Only in Paris....

two of the most interesting things I saw in Paris.....


.... sitting in Gare de Montparnasse, I witnessed a one-legged pigeon. Not really one-legged. One-footed. The footless stump resembled a peg-leg in both use and aesthetics.
Some of the pigeons here just look like they have had a rough time.


....speak of rough times.... as I walked up Rue Caulaincourt to a caffé, I passed the bus stop where an old, homeless man was sitting. A trench coat with no shirt underneath that I could see, crumpled, half-drank beer can in hand. Next thing I know, he has stood up and completely de-pantsed. Not only had he unbuttoned his coat (which confirmed the no shirt idea), but he had completely pulled down his knickers and pants. Why? To scratch himself of course. He stood there in all his glory for about 5 minutes just scratching and readjusting. At this point, I had lost my appetite.


Ah Paris, j'aime tu.

Self-Portrait

A Brief Self-Portrait In Paris

Smoke swirls
mirroring the embroidery on her white skirt

dry white wine
smudges on the glass
nose deep in some prententious novel

she checks her phone
once
twice
five, six, ten times
for a call not expected for another couple hours
Just in case.

She waits.

what a ride!!!!

Sorry it's been forever.... the keyboards get weirder and weirder and the internet gets more and more expensive!!!!

We spent three days in Interlaken, Switzerland.... while Santorini was picture-perfect for a beach, Interlaken was picture-perfect for mountains and lakes! The water was emerald green in both lakes (Interlaken = inter+lakes = it's between two lakes)... the crystal green color is because it is glacier water! It was pretty chilly in Switzerland, and misted/rained most the time we were there. We still had a good time -- we definitely needed some chill-out time to recover from Rome!!!!!

Not much to say about Interlaken.... other than they have a Hooters. Yes, that's right.

Oh and by the way... I don't know if mom told you dad, but we went bungee jumping. Yep. Bungee jumping 450 feet off a gondola over a lake in the Swiss Alps. It's one of the highest in the world. It was one of the most amazing and crazy things I've ever done!!!!!! There is just no rush like that (although I still have to try skydiving!!!!) Interlaken is the #2 Extreme Sports capital, so everything was bungee jumping, skydiving, paragliding, hanggliding, canyoning, white water rafting...... bungee jumping was actually one of the most affordable!!!! It was so foggy and cloudy the day we went, you jumped out of the gondola into a literal complete fog. You couldn't see what you were even jumping into!!!! Talk about crazy!!!!!

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Now here we sit in a Paris hostel, St. Christopher's Inn, which is by and far the nicest hostel we've stayed in (except for the lack of air conditioning!!!!) It is brand new and totally tailored to the young backpacker -- movie room, sauna, bar, internet cafe, cool decor, young and hip employees, the works!!!! Everyone speaks English -- yay!!!!!!

Paris has been rather unexciting - me and Josh have both been very sick (tres malade!) Numerous trips to the pharmacie have been made for sinus medicine and various bottle of cough syrup! I haven't had this bad of a cough in years!!!! Most of paris has been spent in our hotel or chilling out. We've seen the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre (including the Mona Lisa!) and strolled down the Champs-Elysees. We saw a French cabaret (lotsa boobies! haha) and drank French champagne.

Tomorrow, our last full day in Paris together, we want to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower and also see the Notre Dame Cathedral.

It's surprising how little English the French speak... or how little they are willing to speak I guess. We have never really had a language problem until France. We strolled down Rue Cler's market to gather things for a picnic. Our first stop was a boucherie to get meat. Not quite sure how to order meat, I asked two employees, "Parlez vous Anglais?" I was laughed at. Rudely laughed at. At least I asked it in French!!!! Needless to say, I was a little disheartened. We had the best pizza of our trip around the corner anyway...

At this point, we are tuckered out on museums and art galleries.... so we are surpassing Monet's "Waterlillies" and Rodin's "The Thinker" and Van Gogh's "Starry Night." I know. I know. There is just only so much walking and seeing you can do.

