italy!

No, Brian is not dead. He has simply been in Venice the past few days and has since moved on to Florence. Not easily accessible internet.

But anyway, it is rather hot here in Italy, and this is only the northernish parts...I feel sorry for the poor saps going all the way down to Rome at this time of year. Regardless of the temperature (I broke down and wore shorts, even), both cities are pretty awesome. Venice has that nice salt breeze going and a whole lot of sights to see. Not so much for museums, and we did not go into the Basicila di San Marco, but the buildings tehmselves are impressive to see--even though you can tell they have been there awhile and are starting to age a bit. Went to Murano (island where they make glass) and got some stuff...cost an arm and a leg to ship home, but it ought to be worth it. Also purchased a couple paintings from a street artist. Very nice :)

Gelato. Yummy. All the flavors (with the exception of kiwi, and only because it was the last bit in the basin) have been exceedingly delicious. I had never had pistachio, and it is surprisingly good. Iàm torn between liking Venetian or Florentine gelato better...both good.

After that segue, on to FLorence. I think this city is more of what I imagined Italy to be like. Nice views from the Ponte Vecchio (main bridge), and the Duomo (honking big church) is too big to describe. Pictures (and I took a lot) do not do it justice. We also went to the Basilica di Santa Croce, which is surprisingly accessible. In addition to the tombs of Machiavelli and Galileo, it has memorials to Dante. And Marconi and Fermi. I was intrigued by that.

Today, though, we are going to see the Uffizi, which is supposed to be the creme de la creme of museums. Paid the extra3 euros for a reservation, which is apparently what needs to be done. Else, we would be standing outside waiting for hours. Gah! But yes, gotta go check us in for tomorrow, so more later. Ciao!

czech it out

left berlin on the 22nd and headed to prague. rather nice city, i have to admit. shadier than amsterdam, incidently, but still pretty cool...at least inside thte main section of town. we went to a flea market type place on saturday, and that was just depressingly rund0wn. Four cents per czech koruna, but still prices weren't that cheap. I guess $4 for a sit down meal isn'tbad, but everything else was pretty expensive. glad i went, though.

but now, we got to vienna, austria after a 5 hour train trip. close shave as to hostel room (i'm an idiot and booked for the 25th of july....), but we got lucky and have a room at Wombat City Hostel-Vienna. Pretty cool place, although I'm not sure how well positioned in the city it is. Looks like we're just sticking here until tomorrow night and then taking a night train into Venice, Italy, since that's a 10 hour train ride. More later!

ich bin berliner

probably misspelled and incorrect. but you know, i do what i can. anyway, got into berlin today at about 8:30pm. 5 hours on a train is a loooong time. between amsterdam and here, though, we spent a couple days in western germany, along the rhein river. Friday was a travel day, mostly. Saturday, we saw the Dom (huge cathedral in Koln), and then we took a river cruise down the Rhein. Lots of pictures of castles and towns and whatnot...prettz cool.

Today, we toured the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart, which was a rather large and impressive place. Saw a history of the world since the automobile and relating to everzthing engine. Prettz neat.

We have been getting lots of the bratwurst so far...been wanting other stuff but havenät had the time to go find something. But we are in Berlin until the 22nd (can we saz craziness whilst World Cup game on Tuesday??), so we ought to be able to find some worthwhile restaurants.

We are definitelz getting our money's worth on these Eurail passes...lots of trains (and even the river tour was covered!). It's nice to get up and walk around though. And even nicer to have the chance of walking around WITHOUT a 22 lb pack on the back. It gets heavy, believe zou me.

And then again, the German keyboards are a little funny...y & z are switched, etc. Not as bad as in Brussels, but still kind of odd. But for now, time to get awaz and kick back for a bit

in amsterdam, even the cats are stoned

Yeah, it's true. Jason and I are staying in this place called Hotel My Home, and the resident cat is the mellowest animal I've ever seen. And since some people were lighting up a bong last night before Jason and I went out for food, I have my suspicions of the reasons for such mellowness.

But luckily, the other person in our room doesn't smoke, so we don't have to worry about that. We more have to worry about breaking the language barrier. She's Japanese, but she speaks English fairly well.

Anyway, Brussels was HOOOOOOOT yesterday (31 degrees Centigrade by mid-morning), and we were carrying our heavy packs all day. Wandered around, saw some stuff, got a Belgian waffle (yuuuuum!!), and took the train to Amsterdam. Finally have the railpass validated.

In Amsterdam, finally got a new pocketknife (16euro isn't too bad), so now I can slice my apples again. Checked into the hostel (we're at the very top of a very steep, narrow, and swaybacked stairwell. Wandered teh town for a bit...Amsterdam is quite walkable, and the bikes are more dangerous (and prevalent) than the cars.

