I am getting free wireless service from God knows where. Have never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Here I am, sitting at the dining table, trying to finish yet another article and suddenly my computer signals to me. Go online it says. Wireless Netwok Connection connected. I click on the icon and lo and behold..the promise land! I love technology. Especially free access. Unfortunately, I must get back to article and changing existing cites to conform with the Harvard Bluebook style. But I had to get this out. What use is free technology if I can't get any benefit from it.

1. I am nearly done with consulting report.

2. I found a whole stack of Schweppes Diet Tonic Water at the local Woolworths.

3. I am now sipping GUILT FREE G&T!!

4. I am so going to have a good weekend....

I've just had to tell a friend who is here on holiday with his boyfriend that I can't have a girly lunch with him on the Harbour. Since arriving in Sydney I have been running around like mad. I have a consulting deadline to meet, with the report due yesterday,as usual, so I have not even had the time to go on usual afternoon strolls. All play and no work makes S a cash poor girl. But all is not lost. Have got myself semi-organised enough to get D converted...or as the converter says "returned" to the faith. Much much easier than I though it would be, considering that D only recieved the crash course on the 10 commandments the night before...I mean 11, to be divided into 2 categories. Of course we found sites with more than 12 basic tenets, and that threw us off a bit. During the interview, the nice interviewer kept throwing arabic and malay religious words at me in the hope that I could translate for D. I however kept giving him blank looks, and worse, just guessed. After a while he left me out of it. Lets just say that D is now a Johan in spite of me. Yup, I chose Johan. Much easier for me to remember if need be, and D likes it (after I told him that it does not matter if he comes in second, he will always be a champion). It appeals to the sportsman in him. He was jaywalking home like a suicidal maniac after I told him that he was as sinless as a baby. Well, up to the point he recklessly ignored my complaints about his jaywalking. He knows that in the faith, not listening to the future wife is a big sin...mucho grande bad point against soul type sin.

Off in a minute to the local flight center. Booking ticket back to KL for a short visit.

I recieved some bad news yesterday and the first thing I did was call D. I was pretty sure that the time difference is +7...or 5...or 8. Actually I am not sure at all, but he is my fiance and he jolly well better answer my calls whenever. I called him in the afternoon my time. And I kept calling him in 2 hour intervals. I should have just googled "time difference AU" but I was busy dialling his number. By the evening (again my time), I was getting worried as we had not spoken for a whole day. I had visions of him lying dead on the street somewhere near the Indian takeaway, victim of a hit and run, mugging, or just mistaken identity. Of couse I was also mentally telling him off as he does tend to dangerously jay walk. I am of the wait till the green man blips persuasion, while he is of the but there are no cars persuasion. I sometimes wonder what our future will hold for us.

I also had visions of a serial killer entering the flat and killing him. Of course I then remembered that as an academic, nobody will know that he is missing. Name one student who would bother to ask why a lecturer does not turn up for class. So I knew deep down, as I was eating my pasta with tuna sauce, that I would probably be the one to find the body when I arrive on Monday. Oh dear, that means that no one will meet me at the airport. I hate that. Must remember to note D's address in diary just in case.

But what if by some lucky chance someone did realise he has gone awol, called the police, and they broke into his flat to find his body. Wouldn't the investigators check his messages? Oh no, they would not have his security code, so they would have to get it from the telephone company. May take a few hours. But if they did get it then they would be able to listen to my messages. Then maybe they would call me and tell my WHY HE IS NOT ANSWERING MY CALLS! Ok, admittedly, there have only been 3 calls, but I really do hate keying in all the numbers from the phone card.

If I find the body, then I would have to be the one to get police. Would I be a suspect? What if I got blood on my shoes or they find my hair in the apartment? Just in case my passport and phone calls are insufficient to prove that I could not have killed him, I went down to see have a chat with my landlady. I have seen enough cop shows to know I need an alibi.

Then D calls. His flight just got in. I told him that I was busy setting up an alibi in case I get questioned during his murder enquiry. He told me to stop watching CSI Miami: New York: Las Vegas and FBI Crime Files, and get some sleep.

I am on the move again. Well, not today. In the office as usual today, but instead of doing work as I should be, I have been online trying to figure plane and train schedules. I was bad girl over the weekend. While chatting on the phone with D, we realised that there was nothing holding me here for the next few weeks. I have collected as much data as I can for the next chapter of my thesis, which I have to finish by end April. So we discussed a few possible dates and within 20 minutes, I had a ticket being issued somewhere in Canada, to be couriered here in a few days. Thank God for airmiles as it is very difficult to be spontaneous if I have to wait for travel agencies to open. I leave Sunday. I haven't even unpacked from my last trip.

But of course this morning, even before I get my first caffiene hit, I find out that I have, have, have to be in a little village in Switzerland for a course on 23 May...which just happens to be the day I touch down in NL. So frantic calls to Switzerland, SQ, KLM, Swiss Air and online checks for possible trains to said small village...and life is on even keel again. I will be slightly late for course, and I will be travelling non-stop for 2 days, possibly sprinting to catch first available connections and respective trains. But as of this afternoon, life is on even keel. Now, to tell my boss that I will be away for 7 weeks.......

