I am still in Rijeka. We've been here for nearly a month, and have just over a week before heading back to Canada. I have mixed feelings about my vacation coming to an end. I can't wait to get back home, see my family and friends agian, move into my new place, start working, and basically just resume where I left things off. Strangely enough, I've really missed having responsibilities and committments, I'm ready for a holiday from my vacation! I miss going to work every morning and stressing about this paper or that that exam. And yet at the same time I've had the most amazing summer here, and know that I may never get to do anything like this again. I almost feel that by going home I'll be saying goodbye to a way of life that I've enjoyed for so long. I'll go back and focus on my education- exams and papers and lectures, and then work- the daily tedium of 9-5 life, or more school. Who knows what direction my life will take. I don't know why it should be like this- but I feel instinctively that when I go back many things will be different. I just wish I knew indefinitely whether or when I will be able to do some more travelling like this again. Life just seems so bland without travel...

Sorry for babbling. Back to Rijeka: we have been staying with Danijela's aunt and unlce in their tiny apartment, which is located on the 11th floor of an apartment building with a balcony that overlooks the harbour. A balcony that presents temptations- like dropping a bouncy ball from it to see how high it will bounce. Its just so high-- I don't know if I can resist!! Her aunt and uncle speak no English at all, and every day I wish I spoke Croatian so I could talk to them. Her cousins, Josipa and Mladen, are around our age and speak English fluently, thank heavens, so we spend most of our time with them. Our days are spent in various ways, we really haven't done much since I've been here. We watch movies, waste time on the internet, read, play video or computer games, but mostly stay indoors and out of the oprressive heat and humidity. If it sounds boring- it is, but only a little. I'm good at finding ways to amuse myself, and have done a lot of reading while I've been here. I wish we had got out of the house more in the beginning of our stay just because I feel like it was a bit of a waste of time, that I missed out on a lot of experiences, but I have no huge complaints. I could have gone out on my own I know, so if I feel like time was wasted it was partly my fault too.

Recently we have actually been going out and doing things. We've spent several days at the beach. And I think I've found my new calling in life. If my school plans somehow fail or I can't find a job after I graduate, I'll just move to the coast and become a beach bum! Its sooo relaxing to just lay in the sun. The water is perfect- cool enough to be refreshing but not so cold that you freeze. Its clear so that you can see all the little fishies swimming below your feet, all the way down to tht rocks and sand. And further out where the water is much deeper it is the most amazing shade of bright blue- it looks unreal. The beach we frequent is lined with little cafes, and has a grocery store on one end, so refreshment is always close at hand. Its a rocky beach, no sand. The rocks are small, no larger than my fist, rounded, smooth, and contain all the warmth of the sun. You have to bring a pad to lay on to sunbathe comfortably, and I still have to walk gingerly down to the water, but the absence of sand everywhere is worth it! The rocks are actually rather pleasant.

On the days this winter when the temperature reaches -30 or -40 on a regular basis, and I have to stand outside wearing three or four layers just to stay warm while waiting for my bus to school or work, I will close my eyes and remember laying on the beach in Croatia. I'll remember the warmth of the sun- how it made the sweat bead on my forehead and on whatever parts of by body came in contact with anything else. I'll remember how I turned slightly pinkish the day I didn't put sunscreen on until it was too late. I'll remember how it reflected off the water and made my eyes dazzle. But mostly I'll close my eyes and remember how the sun felt on my body- how it felt like it was seeping through the layers of skin and muscle down to my bones and all the way into my marrow, being soaked up like a sponge soaks up spilled milk. I'll remember exactly how the warmth felt as I absorbed as much of it as I could for just such an occasion. And then on that -30 degree day, I'll wrap my arms around myself and squeeze, letting the warmth that is stored in my bones escape and warm me from the inside out. That is the power of memory.

Aside from going to he beach we've also been out a few nights to some cafe or other. Josipa will go and meet a friend, and Dani and I will tag along. People don't go to cafes to eat or drink here, they go to talk. Its not unusual for people to sit around for 3 hours and only order a few drinks, but to spend the entire time just sitting around, talking and laughing, and just generally enjoying each others company. And its great for people watching, especially when most of the conversation happens in Croatian! I wish this idea would take hold in Canada. We go, we eat, and we get our check and leave asap. Its depressing.

