Athens

Despite the fact that I didn't really sleep on the Athens bus, I wasn't too tired the morning it arrived in Athens. I checked into the hostel at which we were dropped off, took a quick shower, and walked all the way down to the Acropolis. There actually a few sites to see in Athens: The Acropolis, The Agora, the Roman Forum, The Theater of Dyonius, the Temple of Olympian Zues, and one or two I can't remember. I did them all by midafternoon, but only because they aren't really all that impressive. Despite the swarm of tourists at The Acropolis, it had a magnificent view of the city. Yet the Parthenon was under reconstruction (Yes, they're rebuilding it but with whatever pieces of the original they can salvage). The theater, the temple to zues, and the agora, though, were really just collections of marble building fragments that had be set up along some paths. I didn't really get a sense for the culture that once inhabited the sites like I did in Rome or Pompeii. I would have liked to see ruins where they lie. That would have sparked my imagination as to what the building was like, why it fell, and how did it relate to its surroundings.

I eventually headed back to the hostel to find that most of the people who had gotten off the bus with me were still there and hadn't really gone out at all. It was generally accepted that there wasn't anything to do in Athens, and I couldn't find anyone who wanted to get into some trouble. So I starting scheming to steal Internet access from the hostel with my laptop. Two girls in my dorm room got the idea to go see a movie. So we made the trek out to a theater that showed original language movies. I wanted to see the ten minutes of Star Wars that I had missed in Rome, and I could had pulled them in with me, but one of them preferred to see Monster In Law. It had a couple moments of hilarity.

And that was Athens. My original goal was to make it out to an island in the Aegean, like Mykonos or Ios, but given ferry times (night boats only), the possibility of finding a cheap place to stay (apparently little to none), and costs, I've decided to head back to Italy instead. I'll leave island hopping to a few years from now.

Athens Bus

The Pink Palace runs their own bus to and from Athens since that the usual next stop when travelling through Greece. It turns out that the Eurail pass isn't valid for half of the ferry ride from Italy to Greece... and the ferry arrives in Patra without enough time to catch the last train to Athens, forcing tourists to spend a night in Patra also. The combined cost of that and the ferry is more than the Athens bus (but not by much).

Actually, the bus turned out to be an interesting (albeit uncomfortable) ride. A girl (who has a boyfriend) I had met at the toga party was also taking it along with three guys from Florida who we had met on the ferry ride to The Pink Palace. I conveniently had the seat right next to hers ;-). But almost immediately one of the guys from Florida sat down next to her (the bus was empty enough for everyone to have their own two seats). So I had front row seats to listening to this guy try to successfully hit on her. Unfortunately, he didn't say anything worth repeating on here. He was that ordinary. I had a sly smile on my face the whole time he was talking, which she noticed and exchanged knowing glances from time to time with me. I almost burst out laughing when the guys in the seats behind her and behind me tried to jump into the conversation too. It was pretty funny to watch. During one of our ferry changes, I had the chance to tell her that I was impressed she was so willing to be nice rather than give the bitchy attitude that would generally save a girl in her position a lot of time and energy (I worded it differently than that, don't worry). The guy came back after that (mistake number 30ish), knowing that this was the time everyone was going to sleep, and started spouting off all these excuses about why he couldn't sleep elsewhere. I felt bad for her (I probably could have stepped up and helped her out at that point). But I had my own uncomfortable double seat. So I did my best to try and sleep. I don't think I did much better than her.

We made it to Athens in the morning, and I think she caught a flight home the next day. Too bad I didn't get any contact info from her, she seemed worthy of keeping in touch with. Oh well...

The Pink Palace

I've found that the five big hostels of Europe has become a group of ten to fifteen hostels. I'm currently at one of them: The Pink Palace in Corfu, Greece. Of course it advertises for all of them, which has led me to discover the list of them. They are (in no particular order):

1. The Three Ducks, Paris
2. Avalon House, Dublin
3. Circus, Berlin
4. The Flying Pig, Amsterdam
5. St. Christopher's Inn, Edinburgh
6. The Pink Palace, Corfu
7. Kabul, Barcelona
8. Balmer's Herberge, Interlaken (Switzerland)
9. Alessandro, Rome
10. Euro Youth Hotel, Munich
11. Yoho International Youth Hostel, Salzburg
12. Wombat's City Hostel, Vienna
13. Sultan Hostel, Istanbul
14. Bauhaus International Youth Hostel, Bruges (Belgium)
15. St. Christopher's Inn, London

This list is an apparent and shameless attempt at attractive elitism, advertised as the biggest and the best and attracting a bigger frat guy crowd than other destinations I've visited. I found a flyer for The Pink Palace at the hostel in Naples, which made the place seem uncommonly outstanding at an equivalent price, so much so that it also convince the others I was traveling with to join me here too. I made a reservation for The Pink Palace on their website for a dorm room needing nothing more and expecting it to be the cheapest. I got here, though, to find that they had no dorm rooms and their second class rooms were "under renovation," forcing everyone to buy a first class room (the place isn't that full yet, and I'm thinking they just wanted to keep everyone close together). Every activity, service, or rental here also costs some exorbatent fee (this place is more American than Greek, I think).