Our feet are cracking... numerous blisters, calluses so thick you can even rub them off with a pumice stone (we tried!!!!). I've broken all my toenails except for two, and my ankles generally feel like they are screaming "enough already!!!!!!"

It's been a long hard trip..... very fun and very exciting... and it's actually gone pretty smoothly (save the 9-hour delay on our flight from Athens). But we are both tired. I guess being sick doesn't help.

I have spent almost 6 months planning and preparing for this trip with Josh. I have forgotten many times the fact that I am going to work for two months and will be without Josh.

We have literally spent almost every day of the past 10 months together, including every waking moment here in Europe. I find myself just staring at him across the table, trying to memorize every freckle, every facial expression. It's hard to imagine every day without him for over two months.

The one thing we were warned about before this trip -- people would say, "oh be careful, be patient. Most couples don't make it out of this kind of trip together. Most couples end up separating along the trip, or one just comes home altogether."
Me and Josh have made it through this trip relatively perfect. We haven't really even fought... except over which way the metro is, or needing to go pee every other hour, etc. I got sick a day before him, so there was a day of frustration when he didn't understand why I wanted to sleep all day. But that's it. Even I'm amazed.

Word of advice to other travellers: Travel with your best friend. If he happens to be your significant other, than great. Make sure you're best friends first. And remind each other of it. Nothing makes me happier than when Josh looks at me and says, "you really are my best friend." He could say I Love You a thousand times and it wouldn't mean as much as that.


So now that I got all mushy and ridiculous, I must go. Italy is playing Spain in the Euro Cup quarter-finals, and a pint of cider is calling my name.

ok ok ok

So I've been really bad at this blog thing so far.
Internet here is not only expensive, but the keyboards are all different too, so everything takes a little longer to type.

Speaking of here, we are in Rome, Italy. Before I jump ahead of myself though..

Santorini was beautiful. We rented ATVs for cheap (one €10 tank of gas lasted us the entire time!) and were able to ride around the whole island and see everything! Not only is Santorini really just the rim of a volcano, but there are black sandy beaches (from the volcanic ash!), tons of wineries.... we even went scuba diving!!!!

One would think scuba diving would be fun... it was... but... I freaked out (so did another girl we were with though). There is just something strangely vulnerable about breathing into a machine underwater. I kept expecting to get water in my lungs, to all of a sudden choke, for the equipment to fail.... Hyperventilating + scuba diving = bad. Just overall freaked out, was really disappointed in myself (especially since josh was loving it!), but it was an experience.

Other than that, there's not much to say about Santorini. It was a living, breathing postcard. The pictures are on my facebook and they pretty much sum up the trip -- gorgeous. We really didn't do a whole lot there -- just drove around, hung out on beaches, ate some of the best food I've ever had.

The people in Greece are the nicest people I've ever met. Not only are they eager to speak English, but they speak it well, and really go out of their way to help you. I didn't run across a single Greek that wasn't nice... well except for the babushka (sp?) lady that screamed at Josh for riding his ATV down a walkway we weren't supposed to. haha but that was funny.

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Original plan.... took ferry to Athens in the morning, our flight was at noon. Fly to Bari, Italy, catch the last train to Naples.

Ended up getting to the airport at like 8am. Our flight was delayed until 1:30. Then 3:30. Then 5:10. Then finally at 7pm we got on a unmarked, generic plane, and flew to Bari, Italy. Of course, we had missed the last train to Naples or Rome, so we were forced to stay in Bari. The airline??? Gave us a voucher for €50 off our next flight with them. That's it. We lost our deposit on our hostel in Naples, lost our reservation on the train out of Bari. €50. Blahhhhhhhh

We decided to skip Naples. They are on a garbage strike and everyone has told us not to go right now. So instead we caught the train to Roma. We arrived close to midnight at one of the biggest train stations in Europe -- whew!!!! What's even crazier is that to get to our hostel, we have to walk through Chinatown... in Rome, Italy. Just makes me laugh.