We go see movies occasionally too. The theater is nice- most of the films are in English and then dubbed in Croatian- yay for me! They have assigned and numbered seats when you buy your ticket. And love seats with no armrests for couples! We've been out shopping a few times too. The old downtown area is blocked off from traffic, and is lined with cafes and various stores. And yes, there is even a Lush- which I smelled before I saw!! The streets are stone, and the buildings look neo-classical, like they were built in the early 1900s. Of course, some of the architecture goes much further back than that. Like Trsat- which is a medeival castle/fortress on a hill with magnificent views of Rijeka. We went at night, I'm hoping we have a chance to go again during the day. We attended a concert held at a cafe in the old fortress. It was of 3 different bands. A pop trio of women who sang in 6 different languages, a electronic group with a girl on an electric violin, and an jazz group with a guy whose dance moves were more entertaining the the music. It was a fun night, and the atmosphere of being surrounded by an old fortress, looking out to the sea, hearing the laughter and murmers of everyone else, was something I'll never forget.

We are headed back to Germany on Wed, coming full circle before catching our flight back home next Sunday. Hope you all are well and safe, and haven't forgotten about me!

Right now I'm sitting at a computer (obviously) in Dani's family's apartment in Rijeka, Croatia. And I'm finally getting around to adding a new post. I know, its been a really long time! Things have been kind of weird ever since Rome and I haven't felt much like blogging, but I think I'm back now! If I've been sending you postcards, the last ones I sent were from Rome, I haven't sent any new ones from Croatia yet. I'm hoping to get on that today or tomorrow, we'll see.

Anywho, we are in Croatia now and have been for about 3 weeks. I absolutely love it here. When we were in Germany I was sure it would be my favourite place, until we got to Italy and I fell in love with all things Italian. But now that we are in Croatia which has the best of both places, and I am sure this is the most beautiful place I've ever been. Its a beauty that seems so pure and untouched. I know I can't even begin to describe what its like here, so I won't even try. I encourage you to look up pictures- but no, even pictures could not do justice to its beauty. Its depressing knowing that even as I take snapshots when I look at them a year from now it won't hold the same charm as the reality. You would actually have to be here to appreciate how wonderful Croatia is to the fullest extent. So to all my readers: plan a trip to Croatia in your near future. You will thank me for it!

We spent a few days up in some little mountain village that I can't remember the name of and probably couldn't spell or pronounce even if I could remember it. Its about an hour east of Rijeka, I think. We stayed with Danijela's friend Milan and his family. She lived with them for a little bit when she was younger, and has kept in touch with Milan ever since. His family lives in a house with an unusual floorplan where his parents keep sheep on the side of being a doctor and a nurse. The entire village he lives in in tiny, quaint, and picturesque. There is only like one tiny convenient store, and one cafe. The first night we went out to the cafe with Milan and his girlfriend and I wasn't surprised when it turned out that they knew everyone else there, and when Dani ran into one of her cousins! The entire mountain scenery is absolutely breathtaking beyond words. And it is ever so much cooler up there than it is down here by the coast. For the first time since we arrived in Germany I slept all the way through the night without waking up once in a sweat! It was glorious!

The reason we stayed with Milan is because we had been invited to go with him and a group of other people to see Iron Maiden in concert. I know- not exactly the thing I would have expected to do while we are here! We went with a group of about 10 other people. The concert was in Split, a city about 200 km away from the village. It took us about 6 hours to get there though because we stopped about every 45 mins on the way and because we took the scenic, windy mountain roads instead of the boring highway. It loved the drive, I got to see a bit more of Croatia. We would drive through valleys with a scattering of little houses nestled in amongst feilds below us, and the ruins of some medieval castle up on a hill. One time I looked out the window and down into a valley at the perfect time to see a shepherd herding his sheep home at the end of the night. Most of it didn't even look real, it looked like something you would see out of a storybook of old fairy tales. I sat in the middle of backseat all the way there in between two guys who were both taking history and geography in school. Lucky for me, they both spoke English very well and were eager and willing to fill me in on as much Croatian history as I would listen to. I was glad- I didn't know anything before this!