While far from any other real destination but conveniently located on the journey between Italy and Greece, the beach has a great view, a warm sun, and cool water. The first class rooms are among the best in which I'ved stayed. And they serve us both breakfast and dinner, the latter of which is late enough to lead right into the nightly drunken debachery and dancing (did I mention the jacuzzi?). Saturday night offers what seems to be only exposure to Greek culture with Greek dancing, plate breaking, fire, and the weekly toga party (yeah, the last is a stretch.. I know). None of that really matters without good people here, though. And, once you get past the typical Spring Break personalities, there are some people here worth hanging out with me. Their names were Missy, Leslie, Diana, Anna, Amanda, etc... ;-)

I expected to only stay here three nights, but transportation to Athens is lacking and they managed to keep me here a day longer than I would have liked. Their night bus to Athens leaves every other night. So I've had to wait around here for another day (the first and only I will waste on this trip). The consequence of the true concerns of The Pink Palace... making money (not helping travelers enjoy their trip).

Getting To Greece

I found out that my Eurail pass could get me to Greece for free, and since I have the time, I'm going to check it out. It's quite the journey to get there, though. I had to get myself to one of the two eastern Italian sea ports, Bari or Brindisi. From there, I could take a ferry across the Adriatic Sea to Corfu, Greece. I left Amalfi early Thursday morning around seven assuming that I would be able to make it across Italy by 8pm. The Italy train system had other plans, thoughs. I made to Caserta, Italy about an hour outside of Naples by noon to find that the only train to Bari from there comes through at 3:20pm.

Three hours later, I stood waiting on track 3 with a number of other backpackers for this train. We waited... and waited... for another hour until it finally arrived on track 1 and began the three hour trip to Bari. So imagine the train arriving at 7:25pm in Bari and twenty backpackers (full pack entail) rushing off through the station, pacing down the street (with strange looks from everyone) towards the shore with no idea where the ferry is or where to buy a ticket for it. We made to the shore at 7:45pm but couldn't see the ferry company anywhere. We ran up the shore asking people if they knew where to go. At just about 8, a cop finally pointed us back to the ferry company store... that was closed.

Now this kind of thing happens to every backpacker at least once (if not often (in Italy)) through the course of his or her trip, and it can turn out to be some the most fun he or she can have. It also makes for some of the best stories.

Of the whole group of backpackers, six of us decided to jump back on the train for Brindisi because a ferry left there the next morning instead of waiting in Bari for the 8pm ferry the next night. Rather than go to the hostel in Brindisi, we decided that staying in the train station would be a better idea.

Brindisi Train Station. Stepping out of the station, we were immediately confronted with a group of gentleman using the little English they knew to convert us to christainity for a good ten minutes. We then went back into the train station to set up camp for the evening. The waiting room was devoid of life except for one unassuming guy sitting across the room from us. As we sat down and settled in, this gentleman decided we must know Italian and began talking to us... and talking... and talking. We quickly became concerned for our safety and belongings; so we rearranged the train station benches in a circle around our backpacks, which we wire locked into one big pile in the middle, and we slept around the perimeter... The guy didn't get the hint. Instead, he decided he should join the circle. This is when we noticed he had one bruised and bloodshot eye. We continually told him to leave the circle, but he pretended on to understand us. We used the language guide in our guidebooks to try and tell him to go, but he still wouldn't leave. He finally left when we started picking up the pile to create a new circle. We decided it would still be best to move the circle into the corner of the room nonetheless. This guy would still not shut up, though. Even as he laid down on the bench, he'd keep talking with his head in his arms. We had no idea how we were going to sleep with this guy around. Most of the group pretty much decided they weren't going to sleep much anyway.

Eventually, the guy finished his beer and left, which was the strangest thing. Why would he just hang out at the train station of all places if he had somewhere else he could be? In any case, we finally got a few hours to rest.

The Ferry Ride. The next morning we hopped on the ferry. Expecting something like airplane seating, we were surprized to find a bar, a restaurant, video games, gambling machines, DVDs (for rent), several lounges, and lots of open space. We brought our own food on board, hung out for a couple hours, played cards, and slept. The time flew by, and it was probably a better time than that which we would have had if we had made the ferry the night before. We finally got to Corfu, Greece at about 7pm... crazy adventures... :-)

Amalfi

I've been told that the Amalfi Coast rivals that of Chinque Terre in beauty. Determined to see if the rumors were true, I decided to spend a day in the area south of Naples. I met a girl, Sarah, at breakfast in the hostel this morning who was also headed out there; so I let her tag along with me ;-). The only way out there was by a long winding (car sickness inducing) bus ride, but it was definitely worth it. Even from the bus, the rumors were true. The coast line is beautiful and definitely resembles Chinque Terre a lot.

We arrived in Amalfi and found a youth hostel in the town on the other side of a tunnel. It was really hot today, which dissuaded us from seeking out any hiking trails. Sarah was content to lie in the sun all day, but lacking a towel or blanket prompted us to lay on the concrete breakwater blocks. They got really uncomfortable, and I got really bored. I went exploring in the town for a few hours, but I didn't find anything of interest. It was nice just hanging out with nothing to do for once... but also kind of boring... especially being attached to someone who didn't want to do anything (not that there was anything to do really). We made supper at the hostel and checked out a bar called Willy's where they were watching some important soccer game...

I've had better days, but the beach did provide a great view, which probably still paled in comparison to what might have been seen from the hiking trails.

Capri

The one thing you must do if you ever come to Naples is try the pizza (this is its birthplace after all). Both Da Michele or Trianon across the street have the best pizza you will ever eat... bar none. We need these guys back in the states.

