
Troy Symington 12:28 PM
Yeah, it took about 5 hours by train... and it was an expensive frikken train.
Lisa Symington 12:28 PM
Who is with you?
Troy Symington 12:29 PM
Alec and Nate.
Lisa Symington 12:29 PM
Great. More geek photos
12:30 PM
Any night life in your little town?
Troy Symington 12:31 PM
Ha, we walked through it a little while ago at about 9 and I think even the pub was closed.
Lisa Symington 12:32 PM
I guess that's a NO then... Any fun people in the hostel with you?
Troy Symington 12:33 PM
We met some girls from Texas on the train to Interlaken and ran in to them later in the day and walked with them for a bit, but their hostel is back down in Interlaken so we're not sure if we'll see them again.
Lisa Symington 12:33 PM
Sounds like a quiet night then ....
Troy Symington 12:36 PM
Yup. This entire place is marketed towards adreneline junkies. The only things to do in these towns is skiing, skydiving, hiking, base jumping, mountain biking, ect. So there's absolutely no nightlife. We're getting up early to enjoy the sunshine!
Lisa Symington 12:37 PM
OK, but I can't condone base jumping.....
Troy Symington 12:37 PM
If only I had the money...
Lisa Symington 12:37 PM
It's a good thing you're poor then, haha.
Troy Symington 12:38 PM
But I'll have the money eventually and then there'll be nothing you can do to stop me! Muhahahaha!
Lisa Symington 12:40 PM
Technically, maybe... but I'll try to think of something! We are having a really gorgeous day. I guess the weather was good earlier in the week, but I missed it at work. I have all the windows open now and recently returned from walking the circle with the dogs. Now I need to go work outside.
12:41 PM
You have a good night's sleep and a fun day tomorrow. Please try to stay in touch!
Troy Symington 12:42 PM
I'll try! I love ya!
Lisa Symington 12:43 PM
Love you too!

Parents in Italy

[3/3/2011 7:12:28 AM] Lisa Symington: hey, sweetie. Do you miss me yet?

[12:01:47 AM] Katie Symington: I gots a mama?

[12:02:39 AM] Lisa Symington: Hey! This izza your papa!

[12:02:54 AM] Katie Symington: Daddy!

[12:02:58 AM] Katie Symington: How is Venice?

[12:03:34 AM] Lisa Symington: Mama is getting dresed-we'll eat BK soon. The room is fine-loud last nite!

[12:04:51 AM] Lisa Symington: Venice is great so far! Not sure what we'll do today.

[12:05:07 AM] Katie Symington: What is for breakfast?

[12:05:34 AM] Lisa Symington: Continental-cofffee and rolls, i think?

[12:05:52 AM] Katie Symington: Is continental the same in Italy as it is here? Enjoy it!

[12:06:06 AM] Katie Symington: I sent you guys a facebook message about what's going on here.

[12:06:41 AM] Lisa Symington: OK-thanks. We're going to eat now. Have a great day. We love you!

[12:07:03 AM] Katie Symington: Love you too! Have fun!

Message Between the Whole Family on Facebook

Katie: Hey ya'll!

Troy, this way you can talk to all three of us at once without repeating yourself (too much.)

Kindly update us about your days on here.

I will start: I am falling asleep and it just not yet 10. That is what a day of hyper kids and crying 2nd graders will do to you. Tomorrow is the first day of the week I don't have something going on in the morning! I am going to enjoy sleeping in!

Love you!

Troy: Hey guys! Weeeell... I had a very american evening with lots of the people from Accent. We all went to a club called Twice which was ridiculously crowded but fun (Alec stayed home to get some sleep). I slept in today and I plan on going to the Chocolate Festival soon! The Chocolate Festival is down next to the Santa Croce church past the Ponte Vecchio, and Santa Croce is supposed to be where all the night life is in Florence.

Lisa: Save some chocolate for me so I can see the difference between italian chocolate and american chocolate :)

Gary: Did someone say chocolate?

Katie: I want chocolate! What kind of music did the club play? What's for dinner/breakfast? How was your first week of classes? What will you be doing this weekend?

Lisa: Katie, I thought I asked the questions? Now you're taking over, LOL!

Katie: ;) well I had to get it from somebody!

Lisa: I bought our air tickets after much trouble and will send e-mails with details but the gist of it is:
Dad and I arrive Venice March 4th. Stay 2 nights at Pensione Gerrauto then train to Florence Sunday afternoon. Expect to stay until Thursday at Hotel Montreal (not yet booked) (Opera one night I hope) and then train to Roma Thursday with Troy (?and Alec?). Let me know SOON whether to book a triple or quad room, Troy.
Dad flies home from Rome Sunday morning. Boys train home Sunday afternoon. Lisa probably returns with boys but is currently undecided. Lisa is leaning towards couple days at Cinque Terre. Then ?back to Florence a few days? Probably couple of days near Lake Como. ?Dolomites? Lisa flies home from Milan Sunday morning the 20th.