Today, went to the Rijksmuseum (awesome!) and did some wandering again. Going to do the Van Gogh museum tomorrow. And now, we're holing up in an internet cafe trying to wait out the rain. Sure, it was bloody hot yesterday, but now it's chilly, windy, and with the rain, it's sort of miserable. We might go to a bar for a World Cup game in a bit, and eventually, we're going to celebrate Jason's birthday.

Being on the continent is rather humbling. All the people we've met seem to be able to speak multiple languages and can switch without any apparent effort. Even the grade-school French kids switched to unaccented English! It's very nice, but I wish I weren't a monoglot.

And we're just about booked hostel-wise through Italy. Germany until the 22nd. Then Prague, Vienna, Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre. After that, we head to Barcelona and then Paris. Hard to believe!

greetings from brussels

Okay, you will have to pardon any bad spelling...the keyboards are wacky here. I spent a good 5 minutes trying to work out how to type my password. Anyway, thus far Belgium looks nice. Mark headed to his family, and Jason qnd I are chilling (or rather heating, since no a/c) for the night. Got a hotel in the sort of ghetto and a guy stopped us asking for a coat on the way to it. But things are cheaper here as compared to Britain, and people are nice. Here at thje internet cafe, the manager kidded us a bit, and a guy played around with Jason in a convenience store:

The language barrier is not insurmountable, either...getting dinner at the train stqtion, the girl took pity on me butchering French qnd spoke English. Itùs kind of humbling though, that I only know the one languqge and these other people can switch betzeen two, three, or more. Anyway, on to Amsterdam tomorrow. And no, I am not going to get high, thanks for asking!!!

Oh, and one last thing...I mailed the otter home today. As a gimmick, it would have been fun, but it was just too darn inconvenient.

galway

Second day in Galway, and I definitely think this town is worth it. Pretty area, nice places to walk, World Cup matches...all sorts of fun and excitement. And today, went biking through the countryside. Rather nice, although now I'm tired. I suspect that if I stopped doing anything, I'd doze off with no problems.

Weather's been exceedingly nice so far (warm and sunny), but I suspect today is the turning point, at least on the British Isles. It turned chilly and windy, and even a little mist. HOpefully the rain will mostly keep away until after the concert tomorrow evening.

But yeah, we're booked, hostel-wise, until June 21. Back to Dublin for tomorrow night, fly to Brussels Monday afternoon, Jason and I will stay there for the night, then to Amsterdam for a few days. We meet back up with Mark on the 16 in Arnhem(sp?), and then meander into Germany. Arrive in Berlin on the 18th and stay there for a few days. Then on to Prague. How awesome is this? :)

Anyway, I'm off...cheers!

hello euro, goodbye pound

got to dublin yesterday around 5:30pm, and although i much prefer scotland to dublin, i like the euro a whole lot better than the pound. or maybe it's just ireland over england. at any rate, getting a $10 meal for €10 (or about $13) is better than spending £10 (or about $20).

Anyway, we had some small logistical problems when we tried to book the rest of our time in Ireland...first two nights are cool, but going to Galway and then back to Dublin for the Metallica concert are tight...seems like Friday and Saturday night are booked everywhere. I checked out this couchsurfing site and emailed a couple people who look to enjoy meeting new people and letting them kip out on a couch, so maybe i'll hear back.

Also, I've started some albums of pictures. I haven't really had the time to edit titles and descriptions in, but they're pictures Here's my first day of London or so. This is of the British Museum and into the Tower Bridge...I did panorama shots that i'll fix at home later. Here're pictures up until Edinburgh, at Arthur's Seat..a very nice hike. Lastly for the time being, is a set of pictures from Arthur's Seat to St. Andrews (cathedral and castle).

Cheers!

He hath arrived!

So I finally made it out of the country. It took forever gettnig out of Toronto on Wednesday (got there at 8:15am, scheduled departure at 6:15pm, didn't actually depart til 10pm), but I made it. Ended up playing hacky sack with 3 other backpackers we (Mark, Jason, and I) met...nifty! I actually ahve two country stamps in my passport, now...hurrah! And with that said, I'm in London.

Honestly, though, I'm ready to get out of this city...it's expensive. Hard to get out of the tourist traps where you can actually get cheaper food, etc, too. We've been wandering around and seen some places, taken lots of pictures. Buckingham Palace's changing of the guards, Tower of London, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, for some of the better known. Went and saw a rendition of Titus Andronicus in the recreation of the GLobe Theatre, which was an interesting experience, to say the least. Standing in the middle of the action is painful on the ankles after 3 hours or so. But it was worth it :)

We're looking at heading to the British Museum, the Tate Museum, and maybe another one this afternoon. Tomorrow it's looking like a bus tour and maybe fork over some money to head up into the Tower of London. And then we're looking to take a bus up to Edinburgh on Sunday.

I'll try to put pictures up later, but as of now, I must run.