A Chilly Roman Holiday

I think it will come as no surprise to Sean or anyone else that I have officially voted this our least successful vacation ever.  I mean, we've had a run of luck with fantastic trips in the past, but this time there were just too many things weighing against us--the stress of Sean's conference, his health issues, my existential career crisis, the thoroughly uninspiring weather conditions, etc. etc.  The first three days of our trip were incredibly unpleasant.  Happily, Sean's paper went well yesterday, and we'll be reunited tomorrow; it's been really weird being in the same European city but not together.  Being with Carla, I can definitely say, has been the high point--we haven't spent this long a stretch of time just the two of us since college! Tonight we're going to the Vatican for a night tour, the first time I've been back inside since 2009.  I'm excited!