62. April 11th, 2011 Picture.

While cleaning around my room, I stumbled upon my passport.  No, I didn't find my passport, I knew exactly where it was, rather I just happened upon it again.  I realized that I'd had it for a really long time, and that its expiration was fastly approaching.  I quickly flipped to the main information page to suddenly realize the expiration date had passed.  Is it weird that this fact made me sad in some way?  I hadn't used it in 2 years, but there was always the chance I'd need it at a moments notice.  Now, I know that no one died, it's not impossible for me to fill out paperwork, write a check, and have another one in 6 weeks, I'm just saying I got a touch nostalgic.  I got this passport so I could go to Italy with my high school my senior year.  We left a few days after graduation and spent 11 days driving through it Italian countryside visiting Venice, Florence, Tuscany and Rome.  We made stops along the way, passing through San Gimignano, a small Tuscan town that is famous for their tall towers.  Having an extremely tall tower attached to your home signified wealth, so families would compete to build the tallest one.  At it's peak there were 72 towers in the town, but because they were built quickly and not always safely, many came crashing down over the years.  Today there are only 12 left, but they are pretty spectacular.


In Rome I saw the body of Pope John XXIII.  His body had recently been exhumed, a few months before my visit, and they found that after 37 years, his body had not decayed.  He was laying in a glass coffin in the middle of the Basilica, and it looked like he was just sleeping.  He had white hair and was dressed in red velvet, with little red shoes with gold embrodiery.  I remember it so perfectly because I could not get over the fact that he had been dead for almost 40 years.  The Catholic Church later said it was not a miracle, rather the lack of air flow in his tomb that lead to his preservation, but regardless, it was a pretty incredible sight.


I'd also had the pleasure of seeing St. Peter's jawbone, St. Anthony's tongue [they said he was a great orator, which his why it never decayed], St. Catherine of Siena's head and thumb.  I remember all of these things so vividly, due to both the fact that it was so interesting, as well as terrifying.  There are so many unexplainable things in the world, and I feel pretty lucky to have seen so many.

That being said, once I renew my passport, where should I go?!