The town of Split itself was amazing. The Adriatic Sea on one side, mountains on the other, lots of old architecture, a boardwalk. We stayed at a campsite right on the beach. By the time we got there it was getting dark, so the first two tents were put up hastily and without incedent. The last tent however, took all 10 of us 2 hours and someone's car strategically parked to give us light from his headlights to figure out! And of course, nobody had thought to bring a flasthlight. I just thought it was funny, and couldn't stop from giggling under my breath the whole 2 hours! That night a few of us went swimming after all the tents were finally put up. I didn't go, I forgot my suit, so just sat on the beach and listened to the other talk, joining in when the conversations switched from Croatian to English. Mostly though I just enjoyed staring out at the black expanse of ocean and across to the lights on one of the islands in the distance. It was so peaceful.

The concert itself was... interesting. We spent a few hours in Split walking around and stopping at various cafes for refreshment before the concert started. We ate some Croatian food, I learned how to say a few things in Croatia, and we stroked the lucky toe of one of Split's famous statues of some saint or other. The streets were filled with Iron Maiden fans. They were easy to distinguish because ALL of them wore black at the very least, but most had band t-shirts, and most of them had long hair. Some of them had prettier hair than I do!! I guess the long hair must have something to do with the whole heavy metal image thing, but I really don't understand how long hair can be seen as 'tough' at all! Someone should tell all these hard-core fans that their hair is too pretty for their image. It was sooo crowded, and the closer to the stage we got the more tightly packed the people were. Our group started out close, but moved back a ways to have more room for all the jumping and head-banging that would ensue. The band finally came on and the crowds erupteds in screaming, and jumping! Iron Maiden was really good, they were funny, put on a great concert, and are amazing at what they do! Most of the songs started to sound the same to me about half through, but I still can't deny that these guys have amazing talent. They are really good at what they do! Even though its not really the type of music I would usually just pop into my CD player (unless I was really really angry) I still had a lot of fun and Iron Maiden is still a really good band.

Of all the 3 live musical performances we have seen- Rihanna in Milan, Aida in Verona, and Iron Maiden in Split- Iron Maiden was by far the most impressive. Rihanna was the funnest, simply because it took us by complete surprise and we couldn't beleive our good luck. Aida is my personal favourite, just because I am a fan of opera and I still think its the coolest thing ever that we got to see it in an old Roman arena. But Iron Maiden took me by complete surprise because of the sheer size of it, and by how good they were. I don't know what I was expecting, I don't know anything about that kind of music, but I left impressed. The concert was great. They put on an amazing show. Like the t-shirts said, "I survived Iron Maiden and I will live to dream about it!" Ditto to that!

PS: I have every intention of writing another post in the next few days about what we have been up to in Rijeka. I just didn't think anyone would want to sit through that much of my rambling. So until next time...

In my mind, I see the colours of green in nature as being different in different parts of the world. The greens Japan are thick and intense, as if God were trying to pack as much pigment as he could into as tiny a space as possible. The greens in Canada seem to be a bit more diluted under such an open, blue sky- the colours seem to dissipate in all the immense space. And the greens in Tuscany are yellow. Someone told me before I left that it would look like this, like it always does in the movies, but I was still surprised looking out the window of our train as we chugged into Florence yesterday. Everything seemed to be bathed in a yellow light. It looked exactly as I had always imagined. The landscape here is unbeleivable- what with the cypress and olive trees, and the sunflowers growing in feilds! Its so beautiful it breaks my heart. And I just can't get over how the world looks like you were looking at it through yellow-coloured glasses.

Today was the only day we actually got to spend in Florence. It was amazing. We split up and went our own ways in the morning, and met up in the afternoon to walk the old bridge that spans the river and take a stroll to visit our new idol: Michelangelo's David. If I ever find a guy with his body, all he has to do is say the word and I'm his! Hehe... just kidding of course, I'm not nearly that shallow. Though it would be nice. It wasn't the original of course, which is in a museum, we just made sure to see both of the two copies that exist in Florence. I of course spent the morning in the churches- the amazing Duomo, and Santa Maria Novella. I don't know what it is with my fascination with churches, but I love them. I love going inside and feeling the peace and wondering at all the people who have walked in through the ages to worship or admire. And their reasons for coming. There is this dark beauty to them that is hard not to be in awe of.