I took another daytrip today... this time to the an island off the coast called Capri, famous for The Blue Grotto. It actually rivals Pisa in all-time rip offs, though. The entire island is overpriced because of all the tourism, but the Grotto requires one ferry to get me out there and a second tiny rowboat to get me inside the cave. The latter actually had the audacity to ask for a tip after the ten dollars(8.50 euro) he already forced out of my hand... yeah right pal. Once inside the Grotto, though, I forgot about all that because the blue glow coming up from the water is awe inspiring. Unfortunately, there were far too many rowboats in the cave to really get a good picture or unobstructed view of it. Still, there was just something about the place.

The rest of my time there was spent lying on the stone beach next to the port and docks. I met a few girls from the US who also took a day trip to the island but were unable to go out to the Grotto because the water got too rough. I don't remember their names, but we hung out on the beach for a little while and then went our separate ways. Finding that the rest of Capri is a huge tourist trap, I hopped on the ferry back to Naples. Our hostel has a selection of DVDs; so I spent the night watching some movies (with the break to go have some amazing pizza) with some other people in the place.

Pompeii

I didn't really plan on spending much time in Naples despite the fact that I was staying there. The city only further confirmed this for me when I arrived. The hostel had not one but two locked doors through which the receptionist had to buzz me everytime I came back from somewhere. I was twice stopped and offered what I have to assume was a stolen digital camera (I was really tempted... they were better than my camera). Needless to say, I arrived, checked into the hostel, and immediately went on a day trip elsewhere...

I had no idea just how big the ancient city of Pompeii and its 2000 inhabitants was. While spending a few hours amidst the ruins, I definitely got felt a sort of calm and simplicity that I hope was part of life in the city. Still the grooves worn into the street stones revealed the busy chariots that beat the path down.

The SITA bus company in the area did not impress me. Not only do they offer little to no information about their buses and trains, but they dropped me off in Pompeii by the side of the road with nothing but a pole and a sign marking the stop. Once I was done with Pompeii, I had no idea where the stop was to bring me back to Naples, and I certainly didn't know what time the bus would be there. Consequently, I found myself sitting under the pole on the opposite side of the street on which I was dropped off.... for over an hour with no bus. I also told that the ticket would get me on the train as well, and I figured that someone back near Pompeii would know a enough English to point me in the direction of what I hoped was a more substantial station. But of course, Pompeii closed at 6:30pm, which prompted all the little stand owners to pack up their stuff and leave for the evening....hmmph. I walked down the street looking for anything that might help until I reached another entrance to Pompeii and found a police station there. Now there are stories about the police in Italy, but I figured I was just asking for information... low risk. Fortunately, it pointed me in the direction of the station, and it wasn't too far away. So everything worked out... you can breathe now, mom...

When in Rome...

Rome has a few annoying points. People seems too arrogant to politely make room for me to walk down the street. I hate to be an asshole, but I figure I can't cave to that bullshit; so I just stop and stand right in front of them until they give the little huff and fall behind the person to their right or left. Occasionally, I get a dirty look, but everyone always looks away when I stare them down. But, far and away, the most annoying experience has been my trip to the Vatican Museum (The Sistine Chapel). I tried to go early Saturday morning, hoping that it wouldn't be too crowded. Not knowing that the entrance was around the corner from St. Peter's Square, I wound up in St. Peter's Bascilica first, which was an really impressive church (I didn't witness the optical illusion that the interior dome makes, but I have a picture of it). So I didn't get to the entrance until about 8:30am, and by then there was already a huge... HUGE line. I waited for over an hour before buying my ticket. Then, the rest of the sheep and I were herded through a series of painted rooms, beautiful hallways, and exquisite exhibits before SLOWLY filing into The Sistine Chapel, which under most circumstances would have blown my mind. But after putting up with two hours of numerous tour groups, pokes, pushes, prods, and being literally squeezed through doorways, Most of my being just wanted to get out of the place..... but wait... I had forgotten (or didn't notice) Raphael's The School Of Athens, which I didn't know was painted on one of the walls in one of the rooms throgh witch I had probably walked. Thus, I went through the same crap again to see it. I was half surprised that they didn't slaughter us for meat at the end. To top off the experience, they don't allow pictures to be taken of the chapel (I snuck a few bad ones, of course)... just a bad experience, but a beautiful place.

Sunday morning was spent at the Colloseum and Palotine Hill, both of which had free admission because it was "Culture Week." To be honest, the Colloseum isn't too much to see, but something is still quite amazing about it (perhaps just merely its age). I spent an hour or two just walking among the ruins of what could once house 80,000 people.

I wasn't able to get out to the bars and meet anyone while I was in Rome, but instead, I spent the time getting to know my great uncle, which was just as good if not better...

All Roads Lead To...

My first full day in Rome was different than that to which I've become accustomed. I actually have family here. My great (or is it 'grand') uncle Dick is a profesor here at a local college. I got ahold of him and set a time to meet this morning. I walked around a little, found the Colloseum and the Roman Forum, and then went to meet him. I hadn't really spent any time with him before this, so I was a little anxious. But it turned out pretty well... he was obviously used to being around people my age. He was also kind enough to get me a room in the residence where he was staying while I was in Rome (I don't know how much that cost him, though, but thank you Uncle Dick).

Once settled in a bit, my first order of business was to finally... finally see Star Wars. It turned out that one of my great uncle's friends wanted to see it as well. We ended up seeing it at the same theater where it was premiered last night. I must that I enjoyed the experience, but I have to hold off any judgement because I liked the first two when I saw them for the first time too (I still think the second one is pretty good... the first, we're all agreed, is crap... haha.. sort of). I will say that knowing Vader's story definitely adds more depth to his character, but it seems like his journey towards the dark side was more of a conscious choice than the expected result of overwhelming rage and fear. Although, perhaps he wasn't fully committed until the very end. Still, he seemed motivated to do evil for good reasons like saving Padme and protecting (what he considered to be) the Republic. I'm not sure if I believed he was evil (again maybe at the end he committed). I guess I'll have to see it again.