Lisa: I booked Hotel Montreal in Florence March 6-10. Have been searching for quad rooms in Rome (cheaper than 2 doubles) and am waiting to hear from one of my first choices before booking another place online.

Lisa: I received a reply from my first choice hotel (Hotel Oceania) in Rome and it is booked for a quad room. Troy, the quad cost about 20 euro more than the triple. If Alex can pay the difference, that would be great. Although, maybe we should pay him to stay with us. Now, Troy, we just have to find an opera!

Lisa: Katie, please house sit for us from Thursday morning thru Sunday evening, March 3 through March 10th when your father comes home. If you want to or are able to pick up or drop off at the airport you could help us save some $ for parking. You could even pick up the car later in the day when you are free.

Troy: I'm going to interrupt this conversation to tell you about my last couple of days because I haven't had time to talk to all of you!
On tuesday we went on a class field trip to La Specola museum (which I already told Katie all about so the rest of you just need to talk to her for details)! Then, later that night we went to the Accent sponsored apertivo! An apertivo is a place where you order an overpriced drink and then get free food for the rest of the night, and although there's not supposed to be any drinking in the Accent program... we all totally had a drink with our teachers (and you guys can't tell ANYONE or they'll get in trouble). But the food was awesome and it was really fun!
The next day (Wednesday) I didn't have Anthropology because our visit to La Specola counted as class time, so all I had was Italian at 2:00! Afterwards, we took the train to the soccer game (and due to a mix up with taking the light rail instead of the actual train, we barely got there in time)! The game was Fiorentina vs Inter Milan and although we played pretty well the first half Inter Milan is one of the best teams and kinda rocked Fiorentina.
Today, after History class the Soc Sci class took us to the Accademia where we saw the David, The Prisoners, and lots of awesome statues and religious paintings! They also had Il Museo degli Strumenti Musicali! The entire museum was pretty small and only took a couple hours for us to see everything.
Now we're at home and my roommates and I are all starting to cook a group dinner thingy! We don't have any solid plans for the weekend but we're planning on going to Pisa on Monday! (we don't have school monday because of presidents day).
So now that I just wrote a frikken novel, you all need to tell me what you all are up to! Love ya guys!

Katie: Sounds awesome bud! And that was totally not a novel, just a page from a novel! :)

Lisa: Are you not going to Sienna with the Accent group tomorrow? or to any place special this weekend? the leaning tower of Pisa? the beach? You must travel!!

Troy: The deadline for paying for the group trips passed a week and a half ago without us realizing it.
And did you even read my freakishly long message? It says right there that we're planning on going to Pisa on monday! And since writing this we also decided on also going to Fiesole and Lucca this weekend! They're all day trips and they all cost 5 euros or less to get there!

Day at the Ufuzi and Multitasking

Good morning!
[2/10/11 7:23:01 AM] Lisa Symington: Today was your Uffizi day. Did you like it? Was it crowded?

[2/10/11 7:24:09 AM] Troy Symington: Fairly crowded. But it was still FLIPPING AWESOME! Unfortunately there were no pictures allowed so the only picture is of the outside.

[2/10/11 7:24:45 AM] Troy Symington: We didn't have enough time to really look at everything because we had Italian class at 2, so we were going to go back sometime.

[2/10/11 7:25:03 AM] Troy Symington: We can get in for free anytime with our museum pass.

[2/10/11 7:25:20 AM] Lisa Symington: I'm surprised it was crowded in February. Crowded with Italians or tourists. Great about your pass.

[2/10/11 7:26:01 AM] Lisa Symington: That's a question mark after tourists....

[2/10/11 7:26:24 AM] Lisa Symington: And what was good in the museum?

[2/10/11 7:26:35 AM] Troy Symington: A little bit of both. And it wasn't exactly CROWDED. But there was still a healhy amount of people and tour groups to get around.

[2/10/11 7:27:23 AM] Lisa Symington: What was in the museum?

[2/10/11 7:28:09 AM] Troy Symington: I think my favorite part was the building itself. The ceilings and walls and furniture are so ridiculously elaborate! It's hard to believe that it was made to be an office building for Lorenzo the Magnificent (one of the Medici)!

[2/10/11 7:28:45 AM] Lisa Symington:
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[2/10/11 7:29:02 AM] Lisa Symington: Oz sent you the above message :)

[2/10/11 7:29:39 AM] Lisa Symington: I guess there was a lot of power and money in that family!

