T-minus...again

Written 7/29

I can't believe I only have five days left. I can't wait to go home but I am also sad that my trip is coming to an end. It's quite the emotional conflict.

Olé! Olé, olé, olé.

Written 7/26

July 23

I got to the hostel around 3pm. I spent most of the afternoon putting stars all over my map of Madrid. Had to make sure I saw all the sights (and ate at all the places) Elissa and Elana and Lonely Planet suggested. I eventually went out for a walk in the monster Parque del Retino. London take note. This is a park. It may be tied with Bois de Bolongne for my favorite park this trip (they are very different so I can't decide). As morning turned into late afternoon I thought I might faint from heat exhaustion and hunger (I forgot what heat felt like after the cold UK) so I started to head back to the hostel. I was going on the hostel sponsored tapas tour so I decided to make dinner to save a couple euros and ensure that I wouldn't expect small plates to fill me up. I bought groceries on the way home and got busy cooking in the kitchen. My meal was an uber disappointed. I refuse to believe that two months sans cooking has dulled my skills. I prefer to blame it on cooking in a ill equipped kitchen. But I ate my meal and I'm glad I did because those plates were extremely small. Some other ladies on the tour hadn't had the prescience to eat before hand so after the tour we went to 100 Montaditos and they got platters of sandwiches. It was on my list of places to eat but I decided to save it for a lunch on a later day. After eating and chatting, we returned to the hostel.

July 24

Time for another free tour. The regular routine of breakfast and internet time and then the tour at 11:30. It was a three hour tour...without a lunch break. A bunch of us were starving so we went to the restaurant that the tour guide suggested. It turned out to be one of the tapas places from the night before. I didn't want to double up on restaurants so I got sangria and a snack of tortilla espanola, which is like a thick omelet with potatoes. It's pretty yummy. I planned to go to another one of the tapas restaurants on my list but that snack was surprisingly filling. We sat around for a very European amount of time and then parted ways.

*Alex* No tour guide has measured up to Alex and I am starting to wonder if the issue isn't just my impossible bias for Paris. I feel like that is the probably it. Alex was great though. *The Mack*

I decided to go to the Reina Sofia, the contemporary art museum, especially since it was free Saturday afternoon. I took the long way back to the hostel and stopped by a very "local" bar. E Shap filled me in on customs. When you order a beer, you should get a tapas. I wanted to try it out so I ordered a beer and voila (or it's Spanish equivalent). I came back to the hostel and had a salad and ended up chatting to some of my hostel mates. One of the girls from the tapas tour (that I liked in real life) came into the kitchen and we decided to go get some tapas for a late dinner.

We went to Lateral in Santa Ana. I haven't been that happy since the pizza in Rome or the steak in Florence. SCRUMPTIOUS! We chatted up for hours and didn't end up back at the hostel until midnight.

July 25

I had a list of things that I still hadn't done in Madrid and the museums were free since it was Sunday. Needless to say, I had a busy day ahead of me. After breakfast I went to El Rasto, the huge street market held on Sundays. I spent the whole morning looking through piles of 3 euro dresses and pushing my way through the crowd. I made a couple good finds though. I dropped off my goods at the hostel and made my way to the Prado Museum. I stopped for lunch at Canas Y Tapas. I got this huge pan of fries topped with eggs topped with peppers topped with sausage. The only thing that wasn't pleasing about this meal is that the my desire for the half portion was lost in translation (or simply neglected in order stick me for my paper). The pan was huge but since I was paying for it I stuffed myself.

I ended up getting to Prado by 4ish. Turns out it is only free after 5. Well, when in...Spain...I found a nice grassy patch under a tree and napped for an hour. When I woke up around quarter of five, the line was queuing so I joined in the fun. I spent a few hours looking at the classics. Next on my list was to visit a couple churches that were on the opposite side of the city. I crossed town and found out that at this time of day, I would not be visiting anyone's church. I wanted to go to La Latina that evening on E Shaps suggestion so I went back to the hostel hoping to find a party partner. It was a failure. At 11pm I was gchatting with E Shap, lamenting not getting to see another party scene in another city. E Shap suggested I just take a taxi over there and check it out for a while. I was hungry (I hadn't eaten since the big pan) and I could at least see if Elissa's sister was right that "all the cute Spanish boys are at La Latina on Sunday." Yep, she was right. And so was Elissa. I popped in and out of several packed bars. I ended up grabbing a bite in a smaller one. While there, I met this guy who was buddies with the wait staff and the owner. Turns out it was the owner's birthday. Long story short, I ended up celebrating his birthday with the entire crew until 7 am.

July 26

Given the fact that I got in at 7am and had spent the night celebrating (i.e. drinking), I hope you were not expecting to read much about this day. I had to check out so I went to bed at 7:15 and woke up at 9:30. I ended up checking out kinda late and spent the morning, sitting around, hydrating and web surfing. I finally left to get some lunch (at 100 Mondintos) and tried to visit the churches again. Another fail but I wasn't too disappointed. I just moved on to my next stop, Plaza Espana, the place I planned to take my siesta. Two hours of light sleep later, I took a walk down Grand Via, made a stop by Chueva (the gaybourhood) and picked up some groceries for dinner. I returned to the hostel, made a spanish inspired sandwich with some Spanish salami and cheese, grilled onion, spinach and roasted red peppers. I made watermelon my dessert and whiled away the time before my bus facebooking and whatnot.

To tickle your fancy

I left out some entertaining details about the Edinburgh pub crawl. At the finale dance club, the Aussie and I were on the dance floor. I wasn't breaking out any of the good moves. Taio Cruz doesn't warrent all of that. But then! Aussie broke out his ballroom dancing moves. Kick-ball-change. Kick-ball-change. And all of a sudden, he was gone. Where did he go you may ask. Well he dropped it like it was a degree above tepid. One of those MC Hammer reach back, push yourself back up things. Oh man. Took ALL I had not to BUST out laughing. But try not to judge him. He was a really nice guy.

Spit spot. Right-o.

Written 7/25

July 21

It was a long day. I managed to get all my museum viewing in. Breakfast of eggs, toast and some yummy English sausage. Then tubed to the Transport Museum (where I spent the entire morning. The essence of nerdy.) I walked to the British Museum grabbing a BLT on the way *It's BACON* Bacon in Europe does not always mean bacon, even in BLT. Sometimes it just means strips of pork. In this case it meant ham. *It's BACON* I spent a couple hours at the British Museum. They have a TON of...stuff. Definitely one of my favorites because there was so much more than paintings. But in terms of the paintings, it made me realized how awesome my trip has been. As I walked through the museum, I recognized cities that I had just left in the paintings. It was a surreal feeling to look at a painting and be able to see the real thing in your mind's eye, especially when they are places like Rome and Venice that you have wanted to visit forever. I managed to make it to the British Library just in time to see the map exhibit, which was the reason I went to the library. Pretty cool.

During my walk between museums, I did a bit of souvenir shopping since it would be my last day in the city. I spotted a bag that I wanted and figured that I would get it after I had gotten my dose of culture. Turns out, the shop was closed by the time I had filled up on classical art and the like. CHINATOWN. Chinatown has everything. They were bound to have the bag (It was one of those touristy bags that said London and had the flag on it). Turns out I overestimated London's Chinatown. NYC it is not. They lacked in London souvenirs and I gave up my search and accepted that those 15 pounds had a greater destiny.

Another round of fish and chips for dinner. And off to the hostel to finally check-in.

As I was unpacking my bag, someone walked into the room. I looked up and saw a familiar face. It was one of the ladies from Rome. Backpacking at its finest. We caught up on our trips since last we spoke and chatted about other things. It was great bumping into her again. She called her mom and I went downstairs to do the same on skype. As I was in the common room interwebing, a black girl sits next to me...That's right, it was the only other Black girl I have met the whole trip. We shared a laugh about the coincidence of ending up in the same hostel and I told her about how I seemed to keep running into people I knew today. We caught up on the last couple of days and after a quality session of hostel booking and travel arranging I called it a night.