I got a small tour of a Baroque Church, Trevi Fountain, and some of Rome's thirteen obelisks from my great uncle's friend on the way back to supper at their residence. I definitely learned and appreciated more than if I had just walked around and found them on my own. After dinner, I got a small walking tour and a good conversation from my great uncle. Rome is a collection of small, busy streets and larger, even busier ones that often open to bustling pedistrian squares that pepper the city. We walked between a few and saw a couple of sights (Definitely get as much gelati as you can while you're here). It was pretty good night.

Mysterious Fate

Well it was my first night in Rome tonight. I was finally in a place to find an english version of Star Wars. Given a free night here, I went to a theater mentioned in my guidebook to find this: (Soon to be Star Wars Stage image) At first, I thought nothing of it, went towards the front door, but I was stopped at the entrance. Turns out they were having the Italian Premiere there last night with several members of the cast coming. Fate works in mysterious ways.... I didn't try to sneak into the theater, but had I flirted more with the girl at the door, I think I could have gotten in. In any case, I was about two hours early for the show. So I got right in the front of the fence for the red carpet (Don't think I was like the little screaming girls that had already gotten there before me, though). When it finally started, it was pretty cool. Rick McCallum, Hayden Christenson, and Ian McDirmond(sp?) came to it. My pictures didn't turn out too well, but I'll have them up here soon.

Leaning Tower Of We-Have-Nothing-Else-Here-Town

I woke up this morning to find that my watch has gone missing. Everything else, though, like my wallet, money, and credit cards were still there. So theft seems to be out of the picture. I looked all over the room, though, and couldn't find it anywhere. Hopefully, I just foget where I put it in my bag or something. Sorry, little sis, but I definitely enjoyed your gift while I had it.

Pisa is something of a rip off. The only thing to see there is the Tower... and they know this. The admission price... 15 euros. Comparatively, the Louvre costs 8.50 euro, and the Eiffel Tower is 10. No way in hell should the Tower be so expensive.... but on a trip like mine, I can't let money be much of a hindrence.

Since they wanted an arm and a leg for it, though, I decided to throw in my urine free of charge. I mean, paying 15 euros to say that I've been to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is hardly worth it... but being able to say I pissed on the Leaning Tower because the city of Pisa is too opportunistic to earn my respect... that's more bang for my buck. Now don't worry, I found probably the only corner in the whole structure, and I made sure to contribute to the effort to push the tower back the other way. So may my yellow mural stand for all eternity. ;-)

Yeah, you should know what this means by now... Pisa definitely deserves it, though.

Cinque Terre

Rector, thank you for reccommending this place to me. The five little towns that make up Cinque Terre have a breathtaking hiking trail running through them along the western coast of Italy north of Pisa. Coming down from Nice, I stopped in the northern most town to inquire about the trail. My hope was that I could hike the trail, come back up, pick up my bag, continue down to Pisa, and then to Rome in a day. There were a couple of problems with that: first, I have a lot of unplanned free time (like two or three weeks of it), so I'm not sure why I was thinking I had to be so rushed. Second, I didn't arrive in Cinque Terre until about 3:30pm, and the woman at the information desk though it was too late to start the trail because I wouldn't be able to make a train back up to Monterosso to get my bag (she said the trail takes about 5 hours). So my plans changed and I figured I'd stay the night somewhere, but apparently I still couldn't pick up my bag later. Being the glutton for punishment that I am (and everyone I know at Clarkson can attest to that), I decided to hike the trail with my backpack.... You'd think that'd have been a mistake, but not so much (Barcelona was a little worse). I found that carrying the day pack in the front balances the weight more.

The trail, starting in the north, begins with a grueling climb up a lot of stairs, then down to the next town, and back up over a hill. Towards the end it gets much easier (and paved, even). So I was glad I got the difficult part out of the way first. As for the sights... no words I could say could really do it any justice. I'm just in awe. The deep, rich green mountains rise quicking from the Mediterranean while the waves crash into the rock and coves. It seems endless and timeless. And, as I walked, each little town revealed itself, subtle multicolored buildings and stone stairways draped over a hill. Wow.... I just wish I had had a better camera.

Interestingly, while I was hiking, almost every hiker I passed smiled or said hi. They stood back to let me through or thanked me for letting them by. They stopped to help someone who had fallen. And above all they shared a deep appreciation for the scenery. We shared something in common; we knew the struggle, the task, and did our best to make it easier for each other.

Contrast this with the towns who set up a set of toll boths to ensure that each hiker paid his dues before he could take the journey. It just seems so absurd. We're all here together (on this planet, in this universe), we all know the struggle that each of us is undertaking, and yet we hardly help each other. Travelling around Europe is really fun, but everywhere I go, no one really wants to help me enjoy myself, to help me get the best experience possible. Instead, they seem to position themselves between me and that experience to extract every little cent from my hand that they can.... it is the capitalist way, but it's extemely frustrating when on a budget, especially when I know they've already made enough of a profit from me to offer the services or experience free of an additional charge.