[2/10/11 7:30:06 AM] Troy Symington: There were tons and tons of greek and roman statues and busts. As well as a ridiculous amount of religious paintings and portraits of Lorenzo's family and friends, ect.

[2/10/11 7:30:11 AM] Troy Symington: Tell Oz I say hi!

[2/10/11 7:30:43 AM] Lisa Symington: I'll give him a hug from you when I can. I sent his away for now...Tell

[2/10/11 7:31:10 AM] Troy Symington: I... did?

[2/10/11 7:31:59 AM] Lisa Symington: Tell me about the differences between Italy and home. When you went to the grocery store and the mercado what was it like?

[2/10/11 7:34:42 AM] Troy Symington: The supermarket is acually kind of fun, because you don't always know exactly what it is your buying! The main difference is the kinds of foods. There's a lot more in the way of unprepared meat and you can just grab some octopus or calamari or other whole animal from the freezer section!

[2/10/11 7:35:08 AM] Lisa Symington: WHOLE octopus?

[2/10/11 7:35:59 AM] Lisa Symington: So they don't have already prepared salads and chinese food? How about all the pastries and cakes and donuts?

[2/10/11 7:37:03 AM] Lisa Symington: Are you guys making your own coffee or just buying it? Does one buy coffee in the grocery store like we do?

[2/10/11 7:37:53 AM] Troy Symington: There's not very much in the way of already prepared foods... but the thing is we keep going to the giant supermarket when most people go to specialty shops for everything.

[2/10/11 7:38:44 AM] Lisa Symington: Aren't the specialty shops more expensive? How do regular people afford that?

[2/10/11 7:39:01 AM] Troy Symington: There was some coffee already here when we moved in as a housewarming gift thingy but we haven't used it yet. We've just been going to caffe's (but not very often).

[2/10/11 7:39:34 AM] Lisa Symington: What did you do for dinner last night?

[2/10/11 7:39:57 AM] Troy Symington: That's the culture! The store we've been going to is about the size of holiday and it is one of the biggest if not THE biggest in the city! People just go to specialty shops here!

[2/10/11 7:41:23 AM] Lisa Symington: Tonight is the start of your first 3 day weekend. You and Alec going to San Giamarmanno? Are the girls going with you? Any other good plans?

[2/10/11 7:41:30 AM] Troy Symington: Last night Nathan made us all spaghetti. He threw some ground beef in tomato sauce and added basil, garlic, and onion. We supplied the bread and wine and it was really good!

[2/10/11 7:41:48 AM] Lisa Symington: How expensive is wine?

[2/10/11 7:42:49 AM] Troy Symington: Stop asking me questions so quickly! I can't answer them all and then you're going to complain about how I never tell you anything! I haven't even gotten to the other 2 conversations I'm having on facebook! Which questions do you want me to answer!!!!???!

[2/10/11 7:43:22 AM] Lisa Symington: ALL OF THEM! You're young, you can multitask!!

[2/10/11 7:45:24 AM] Troy Symington: We're going to spend a day in San Gimingano on either sat or sun. We don't know who all is going yet.

[2/10/11 7:45:31 AM] Troy Symington: The wine was about 3 euro.

[2/10/11 7:45:38 AM] Troy Symington: And it wasn't bad!

[2/10/11 7:47:05 AM] Lisa Symington: OK. love. I'll let you go. I'm Expediaing flights now. I think I have one for your Dad and I'm looking for mine now.

[2/10/11 7:50:02 AM] Troy Symington: Okay! Sound good! Love ya!

[2/10/11 7:50:39 AM] Lisa Symington: Love you, too!

Don't Blink!

Good morning, son.

[2/8/11 7:44:17 AM] Troy Symington: Hi ma!

[2/8/11 7:44:34 AM] Lisa Symington: How's italy today?

[2/8/11 7:45:25 AM] Troy Symington: Cold and overcast. Today was my first day of my History and Social Science classes!

[2/8/11 7:45:40 AM] Lisa Symington: How did those classes go?

[2/8/11 7:46:23 AM] Troy Symington: Molto bene! When we meat for Soc Sci on thursday we're going to the Uffizi!

[2/8/11 7:46:35 AM] Troy Symington: Oh, I'm sorry but I need to go mom!

[2/8/11 7:46:38 AM] Lisa Symington: Yea!

[2/8/11 7:46:44 AM] Lisa Symington: Me too, love ya

[2/8/11 7:46:54 AM] Troy Symington: We're going to the super market to get groceries. Bye, love ya!

[2/8/11 7:47:00 AM] Lisa Symington: bye