*green* Both of the ladies I remet were going home the next day. As crazy as it may sound, I was so jealous. By that point, I really just wanted to go home. Don't get me wrong, I was having an AMAZING time and a big part of me still wanted to go on and on and on but I missed (and miss) my friends and family. And for some reason, in London, I was really feeling the ephemeral friend lows. But don't feel sad. Spain is pretty great. I'm quite happy to still be traveling right now. *with envy*

July 22

I woke up early since my bus to Stonehenge left at 9am and with the tube, there is no telling how long my trip to the bus station was going to be. I made it on time and got on the bus with our right proper, white haired tour guide Trevor. We journeyed to Windsor Castle, Bath and Stonehenge. Each stop was impressive. I don't know that my pictures will do them justice (whenever I finally post them) but I know my words won't so I'll make this a short post.

I ended up sitting next to a German girl on the bus. In my lethargy of making new friends, a part of me didn't even want to do as much as ask where she was from but we hung out most of the day, taking pictures for each other.

It was of course another long day and I had to wake up even earlier to catch my 8:30 flight on the 23rd. When we got back to the city at 7:30, I went looking for a grocery store to get breakfast and dinner. I grabbed some snacks for the morning but decided to have Indian for dinner. DE-YUM! I got some vegetarian sampler platter and some sort of chicken kebab.

High off the yum, I went back to the hostel, packed and went to sleep.

July 23

I woke up so early, did my last minute routine and went to catch the 6am bus to Stansted Airport. Regular airport proceedings...a two or three hour flight (I slept through it and there was a time change so I'm not sure really how long it was)...and I was in Madrid.

Land of the Brodie Clan

Written 7/21

July 19

I got into Edinburgh at 8am and walked 10 minutes to the hostel. Check-in wasn't until 3. I planned to go on the 11am free walking tour. But first, I needed to vent about my bus trip so I had internet time. During internet time I booked my bus back to London and my hostels for the next two cities and called my parents. I got breakfast from the restaurant in the hostel but by that time I ended up missing the 11am tour. It was raining anyway. I planned to take the 1pm tour and follow my dad's advice and take a nap. But at 12:30, my nap was going so well that I decided to take the 3pm walking tour. It was still raining anyway. I actually made tour at 3. I woke up around 2 and asked if I could check in a little early. Luckily, the cleaning ladies JUST finished cleaning and I could go ahead to my room. I settled in a bit and went to meet the tour. The tour guide, still not Alex, was good and I enjoyed my tour, intermittent rain and all (I liked it a lot more than the London one. In fact, she said that she heard the London tour was hit or miss herself.) As customary, after the tour we went to a pub. I ordered haggis, a traditional Scottish dish made with all sorts of sheep parts that you'd rather not think about while you're eating it. It actually wasn't bad at all. It was so spicy that you couldn't taste much aside from pepper. I sat with a lady I met on the tour and we decided to go on the pub crawl. So we left dinner and hurried back to our hostels to do a quick change since the crawl started in about an hour.

This time I actually met my party partner and we pub crawled through the night. Edinburgh on a Monday night is not the most happening scene but it was fun nonetheless. We also met a couple of Aussie's that were really nice. One of them even went with me to find deep fried pizza when I was feeling snackish. (It was quite the adventure and we ended up missing Frankenstein fall from the ceiling of the bar. You read that right. The pizza wasn't what I had imagined at all. I will need to go to TX to get the real thing.)

Around 1 we left and the Aussies walked us back to our respective hostels.

July 20

All I had planned for this day was shopping. Shopping and walking around and getting a shepherds pie. It was a really nice day. Sun and no rain. Great for all the walking around. I went from shop to shop checking out the Brodie gear. Yes, that's right, Brodie gear. I have always used the fact that "Brodie" is Celtic as an excuse to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but for some reason, I didn't put two and two together that I was going to Scotland, the home of Brodie. It clicked as the tour went by Deacon Brodie's Tavern. The tour guide told me that the stores would have various trinkets with the Clan Brodie crest on it. And most of the day, I was in and out of shops purchasing Brodie paraphernalia.

I had a late lunch in the Grassmarket at Molly Dikerson's. Steak and Ale pie. Not shepherds but it was yummy. After food, I decided to go up to the castle. I walked around a bit, stumbled into a weaving factory, learned about kilts and Scottish garb throughout the centuries and eventually made my way to Princes Gardens. I hung out here for a while and then walked around new town for a bit. I was tiring of all the walking about and decided to go back to the hostel, even though I had about four hours until my bus. But nothing kills time like the internet. Gchat, facebook, skype, and blog time easily filled that three hours and before I knew it, I was back on the bus heading to London.

July 21

I had a better sleep since I was by the window but I am still a bit weary. I got back to London at 7am, tubed to the hostel, washed up a bit and took to catching up my blog as I wait for attractions to open. I plan on going to the Transport Museum, British Library, and British Museum. It will be a long day.

Pip pip cheerio!

Written 7/19

July 16

As you know, I took the Eurostar to London. But what I didn't tell you is how I went to the wrong train station at first. I bought my ticket at Montparnasse, since that is where the Mont St. Michel train leaves from and that was my initial reason for going to the train station. But the train to London left from Gare Nord. And when I got to Montparnasse at 10:31 so proud to be so early (my train was at 11:13) I looked at the departures board to find my gate but did not see my train. I immediately knew that I have went to the wrong station. I just hoped that I could get to the other side of the city in time. Amazingly, thanks to Paris's awesome metro system, I made it to Gare Nord by 10:47. Just in time for the 30 minutes prior to boarding that Eurostar requested. And I found out the rationale behind this request. There are all sorts of check in procedures and customs to go through. I hadn't even thought of customs since I have just been walking over all sorts of EU borders. England is so their own land.

Once I got to London, I took the underground to my hostel and checked in. On my trip to the hostel I realized that the euros I had in my pocket were worthless to me now and that I should find an atm. I googled BNP Paribas (Bank of America's partner in Europe) and found one. Rather than hop on the "tube" (because it becomes very expensive), I decided to walk and take in some of the sites. The hostel was very close to Primrose Hill, which has some great views of the city. I climbed that and then walked through Regents Park. I ended up wandering around Marylebone Road for a while until I saw a BNP sign. As I walked towards it, I was distracted by a sandwich board boasting the best burgers in London. *see upcoming post "Burger Queen"* I decided that once I got some money I would have dinner there. It turns out that the BNP sign did not lead to an ATM but an investment building. There are no BNP ATMs in London (like Geneva). But there are Barclay's which have the same deal with BOA and the Barclay's wasn't that far. I got cash and returned to the burger place for late lunch/early dinner.

After I ate, I had no further destination. Since it was a nice day (despite the fact that it was a bit cloudy and much cooler than I had gotten used to), I walked to Hyde Park and strolled around. London parks are different. There is just lots of grass. And it's not the well manicured green grass. Some of it is that tall, wheat-looking, brown stuff. Then there are some trees, a lake or two and some fountains. But mainly, it's just wild grass. I kinda like it. I ended up sitting at Princess Diana's fountain for quite some time watching the sun begin to set. I did want to visit Buckingham Palace since I was so close at this point, and I did. And after snapping some pictures, I got on the tube and returned to the hostel. I played on the interweb a bit and then called it a night. I wanted to wake up early to go to Portobello Market Saturday morning.

July 17

And I did. I planned to do the free walking tour at 11am so I wanted to get to the market by 9:00/9:30. It didn't happen quite like this. I got my first taste of the inefficiency of the tube. The Jubilee Line, the one my hostel was on, was shut down that morning because a train broke down. So I had to take the bus. But I got to see a bit of the city and also ride on a double-decker like a real Londoner. I finally got to the market around 10 and made a quick look around before I got on the tube and went to meet the tour group.

The tour was OK. Not as good as the Paris one (but really, how can anyone compare to Alex). I did meet a Black girl on the tour. *gasp!* She wasn't the type of person I would hang out with in real life but I invited her to join me that night. I wanted to go to a club that a guy I met in Nice worked at. After the tour, I was starving. We went to a restaurant with most of the tour group to get fish and chips. Yum! Then I went to Starbucks with the Black girl and made plans to meet at 9.

I went to the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square and Picadilly Circus after I left Starbucks. Then back to the hostel. I asked the hostel staff about the club and they said it was really posh. I underestimated the amount of time it would take me to get ready to go to such a posh place with my backpacker's wardrobe and ended up getting to our meeting place late. It is yet to be told whether she left or if she ever went. I wrote her an email but I never heard back from her. It wasn't meant to be.