Anyway, I finished the trail in about three and a half hours to find that there were five or six trains I could have still made back up to the original town. Wet (it was raining part of the time), muddy, and sweaty, I found a decent hostel in Rigomagori(sp?), the most southern town, took a shower, found some food, and headed to the beach. Now I know that I once told some of you that I had always wanted to watch the sunset from an Italian beach. Today, I crossed that off my list of things to do. It was a great end to the day. And I wish I had better pictures (I'll get them up as soon as I can).

Surprisingly, though, the little town had some decent nightlife. Overrun by tourists, my roommates for the night and I actually found quite a few english speaking people at what seemed to be the only late night bar in the town. Beer was pretty expensive, but it was still a good time.

Nice

While backpacking, you learn to appreciate the small things like warm water, good shower fixtures, clean clothes, good conversation, and your native language. I spent this morning lying on the stone beach in Nice before it clouded over and started raining for most of the day. Given that there really wasn't much I wanted to see here, I decided to machine wash my clothing. I've hand washed my clothes twice since I got here, which saved me money, but line drying them is something of a problem because my clothes don't seem to dry overnight, leaving me to repack my backpack with wet clothing (ew... I know). Turns out, though, that doing your laundry over here is unbelievably expensive. What should be like one load of clothes cost me like 12 dollars (US). These tiny ass washers are absurd, and 50 eurocents gets you 8 minutes of drying. Why do these people pay that? What are you thinking Europe? I suddenly wish that I had the $2.25 per load laundry facilities that everyone complained about at Clarkson. Haha.

The rain prompted a lot of the people at my hostel to stay in for the evening, eat dinner there, and shoot the shit. It was actually pretty fun. I few of the girls there were looking for jobs in the area because it's apparently easy to find work in Nice. So if any of you are looking for a job in the French Riveria... Nice is the place to be.

On a side note, there is a small town between Cannes and Nice called Cagnes Sur Mer, which if I remember correctly was one of the stops the kids made in Eurotrip on their way from Paris to Amsterdam?!?!? Apparently then, they decided to take the train all the way to the south of France and then back up to Holland...whatever

Cannes

Shit. I feel like I'm going to puke. It's May 16th, and I'm in Cannes for the International Film Festival. For some reason that is unclear to me now, I got it in my head that the Star Wars Premiere was tonight... It was last night. I'm twelve hours late. I missed it.

One of the reasons I'm on this trip is that I'm tired of only experiencing the world through images of it. I'm tired of seeing pictures/movies of London, Paris, Rome... of the Mona Lisa and the Mediterranean. And yet because of some cosmic force combined with my own stupidity, all I've been able to see here are the newspaper articles and red carpet photos of what happened last night (Natalie Portman shaved her head, btw). And there are posters for the movie everywhere (they taunt me). What was I thinking. I can't believe I didn't look up the schedule again while I was over here (Maybe there are advantages to constant access to the internet). I've been on the verge of crying all day.

They showed A New Hope on the beach last night too. Even that would have been something to see. I wonder, though, if my blog here would have qualified me for a press pass to the show (I would have had to apply for it awhile ago). It worked for the white house...

The festival was pretty nice, though. The only people who get to see the movies, though, are industry and press people who have ID badges. Nevertheless, I'm confident I could have snuck through all that in what was probably a much bigger crowd to see the premiere last night. In walking around today, I found a path through the parking garage that led behind one checkpoint to some stairs that led up to an upper floor of the Palace Cinema. I didn't tempt my fate for whatever they were showing at the moment, though.

Mostly, the general public just gets to stand next to the red carpet and watch the semicelebrities and a few people I actually know walk the red carpet up to their movie showing. I walked around, found the Carlton Hotel where, apparently, the original Star Wars production deal was inked. It had an appropriate set of posters.

As I mentioned they show movies on the beach for the general public at night, for which I stuck around, but the movie was Korean, subtitled in French. So I could only barely follow along. And we had to leave early to catch the last train back to Nice anyway.

I was having a crappy day in Barcelona too.... I should have just gone to Cannes.... damn.

Barcelona

I definitely wish I had more time for Barcelona. I arrived by night (sleeping) train early in the morning and have another night train to Nice, France tonight. Consequently, I had a particularly frustrating day because I didn't get a hostel.

I got off the train thinking that the beach would have security lockers and changing rooms. I mean you hear so many stories about theft and robbery in Spain that you'd think they'd take certain precautions for tourists. After all, tourists bring money into the country and leave it there.... Anyway, I took my entire backpack to beach in hopes I could store it there rather than store it at the train station (which I'm still not sure has lockers around here). But no, the beaches have everything else except lockers and changing rooms, which left me to lug around my 20 pound backpack for the whole freaking day.

I made the best of it, though. After exploring the entire beach for a few hours in hopes of finding somewhere to store my bag, I finally gave up, changed in a bathroom, and found a spot to camp out, get a little tan, and relax. But relaxing is hard when you're worried someone is going to sneak off with your daypack or something.

I found that the Spanish don't really seem all that kind to tourists. There was always this tension towards me everywhere I went (or maybe it was my backpack hanging off me all the time). Had I had more time, I think I could have organized myself better and enjoyed my time more. But it's all in effort to get to Cannes tomorrow to see Star Wars (or at least stand in the crowd while other people do). Hell yes....

Madrid

There are three things you must do if you come to Madrid: Stay up until 4am, try the hot chocolate and a churro, and visit the Museo Del Jamon. That's right... the Museum of Ham. Few people understand and appreciate the varities and complexities that come with a good ham. Here at the Museum of Ham, they are dedicated to educating people on all that Ham has to offer. The self-guided tour takes you through the entire process of producing the rich aromas and gentle tastes that go into making each slab, from slitting the pig's throat to the oven, everything is covered.

