After a long night’s sleep followed close on the heels of a five hour nap, we woke up like grizzlies from a winter long hibernation. That morning of the 28th we woke revived and ready for the day. We had one thing left in Rome that we wanted to see and that was the Pantheon. Even though we were checking out of the hostel, they were kind enough to let us leave our packs until we got back. The transit we were riding wouldn’t take us all the way there, but the short ten minute walk from where it did drop us off was actually refreshing. The Pantheon definitely lived up to all expectations! (I guess I really should have read up on some of these historical objects before visiting, so that when asked by Aaron “what so significant about this?” I can give a better answer then “its really old”…lol!) From there we went back to the hostel grabbed our packs and headed out for Pisa. When we got to Pisa we had about a mile walk from the train station to the tower. The tower was a little difficult to find because it was nestled right in the heart of the city. However, when we did turn the last corner, the plaza opened up like vision to the very spot where it sat (Pictures just don’t do it justice; I just wanted to stand and stare. It was remarkably fascinating!). From Pisa we headed on up into France. Unfortunately for us, we exited at the wrong station that night so we walked to the next town to catch our train. When we got there it was 1:00 in the morning of the 29th and the next train wasn’t leaving until 5:00, so we pulled out our bed rolls and joined in on the slumber party that was already taking place on the station floor. When we finally did get back on the train we decided to take a little venture, so we exited at Monte Carlo at 6:00 in the morning and strolled through the empty town. We walked right down to the harbor and found a bench to sit on for an hour and watch the sun rise. On our way back to the station a police officer who had watched us earlier with suspicion marched over and asked to see our passports. From there we decided to spend the day relaxing in the French Riviera town of Nice. When we got there we unloaded our packs at the hostel we found (which was formerly a monastery, but sense converted), took a short nap, and went for a stroll along the Mediterranean.

When the morning of 27th rolled around, we decided to spend our Sunday service with none other than his holiness (The Pope). So, we tanked up on the continental breakfast provided by the hostel and then hopped on the first transit to the Vatican (Normally the Vatican is closed on Sundays, but as luck would have it, it’s tradition for them to open up to the public on the last Sunday of every month, and free of charge as well). When we arrived at the first entrance we were quickly turned away. Apparently they won’t let you in without sleeves, and since Miles and I were wearing cut offs, we weren’t allowed in. From there we decided to try a different entrance, only to meet with the same demise. As I was looking around trying to find a different point of attack, I guess one of the attendances step away because when I turned back around Miles was already on the inside waving us to come join him. Although we didn’t get to see Michelangelo’s painting, it was definitely worth sneaking into…lol! From there we headed on over to the Coliseum, then up to Palatine Hill. By that point we were all so physically tiered that we decided to go back to the Hostel for a break. When we did arrive at the hostel we stopped for a little lettuce, shrimp, and mayonnaise pizza then off for a little power nap only it ended up being about a five hour snooze.