I returned to the hostel and the guy I had spoken to earlier about the club suggested that I go out with "them." "They" were going out around midnight. Well, I had nothing else to do. So while I'm sitting outside socializing with who I think is "them," I realize that these people are going to the Ministry of Sound (some famous London club) and that that is not what I signed up for. So I go to the hostel bar for a drink with hostel worker guy and it turns out that no one else is going. :-/ Oh well. We head out to Camden Town anyway. It was a relatively fun night. At least it didn't turn out to be a total loss and I still got to dance.

July 18

I woke up later than I would have liked since I was out late. I had a list of places to visited starting with Hampstead Heath. I got breakfast and packed up since I was checking out. I ended up leaving the hostel around 11. I plotted out my underground trip and in true London form, the station I needed to transfer at was closed. I walked towards the bus stop for the replacement bus but saw a restaurant with lunch specials for 3 pounds. It was noon and Hampstead Heath is pretty much a the huge park. I figured getting lunch now was a good idea. Once I had my second fish and chips of the trip, I proceeded to the bus.

I walked through fields and woods for quite some time, just wondering around, enjoying the nice weather and beautiful surroundings of Hampstead Heath. Then I finally made it to the Kenwood House where I viewed the exhibits. There was a table in the middle of one of the rooms with books on it. I sat down to rest and flipped through. Turns out they were about slavery and this lady named Dido. She was "of mixed ancestry" and was raised in the Kenwood House as a member of the family (because she was). The head of the Kenwood house was a judge and made made a significant ruling on slavery in England. Some even interpreted it to make slavery in England illegal. Once I finished reading up on Dido, I went to find a bus to bring me to the Tate Modern Museum and The City part of the city. I only had an hour in Tate Modern but I enjoyed seeing some modern art. My favorite was a room filled with pictures on the New York subway from the 80's. Great pictures! Here are a couple.

After the museum closed down around me, I went out to see the original London, what they call The City. I walked through the financial section, past The Monument, towards Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. I didn't see the crowned jewels. They cost to much to visit. But I walked around the Tower a bit (did you know the Tower isn't actually a tower? It's a medieval castle.) Hunger hit and I decided to get dinner in Camden Town.

I took the tube to Camden Town and searched a bit for something that I was interested in eating. I came upon this cabaret bar/restaurant. I like shows. And it's a good thing that I like gay men because they were in full force in that restaurant. I got a sausage sandwich with onion chutney and chips. Tasty. After dinner, I returned to the hostel, got my bags and made my way to the bus station to take an overnight to Edinburgh, Scotland.

I made my reservation in the morning but it became clear at the bus station that it had not gone through. I ended up paying 40 pounds to buy a ticket to Edinburgh on site. The roundtrip ticket I "booked" that morning was 53! Needless to say, I was blown, and I had a rather horrendous night sleep on the bus.

Florence and Tuscany Countryside

Rome

Pisa

Cinque Terre

Italia photos...

Nice

Didn't realize I never posted the link to these guys. Well, here are some photos from Nice.

Rain on our parade

July 13

I am happy to report there was nothing to fear on the overnight train. I slept ok and woke up in France. I was in Paris and at my hostel by 11. Check in however wasn't until 4. I had been prepared though. I had laundry to do. And after a couple hours, I had dropped my clean clothes with the rest of my luggage and went out for a walk and to find lunch. Kabab of course. Twelve days without french fries called for it. I found a shop and was pleasantly surprised by the attractive young man making my sandwich (twelve days without hotties called for it.) I was also pleasantly surprised that I stumbled into one of the quality kabab shops that have various types of meats that they actually grill. Lunch was yummy, especially since I had the perfect seat to keep an eye on the "chef" during my meal.

After lunch, I recommenced my walk. But I didn't get too far before a man stopped me to chit chat. I humored him for a while and he was nice. Turned out that he lived in Langley Park for a year. We happened to be chatting in front of a bar brassiere so he invited me to sit for a drink. About an hour (and two monacos) later, we parted ways and I took the long way back to the hostel to check in (the long way not because I was trying to knock him off my trail, but just because I had nothing else planned for the day). *French drinks* Monaco = half beer, half lemonade, with creme de cassis. *French drinks*

I checked in, settled into my room and had some internet time. I planned to go to this free concert at Place de Bastille in preparation for Le 14 Julliet (Bastille Day). As I was leaving, I asked my roommate if she wanted to join me. And she did. So we went out and enjoyed free French music. My favorite: Ben l'Oncle Soul

July 14

BASTILLE DAY!

I woke up as early as I could since we got in around 1 after the concert. I had breakfast and was heading to the metro by 8:30. In front of me were a couple of girls that I had seen at breakfast (and I heard their American "accents," actually their southern accents) so I asked them if they were going to the parade too. They were and we joined forces. When we got off the metro we were corralled around the Champs Elysees and after quite a bit of searching, we found a spot where we could see pretty well.

The parade was good. A military parade with tons of troops from tons of French nations and the entirety of the French arsenal. I am sure I saw every piece of machinery used by the French military from tanks to lawn mowers. My favorite part was the opening fly over of the jets. *picture* but the parade in general was fun...Especially when it started to downpour. Somewhere in the middle of the parade the sky opened and dumped water upon the Paris. And kept dumping it. I never thought I would say this but, the French are kinda hard. They just marched on through it. The show must go on I suppose. I was prepared (not only did the kabab shop have a good looking cook, but it was also showing the news so I caught the weather and the threats of rain). I watched the parade from under my umbrella. The two American ladies, who were from Tennessee, ducked into the Sephora that was behind us to wait out the rain. As the parade ended, I rejoined them and we decided to walk around Sephora in hopes the rain (and the crowd) might break enough to use the metro. Both did in time and we ventured back to the hostel to rest up before the fireworks. I was planning on meeting my Strasbourg roommate from American University for the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower at 6 so we planned to meet at 5 to get picnic snacks and metro to the Champs de Mars (the "mall" in front of the Tower).

Not soon after we got back the sky opened again. But thankfully, after hours, the rain stopped around 4 and we continued with our plans. The four of us found a fairly dry spot and set up camp by 6:30. The fireworks didn't start until 11 so it gave us plenty of time to sit around and drink wine. And by the time of the show, we were ready. (Thanks to all my readiness, I left my rain jacket behind. I'm still bitter.)

The fireworks were the best I have ever seen. Really. They had musical accompaniment and they had the Eiffel Tower. It was magical.

After the show everyone was herded to the metro. Our original plan was to go out and celebrate but once we got on the metro, all we really wanted was some bacon and eggs and sleep. There were no bacon and eggs, but we did find sleep.

July 15

I woke up, got ready and went to meet with the Tennessee ladies (they were really cool and I thoroughly enjoyed their company). We had breakfast together and while I went to make plans for Mont St. Michel, they went to explore the city. We decided that we would meet up for dinner around 7. I went to the train station at Montparnasse and was told that there were no reservations to Mont St. Michel until 4pm...and then there were none back. Ok. I'll just make it for when I return to Paris, which I did. I also bought my Eurostar ticket while I was at the station. I spent the rest of the day walking around Paris (quite possibly my favorite thing to do).

I walked north from Montparnasse towards Les Invalides. I happened upon Au Bon Marché and decided to have a snack at Le Grande Epicerie. Tomatoes, brioche, and macarons. mmmm... Then I continued my walk. I stopped at the Rodin museum garden (finally) to see The Thinker and The Gates of Hell. It wasn't free but it turns out it was only 1 euro. It was a beautiful day so I made my stay a long one. Sitting in front of my favorites for a while, just enjoying. After the musée, I stopped on the grass between Les Invalides and le Pont Alexandre III. I sat out and read for some extended time until my snack wore off and I felt the need to eat. It still seemed too early to return to the hostel (about 4:00) so I walked towards the hostel, skipping the metros. I stopped in some shops and came upon rue Matignon. It was lined with art galleries. I finally got to stand in front of things and think, "I don't get it."