MHRIP

It is Karol Wojtyla's (Pope John Paul II) funeral today. I watched a bit of his funeral proceedings before heading out to work this morning. Noticed King Abdullah of Jordan and his gorgeous Queen, King Juan Carlos and his Queen, Hamid Karzai, Tony, and so many other dignitaries. Got a bit sniffy, as I usually do at funerals, yet awed at the effect he must have had on the millions of people in attendance. May he rest in peace.

I do not mean any disrespect in any way, as I have only the utmost respect for the small town boy from Poland who grew up to be the head of the Roman Catholic Church (not counting the big guy up there). While his inflexibility on issues with international ramifications eg birth control in Africa, drew strong criticism, he took criticism in stride. "It's a mistake to apply American democratic procedures to the faith and truth," the Pope has said. "You cannot take a vote on the truth." Even though I don't totally agree with his beliefs, he was a man of sterling integrity and faith. Traits I cannot help but admire.

I only have one issue. If he was the second in command, why was he so reluctant to go meet the boss? He hung on there for quite a bit, through crippling illness fulfilling what he believed was his calling. I may be wrong but if anyone had a VIP express lane through to the gates, I am, thinking it would be him. I would want to get there early, like when I get an upgrade and am able to have a drink at the airport lounge before the flight. Does he know something I don't?

The weather has turned dreary this morning...hmmm..

Just off the Ponte Vecchio, there is a little cafe that serves the most decadant Hot Chocolate. D and I found this cafe by accident as we decided to take a rest after walking what seemed like miles in the Pitti Palace. We sat down, ordered 2 hot chocolates and a chocolate and kahlua ice cream sundae. Did I mention that my soul mate not only thinks my Noodles in soup delicious (Maggi Mee) but he also likes chocolate more than I do. Is it fate or what??!!

Well, when the chocolate arrived it was basically melted chocolate in a cup. Maybe they added in a teaspoon of hot water but we couldn't tell. We didn't drink it, we had to spoon the stuff into our mouths. Suffice it to say we were so wired the rest of the day we were able to walk for hours.

When I start a new post, I always have trouble thinking of a title. Funny that, considering I am generally thought to have an overactive imagination. Maybe I am just not imaginative (Hmm, is that a word? Having a non-English mother tongue, living in NL, and dating a Canadian is really doing wonders for my vocabulary).

I am yet again in my office trying to do anything but work. Used the old settling down and following up on missed email excuse yesterday, and can't come up with anything today. Perhaps this lethargy I am feeling is the onset of a flu? I wish...

I will feel this way for the next few days. I know. Because I always feel this way after yet another goodbye at yet another airport. That's the thing with LDRs. You spend days planning the next meeting. Days arranging it. Weeks waiting in anticipation. These weeks feel like months as you are neither here nor there. Then you spend glorious days together, while trying not to think about the impending departure date. The next thing you know you get home, feeling even more displaced as you are even more convinced that the home you used to call a home is no longer that. Then just as you get acclimatised so to speak, it is time again to arrange that next meeting. Here we go again.

The 2 weeks we had together were fabulous as usual. Ticked 2 things I had to do before I die off my list (TTDBID list). Well actually I cheat. I don't actually have a list. I am not one of those people that have a list ex ante. I have them ex post. Let me explain. You know how some people draw up an actual physical list, while others have them in mind. I am of the latter breed. And you know how some people have lists and stick to them, like when they go to a supermarket. Well, when I go to a supermarket I have a mental list of healthy food I have to buy but end up with an aubergine, carrots, pasta, Doritos, Dip, Frozen chocolate cake, Diet coke (technically healthy as no sugar), jelly babies and bratwurst. I then convince myself that these would have been on the list if I had thought of them. I am legally trained therefore am trained to convince others and especially myself anything.

While in Berne, recovering from daily post conference drinks, we decided to hop to Venice for a couple of days. Of course while at the train station booking tickets, we figured on the way back we would check out Florence. A bit out of the way, but yet so close..and who knows when we will ever be back in the area (well, actually, will be back in Italy in June for another conference, but D can be forgetful and I plead selective amnesia). Back home with our tickets (3 days Venice, 4 days Florence, back to Berne then off to Geneve airport for respective flights) we then proceeded to persuade lil bro and wifey to join us in Venice. As they were driving with lil kiddies, D and I had to amend plans to just get any old hotel when we got to Venice and had to go online and make real bookings. Lucky for us we did as it turned out that it was Easter weekend (ah so thats why those eggs were being sold everywhere) and we had to book a room each in 2 different hotels on Lido. Initially, I was not too thrilled about not being on the mainland, but I felt it was important that lil bro and I have some family time. And am I glad that we chose Lido. It is the last stop on line 1 of the Vaporetti, but only 10 minutes from San Marco. On the first day we were there, we were rather relieved to get away from the hustle and bustle of tourist congested Venice and back to the quaintness of Lido. I dread to imagine Venice in the Summer.

