My October break seems ages ago but still I have more to recount. My roommate Bridget and I ended our Italy trip in the Northern city of Milan. Italy any time of year is wonderful but I was beginning to get a bit tired of the rain. We arrived in Milano in the afternoon to drizzle and after depositing our bags at our hostel we went out to explore the city rain coats on hand.

October 9, 2007-L'aquila, is not difficult to get to, unless of course you've gone through the wormhole of trans-Atlantic flight, countless airports, plane and time changes, body contortions in a 2 ft cubical space next to strangers, trains and buses and have now arrived in medieval Italy. In a stupor, my computer says it's 8:30 a.m. somewhere in the Colorado Rockies and my Italian cell phone reads 6:30 p.m.