Day one -- Did a tour of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. After grabbing some lunch, we did the Trevi Fountain and practically every major piazza -- Piazza Navona, Piazza Campo de Fiori, etc.

On our way to the Pantheon, walking down a cobblestone alleyway, we were all of a sudden cut off by police and security. What was going on?? We waited patiently to get through... and there he was. Ron Howard. I could have grabbed him. They were in the middle of filming "Angels and Demons"!!!!!!! Lights, camera, crew everywhere... and freakin Ron Howard!!!!!! Finally we were able to squeeze our way through to the Pantheon, visited that, and when we returned towards the movie set we saw someone else amazing -- who else but Tom Hanks!!!!! It was a nice glimpse of Hollywood in Rome! And my first time ever on a movie set on location!!!!
If only I could figure out how they are going to shoot the part of the book at the Vatican?????

Speaking of the Vatican -- day 2 was an all-day tour of St. Peter's Basilica, the vatican Museums, the Tombs, th Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel. From "Pieta" to "The Last Judgement" to "God Creates Adam" -- some of THE most famous works of art, and I was standing feet from them!!!!
The other most humbling thing was seeing the tomb of Pope John Paul II. Nuns were knelt in prayer and others cried -- flowers and letters surrounded his tomb.
After a lunch siesta, we headed to San Giovanni in Laterano. It is Rome's Cathedral and where the Pope does Mass in Rome (outside the Vatican). Across the street was the Scala Santa or "holy stairs". They are 28 stairs transferred to Rome from what used to be Pontius Pilate's palace in Rome. They are said to be the stairs that Christ scaled during the Passion. Pilgrims from everywhere come to these steps and climb them on their knees in silent prayer. It was a site to see all these people scaling this small tiny staircase on their knees.

Being in Rome kind of makes you proud to be a Catholic. Probably because demographically, 84% of Rome is Roman Catholic.

I am surprised at how easy it is to pick up Italian. It very similar to Spanish and French. I've definitely gotten down restaurant ordering and asking where something is and directions. Oh and how to ask how much something costs = important!!!! =)

Tonight is our last night in Roma -- we are then heading to Florence for a day and Venice for a day. Then it's off to beautiful neutral Switzerland!!!!!!!

Well, this hour of internet has cost me €2,00 (roughly $3.50) so I better head out of here.
Ciao!
- Amanda

Hey ya'll. So no London Eye or London Tower.

Friday night we ended up gettig sushi in Chinatown. A pint of Haagen-daas kept us all company as we sat in Leicester and Trafalgar square, as we welcomed the evening. Then we headed back to Jenny's dorm and watched the finale of Lost because c'mon, it's Lost.

Yesterday was an early morning as we headed to a local patisserie for pastries and quiche. Then hopped on the tube and headed for Camden Town.... which is by far my favorite place in London. A great open marketplace -- Billy Idol wannabes with studs in every orifice sit on a bridge while you squeeze through between tourists and merchants. Food of every country is represented -- from falafels to Morroccan, Chinese to Brazilian -- all of the vendors screeching "food here! you eat!" and sticking samples in your face if you just LOOK at the table. Postcards, hemp, combat boots, and even real coconuts that are chopped open for you to drink from. An amazing place!!!!!

A double decker bus was still calling our name -- we rode one back to Trafalgar and scored our Avenue Q tickets before treating ourselves to a pint at Chandos and some fresh-made gelato at Scoop.

For FOUR years I have wanted to see Avenue Q -- student rush tickets were available for only £25!!!!! We had box seats right by the stage! What a hilarious show! It was Jenny's second time seeing it actually, and the rest of the night was filled with us singing songs from the show. The perfect way to end our time in London!

Tomorrow we fly out at 4:30pm GMT (10:30am Central time) -- straight to Athens where we check into our hotel on the port.

I will try to write again tomorrow night!

TaTa for now London!!!!
- Amanda