Like I said, we crossed the old bridge, Ponte Vecchio, which is lined entirely with jewelry stores on either side. Dani renamed it the "Golden Bridge". It was a great place to window shop- but I feel so poor that I think they would spot me kick me out as an imposer if I tried to go inside any of them. All I can do is gaze through the windows and dream... But by this time we were so hot and tired we decided to head back. I wanted to go into the Uffizi, but the line was ridiculously long (the guidebook says its not uncommon for the line-up to be a few hours long, before the gallery even opens), and like I said it was hot. So I got a strawberry gelato and enjoyed the street performers instead. Thats still art, right?
We are staying in a campground. We have these huge tents with bunkbeds in them, get eaten by mosquitoes every night, and have fun rigging our cheap flashlights with tape and rubber bands so that they will actually stay on without us having to hold the button down. Haha, we prepared for a lot of things, but didn't think that we would ever be someplace where a flashlight would be necessary!

The best thing about our campsite is that it is right beside the Piazza Michelangelo, very literally a two minute walk, from which you can see one of the best view of Florence. A bronze copy of David is in the middle of the piazza (hehe, I told you I loved him... so much that we sleep next to each other), and at night various street performers and local artists will come out, along with guys who sell knock- off Prada purses. Its beautiful at night. The city seems to transform into something from out of a dream, and being surrounded by the music and noise of locals and tourist alike feels surreal as you look out at the Duomo illuminated in the distance and see the lights of the buildings lining the Arno reflected in its waters.

I wish we had more time to spend in Florence. One day just wasn't enough. And I wish we had been able to see more of Tuscany too. Sigh... I suppose I'll just have to come back!!


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So the above blog on Florence took me 3 tries to finally write and finish. I don't know why I can't seem to finish these anymore. We are in Rome right now, the last of our stops before heading to Croatia for the next 3 or so weeks. Croatia and free internet, which means I can post pics. Being in Croatia also means not lugging our bags around until we are ready to go home, staying in one place night after night, and being able to eat real meals!!! A much needed break! Anywho, the point I was getting around to making is that I'm taking a break from this blog. I've asked Danijela to post something on here about Rome. It might be nice to hear someone else's persepective anyways, and as soon as I have something to say about Croatia I'll be back. It probably won't be long.

I do want to say that I'm afraid I might be morbid. And this is all I'll be saying about Rome on here: Today we went to the Capuchin Monastery, which has chapels containing the remains of thousands of dead monks. Bones decoratively line the walls and ceiling, even making up a type of chandelier. And the whole remains of some obviously more revered monks are laying or propped up standing in the middle of the chapels, wearing their hooded robes like the grim reaper, arms folded in front of themselves holding a cross. The atmosphere is very somber, we felt compelled to whisper as we stood looking at the remains in a mixture of some kind of disgust and awe. In the very last chapel/crypt, there were about 5, is a plaque which reads, "You are as we once were, and as we are you will be." On the ceiling of this one is an intact skeleton holding a scythe in one hand and an old counter-weight balance in the other. Haha- what a great way to get the message across that we are all going to die, and then our lives will turn into an eternity that reflects our time on earth. It made me wonder about these Christian monks though- were they just that fascintated with death and the afterlife, or were they trying to scare you into living a good life? Or maybe a bit of both? I'll be looking them up when I get home. I'm curious.

And if this is the coolest thing I see in Rome does that make me morbid?? Or my experience in Rome lacking something? I did sneak one illegal picture- and it is undeniably cool.

Right now we are in Cinque Terre, which is a group of five little villages on the west coast of Italy set against a backdrop of cultivated hills and mountains, whith walking paths and train tracks connecting each one.
We caught a bus up here along some windy hair-pin roads up to the top of a small mountain, where our hostel has the most amazing view. Today we did a bit of walking, we found out after that the two trails we happened to choose to walk were the easiest one, and then the very hardest! It was no worse than any other hike I've done in Girl's Camp or with my family, but it was so HOT!! We went up and down some crazy, rocky, and perilous stairs, along narrow paths that dropped straight down, and over some bridges. The easy one took 20 mins, and the hard one an hour and 20 mins. By the end of the day we were hot, tired, dirty, and sweaty. The view was amazing though. This has to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Its breathtaking to look out at all the steep hills with grapes planted on them in little steps going up and down, and colourful villages either at the top or at the bottom, right against the ocean that happens to be a very deep teal blue. I had no idea this kind of beauty even existed!
The nicest part is being able to take a break from the city!! And meet some of the cool people who are staying in our hostel!
Well thats all I have for now... this is a short one.
I appreciate all the comments you write, its nice to know that when I write these people actually read them, and hopefully somewhat enjoy them!! Hope you all are doing well too.
We are off to dinner at a pizzaria down the road, and my stomach is grumbling after all that walking we did today!