My hunger eventually got the best of me and I got on the metro and went back to the hostel where I made myself a chorizo sandwich from picnic left overs with a side of tomato and rotisserie chicken Lays. *Dear Lays* After the fireworks, when we couldn't find breakfast, we settled on snacks. I bought a bag of poulet roti et thyme Lays. They tasted like slices of chicken. Very literally. I didn't finish the bag and the next day I thought that it may have just been drunken hunger that made them so delicious. No. There were just good. I wrote to Lays and asked them why they do not sell them in the States. *sincerely, Stef Brodie* By the time I ate it was 6 and I felt bad since I was supposed to do dinner with Tennessee ladies. Turns out it was best I ate because they came back around 8 and explained that they were actually leaving because the only train to Barcelona they could get for the next two days was that evening. Of course my heart was broken. You meet people to hang out with while traveling, but sometimes you meet people who you actually really like. People who you would actually hang out with "in real life." Saying good bye to the people you meet isn't that hard, but saying bye to the ones you like kinda sux. At least there is Facebook.

I spent the rest of the evening trying to make plans for travel around Spain and the UK. Nothing too interesting at all...Aside from the drama in the hostel common room. There was a love sick Spanish lady who was fawning over this hairy Argentinian man and there was also an argument between the hostel staff. Oh and the most interesting part of the night..Fox News was on the TV. To make it worse, it was Glenn Beck. Once that came on I had to call it a night.

Random French Commentary:

Somebody needs to address what is going on atop the heads of Black women in France. I have seen nothing but bad weaves, bad perms, and bad dye jobs. I have been "roughing it" for weeks now. My hair should not look better than the women who actually live in this country.

They must have stylists in Lyon though. For the first time I saw a girl and thought, "her hair looks nice." But it is completely possible that it was a frame of reference thing after the "styles" I have seen. Styles like THIS!!

So much was wrong. 1. IDK why everyone wants to rock the "Rhianna" 2. Why are there blue patches on your head? 3. Why are your tracks extremely visible? 4. Why are they falling out?! 5. Why is this the second time I have seen such a thing?!

If I am to fulfill my dream of living in Paris I am going to need to take Tyra, Val, or Sandy with me because I cannot let this happen to me!

Under the Tuscan Sun

Written 7/12

Maybe I didn't like Rome. But Florence? I am a fan of Florence. It's one of the beautiful Italian (maybe European) cities. I spent two days walking around just enjoying it...in the scorching heat.

July 9

The train strike threatened to hamper my plans of having three days in Florence. Well, actually it did but it turned out fine. I managed to get a train to Florence only a couple hours later than I had planned. I got to Florence around 1pm and planned to do some exploring. When I checked into the hostel, they told me about a wine tasting/medieval fair/Tuscan country side tour that only happens once a year and that one time was tonight. 40 euro later I was signed up. I had to. The day before I was lamenting that I was not going to see the Tuscan countryside. *geography* Florence (Firenze in Italian) is a city in the region of Tuscany. Actually so is Pisa. So I was technically in Tuscany, just not the countryside. *geography*

I'm so glad I went on the tour. It was a really fun evening. We left around 3pm and went out to the country to have a wine tasting class. The "professor" was very funny and a very big flirt. The wines were impressive and so were the snacks they had. The school had this truffle olive oil that was divine. It was only rivaled by the 35 year balsamic vinegar we also tasted. Just thinking about it...*sigh* After the tasting, we did some more driving through the countryside. We stopped for a photo op in front of a fortified town. I can't remember the name but I know it was one of the only towns in the area that Florence had never occupied during their wars with Siena (in case you wanted to know). It is also supposed to be very beautiful. After the photo shoot, we and made our way to Montmaggiore, another tiny little medieval town on the top of a hill. As we changed our Euro into little medieval coins, I ended up joining some other solo travelers (as usual). We enjoyed our evening drinking moonshine wine from terra cotta cups and eating big hunks of pig shoulder wrapped in foccacia and watching the people dressed in Dark Age garb perform. We left the fair at midnight and got back to the hostel by about 1. I made plans to meet one of the girls for dinner and the sunset at Piazza Michelangelo the next evening and then called it a night.

July 10

I had a long breakfast/lunch since the hostel had a 5 euro all you can eat buffet until 12. I planned my walk for the day and ate plate after plate of bacon, eggs, cereal, yogurt, bread, coffee and oj. Then I spent my day from 1 until about 6:30 just exploring the city. I'll let the pictures tell the story.

I went back to the hostel for my 7 o'clock meet-up. My new Brazilian friend and I set out for Piazza Michelangelo for sunset viewing and dinner. But since the last time I had eaten was my long brunch (I did have delicious gelato, chocolate orange and lemon cookie), dinner took priority. I had gotten a recommendation for a traditional Tuscan resturant from one of our wine country/Middle Ages tour guides but somehow I lost the paper. We found a restaurant near the piazza that wasn't too pricey and had a menu in English and that was enough for us. I finally got my prosciutto and melon. It wasn't as I had planned. It was in a barley salad but it was pretty delish either way. By the time we finished dinner (and chatting), we had missed the sunset. (Luckily we caught a few very picturesque minutes of it on Ponte Vecchio on the way to dinner.) But the sunset is not the only reason to go to Piazza Michelangelo so we climbed the steep slope to the top of the hill. The city was beautiful from the high vantage point. And of course it was lit beautifully. We took pics with the bronze David and just hung out.

In all my walking that day, I was given a flyer for the Fish Pub and we decided to go, especially since it was pretty close to the hostel. It was a little dive-y. They had great drink specials and good music. But it must have been the pre-party spot because it cleared out by about 1. We tried to find the party around 2 but ended up at this smoky disco (and I mean disco, they were playing the oddest old school 50's/disco/dance mix ever). We cut out fairly quickly and went back to the hostel.

July 11

Since the last two night had been so late and filled with more than a little alcohol, I slept in a bit. I also didn't have much else to do. I had seen just about all of the city with the exception of the inside of the huge Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore and that Tuscan restaurant (the wine/countryside tour guide was happy to give it to me again). I left the hostel around 1 and decided that I would go to the cathedral and depending on how long the line was for the Uffizi museum I would spend my afternoon there. The cathedral was huge inside too but not nearly as extravagantly decorated as the outside (I still can't get over all the marble). The line for the museum was about 2 hours long so I vetoed that idea and ended up just walking around seeking out more churches that I could visit free. It was pretty rewarding. There were some very beautiful ones. Of course with no real purpose and the multitude of stores and shops lining the streets of Florence, I also ended up doing more than a little shopping. After gelato around 4:30, I went back to the hostel to cool off and do some travel planning for the next country (UK). It took me a bit longer than I would have liked and I didn't end up leaving the hostel until 8pm, an hour after my originally planned departure time. I would not be making it back for the final match so I hoped the Tuscan restaurant was showing it. When I got to the restaurant, I realized I would be eating like a local in Florence too. The staff spoke very little English and the menu was all in Italian. (So glad the tour guide lady wrote down what I "had to have"). I sat outside since there were no TVs inside. Good choice. Soon they started projecting the match onto the wall of the building next door. Viva Espana! But even more importantly, vive Florentine steak. My dinner was DELICIOUS. It was the biggest, juiciest, thickest, most flavorful (and also rarest) steak I have ever had. It was topped with fresh Parmesan cheese and sat on a bed of peppery, fresh spinach. *note on Tuscan steak* It is served rare. Ordering it any other way is just considered rude. The outside is grilled up nicely but there was all sorts of bovine cries as I sliced into it.I knew this ahead of time. I also knew that it would be a tasty treat, which is was. *end note* After dinner, I returned to the hostel and packed up since I would be leaving the following day in the morning.

July 12

Turns out I assumed wrong. It is just about noon and I had planned to be in Venice by now. I don't know why (I think I'm getting a little sloppy on the planning) but I did not buy my reservation yesterday and when I went to purchase my 9:30 ticket to Venice, there were no more and the next available reservation was at 12:30. I'm a bit disappointed because I only have from 2:30 until 8pm in Venice. I take an overnight train to Paris for fireworks! (Bastille Day). But one must repeat the backpacker mantra, "It wasn't meant to be." (the other is "It will all work out...somehow") Since I would not be leaving for 2 and a half hours, I went to a caffé and had my first cappuccino (Oh my! yummy. I wish it hadn't been so hot all these day so I could have drank more of them). I have been here for about two hours of those hours, planning my whirlwind Venice tour and then of course catching up on my blog. And I think I will make my way back to the train station to make my 12:30.