Surprisingly, Madrid actually has three really good Museums: El Museo del Prado, El Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, and el Museo Thyssen. For some reason they don't let you take pictures of La Guernica, Picaso's famous protest of Nazi Germany's assult on the tiny town during the Spanish Civil War. I snuck a few pictures anyway... haha.

All these Museums are starting to run together. The Reina Sofia was actually pretty interesting, but the Prado has a similar collection to the Louvre, with really life-like portraits. And if I have to see one more reminder of what Christ went through, I'm going to either scream or break down, fall on my knees, throw my hands in the air, and start speaking in tongues.

Fortunately, Madrid has an excellent night life. My hostel organized a trip to an outdoor cuban music concert last night, which was part of the celebration for some saint. It was kind of cool. The salsa lessons I took actually ended up paying off. I've realized, though, that these chance encounters with other backpackers are great, but ultimately fleeting because everyone knows that you're never going to see the other person again. This has both good and bad characteristics ;-)

I've been hearing first hand stories now of people getting pickpocketed. One guy I met last night had his camera stolen from right in front of him by a kid and his mom with 15 other people at his table. Another girl has her passport and money stolen while she was eating lunch with her friend. Needless to say I've been on Alert Level Orange ever since and will remain so until I get out of Spain. Even now, I'm paranoid that people are eyeing my laptop.

I finally found a free wireless hotspot I could mooch off of for awhile today. It luckily coincided with the location of a Starbucks here. So I plopped myself down for a few hours and took advantage while I could. I have to catch a night train to Barcelona in a few hours where I'll be spending all day on the beach.... Oh Yeah!!!! Then it's another night train to Cannes, France for the the Film Festival and Star Wars Premiere.... I'll update again soon.

Bordeaux

Do you remember that scene in the movie Big when Josh (Tom Hanks) spends his first night in the St. James Hotel in NYC? Well I had a similar experience last night here in Bordeaux complete with the angry, raving person yelling at someone for like two hours in a language I couldn't understand. Check out this tiny, tiny room:

The Youth Hostel at which I wanted to stay was all booked, which left me with this second place in my guide book. I should have known better when they describe it as "good accomodations for the price." The good thing, though, was that it was the first room I've had to myself since I got to Europe. And the three Austrailian girls staying in the room next to mine more than made up for it ;-)

I went on a wine tasting tour to two Chateaus outside of Bordeaux in the Medoc region, which mainly grows heavier grapes like Cabernet Savignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Fraun(sp?). The Chateaus were gorgeous, built in the 17th-19th centuries. The wines we tried were pretty good. For some reason, the Medoc region is required to blend different grapes in whatever wines they produce... strange that they require it, but the wine was definitely complex. One cool thing on the tour, although we didn't stop at it, we drove by Chateau La Tour, which is a world famous winery.

The downside of the tour was that the only train I could get to Madrid left at 6:50pm. The tour was scheduled to get back to the Tourist Office at 6:30pm. So I was worried the entire time that I wouldn't make it to the train. Fortunately, I there were like two or three other groups of people trying to make the same train. Thus, the tour guide brought us back a little early. It was kind of fun sprinting from the bus with all these people to the train. One group was a couple, Brett and Amy, who were my age and over here for about the same amount of time as me. They hung out with me at the sketchy Border station where we switched to the sleeping train.

My first experience with the night train was pretty good. I slept pretty well and saved money by not have to get a hostel for the night. Yeah! Now on to Madrid...

Paris: Day 4

My last day in Paris and I finally got to the Louvre. You're suppose to take a whole day (if not two) to walk through and appreciate the massive collection of art contained in the huge building... I had 5 hours before I had to catch my train to Bordeaux. Yikes. I did see everything (that wasn't closed), but I didn't really have time to stop and reflect on any of the art. It's too bad, but I saw the Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo...

The Place in Paris

There's one place you must go if you come to Paris... not the Louvre, not the Eiffel Tower, not the Cathedral De Notre Dame... no... This is the place:

It's much different than they show in the movie. They bring you in and sit you at a table. The show starts and the girls come out on the stage, do their thing, then even walk out in the audience to flirt with all the guys. I really through them for a loop, though, cause I sat with my back to the stage, and I never turned to look at them once. So, of course, they all came to see why I was the only one doing this, but I couldn't understand them cause I don't speak French... It was definitely a good night...

hahaha, yeah, none of that happened. They wanted 140 euro to see the show, and I wasn't that desparate to see T&A.

Hiking Paris

Well I wanted to go to the Louvre today... all day, but unfortunately its closed on Tuesdays. hmmm. Being suddenly faced with an entire day with nothing to do, in Paris of all places..., I decided to agressively seek out internet access to get my blog up to date and make future travel arrangements. The receptionist at my hostel mentioned that some cafes around the Louvre have WiFi access, and another told me that there are hotspots in two places in the city, one of which is in a place called La Defense.

I found a few cafes, but they only give you internet access for twenty minutes at a time (for free, though)... a bit troublesome. Thus, I packed my things, and with hope my heart set off on the long grueling journey through the barren wilderness, my trusty ox dragging my covered wagon to the place were all my dreams would come true.... no, not Oregon.... La Defense... Sadly, it was only a place of false hopes. The hotspot wanted 10 euros and hour for access. Since I had made the trek all the way out here, I bought an hour just so my time wasn't a complete waste.

