MissDTravels

Earlier in the fall, a group of girl friends and I had decided we would spend our November long weekend in Budapest, Hungary. I had talked up the capital city for its thermal baths, cheap salons, spas, accommodations, and shopping, that now everyone else wanted to go, too. And, of course, I was happy to return to one of my favorite summer 2014 travel destinations and serve as a bit of a tour guide. We booked our flights and an Airbnb apartment and in November off we went with an empty suitcase intended for goodies and a list of beauty treatments we wanted done. And then, on the first night, dental disaster struck. It started with a series of strange headaches followed shortly after by pain in my jaw and then BOOM! - full on excruciating pain on the entire left side of my mouth, both inside and out. It was at this moment that one of my friends informed me of "Dental Tourism" - a subset of medical tourism that was completely unknown to me beforehand. As it turns out, Buda...

In early November I was very lucky to visit Rome with some colleagues to attend a conference. Although the gathering left a lot to be desired (funny how a lack of WiFi can ruin an event focused on technology integration in education), the opportunity to roam around Rome in the evenings and chat with other educators made it all worthwhile. An observation about Rome/Vatican City: We spend a lot of time when traveling looking at eye level - e.g. examining artwork in a gallery, speaking to others, shopping - but what struck me about Rome is the things below and above that vantage point. I'm talking about floors and ceilings. I was really in awe of the frescos, the tiled mosaic floors, and the dome roofs of some of Rome and Vatican City's most iconic buildings. So, along with a few "typical tourist shots" I'm including my favorite floor and ceiling views from the trip here (sorry but you won't see anything from the Sistine Chapel as photos are strictly prohibi...