*Some hours later*

Venice is BEAUTIFUL! I love it. Four hours was not enough time to explore the way I like but it was enough to see the city and fall in love with it. After checking my bags at the train station, I hopped on the waterbus and took it all along the Grand Canal to Campo St. Marco. But I didn't go there first. First I explored a bit of the Castello neighborhood. Then I made my way to Campo di St. Marco and the Basilica of the same name. The ceiling of the basilica was covered in mosaics, which was so impressive. From the basilica I tried to make my way to another church in the Santa Croce neighborhood. I can check "get lost in Venice" of things everyone does in Europe. (I swear the street names on the map do not match up with the actual street names half the time. The city is really not that big. Definitely not big enough to be lost. But getting lost in beautiful Venice is not such a bad thing.) I eventually made it to the church and then made my aim the ghetto. I really wanted to see some synagogues since I had been seeing cathedrals and basilicas for 11 days. Oddly enough, the synagogues were not listed on the map...curious. I sat out on Foundrie Novella (New Foundry, i.e. where they forced the Jewish people of the city to live during WWII) for a while as the sun started to set. As 8pm approached I made my way back to the train station. Walking through Venice at sunset was the best. GORGEOUS. I stopped to get a pizza for dinner on the train. It was supposed to be "margherita." It was not. It was cheese and cheese alone. I was not entirely disappointed. Not because it was delicious (it was average, and by average I mean it tasted like good American pizza) but because I got it from a chain of sorts so I wasn't expecting too much (especially not after Baffetto).

I picked up my luggage and sought my train and compartment. A French couple was already seated and we chatted in French/English as we ate dinner in the car.

Commentary:

*Too legit* So I found the motherland of the hammer pants...ITALY. Not only are they all over the stores, people are actually wearing them! In fact, in H&M I heard an American girl trying a pair on. Luckily they did not fit. Wouldn't want those things smuggled into the States and multiplying. *please quit*

We appreciate your patience...

On the Eurostar. About to chunnel!! I didn't want to leave Paris but I am very excited about going to London. I planned on making a couple day trips to Bath, or Stratford, or the Lake District but I think I may spend my four days exploring the city, especially since my time in London is split in two parts. I get to London today and am there until the 18th. Then I take an overnight bus to Edinburgh, Scotland for two days. And then I go back to London for two more days and fly out to Madrid. We shall see.

But I will take this time on the train to catch you up on the rest of Italy and my brief stop in Paris.

Some Italia photos are ripe for posting also.

Roma. "The center of the world for hundreds of years."

I am so behind. I have blogs piled up waiting for me to proof and post.

Written 7/9

Either these Europeans strike often or I have the worst luck of picking travel days. Italian train strike today...the day I am traveling to Florence. At least I'm traveling between main cities this time and it's Italy and not France so a lot of trains are still running. My train of course was cancelled but I managed to get another so I should be in Florence this afternoon, just a few hours late.

But right now...Roma

July 6

As you know, I woke up sick but I didn't feel like being around all those people in the heat so I decided not to go to the Colosseum and go out to Appian Way instead. Now I didn't know exactly what was out there but something about the description in the travel books made me want to visit. It wasn't too hard to get out there, a metro ride and a transfer to a bus. But when I got there, I realized that it would involve a lot of walking, in the heat, with my cold. Appian Way was the main road to Rome during the Empire. It connected all of the main cities of the Italian peninsula. And in the suburbs of Rome, it is line with tombs, the ruins of some villas, and St. Sebastian's catacombs. Since I was there and not into wasting a day in Rome, I walked around looking at ruins and whatnot. The place I really wanted to see, Villa de Quintilli was 7 km from the original bus stop. Luckily there was a bus that would take me there. Unluckily, after I made my way down the past the catacombs, I could not find a bus stop. Somehow, I ended up walking the whole way (without keeling over). I got to the villa...and the gate was locked. I read that it was closed from 1:30 to 2:30 pm and as it was 1:58, I decided to just take a breather and wait for it to reopen. The 2:30 came and past. I was saying all sorts of things about late Italians in my head when a man on a motor scooter came by and explained that I was at the rear of the villa and that there was no entrance from that way. Great. "Well how do I get in?" "You have to take a bus. The entrance is all the way on the other side. (I'm paraphrasing, he spoke little English)" "Well where is the bus." "On the other side." He must have seen the defeat in my eyes. He offered to take me across the way on his motor bike. I was leery at first but I could not walk another 2 km and I definitely could not walk the 7 km back. So I hopped on. It was very Italian. Especially when we were on the main road and the fear I felt for my life was no longer centered on turning up in one of the fields of ruins but on being hit by a bus as he zoomed down the street. After about 5 or 10 minutes, he dropped me off at the FRONT entrance to the villa and it was actually really cool. I am not sure it was worth all the trouble it took to get there, but I did enjoy it. There were plenty of buses by the front entrance so I got on one towards the metro. I was also supposed to visit Aqueduct Park but I just didn't have it in me. I actually didn't have it in my to visit my next stop, which were the Baths of Caracalla. However, with the Roma Pass, I had to go on the same day that I saw the Appian Way sights for it to still be "free." *sidebar* Roma Pass - 25 euro for three days of unlimited public transport as well as admission to two sights. The two sights I saw came bundled. The Villa de Quintilli, Tomb of Cecilia Metella and the Baths; and the Colosseum, Palentine Hill, and the Forum. Very much worth the 25 euro *end sidebar* By the time the metro stop came I felt like I might be able to make it but after walking from the metro stop to the baths I was not much into it. It was just soooo hot. Even without a cold I would have felt out of it. I did a quick loop and took a seat to appreciate the grand scale of this past building (and to motivate myself to make it back to the metro.) I eventually made the walk to the metro and from the metro to a pizza place and from the pizza place to the hostel. I sat downstairs and played on the computer for a while hopping the break might rejuvenate me enough to get some gelato since I still hadn't had any that day but I couldn't fathom walking anywhere. A couple of the ladies I had met the day before were going to the Ice Bar (where EVERYTHING is ice) and I had really wanted to go the day before (when I first heard about it) but it seemed like a terrible idea given the situation. I couldn't even see myself being up for more than a couple more hours. Keen foresight. I soon gave up on trying to do anything else that day, took a shower and went to bed at 9.

July 7

I woke up fairly early the next morning and felt marginally better. I had to go to the Colosseum this day. And I did. Colosseum, Palentine Hill and the Forum. They were all pretty awesome. The heat made it a less enjoyable experience but it was cool nonetheless. For lunch (between my visit to Palentine Hill and the Forum) I made a trek out of the ancient neighborhood to the area between Piazza Navano and Campi de Fiori. Elissa had sent me an article about eating like a local in Rome and I wanted to give it a try. It was this little place without a name above the door and it was delicious. I got pasta with tomato sauce, eggplant and cheese.

I also sat next to this Italian guy on his lunch break who assumed I was African (probably because there weren't any tourists at this place) and then proceeded to chat me up about America and Civil Engineering, which was also his field. Nice guy.

When I finished my lunch, I explored the area a little and then made my way back to see the Forum. There was a bit of complication with my ticket, but in the end, I saw the Forum which was definitely one of my favorites. I think it had the best (and most important) ruins. After the Forum, I did a bit of a search for the 100 flavor gelato shop that I had heard about. It was a lost cause and the heat was not motivating me to keep looking. I settled for a place that had canoli and creme caramel. Yum! But by that time, even though I had a couple more things on my list, I had to go home because I was worn out. I went back to the hostel and laid in my bed reading for a while in the ac.

About an hour later I caught myself drifting so I took my pc downstairs to surf. I couldn't go to bed at 7pm 1. because I'm on vacation in Rome 2. because if I did my roommates would wake me up from 7 until 12 with their comings and goings anyway. While I was downstairs complaining to Rob about how I wasn't making any friends, a group of people were gathering. One person in this group was my tour guide from the other day and he waved to me. I took this opportunity to jump in and ask where they were heading. To the huge Roman park to watch the Spain/Germany match. Sweet, I'm in.

The night involved a lot of walking; to the metro, to the park, in the park to the massive screen where the game was broadcast to hundreds of people, then from the park to the bars. The walk to the bars was THE longest walk. And the payoff was subpar. We ended up at Campo de Fiori which seemed like it could be a fun spot but I wasn't having that much fun. Let's just say the people in the group weren't the most interesting people. Or we can just say that they were boring. The ones that were fun were throwing back shots but I wasn't into going hard with my cold, and they were going very hard. In the end, a few of us took the bus back around midnight. We also made plans to go check out the river for the next night.