I did however find the worlds largest Louis Vuitton bag as I was coming out here though. I'm sure all the girls would be impressed:

Paris By Day

Since I heard its lines are monstrous during the day, the first thing I did was book it to the Eiffel Tower early in the morning. But I had to stop and take a few pictures from outside the Louvre first. The Tower is pretty cool. Definitely check it out if you're ever over here. I hiked over to the Arc de Triomphe, then all the way back through this like 2 mile long park in front of the Louvre before turning down towards the Cathedral De Notre Dame, and down to the Pantheon, but I didn't really feel like paying to go into any of them. I saw the view of the city from the Tower, and I can live without ever having seen the resting places of Voltaire and Rousseau (although I do admire them both).

Almost every building I walked past was amazing. I almost got used to constantly being surrounded by beauty. The sad thing is that there are beautiful buildings worthy of being photographed, but (and I'm obviously guilty of this too) when they stand right next to the Cathedral de Notre Dame or the Louvre, everyone is too busy taking pictures of the more well known architecture.

I'm not finding all that much night life here. My guidebook doesn't mention too much, my hostel got overrun by a group of kids on a fieldtrip or something, and my new roommates just wanted to play crazy eights in the room... so meeting people here has been something of a challenge... what's up with that? ...Paris definitely has the street cafe thing going on. Maybe the culture favors that more than clubs and bars.

Paris By Night

So I missed my stop on train to Paris and wound up in Euro Disneyland. I was too anxious and frustrated to buy a ticket or take any pictures for you guys, though. Fortunately, a train from one of Paris' subway systems ends its run there, and I was able to take it into the center of the city. Phew.

I think I caught a cold in Dublin. I more or less expected that I would being that I'm exposed to a new environment. So when I finally got to a hostel in Paris, I pretty much just wanted to lie down and rest until the morning before starting my Parisian exploration. My two new roommates, though, Brett and Troy, were in better health. Since I wasn't feeling all that run down, we went out to sample French cuisine and see Paris at night. I'm definitely glad I did. A beget is a delicious and filling meal for €3, and the Seine is gorgeous by night. I can't believe it. Strategically placed recessed white and multicolored lighting, dinner boats, rows of street lights. It's just too bad my camera doesn't work too well in the dark (the shutter opens for a longer period of time). But the city is magnificent. You can't duplicate it... it's just 1500 years of perfection in the making.

Brussels

The Mayhem Continues. Well I made it out of the Airport alive (they woke me up at f***ing 5am.... if you can call what I was doing 'sleeping'). I took a bus and tube to the Waterloo train station to get on the Eurostar to Paris, but guess what... it was booked up... shit. But, I made the best of it. Since I had to miss Stonehenge, I got the Eurostar to Brussels... Brussels. It's a dump here.... really. There are a few sights to see, but the city looks like it belongs in Eastern Europe. Regardless I went and found a store called Neuhaus, which is supposed to have really good chocolate.... Ladies, you would have an orgasm from this chocolate.. I swear. It's that good. Being that there's nothing else to really do there, I headed back to the train station and found a sketchy open grocery market (check out the pics). Once back at the station.... the train to Paris was booked again... grrrr. They got me on a train to the De Galle Airport, though.... I still had to wait like three hours for it. Moral of the story... don't go to Brussels. Onward to Paris...

Stansted Airport

My original plans were to fly back from Dublin to London at night, and then take a cheap day tour out to Stonehenge and Bath tomorrow (Sunday). But when I went to book my reservation for the tour, it was sold out. And trust me, that really pissed me off at the time. So I have to scrap the Stonehenge trip because it's too expensive to get out there and back (What are you thinking England... get your ass in with the Eurail... I'm not paying for that shit). The new plan is to get to Paris a day early, which actually helps me ensure that I get to Cannes in time to see Star Wars in a week. Had I planned this ahead of time, I would have booked a flight from Dublin to Paris. Consequently, I'm stuck in London for another night (I wanted to ride the Eurostar under the chunnel anyway). So I'm spending the night in the Stansted Airport. I'm definitely glad I have the sleep sheet now (Thank you, Aunt Gin, for sewing it up for me). This is definitely going to be interesting. There seem to be a lot of sketchy people here sleeping (they all took the comfortable chairs too and left me with the cold, hard floor), but they're backpackers... so I'm not really worried.. I'll write again tomorrow if I'm not dead and/or robbed of everything I have ;-).

Athlone

My flight from Dublin to London wasn't until 9:15pm yesterday... rather than spend that time in Dublin, I wanted to go check out the county of Westmeath in the center of Ireland. So I activated my Eurail Pass and went to the station hoping to get to a town called Mullingar, right in the middle of the county. Unfortunately, of the two train stations in Dublin, I went to the wrong one (I didn't know which one to go to). The only town I could get to from this station was Athlone, a smaller town on the very west part of the county. Now I wanted to take this trip because my lsat name, Dillon, originated in the county of Westmeath. From what I read, the first person with the name (its Anglo-Saxon) came to Ireland with the last name De Leon, and it evolved over the years. Apparently, the Dillons became some of the largest landowners in Ireland but lost it all somehow. They also became really involved in politics. So I was hoping to get out there and find some cool remains of my heritage. What did I find:

And that's all. Not a worthless journey, but the hole-in-the-wall shoe store (one of many in the town) was a little lacking for such an auspicious past. I wonder if I could have found something better in Mullingar, like an old Dillon's Pub or something... that would have been awesome.