In answer to your questions:
I am fully aware that Romeo and Juliet is a work of fiction, Juliet's house is really just one of those tourist traps. There is no authenticity in it at all. And yet thousands of people probably flock to it each year to see the balcony, to caress Juliet's right breast for good luck, and to add more graffiti to the walls. I will admit, the balcony and courtyard you stand in to look up to it is nothing special at all, just kinda blah. But the graffiti was really cool. I still fail to understand why so many people were interested in seeing it, even Dani. I mean, its kinda neat to see, but not that really... I could have skipped it and been all the happier. (sorry Dani, buts its true)

And Aida was the most amazing thing ever. I did enjoy it much more than I enjoyed the Rihanna concert too! It was just really cool to see an opera in such an old arena. The arena dates back from the 1st century, and is one of the most well preserved in the world. The outer wall practically destroyed in the 12th century, but the rest is well intact. The acoustics were amazing- you could hear the sound of their shoes squeak when they turned around- so you can only imagine how beautiful the operatic voices were! And all without any amplification. The theater holds 20,000, and was almost full! The story itself was both beautiful and heartbreaking and moving all at once. Sadly we had to leave during the intermission or we would miss our last bus home, and being stranded was something we didn't want to risk! So I will be looking Aida up when I come home and have every intention of seeing in in Edmonton if at all possible.

I've got on to finish this blog three times now and never seem to get around to being able to say what I want to about Venice before I have to get off. Its hard for me to express what I want to about this enchanting city in words. Nothing I seem to write seems to be good enough. But I love Venice, I really wish that we had more time here because its such an amazing place. So rather than describe what I've seen and everything that I love about it all, I'm just going to have to do with saying a few things about my favourite moments here. But know that if I could bring each and every one of you a little peice back I would! And as I type this there is a line behind me of about 4 people waiting to use the one computer we have at our hostel in Cinque Terre, so forgive me if I seem rushed because I am!!

My favourite moment in Venice took place in St. Mark's basilica. The basilica itself is breathtaking- when you walk in and gaze up you see the shimmering gold mosaics laid there hundreds of years ago and all the ornately carved statues and releifs. Its not hard to beleive that all the ornamentation was supposed to be representative of heaven! We waited in line for about 20 humid mins and then walked through the basilica, ending up at the altar they keep all the candles for lighting and just sitting and watching and feeling and taking it all in. It touched me to watch all those who were coming up to light candles for their deceased loved ones. Even Danijela lit one. No matter what these people thought or did with the rest of their lives, or what they would do when they walked out of the basilica, at that moment as they went about the sacred act of lighting a candle their hearts were turned to God and the divine. Even though my religious observances are very different, I couldn't help but feel the desire to light my own candle. The entire area just emitted a reverence that I could only observe, but not take part in.

Another thing I loved abot Venice were the little tiny reminders that people actually lived in that amazing city. Someone mowing the lawn in their garden, laundry hanging out the windows, a woman carrying her groceries over a bridge, people's boats rather than cars docked beside their houses. It shocked me. I don't know why- obviously people actually live in Venice. But still, I was surprised that Venetians do the same tedious things that you and I do every day of our lives, the only difference is that they do it in Venice, a city of water!

All in all, Venice may be my favourite. I think I loved it even more that Milan. I wanted so badly to stay longer, but I will just have to go back. And to anyone thinking of going to either Venice or Paris: I found Venice to be a much more romantic city than Paris, in many ways. If you want the list I can give it to you.