It is difficult to describe Venice as it just has to be experienced. I loved the fact that we could walk everywhere. We could hop on the vaporetti and just choose a stop to explore. To experience the richness of culture (I would have added art and history if not for the fact that it would pale in comparison to Florence, our next stop). We packed in as much activity as we could on the first day, by visiting Piazza San Marco, the Basilica, and Palazzo Ducale. We walked everywhere, crossing not only the Rialto and Academia bridges, but oh so many smaller unknown yet crucial bridges. We visited the Guggenheim and Ca'Doro. We walked, we talked, and we ate. I vetoed D's suggestion to hop on a gondola as 1) the Canal seemed to be continously in a state of gridlock, 2) I did not see hear a single singing gondalier and 3) if I am going to pay €90 for a ride, I want to have the Canal to myself and I want Marco or Luigi to sing his heart out.

Taking a break from the mainland, the next day we took yet another vaporetti to Murano where we had luch and just admired the fabulous (also expensive) glassworks. Then it was back to the mainland to have dinner. Our final day was spent walking around the Jewish Ghetto and having lunch at a Tratorria, sitting by a small canal just absorbing Venice before we headed out to Florence.

We arrived in Florence and it took a bit of getting used to, what with there being no canals. We had booked a hotel through the internet the night before and was pleasantly surprised that it was a stone's throw away from the Duomo. As usual we dumped our luggage and headed straight out to explore Firenze.

Upon chucking our luggage, D and I headed to the Duomo to climb the tower. We would have tried for the dome if not for the extremely long line. The view of Florence and the surrounding Tuscan hills from the tower made the train journey and the climb oh so very worthwhile. After the much easier descent, we headed to the Piazza de la Signora to have dinner. I know, this is rather touristy, but where else can you have dinner in the presence of Ammannati's Mannerist Fountain of Neptune and Cellini's Perseus, holding Medusa's severed head. And not to forget the replica of David. The mind boggles to think that more than 800 years ago, there would have been others in the same spot admiring those same works of art. After dinner, we walked towards the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo) to sit on the steps to admire Ghiberti's gates to paradise which took 50 years to complete (admittedly a copy in place now after the great flood). We walked to the hotel feeling lucky to be in the presence of such history and art, together.

The next day, we signed up for a walking tour. If time is of the essence these sort of tours are fabulous. We were herded back to the Duomo to admire Brunelleschi's dome and to learn the history behind the pink, white and green marble facade of the Duomo. And of course the Rennaisance-esque renovations. We also learned that Brunelleschi lost out to Ghiberti in the competition to create the gates to paradise, and he retreated to Rome where he came up with the idea to build the dome. Funny how fate works..

After the Duomo, we walked around the city, stopping where various other marvelous works of art (or where the originals would have been) were placed. Sometimes casually on a building facade. Sometimes the buildings themselves. The final stop before lunch was the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest surviving bridge which leads us across the Arno River. The bridge is lined with Jewelry stores (ages ago there were butchers but the Medici's changed all that). D was sweating, and I don't think it was because of the walk.

Yet another Penne Arrabiata (my absolute fave) lunch, and it was time to head to Galleria dell'Accademia to pay homage to Michelangelo's David, the original. Now this was never really on my list of TTDBID, but is so on there now. We spent ages just basking in his beauty. Of course we also took some time to look at his 4 slaves, the unfinished works.

Beer and Pizza at the Piazza de la Signora for dinner.

The next day we explored the Pitti Palace the Boboli Gardens. It had been a rather hectic week so we just walked aimlessly the rest of the day, trying to spot the flood markings on the buildings around Florence. D and I had differing views on what to do the rest of the visit. He insisted we go to Sienna and I wanted to go to Pisa. We compromised and did both. We took a day tour to Sienna and San Giminagno, the former being the venue of the famous horse race within the piazza. On our final full day, we took an early train to Pisa, headed straight for the Duomo and the tower and signed up for the walk to the top of the tower. To stand at the base of the tower had been on my TTDBID list, but I have added the climbing up to the top bit (I know I cheat by simulateously adding and tickeing off but in my world, I rule!) We rushed back in time to catch a highlights tour of the Uffizi gallery where a tour guide not only explained in detail the works of da Vinci, Botticelli, Michaelangelo, Raffaello, and Canaletto but also pointed out the other more important works (crucial if you only have a few hours). New add and check: To stand in front off and behold the Primavera and the Birth of Venus.

There is an illness attributed to the beauty of Florence. Stendhal's Disease is an illness diagnosed in about 12 visitors to Florence each year, and resulting from the culture shock and bedazzlement when one visits Florence. Although I can't say I succumbed to this specific disease, I am, and will forever be enamoured with Florence. A new item to add: Must visit Florence again.