Outside Dublin

I signed up for a scenic day trip outside of the city. It was well worth the money. Not only did we see some places where Braveheart, Reign of Fire, and Excalibur were filmed, but the hills, waterfalls, greenery, and lakes were just absolutely amazing. My pictures don’t do it justice. I’d have to be immersed in it again to truly know it. The best was the valley of the two lakes (Glendalough) where St. Kevin built a monastery next to two lakes nestled in this beautiful valley just outside of Dublin. The mountains rises in the distance with a waterfall filling the lake in front of me was breathtaking. I hope I never lose the memory of that.

The main thing you do when you come to Dublin, though, is drink your ass off at night. There are bars everywhere. One classic one is The Temple Bar in the heart of the Temple Bar area. They have live Irish music every night. There’s also a store to buy their merchandise next door. The last night I was there, I joined a pub crawl that took us around to six different bars, of which I don’t really remember them all. The first was the campus bar at Trinity College, which served cans of beer… what’s up with that? We also visited a few dance clubs that played new and older music as well as some techno. The Stag’s Head was a much mellower, sit and drink kind of bar (it’s the second oldest in Dublin). The others I can’t remember, but they had great ambiance...I think.

Top Of The Mornin' To Ye: Dublin

The first thing that everyone does when they get here is of course go to the Guinness factory. They no longer give tours of the actual factory, but they do have a tourist site called the Guinness Storehouse where they give a walk-through presentation of how Guinness started and how it's made. The best part, though, is by far the pint of "The Black Stuff" you get at the end. I was told it would be the best pint of it I've ever had...... they delivered.

I did some other sightseeing, of course, but nobody comes to Dublin for the sights really (that's what day trips outside the city are for). I heard they have some of the best bars in the world here.... I'll investigate further.....

London: Part 2

Hey Guys... How's the states? Still there, I hope. I've finished up London, and now it's off to Dublin. All in all, I'd say London is a decent town. A little too expensive for my budget, but a good place to start my trip. The last few days there have been pretty busy. After spending so much money to see The Dali Experience, St. Paul's Cathedral, and The Tower of London, I was definitely in the mood to explore London's sights that were more around my price range:... free. Fortunately, London has quite a few of these. Tate Modern was by far the most interesting museum I visited, with modern art and exhibits that make you think and others that just make you say "what the..?" The room with the sculped cleaning crew sweeping up paper cuts of people who are no longer useful to society was definitely sad and thought-provoking. The National Gallery had the original Monets, Manets, and Van Goghs of which I had only previously seen pictures. Lastly, I went to the British (Archeological) Museum where they have Egyptian mummies and other cool ancient artifacts. Check out the pics of them (if I ever get them up there... turns out it's pretty difficult to get my laptop connected to the Internet here).

I met a few people the last night I was there. We went to the bar owned by the hostel we at which we were staying. There was a guy named Janis from Latvia, a girl from Sunnyvale, CA named Kathleen, a guy from Columbia who worked at the hostel, and a whole bunch of girls from Canada (Rachel is the only name I remember). I was a good time. The weird thing is that you go out with these people knowing that you're never going to see them again. I wonder if I'll every remember them in a few years.... I hope so. They seemed pretty cool.

London

This jetlag thing is bullshit. I slept pretty well last night (all ten hours of it). While I probably spent more of my day awake yesterday, it's officially my first day in Europe. I explored just about everything yesterday, but I didn't do anything in depth. First on the agenda, though, was to change to a different (and cheaper hostel). This one has more backpackers my age, a better energy, and is closer to Picadilly Circus. Once that was set and done, I still had about an hour before the changing of the guards. So I went to the National Gallery until the ceremony started. They have some amazing paintings there... very moving. The ceremony was actually a little boring and crowded. They have a band playing while they do it, and I caught one of the guards trying to keep from laughing while they were going through the motions.

I jumped on the tube and headed for the sights of downtown London. I asked another gentleman to take this picture of me once I had climbed all the way up St. Paul's Cathedral, which has some amazing artwork in its dome. The size of this building still amazes me as it dwarfs all the other builds that have popped up around it over the years. Once out of these, I walked down the Thames toward the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. To be perfectly honest, I was always under the impression that the Tower Bridge was called London Bridge, but, as I just found out, London Bridge is actually a four lane, rather bland, and contemporary bridge. It amazes me, though, that these structures are still here. Nothing in America is almost 1000 years old.

I crossed over the Tower Bridge and started walking up the other side of the Thames. I found an interesting sculpture of used electronic equipment. Apparently, Europe just passed legislation that requires electronics makers recycle their produces at the end of their usefulness (and just when the DVDs were making their piles in the landfills).

I hit up a bar with my roommate, Brian, that night and met a few girls. I laughed at one, Brianna, who, when I told her that I usually don't buy drinks for girls, almost immediate thought I was cheap. She missed the fact that I was telling her I refused to pay for her attention. As it turns out, though, she was from Canada and not far from Clarkson. I travelled half way around the world and met someone who once lived an hour away? Go figure.

London: Here I am

I sat next to a guy named Dennis on the the seven hour flight from Chicago to London. He was much quieter than the previous woman, but I did learn that he was on his way to Munich for business. He was also really impressed that I was backpacking my way through Europe for two months (everyone seems to be). I got to London at 6am here.. not the best time to be looking for a place to sleep. I found and reserved an HI hostel without too much trouble, but I couldn't pick up my key until ten. So I decided to walk around semi-aimlessly (with everything I brought).

Turns out I ran into Picadilly Circus, Big Ben, and a few parks.

Most people have been surprised when they learn that I'm doing this by myself... and I'm beginning to see cause for their surprise. This would probably be a lot easier with someone else by my side.