Our second night at the Tent wasn’t as bad the first. Besides the fact that it wasn’t as cold, the extra blankets were just enough to make it bearable. In the morning of the 24th (which by the way is Miles birthday) we woke early so that we could catch the early train to Zurich. And I must say that the views from the train that morning were just remarkable. Before we arrived in Zurich I called to let my friend Garry know that we were on our way, and he agreed to pick us up from the train station around six that evening. We arrived in Zurich around noon, which gave us six hours to spend on the town. We spent our time walking around, viewing the sights, tasting the local cuisines, and sampling chocolates (mmm…mmm…good!). Zurich was a lively city and definitely a place I’d like to return. We did however run into one little incident at the train station when Aaron was accused of not paying enough to use the bathroom (truth is he had actually over paid). We left hearing the distant murmurs of “Stupid Americans”. When we finally met up with Garry, he took us back to his place where he and his wife treated us with the greatest of hospitality. They fed us until we were stuffed and then put us up for the night. We woke the next morning of the 25th to COFFEE (man do I miss coffee in the mornings…lol!), and probably the best tasting croissants I’ve ever sunk my teeth into. After we finished breakfast Garry took and dropped us off in old Zurich. From there we decided to spend our last few remaining franks before we headed off for Venice. We could only think of one thing to end our memories of Switzerland with and that was more chocolate. The train ride to Venice seemed like forever, but the views through the Alps sure made it worthwhile. When we did finally reach Venice we had no luck whatsoever finding a hostel, but Aaron somehow managed to find us a hotel at a reasonable rate (up to this point we’ve managed to keep our budget down to about $30.00 a day U.S.). That evening we sat down for a genuine Italian spaghetti dinner, and then walked around like any average tourist. The streets and alleys went off in every direction with no apparent rhyme or reason. It didn’t help that I had lost our map, but fortunately we managed to find our way back to our room. The next morning of the 26th we had planned on waking in time to get an early jump on the crowds, but when the alarm went off we were all feeling the weight of being fatigued and slept in for a few extra hours. When we finally did get up and going we headed straight to the train station to make reservations for an afternoon ride to Florence (up to this point we hadn’t had to make reservations, we just jumped on any train at any time we wanted. Unfortunately the Italians required it and stuck it to you on the reservation charges). When we got to the train station the tourists were pouring out of that thing like crazy. After making our reservations we went and hopped on the local water transit and took a ride through the canal. Well worth it! We exited at San Marco Plaza, took few snap shops, and waded through hordes of tourists. Going through those narrow streets and alleys when it’s elbow to elbow with people made me a little leery to make quick turns for fear of taking out a few of them with that big heavy pack on my back (Miles had actually done that in Munich and knocked a bicycle in a car…LOL). I enjoyed Venice, but not too sure if it’s a place I care to go back to. It was just simply too crowded! (Oh, and Walt if your reading this I fried your charger…LOL!). Florence was an amazing city! The attractions worth seeing in Florence were all within walking distance, and man did we hit hard. It took us about three hours to see what we wanted to see; in fact we by chance happened upon a fascist protest on the march. The street they were marching down was lined with a police barricade incase a riot broke out. I snapped off a few shots when a store clerk behind me said “I don’t recommend that, you might bring attention to yourself”. Though I wanted more shots I figured it was probably in my best interest to put the camera away. After the protesters had cleared the streets we sat down to a large cheese pizza (its official, we’ve dined on spaghetti and pizza in Italy…LOL!) The reservation line at the train station was horribly slow, but once again we made ours just in time to catch the 8:10 to Rome. Florence in a nutshell “It lacked nothing in beauty and culture, and the lack of over crowdedness do to tourism made it a delightful venture (definitely one of my favorites!)”. When we arrived in Rome it was around 10:00pm, so we went right to work locating a hostel. The first one we went to was booked, but they called around and found us one nearby. It sure was nice ditching those bags; once we did we went out to the patio and chatted up a conversation with some Californians we had met about twenty minutes earlier. Needless to say that didn’t last long before the weight of the day caught up with us and we decided to call it a night.

Let me start by saying that our night at the Tent proven to be quite a shock to us. They handed us four blankets a piece when we arrived and Miles questioned them on why so many. Well when the night rolled around we font out in a hurry. It was remarkably cold! Oh and did I mention it was cold…LOL! It was warmer outside of the tent then it was on the inside brrrr! We got up early the next morning of the 23rd because we had a big day planed. Our first destination was to Dachau to visit the concentration camp. What an experience just knowing the atrocities that had occurred there. The crematory left us in a humbled state of mind. Once we left there we headed out for our next destination of Neuschwanstein to visit the famous Cinderella castle. Somewhere between the two destinations we ran into a slight altercation on one of the trams. While Miles was quizzing a German student on American music a German man let into him abruptly about playing the music on his Iphone to loudly and demanded he turn it down. For some reason his rudeness just set me off, and after a brief exchange of word and less then friendly looks the tram stopped at our exit and ended our standoff. When we got to Fussen, we cought a taxi up to the Castle, and man was it worth the trip. It was a last minute plan to go, but left us with no regrets. Fortunately we made it in time for the last tour of the day. The views were remarkable! When we left, we made the full trek on foot back to Fussen. From there it was back to the Tent only this time we went back to the front desk and requested more blankets…LOL!