PS: We have avoided getting lost so completely as we did in Verona and Paris. I can't read a map to save my life and have absolutely no sense of direction, and Danijela's eyesight is failing so she has to squint to see road signs, and easily gets frusterated. We make quite the pair trying to find our way around!!

Pictures to be posted soon I hope...

I have fallen in love with Milano, I think it may be one of my favourite places. But I thought that about Nurnberg too, so we'll see what else we encounter on the rest of our trip!

I can't even begin to describe the city- the hustle and bustle, and yet its a slower hustle than was in Paris. The old architecture, which never ceases to amaze me. The old churches- Il Duomo reminds me of a peice of white lace because it is so intricate and detailed. They also have an old castle, like just about every other city or town we have been in so far. Its red brick and has round towers on the corner and a gelato vendor outside. Dani and I tried some pistachio gelato (sadly, I think I'm allergic to pistachios)and sat in front of the fountain. It was nice to feel like we could slow down and relax for a bit- we sure weren't able to do that in Paris! If you don't know what I'm talking about, look it up! I'll get around to posting pics eventually. And then there is the shopping!! Everything from Prada and Armani to little trendy boutiques to specialty stores. I saw a store that sold only boxers! It made me laugh!

When we arrived in Milano we saw that just outside of the train station MTV was setting up a huge stage and preparing to block off half the road for some kind of concert. At least, we were hoping it was going up and not coming down! Throughout the day we watched the progress as lights went up and balloons were filled, getting more curious by the minute. Who on earth was MTV sending to do a concert in Milano? And surely it wouldn't be anyone we knew, it was probably just some Italian artist we wouldn't know of, or else it would happen after we left. Our luck wasn't that great! Imagine our excitement when we looked it up and found out that we just happened to be in Milano at the same time as a huge music festival- featuring some big name Italian musicians as well as Dani's fave Rihanna!!! We kept saying over and over to ourselves how we couldn't beleive our luck!

So we went to the concert on the last night of our stay in Milano. We felt even luckier when we found out that it was free! It was amazing! The place was packed 3/4 down the block, with people even watching from the balconies and office windows of the nearby buildings. We got there early and were able to stand up pretty close to the front, and were crammed in there with a bunch of Italians like sardines in a tin! The Italian artists that performed were actually really good, I'm going to have to find out who they are now! But Rihanna is who we came to see. Like I said, Dani is a huge fan of hers and has always wanted to go to one of her concerts. I'm not as big a fan as she is, but I do like her songs! Everyone screamed and yelled and cheared and jumped up and down when she finally came out to sing, last of course. It was really funny to listen to all the Italians singing along to:
"Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella..."
Hehe they sang it all with an Italian accent and it made me giggle to listen to them. It was really cool to just stand in the crowd and soak it all in- everyone around me swaying or singing to the music. It was hard to beleive that I was actually there, in Milan, Italy, attending a Rihanna concert with 15,000 Italians. I think its going to be hard to top this one!!

Right now we are in Verona- famous for its 1st century Roman arena which still olds open air opera performances, and for being the place of Juliet's balcony. (although this is up for some debate, popular myth holds it as her balcony, but I have read also that the balcony was added in 1963 and they just called in Juliet's house to attract tourists- Romeo's house is supposedly down just a few blocks.)I was more impressed by the walls covered in lovers grafitti- a homage to Shakespeare's romantic tradgedy. Layers upon layers of grafitt, messages to Juliet, or people declaring their love for each other, things like Jane + John = true love 4 ever. It was actually really cool. There was grafitti everywhere.
Tonight we are attending Aida at the old arena. I am really excited- I love opera, and to attend one in an old Roman arena is probably a once in a life time experience. If you aren't jealous that I got to see Rihanna in concert in Milano, be jealous that I get to see an opera in a 1000 year old arena!

Hope all is going well with everyone back home... keep in touch please!

