I am having so much fun putting together my travel recaps and going through my photos — I think the combination of the photos and my travel journal and the blog posts is helping me remember more of the things that we did (more than I otherwise might, anyway) and is also allowing me to let everything sink in. It was kind of a whirlwind. My brain often felt like it was just buzzing from all of the sensory input that comes along with being in a new place and hearing so many different languages. Those synapses were firing overtime!

I thought I’d take a minute to just write a little bit about regular, non-vacation life here at home as we’ve now been back for the better part of the week.  The cat and the dog are both thrilled to have us back — the cat has been quite pushy and demanding, jumping into our laps and refusing to be moved, following me around the house and crying for food or attention.

The poor dog, on the other hand, has been recovering from some skin abrasions. I think the people who take care of him at the place where he boards — a vet hospital where techs are available 24/7 to assist him with his, um, bathroom needs — forget that, although he’s super active and loves to play, he can get injured from dragging those back legs on certain terrains. At home, he only plays outside wearing his wheels, but I think they let him play outside without them and now he’s got raw spots on his back legs/butt. How did these 24/7 vet techs not notice this? Poor guy.

Well. I didn’t mean to get into all that, but it just came out. Sorry if that was too much paraplegic-dog-related information.

While we were traveling, we averaged well over 20,000 steps a day (even hitting 30,000 once in Rome), but of course I didn’t run at all. I figured walking all those miles in hot Mediterranean weather would keep me fit for when I got back, but runs have been a struggle this week. The humidity here at home is worse than I remembered, and paces that should feel relatively easy are challenging. This morning, I headed out on a six miler and had to walk the last 0.4 uphill in the sun while silently cursing and dumping the last of my water over my head. Unpleasant.

In better physical news, however, the horrible vacation bloat I brought home with me has finally dissipated and I am back to a normal size, no longer qualified for Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Balloon status. (Nine pounds of water weight, you guys. Nine.) My body seems to be returning to normal function thanks to the infusion of fresh vegetables and the absence of vacation-sized portions of cheese/butter/pasta/wine in my diet. Phew.

Tomorrow I go back to the office to start work on some course design issues for the fall semester. Hard to believe that’s coming up so quickly. Take me back to Greece?! At least I still have seven days of photos/recaps to go through, which will let the vacation live on a little longer. The next recap is coming up tomorrow, for those of you who are interested. (For those who aren’t, uh, I’m sorry.)