Our hostelling night in Prague was more peaceful then in Berlin. Once we got up and going in the morning of the 21st we decided on Salzburg as our next destination. The train station that morning was quit a happening place, we found a book store there and purchased a new travel book since I had just lost the one we had the previous day. The trip to Berlin was a long one and required multiple train jumping. The first train stopped in the middle of nowhere because the rail was under repair. It was interesting watching the mass exodus of people pour out of the train and cram into the busses they had waiting for us. We were packed in them like sardines; In fact I was stuck in the stair well with my face smashed against the glass. After what seemed like a forty minute bus ride from hell we arrived at the station and continued on to Salzburg. When we finally arrived we set out to find a Hostel for the night but they were sold out so we settled for a camp ground right out of town. The next morning of the 22nd we showered up packed our gear and headed out to down town Salzburg. It was a beautiful town full of historic sites just the way you’d imagine it in the movies. Once we were finished seeing the sights we boarded the train and set off for Munich. We arrived in Munich sometime around noon. the streets of Munich were packed with tourists and regulars and we stood out like sore thumbs toting our big huge backpack, I bet mine weighs close to 50lbs. when we stumbled upon the Munich Hard Rock Café’ and I remembered that my older brother had requested I pick him up a T-shirt, So in we went to look around. After about five min of looking for the perfect shirt I looked up just in time to see Miles turn with his pack on and bump into a shelf full of glass cups (need I say more). When I looked up from the shattered mess he had already made a bee line out the front door, I didn’t take me long to follow suit no way I was taking the rap on that mess)…lol! (sorry Walt, no shirt for you). We spent about four hours looking around before those packs started to wear us down, at that point we decided to find where we were going to bed down for the night so that we could ditch them and move around more freely. We went to check on the price of the hostels, but the first one we came to told miles that he was too old, so off we went to find the tent. Once we figured which tram to take we boarded it and met up with a group of Irish kids heading to the same place, they were more than glad to lead us there and the conversation they offered was more than enjoyable. The Tent! What can I say about the tent? It was about three tent set up on the outskirts of Munich which provided sleeping quarters for backpackers at a low low rate; of course you had to find an empty place on the floor amongst several other weary travelers.

better update

Ok, now that I’ve got more time here is a better up date. The flight over went pretty well, but if you ever fly Air India make sure and stay away from the lamb curry…It’s still playing tricks on me…LOL! Once we got into Frankfurt we got out and walked around for a while then headed out to a scenic town just north of there. I don’t remember its name but it was a very picturesque community. Once we left there we hopped on the train and headed to Berlin. We got into East Berlin around 10:30 that evening. Wow! What a shady town! Walking around East Berlin that late in the evening trying to find a hostel isn’t what I would call very safe. young folk everywhere walking around in packs all carrying some type of alcoholic beverage. The scary part was knowing that they could have overpowered us at any time if they chose to. After wandering around for a while we finally found our hostel down a dark corridor. Miles and I looked at each other but didn’t really have to say a word; we both knew what the other was thinking. After checking in and settling down for the night, we woke up to a hostel bubbling with young people recovering from a hard night of partying. Once we shower off and grabbed our gear we headed out to see Berlin. For the most part we stayed in the East and walked along a section of where the wall once ran. We spent about three hours just walking and checking out the sights. We happened upon the largest domed cathedral in Berlin and decided that was where we would spend our Sunday service. At first they weren’t going to let us in because of our huge backpacks, but after a while of Miles persistency they let us in. We sat in the very back corner where we could hear the service translated into English. Once the service was over we jumped on the next train out to Prague. We arrived in Prague around five that evening and just wandered around town for several hours enjoying the sights. Settling into the hostel for the evening was a welcomed relief; it felt great ditching those heavy backpacks and putting some lighter shoes on. After a little break we left our gear and headed back out on the town. The towns center was set up with a huge screen and packed with people who came out to drink and watch the soccer play offs. We grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to the hostel for the night.

Making this quick! Spent today in east Berlin, and just arrived in Prauge for the evening. We are hitting it hard trying to see as much as we can in the short amount of time we have

leaving friday

Ok all; this is the weekend we fly out. Incase you haven’t heard, we’ve picked up one more travel companion. My long time friend Miles Bartlett will be joining us (Thanks Tracy for letting him go…LOL!). I’m not sure how often I will be able to post on this, but I’ll keep you updated as often as I can.
This is our rough itinerary, but nothings solid.

6-19 Arrive in Frankfurt & do castle cruise down the rhine
6-20 Berlin
6-21 Munch
6-22 Munich
6-23 Zurich
6-24 Zurich
6-25 Venice
6-26 Venice
6-27 Florence
6-28 Rome
6-29 Rome
6-30 Rome/Pisa
7-01 Barcelona or somewhere in france
7-02 Barcelona
7-03 Barcelona or back to zurich
7-04 Pamplona
7-05 Pamplona “doing the deed and hoping not to get gored”
7-06 Normandy or somewhere france
7-07 Paris
7-08 Paris
7-09 Leave for home