July 8

I made it another early morning and went out to the Vatican. I did the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel first and then St. Peter's Basilica. It was so nice to see things that were in tact and beautiful. It was also nice to see sights in ac. I got a snack of gelato before I made my way back to the city center for late lunch on the Spanish Steps. The gelato was the most disappointing. I'm gonna blame it on the fact that it wasn't in "Italy" (I guess it was actually Italy since it wasn't within the wall of Vatican City).

I had some parts of the city left to see on my list and they were all along the metro on the way back from the Vatican. I got off at Flaminio to see the huge piazza, then Spangola to do some people watching as I ate a yummy panini on the Spanish Steps, then to the Trevi Fountain. From the Trevi Fountain (great), I decided to walk around and take in some more of the city. I also planned to have dinner at Baffetto Pizzaria on someone's recommendation and since they didn't open until 6:30, I had some time to kill. I arrived at the pizzaria at 6 (I was told the queue can get pretty bad and I was meeting everyone at 7:30 to go to the river). This was the most delicious pizza I have ever had in my life. It made me sooo happy. I thought I might never eat pizza again it was so good. I got the pizza named after the pizzaria, the Baffetto.

It was topped with mushrooms, onions, sausage, artichoke, peppers, cheese and an egg. *sigh* Heavenly. The crust was just so thin and crispy and the toppings were so fresh and there was just the right amount of toppings. mmmm...I could go on and on...

I caught the bus back to the hostel to make sure I got there on time. We didn't end up leaving until about 9 anyway. We took the bus down to the river. It was lined with tents that were full of shops or restaurants. Nice set up. We stumbled upon this restaurant where a band was setting up. We decided to grab a table and get some drinks. Turns out this was the hot spot. By the time we got our drinks, a crowd had built up around the tent and there were no more seats. The band was cool. They played a lot of blues covers. If you've never heard "Go Johnny. Go." with an Italian accent, you are missing out. They also had some originals which were pretty good. Too bad I had no clue what they were about. When the band wrapped up, we did too. We decided to go see some of the sights by night, the ones I had seen earlier. Trevi fountain and Spanish Step. The Trevi Fountain is quite pretty at night (during the day it's just kinda awesome). The Spanish Steps looked the same except there were no people to watch and they were dark. Nothing special. We made this our last night sight and went back to the hostel.

Now my thoughts on Rome... I don't really like Rome. This opinion could be influenced by the fact that I was sick, but I wasn't a fan even before that. Or it could be that the people I met, while very nice, were kinda lame. It could be that I expected to do a bit of partying and I didn't. It could be that the people of Rome were rude. It could be that it was tragically hot. Or it could be that Rome is just not my type of city. "We don't have any chemistry." I hate Geneva, but as a city, I actually really liked it. We had a love/hate relationship. I don't hate Rome. But I def don't love it. I would go back, because the food was it's saving grace (soooo good) and there are still other things to see there. But I cannot join the I [heart] Roma camp. And I won't be pitching a tent with the I like Rome campers either. I still love the Roman Empire, the history and the engineering in Rome. That is undeniable. Just as a city, not a fan.

Hey Honey!

Commentary:

Game may be all the same, but when I hear someone call "Madmoseille!" I can't help but turn around. On the other hand, "Ciao bella" is starting to sound like "Ay girl" to me. It was nice the first time but after it is yelled from a car window(or Vespa as the case may be), it loses it's charm. My favorite line however, was a "Hey honey!" dripping with Italian accent. I might be willing to agree with those stereotypes of Italian men at this point. Although, the one about them being hot...IDK. I have not seen any stunning Italian guys in my 11 days in the country. Maybe I am not far enough south or maybe all the hot Italian men moved to the US. They are definitely not in Rome or Florence.

The conclusion of Rome is coming along with pictures.

Rome is hot! Why do I have a cold?

Rome is a pretty cool city. Lots of old stuff.

July 5: I woke up yesterday ready to start my conquest of the city Rome. I had signed up for a walking tour at 2pm so I planned to explore a bit, grab lunch and plot the rest of my days during the morning. The exploring and lunch went fine (I got a pizza from this shop. No big deal except for some reason I ordered a pizza topped with ingredients that I would never order in the States, olives, artichokes, mushrooms, and hard boiled eggs. Actually the only thing on the pizza that I actually eat was ham. IDK why I had a taste for these things all of a sudden but the pizza was delish and I ate the whole thing.)

Now planning the rest of my days?? There is are so many things to see in Rome. I got so incredibly overwhelmed as I was planning. I just about wanted to rip up the guidebook, put all the pages in a bag and just pick things out. I purchased a Roma Pass which gives you unlimited access to the metro for three days, entry into two sites and discounts on everything else. I picked out some of the things that I really wanted to see and hoped that the walking tour would hit all the other important points.

The tour was good. But it was ridiculous amounts of hot! It was a four and a half hour tour, which is fine with me. I would have been walking around all that time anyway and I think the Roman Empire is amazing so the nerd in me was just eating up all the facts. When the tour was over I returned to the hostel and planned on going to happy hour at the hostel bar with some of he girls I met on the tour. They either stood me up or we missed each other but I ended up just spending the night at the bar with my roommates. Sipping limoncello as they had Aussie talk.

I woke up this morning with a cold. :( My nose is a leaking faucet and my throat has been scrubbed with brillo all night. I'm going to the grocers to get tissues and maybe something to make me feel better. Any suggestions?

Either way, this cold won't stop me. Today's agenda, Colosseum!!

More stars, more stripes

Commentary

I was just thinking, why can't I wear a USA flag on my backpack? I mean, I could but no one would say that is a good idea. Canadians have maple leaves all over their luggage and I know they are not more proud than Americans. Not more proud than me. I even saw an Aussie with standard blazing. I see America in every country I visit and most times when I tell the natives (why does that sound racist?) that I'm from the US they get so excited. I offer to sign autographs sometimes (j/p). So why is it a bad idea for me to rep my hood? I don't quite remember anymore.

Five Lands and the Leaning Tower

Bonjourno. Whoever suggested that I just stop by Pisa on my way to Rome (was that you Rob?), good call. I'm glad I got to see the Leaning Tower. And that is really all there is in Pisa. I planned to stay for four hours and that was more than enough. Now I am back on the train, heading to Roma.

Where did I leave off...

July 2:
I woke up pretty early since I wanted to get some of my hike in before it got too hot. I gathered up some groceries for breakfast, yogurt, grapefruit juice and focaccia bread. *note on bread* The French know bread. They do it so very well. I have never been disappointed by something that started as dough and was put in a French oven. But I must say, that focaccia...It is delicious. All seasoned up with herbs and dripping with oil. mmmm...*end note* After breakfast, I stopped by the hostel office to see if I could get another night. I'd have to wait until Amy came in at 10:30/11:00. Yeah...I'm going on my hike. And I did. It was gorgeous...and HOT!!

*geography* Cinque Terre means Five Lands and that is exactly what it is. There are these five little villages linked together by trains and hiking trails. For your reference, I was staying in Riomaggiore, the southernmost village. Next is Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterossa. *geography*

Contrary to advice, I started at Riomaggiore. I knew that would make my last two legs the hardest but I figured that once I was done with my hike I would be in the village with the best beach. If I were to redo it, I would have definitely listed to that advice and just trained back to the beach. By the time I got to Vernazza (the fourth town) I was exhausted, hot and very sweaty. I even contemplated taking the train to the last village since I knew that the hike from Vernazza to Montorossa was the longest and the toughest. My hike in the Alps was much harder and longer but in the Alps it's not 89 degrees. (I don't actually know how hot it was but I don't think that is an exaggeration at all). I somehow convinced myself to do it and an hour and a half later, I was at the beach. So worth it.

