i'm leaving rome for venice in about an hour. we are taking a train from termini station to a station in venice and once again crossing our fingers and hoping we find a decent hotel or hostel. wish us luck. i had a croissant and espresso in a sidewalk cafe this morning and met some boys from germany who were backpacking. the lady at their hostel was clearly trying to screw them out of their money, which was clear as day even in italian. i gave them the name of our hostel. yesterday nathan and i fearlessly.. okay so not fearlessly, i was almost in tears.. navigated rome's underground system which is terribly confusing and sweaty and smelly to get to ostia, a beautiful beach on the mediterranean. we drank fruity cocktails and ate fresh coconut and sunbathed all day and swam in the sea. it was what i needed. now i'm back to my brown-ness which i oh-so missed in london. sunday nathan and i saw all of the "sights" including the vatican. apparently there's a dress code at the vatican which my halter-top skirt ensemble clearly didn't pass but i had a cardigan in my bag from earlier that morning and the security guard said "just go go, i no looky!" i thought nathan was going to pee his pants. rome really is beautiful but it's too crowded with tourists and smells like stinky people.

p.s. i LOVE gelato.

i slept on the floor of standsted airport friday night and hopped a flight to rome at six in the morning. i felt pretty sick all day yesterday since i had no sleep and its incredibly hot here but after a night of good rest i'm ready to see more. rome is absolutely beautiful.. its so cliche since i have heard it so many times, but it really is just breathtaking. will write more soon.

i skipped class today to spend time with nathan. i seriously cannot sit through four and a half hours of theatre class when the sun is shining and nathan is in london! i finished my seven-page theatre paper last night and then went to a club with aaron, quinn and nathan. it was pretty fun but nathan was jet lagged and i was tired, so it was an early night. today we are on our way to the camden market so i can sell some books to a used bookstore (too heavy to backpack with) and buy my little brother something from london. i'm so very ready to be done with classes and then so very ready to travel and then i think i am ready to come home and go to the lake with my family and read at prairie lights and buy mate tea from the tobacco bowl. that all sounds very fine.

yesterday i was panicking because i thought nathan was supposed to be in london at six in the morning and i hadn't heard from him. i was wrong. i woke up at seven thirty to him calling me from downstairs. we went to breakfast at the hollywood cafe and i had the ham and cheese omelet once again. it's so good to have him here. i'm very anxious to travel.

brighton was a major letdown because not only was there no sun, there was pouring rain. ofcourse i showed up at the trainstation in a mini sundress with a beach bag and flip flops and matt looked at me and said "aren't we feeling optimistic about today?" it struck me as funny then but unfortunately held true for the rest of the day. when katie, tim and i were on the boardwalk i tripped and broke my flip flop and had to wear these horribly corny ones with the british flag on the bottom. i must say that there is nothing a big hot chocolate won't fix though.. i ended up holing up in a bookstore and reading anais nin and watching the rain and trying to get rid of what seemed to be permanent goosebumps.

when i got home, i forced myself to sit down and write my essay for class. no getting up until it was done. after that, tim borrowed somebody's laptop and we watched "lost in translation" which i have always loved but hadn't struck such a chord with me until i started traveling.

speaking of traveling, i am going to rome on the 31st then to venice then to brussels and then to amsterdam. i'm so excited.. i love london, but i need warmth and sun and red wine and cherry tomatoes.

today i woke up around nine and put the finishing touches on my essay and then purposely got lost on the bus so i could see more of london. ended up at notting hill (no hugh grant unfortunately) and explored the portobello market. listened to a lot of postal service on my headphones today and bought two cute (cheap!) shirts and bought my grandma a tiny english tea set that i will try very hard not to break while backpacking.

today was my first day without coffee in about a month. i feel much better. i'm on way to dinner with steven bard, one of my aunt's friends.. since he's london he said he'd feed me a good dinner! i'm not sure those exist in this city though.

i'll let you know.

love you and miss you all. i miss iowa city where people don't hold their bags tightly if you smile at them.

i spent the day wandering around london.. in and out of shops, a couple of coffee shops, came back and started a paper. every once in a while i have these pangs of homesickness and start longing for iowa. i don't want to be homesick because i know my time is limited here and i should be enjoying it and sucking the life out of this experience, but right now i just want a bubblebath and a big mug of chai.

i feel disconnected and drained but it will pass. it always does.

everything is finally taken care of. my parents wired me money to get me through a couple of days until my new cards arrive, the london underground is sending me a new tube pass and i have a new school ID. my friends here have been amazing - lending me money whenever i need it, asking if i'm okay and the guys in my flat practically went on a headhunt after it happened. i really can't believe what a hassle this has all been though.

tonite i might go to a concert, tomorrow night i'm going to this famous club called fabric and saturday i'm going to the english beach town of brighton and i'm seeing wilco and belle & sebastian play. after sulking in my room all weekend i am dying to get out.

Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.

Henry Miller

the sun is out. my fingers are crossed that it lasts all day. i slept well last night, falling asleep to a mix cd i had made. woke up and got a moccachino and decided to borrow some money from a friend for a week-long tube pass. this afternoon i'm going to see shakespeare's "measure for measure" then i'm going to do homework in the park. i made a long list of everything i want to see here so i don't miss anything. i've had so much on my mind lately, especially after this weekend, but i'm just letting go of it all.

i spent all day yesterday on the phone with credit card companies, the london police department, the london underground helpline.. and no one was much help. after a call to my hometown banker in iowa i felt much better.. my parents and him were able to fed-ex a card to me. in the meantime, quinn is allowing me to live off on his money and food which is really nice.

the next time i try to predict life, i want someone to tattoo "you have no idea!" on my hand because it's the only thing that really seems to hold true.

boo on getting robbed.

wish me luck.