We are now in Milano. As we left Paris we heaved a sigh of releif, hoping that we would have a better experience here.
It really wasn't so bad I suppose. We did get to go to the Lourve, the Musee D'Orsay, the Pere Lachaise Cemetary, we got to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night after eating at a cute little cafe. We also saw all of the other major sights: the Notre Dame (though sadly it was closed by the time we got there after getting lost for the umpteenth time), the Moulin Rouge, the Opera Garnier, the Hotel D'Invalides, we drove down the Champs Elysees and around the Napoleons Arc, and the Place De La Concorde. We didn't make it up to the Sacre Couer or to Montmarte because by the time we were supposed to go we were so completely exhausted, we didn't want to figure out how to get up there, and my one foot was so sore that I actually think I did some damage to the tendon or something by overworking it. It still hurts.
The best part of Paris was (in my opinion) the art museums. After learning about all the painters and art movements and analysing the paintings in my art history courses (which were my fave) it was really cool to see some of the originals. And be able to look at paintings I had never seen before and say things like that was influenced by this or that and pick out techniques that made each painting part of its specific movement. My favourite moment in the Lourve was stading in front of Gericault's "The Raft of the Medusa", depicted the ill-fated passengers of a shipwreck who survived by building a raft, but eventually turned to cannibalism because they ran out of food and began to starve. I know it sounds morbid, and its not the kind of painting I usually fall in love with, but it was truly amazing to look up at it. It was so huge and I couldn't help but think of how he actually visited the morgue and hospital to do studies of the dead and dying for it. It broke my heart to look at these people who were trying so hard to survive, but it left me in awe.
Another favourite moment in Paris was the night we saw the Eiffel Tower lit up. We wanted to see it after dark, but arrived a bit early, so walked down the road to a little cafe with seating out on the sidewalk. It ended up being our best dining experience yet. The food was deliciuous, the laid-back atmosphere contagious, and the waiter had a great sense of humour and kept us laughing after a long day. We sat in the grass after eating and waited for the Tower to light up. They have flood lights on it all night, they were blue when we were there, and every hour on the hour until midnight they turn on the big, blinking lights. When they finally came on everyone started cheering and camera flashes were going off all over the place. It felt like a dream to sit there and admire it in all its glory, it was everything I thought it would be. The good meal and relaxing on the grass probably helped too, but that night alone (almost) made all the bad things in Paris worth it.
If I were to go back (and I fully intend to so that I can do it all over again and do it right) I would do a million things differently. First I would be more prepared with the language- the French people are more and more polite the more you speak their language, though they still are as a whole very grumpy. (and after smelling all the metro stations I understand why- if I had to smell that every day going to and from school or work I would be grumpy too!)I would also make sure I stayed in a real hostel so that we could actually meet some cool people, rather than stay in a budget hotel located in the ghetto. And I would splurge and stay somewhere very central- it took us at least an hour to get home every night, more if we got lost, which happened at least once a day. It took us about half our stay to actually get the hang of the Metro, but now that I've got it seriously downpat next time would be a breeze. And finally, I would spend more than 4 days. There is a lot to see in Paris, and 4 days just isn't enough to get a feel for the city's character. There is a reason it attracts so many tourist, and I think its a shame we didn't get to discover that. It would have been a lot better if we would have been able to spend more leisure time, not be so rushed all the time, which just made us irritable. All in all though, it was a great learning experience. I am soooo glad its over, but at the same time I wouldn't hesitate to go again just because I'm convinced it could have been 10x better. And the next time I smell urine... I will remember Paris!
We have only been in Milano, as the Italians say, for one day and already I love it! There is such a different pace here- many of the stores close for a few hours in the afternoon and people aren't as rushed as they are in Paris. It feels safer to walk the streets at night, and the people are kinder! And our hotel!! It is so cute! Its about a 5 min walk from the train station in some really old building. Our room is so tiny- it is literally a corner with two cots in it! And thank heavens- the best part is we have a real shower!!! In Paris we had a shower, but no place to attach the shower head (which is apparenlty common in Europe), which isnt so bad. But our shower head was broken and shot out water every which direction, so we had to bath laying down. It was ridiculous, kinda defeated the whole point of the shower head. We took an open tour of the city today and were able to hop off and see the Duomo, the Castello, and some really fun shopping districts. It was relaxing to not have to do it all on our own, and to be off our feet. I do think I did some serious damage to my foot, so I'm going to take it easy, and get some new shoes! We did way to much walking that day in Paris. Tomorrow we are actually going inside Il Duomo, then to see the Da Vinci's "Last Supper" (which suprisingly Dani is more excited about than I am), and to do some shopping!! Yay! Next we are headed to Verona and then finally to Venice!