Especially worth it because on the hike a group of four passed me. Plenty of people passed me on my hike but this group was very friendly and asked, "How are you today?" (to which I replied, "Tired!") I ended up seeing them on the beach and chatting with them for a bit. And then I met them again at the train platform. *more on Italian trains* They think schedules are suggestions apparently. I haven't left the platform at the scheduled time since France. In fact, it is rare that I am on physically on the train when it is scheduled to leave. I'm usually looking down the platform checking my watch. *end note on trenos* Anyway, whilst waiting for the late train, my new friends (from Canada and LA) invited me to dinner. One of the guys is talented with a spatula and a salt shaker and was making dinner in the apartment they rented. I accepted the invitation.

When we finally got back to Riomaggiore, we arranged a time for me to meet them and I went to try to get another night (I don't think I mentioned this but I asked for an extra night when I first made my reservation and again when checked in. Amy and I obviously have very different schedules.) Amy wasn't there. But the lady at the desk gave her a call and all was good. Another night and I would be in the same room!

I showered and met up with the cool kids and we chatted while dinner was being prepared. Dinner was yummy. A sumptuous cut of veal with a rub of herbs, roasted potatoes and carrots, sauteed peppers and fresh green beans. I forgot the wonders of a home cooked meal. After dinner we went to THE bar to watch the end of the game. During the game I had gelato number two of the day and I decided I needed to limit myself to one a day before I end up fat and broke. Ghana (to everyone's disappointment) lost the match. And then we made our way to the marina to look at stars. I decided to hang out with the lady of the group because the guys (as guys do) had found some new lady friends. We had some girl talk and she suggested I watch the sunset out in the marina the following day. I put it on my very empty to do list for the next day.

Around midnight I was pretty tired and so was my lady friend so we called it a night. Turns out she will be in Florence the same time that I will so we may meet up.

July 3:
I had only planned to watch the sunset and get pesto in Vernazza. I figured I would find somewhere in one of the villages to read for the rest off the day. I slept in (until 10) and then lazily started my day. Grocery breakfast and I was off. At the train station, I made a change of plans and decided to go to La Spezia instead of one of the villages. Nothing big to report from La Spezia. I did meet a creeper. He wasn't generally creepy, he was kinda nice. But then he kept popping up. It's not a big town but I am sure it is big enough to lose a creepy mcstalkerton. Anyway, I was only there for about an hour or so before I was heading Manarola. I didn't stay there long either, just long enough to walk around the small village. To Vernazza for dinner. My original plan was to go to the restaurant famed for their pesto but when I saw that a plate of pasta would cost me 22 euros I gave up on that idea. I found a place where I could get a plate of homemade pasta and pesto for 6 euros. It was tasty. It is possible that the fancy restaurant would have been better, but I am sure that any Italian in Cinque Terre can throw down on a plate of pesto. They invited it afterall.

Time for gelato! To Monterosso! I got lemon and fragole. IDK if anybody but Rob will remember when I fell in love with my ice cream cone in Monaco. Well I now know why. It was Italian gelato. That strawberry (fragole) tasted exactly like the strawberry in Monaco. And it makes since. Monaco is just over the border. If only that gelato could infiltrate France...and the US. After the gelato I was going to walk around Monterosso but I just wanted to head back. I got to Riomaggorie, bought some wine, and went off to the marina. AMAZING sunset.

To THE bar for the match. I caught a glimpse of GT tee shirt out of the corner of my eye. Turns out Cinque Terre is full of GT undergrads. GT Lorraine had a four day weekend. Go Jackets? Spain won. I went back to my room to pack and called it a night.

July 4:
I decided to have a real breakfast this morning since it would be a long day on the train and I didn't have snacks. I got an ham, cheese, tomato, and mushroom omelet. It was delicious but VERY small. I swear they must have used one egg.

After breakfast I hopped on the train to Pisa and about an hour later hopped off. I checked my bags at the train station and went to find lunch (of course with the help of the office of tourism). I stopped at a restaurant boasting a menu for 8,50. *Why they tryna stick me for my paypa* Switzerland was super expensive. Italy is not expensive, but I feel like I am constantly being ripped off. For instance, most restaurants have had a "cover charge" so in addition to my meal, their European taxes, and the servis compri, I also have to add in 3 euros? And they won't give me tap water either. I know those Romans made it so you just have to go outside and dip a cup in a freakin fountain. I don't need your bottled water. *damn* 10 euros later I had had lasgana and steamed veggies. The first disappointing meal of Italy. It was good, but it was no better than what I can do in my own kitchen.

After lunch I was off to the Tower. It really is on the ill lean. I had three different people take pictures of me holding up the tower. None of them were that great but the first was the best. Good job Argentinian girl (I have met a lot of them this trip). I thought about going into the cathedral there but decided to spend those 2 euro on gelato.

Italy is pretty much exactly what I expected. Good food and everyone is very...Italian. The one thing that surprised me is gelato. I know everyone has told me about it and I expected it to be amazing. But not THIS amazing. I had just finished my cathedral euro gelato (coconut and pineapple) when I walked past another gelato shop and I SERIOUSLY contemplated getting another. I am trying my hardest to keep it to one a day. They are just so divine!

After gelato, since there is really nothing else to do in Pisa, I went back to the train, picked up my luggage, bought a reservation for the train to Rome (10 euro! I suppose it's not bad but it's only 3 in France.) While I was there, I also sorted out my date mix up for my reservation on the overnight train from Venice to Paris. And that about covers it. Now I am headed to Rome to have a cheeseburger in celebration of America's Independence from the Monarchy. Stars & Stripes!!

*several hours later*
IDK if this was hunger or the fact that it is Italy but, that McDonald's was amazing. The best place to get a burger around here turned out to be MickeyD's, which I think is an appropriate place to celebrate the Fourth of July if you are in a foreign country. Not many people get to celebrate the Fourth at the American embassy after all. McRoyal deluxe as they called it. Burger with lettuce and tomato, cheese and mayo. And can you ever say enough for coke from the fountain? McYum.

Stars & Stripes BABY!!

Happy Fourth of July

It was my original goal to be in England for the Fourth. I wanted to spike a football in front of Buckingham Palace and shout "1776 b*tches!" whilst doing a couple pelvic thrusts, maybe a bit of the wop. I thought about even breaking out the snake...or the running man. (I hope you all pictured that going down)

Enter Italia

Last 7/1 entry and not written on the train.

July 1:

Time to bid France farewell for now. I checked out and went to the train station to catch my 10:23 train. And within an hour I was in Italy. I do not like Italian trains. Second class has no ac and I had to put on an emotional show for the conductor not to confiscate my rail pass when I hadn't written the date on it. (I will admit that I should have done this but it was so not a big deal in France, I guess I expected the same in Italy. Not so much.) But I do like the food. Within 6 hours of being in Italy, I had a delicious meal. When I got to Riomaggoire, the southernmost village of Cinque Terre, I consulted Let's Go to find a restaurant. I figured the first Italian meal should be special. It only had one suggestion for this village so I decided to try it. Funny thing, I was sitting outside pirating wifi and a couple came up to me to ask me where the restaurant was. I told them I had no clue but I intended to go there once I finished stealing internet. Apparently the restaurant is acclaimed and I know why now. Prawn with homemade pasta in truffle sauce and baked sea bass. Yum!!

My original intent was to have a drink at THE bar in town which also happens to be right below my hostel. But I'm stuffed, tired, and it's not poppin to the point where I would feel like going anyway. Plus I have a long day of hiking ahead of me tomorrow. In fact, I think I will call it a night.

Beach, beach and more beach

Also written 7/1

I don't know how necessary a day by day recap on Nice is. I literally laid on the beach all day.

June 28:

Once the Spaniards left, I went for lunch (another long hunt for kabab. I don't understand why kabab shops are everywhere when I want to eat something nice and no where when I really want a kabab) and then to the beach. After somewhere between three and five hours, I decided to get dinner. The moule and frites that are so appropriate for the Rivera. After dinner I decided to get a drink at Wayne's which turned into an adventure all it's own. Is it possible to get enough of dancing on tables in a hot sweaty dive bar as the live band plays Sweet Home Alabama?

June 29:

I laid on the beach. Just about all day. At least 5 hours. Cycling between napping, reading, hopping in the Mediterranean to cool off and listening to Skyrock. I eventually got hungry and decided to make my own lunch. I bought a pasta salad from Monoprix and doctored it up with some cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, chorizo and a side of brioche.

I dined back at the hostel while watching some French soap opera on TV. As I finished, a couple "Yanks" joined the room. After showers, we decided to get ice cream. The place we went to made ice cream into little flowers!

