Over 1000 pictures and counting

What goes up

Bathe, in England.
It was such a freaky moment when you realized that on both sides of this cathedral, there were these ladders with angels climbing up and down them...

Oh Auntie M... There's no place like home!!

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Originally uploaded by mariazmess.

Now I'm back, and this, oh jealous peoples, is my view. Toronto the great, Toronto the rockin', Toronto mine own...

Da baby in da bidet

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Originally uploaded by mariazmess.

The bath was too big, the sink was too small, the bidet was juuuuust right!

All clean!

Shhh... they're sleeeping...

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Originally uploaded by mariazmess.

I'm not sure if my brother and this kid are related. hmm... well, when she gets tired, she's cranky, when she's hungry she's upset, and when she's bored, she's restless... she's such a bum!!

Warmer Than Springtime

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Originally uploaded by mariazmess.

Christmas in Palermo (spain?? nooo, Italy... ooooh...) well almost Christmas.
Christmas lights? Palmtrees? I'm so confused!!

What the...

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Originally uploaded by mariazmess.

My brother standing atop a mound of rubble, or volcanic rock. Mount Etna was quite impressive. Especially this part. Yup, that's a house.

More Buscemi!!!

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Originally uploaded by mariazmess.

Our town's crest. Not sure what it means... but it's pretty!

Buscemi in Buscemi

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Originally uploaded by mariazmess.

My brother Alec is taking a pic with his phone. We were so excited to see signs with our last name on it. Buscemi was really fun to see and really fun to be in.

We're Going Where???

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Originally uploaded by mariazmess.

This is my very first glimpse of Sicily. Taken on the plane, from my window... beautiful, beautiful Sicily...

Elvish Queen

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Originally uploaded by mariazmess.

Here's my niece Elbereth. She's the awesomest baby on the face of the Earth. I miss her terribly. Here she is in Agrigento, looking at the ruins - Bella bambina!!

Mountain Towns

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Originally uploaded by mariazmess.

I totally forget the name of this city, but it was all like this, in the mountains. Sicily, Italia

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Originally uploaded by mariazmess.

This picture was taken in Agrigento, on the south coast of Sicily. Notice more Greek ruins in the background. Insanely old place.

There's No Place Like Home

I am home. I'm actually back at work... which isn't really cool, but completely useful considering that VISA is about to put a contract out on me.

But seriously, I had a vunderbar time over in the old world... but I was SO EXCITED to come home.

When my brother, my sis-in-law, little Elvis, and I landed in North Bay, there was about 3 feet of snow (or 1 metre)... crazy beautiful. I'll have to post a picture I took from my balcony. My home internet connection should be up soonish, so stay tuned.

Coming home at Christmas was perfect. I got to see all of my family and have awesome food. Not that I didn't have awesome food in Europe, but this was Gramma's Christmas Cooking. Mmm... and Daddy made raviolis. I know you're jealous. Contain yourself... sheesh!

Now that I'm home, I get to see if all this travelling learned me something. I've argued with my roommate already, does that count??

It's really good to be back. I'm going to try to keep posting pictures on this site. Mostly of Toronto I guess, since this is where I live and play... and yes dad, where I work. Long live vacations!! Work poos!

OH! I mentionned that we were going on a surprise trip... well. I was sure we were going to Scotland. All the hints pointed to it. But my sis-in-law is a cunning little lady and I ended up finding out, on the plane, that we were headed to Palermo, Italy!!!

That was an awesome surprise. Sicily is beautiful - I would love to go back for longer. I'll post pictures (promises, promises...) cuz we went to Buscemi in Sicily and we saw tons of cool things on the way too. Buscemi is a smallish town, in the mountains... too cool.

K, I'm going to go for a "coffee" break and then get back to work... ug.

Signed,
Maria of Buscemi

C'est la fin de mes photos de Santiago. I'll post pictures of the baby and where my brother lives soon. Also, we're going on a surprise trip this weekend... I'll post pics of that too!! (Parc Alameda, Santiago, Espagne)

Il y a un superbe parc à Santiago qui s'appelle Alameda (comme la chanson de Elliott Smith! walked down Alameda...)

King Alfonso had a lot to do with the development of that region in Spain, especially concerning the Camino. for those who don't know, it's my dad's name, but you can just call him Al. (Store in Santiago, Spain)

When I left Finisterre, I went back to Santiago for a few days. This is a typical Santiago street. Notice the Christmas snowy decorations. It doesn't snow in Santiago.

Trop joli ce petit village!!! Finisterre, Espagne

She sells sea shells by the sea shore. (go on! 5 times fast!)

C'est tellement beau de voir la mer avec les montagnes à l'arrière plan...

Finisterre is a fishing town!!

Fisterra, Espagna

Il y avait une botte en métal sur la roche: you see the tradition is you go to Finisterre to burn your clothes. Back in the day, they would get here and be so stinky that they would have to, but now it's just symbolic. Some people actually burn all their clothes, I burned my socks. You can see the smoke rising from the metal boot.

The lighthouse at the end of the world. I waved and said hello to Canada... but I think I got Mexico.

mmm the sea!! Finisterra!! A little fishing town, a tourist town in the summer, no doubt. The beach at the far end is where I got tons o' sea shells. I love the ocean!!