Last Day in Paris

We're into our last day in Paris, and our last full day in Europe. We don't have any real plans, so we're just dinking around in tourist shops and finding tasty treats. Our plan is to eat a real Parisian meal (or at least a stereotypical Parisian meal), and hopefully we'll get a chance to try escargot, frog's legs and duck l'orange. So, I guess we're not getting cultured at all today, but...at least we'll eat well. It'll be way better than the bagged bread and unrefrigerated cheese we'be been eating the past 5 days, at least.

Sean OUT

In Paris!

I'm in Paris! Despite having no knowledge of the language beyond yes, no and thank you (like some sort of late blooming 2nd grader), I still stumble on through the streets of this great city, crepes in hand and coin in pocket. We spent our first (and unexpected) day exploring the city, and saw both Notre Dame (very gothic) and the Eiffel Tower (very phallic). Notre Dame had some very impressive flying buttresses, but we decided not to enter because it was expensive. The Eiffel Tower was very impressive as a feat of engineering, and very ugly as a monument. It squats upon the earth, like some huge beast ready to walk off. Unlike skyscrapers or other towers that fill themselves with glass and air to seem light, the Eiffel Tower seems to be proud of it's weight, and makes no attempt to hide its tons.
We also went to the Musee D'orsay today, and we were lucky enough to show up on the week of it's twentieth birthday. We got free admission, and in the words of the ticket vendor man, "eet eez reedeeculoos, but yoo geet een free." I saw more Monet's, Pissarro's and Van Gogh's than I ever expected. It was pretty sweet, and definitely worth the visit, but I don't think impressionism is my favorite style (I begain to go a little mad after a half hour of Monet's purple trees and pink snows). Tomorrow we plan to go to the Louvre, which is also free because it is the first sunday of the month. We have successfully been living in Paris on less than $50 a day, which is pretty good considering we pay $30 for hotel every night.

We're off the Versailles on Monday, and then we do mostly nothing Tuesday. On Wednesady we wake up early, and catch a flight back the States.

Hurray home!

Sean OUT

Venice

outline:
-tourist trap/melancholy/sewage: not a good rep
-reality: little misty, kinda cold, but very neat. Easy to get lost
-souvenirs: everywhere

-reality: we are led everywhere by our stomachs

Currently in Florence

So, I haven't actually followed through on my promise to fill in all the past activities, but I'll at the very least give a brief update, as I currently have fairly easy access to the internet. I'm staying in the International Student Hostel in Florence (Italy). We left Rome yesterday, stopped in to see Pisa and the tower (pretty sweet), and got in in the evening. We went out today and saw the Uffizi, which is a famous art museum (it had some nice paintings by bottacelli and a cool exhibit on Leonardo da Vinci). We also saw David, which was definitely great, although it's hard to tell what I think due to all the hype associated with the statue.

We booked our Paris train tickets today, which turned out to be a slight fiasco. We had not even considered the possibility of the trains being booked solid, so we had just assumed we would take a night train, and never booked a hostel as a result. Turns out all the trains we want are full, but we were fortunate enough to find a day train on the 30th AND reservations at the hostel we're already staying in on the same night. It was still a bit shocking, though, to have our plans jump around so much.

Overall, My voyages to date have been amazing. A summary would be something like:
-Madrid: GREAT
-San Sebastian: GREAT
-Rome: SUPER GREAT

and etc. We go to Venice tomorrow for a day, and get back in late at night. This ruins, unfortunately, our plans to see works by all four of the nija turtles while in Italy (we've seen Michelangelo, Rafael and Leonardo, but no Donatello so far), but we're farily certain we'll run into some Donatellos in Paris. There is a surprising lack of works by Splinter...

Umm, that's about it. Happy and cultured, and all that. Hopefully I'll actually remember my voyages, so when I flesh out the list below it won't just be crap like "durr, I liked the statues."

TANSMISSION END
Sean OUT

Firenze means Florence, Pisa means...Pisa

Outline:

-Visiting the leaning tower / beginning of my new custom
-Florence hostel: little bit sketchy
-David and the uffizi
-Scheduling conflicts:trouble ahead

Do as the Romans do

outline:

-Hostel: Super sweet, lots of australians, Gladiator
-Roman Forum and Colliseum
-Vatican: Pope bottle opener and more (climbing to the top, museum, church lines)
-Tomb of the unknown soldier
-Capuchin crypts
-Villa/park Borghese
-Italian food
-Bernini and statues in general

NOT DEAD

Despite the mounting evidence to the contrary, I am alive. I have been a bit busy the past few weeks, but I am alive and well. I am a bit too pressured to write a detailed account, but I'll put up a list of items to be fleshed out later.

-Went to Granada (see below)
-Finished program in Madrid
-Had camera stolen (super whack)
-Went to San Sebastian
-Went to Rome (or, how I learned to love the train)
-Rome!
-Pompeii!
-Pisa!
-Florence!

That is a very, very brief summary. I am still in Rome, so hopefully more updates to follow. I may or may not do any more internet type stuff until I come back into the states, though. In the future, I'm going to Florence and Paris (for your general edification)

Much love, and happy thanksgiving,
Sean OUT

San Sebastian

Outline!

-Sweet Hostel
-Tapas are delicious
-poker with the friends
-San Sebastian is gorgeous
-Basque is unintelligible
-Two mountains, one sea
-Two sandwhiches, and we're out