After our snack, we parted ways and I took a walk around Old Town (every city in France has an old town I realized). When I returned to the hostel, the Yanks had been join by a Brit (this chick was a talking machine. She just didn't stop.) and were deciding what to get for dinner. I joined them. We ended up going to this kabab shop. But it was one of the fancy ones and I actually got what us Americans would call a kabab (you know, the meat on a stick. They call it shish. I suppose I never actually explained kabab. I will take a picture next time. It's a huge hunk of meat that spins around cooking all day and the Turkish people who are bound to own the restaurant shave the meat and stuff it into a pita.) I had chicken and veal. It was so good. The Brit wanted a crepe, I had more than enough sweets for the day with the ice cream and the cookies I had after my lunch (habit's getting worse) I intended to just get a coffee as they ate crepes but the place they went charged an additional 40% for cafe after 7pm. WHAT? I refused to get it out of principle. After the crepes the Brit and I went to get a drink and watch the rest of the Brazil match (I really couldn't have cared less about the match but I had nothing else to do). We ended up at Wayne's and once the game was over the same band played the same set list to a new group of people. Maybe it is possible to tire of that scene. We left shortly after the match was over and returned to the hostel.

June 30:

Uh, I laid on the beach for hours. Lunch of pasta salad left overs to more soaps. Then back to the beach. When it started getting chilly (by beach standards) I went back to take a shower. When I got back to the hostel I realized I had a nice sunburn on my torso. I also found that the chatty Brit and a couple of the other roommates were going to dinner. I passed. I am at the point where I am actually enjoying being by myself, and I also was tired of hear that chick talk. I went out for dinner about an hour later. Since it would be my last French meal for a few weeks I wanted it to be French so I did crêpes. A savory ham, cheese and tomato and a sweet nutella served with cidre and café to finish. And guess what was on the restaurant's tv. My favorite French dubbed cop show with Shamar Moore. I hung out at the crêperie for a long time, just reading and ppl watching. The owner and garcon were really nice and I felt comfortable there. I eventually started getting chilly since I still had on shorts and the breeze had picked up. I decided I would head back to the hostel but first I would sit out by the beach on last time.

Lost days in Lyon

Written 7/1

Train ride catch up. Let me fill you in on the two days in Lyon.

June 26:

I woke up bright and early in order to explore the city. But first I wanted to skype my parents. Turns out wifi is 4 euros at this hostel and cuts off at midnight. I decided to get the most out of my 4 euros so despite the early beginning to my day, I didn't actually leave the hostel until lunch time.

And for lunch? I had read about this place where you can cook your own meal with a chef. With Lyon being the gastronomic capital of France, it seemed perfect. I made my way to the little shop knowing that not making a reservation was bound to leave me implementing a Plan B. And it did. They were booked but the receptionist was really nice and pointed me in the direction of a bouchon, which is a traditional Lyonnaise restaurant that serves traditional French food. Works out fine since I was intending to have dinner at a bouchon anyway. I sit down in this little family run, homey looking, French version of a diner. I end up sitting for quite a long time as there is only one menu that the owner explains to each person. Of course it was a little more difficult for him to explain it to me as I speak minimal French. Luckily, in all the time that elapsed between me sitting down and actually getting a glimpse at the menu, a couple sat at the table next to me (more like AT my table since they were so close) and their English was impeccable. They went through every dish for me and explained exactly what it was and how to order. Another French guy sat down at our table also. He, however, spoke no English but he spoke French so slowly that I actually understood most of what he said. Anyway, we all ended up ordering and eating together.

I started off with escargots, no better place to have a traditional French dish than at a traditional French restaurant. For my entree (or plat in French. Entree actually means the first course) I had this backed fish biscuit thing. The couple tried to tell me that this fish dish was a sausage but that thing was a big biscuit. I could barely even taste the fish. Either way, it was pretty good. It was in this really rich red sauce which turned out to be creme, wine, and lobster sauce. Now the snails? They were yummy. This is probably because they were in the richest creamiest buttery garlic sauce. *note on my palette* I swear my taste buds are not build to admire subtlety. Give me sweet, salty, buttery. That is all I really want. I will not taste the hint of tarragon. I have no clue what tarragon really tastes like. But know deliciousness. It is usually bold and it makes me happy when I eat it. *end note on palette* My main dish, the sausage fish biscuit thing came with a huge side of potatoes au gratin and some diced and sautéed veggies. The meal was polished off with espresso (as it should be). In addition to quite a meal, the owner took the whole restaurant on a little tour of the traboule outside. A traboule is a secret passage way and they are all over Lyon. Apparently, they used to use them to transport silk throughout the city in the rain. Seems as if this secret passage came into a different purpose. Thanks to my new bilingual friends, I was informed that a brothel used to be in the building behind the restaurant. The secret passage was a way for men to get in and out without being seen. The owner gave a lot more details in French (far to quickly for me to keep up with) and my lunch mates did their best to summarize his narrative. We went back in and had a glass of wine. And about two and a half hours after I originally sat down, I was finally heading off to see Lyon.

I had stopped by the office de tourism on my way to lunch so I had a map. I had also checked out some of the options for tours but decided that I would just go see the main points of interest to me. These were the Vieux Lyon, Fourvière, Cathedral St. Jean and the traboules and bouchon which I had just crossed off my list. I also added macarons to the list and the couple suggested that I go to the huge city park. I hopped on and off Lyon's subways and trams making my way to the sights. The Basilica Notre Dame on Fourvière was GORGEOUS. The view from this hill was also pretty cool. As I stared up at the Tour de L'Observation (an Eiffel Tower looking structure) I was hit by a sudden and intense need to relieve my bladder. Finding an appropriate place turned out to be quite a difficult task. Luckily my bladder is fairly resilient because it wasn't until about an hour later that I found a Starbucks. (Granted within that hour I had to walk down the hill and of course I wandered upon other sites like the Hotel de Ville that had an exhibition on the murals of Lyon. I added these murals to my list. I also saw the opera house and quite a bit of Vieux Lyon on my hunt for a bathroom.) Once that matter was sorted, I stopped at a couple of shops. Lyon is quite cheap by French/European standards. With 13 euros I got a striped tank, very French, and some pants. *Hammer time* it seems as if parachute pants are trying to make a comeback and have taken a foothold in Lyon. In every shop there were these things, in ever color and varient of style. Luckily, I didn't see anyone actually wearing them.*Hammer time over*

After shopping, I decided to grab a sandwich and have dinner at the park. This turned out to be more difficult than finding a kabab the day before. Patisseries in Lyon don't seem to stay open past 5. I searched fruitlessly for an hour before I decided to just go to the grocery store and buy sandwich supplies. Baguette, garlic cheese spread and Italian ham in hand I went to the park to dine. I found a spot by the lake and made supper. One good thing did come of my hour of searching for a sandwich, I found maracons. I had them for dessert and they were divine. I do not know why I waited until Lyon to try them. I think I will be loading up on them in Paris when I return.

By this time the US/Ghana game was well underway and I really was quite interested in watching. I had seen a bit of the last Ghana game and they were pretty beasty. Plus in my conversation with the couple at the bouchon, the husband informed me that the US and Ghana teams have the same style of play and it should be a really interesting match. It was! I found an Irish pub at Place Paccard right by my tram stop and watched the second half of the match. It was so intense and very entertaining. After that match, I finally understood why people bother watching soccer. As you know, the US did not emerge victorious so I settled my tab and made my way back to the hostel for the night.

June 27:

I had debated staying in Lyon an additional day since the train strike had stolen a day from me. Rather than stay over night, I decided to get up early and see the final things on my list before catching a 3pm train. Despite my list being very short (Lyon Confluence, murals, traboules at Place Colbert) it took all morning. I did also stop at the train station to purchase my reservation for the TGV which took about an hour. And I got distracted by all the Sunday markets around the city (I bought 2 pair of ballet flats for 5 euros, like 2,50 each!) Anyway, I ended up rushing to my train and if it had not been late, I would have definitely missed it. The train was over an hour late (but I wasn't complaining) and then the stop in Marseilles was also extended by about a half hour. I didn't end up arriving in Nice until about 10:30. And this is when I met the Pink Lady I told you about earlier.