europe, the epic continent

europe,
what a wicked place. i am in lyon, france right now but let me do a recap to explain how it is that i came to arrive here:
starting with italy. so far it is my favorite country, hands down. just getting there was an adventure in itself, joe missed his plane to venice and proceeded to lose us until we found him in florence. casie and i made it from london to venice no problem, until we arrived downtown looking for our hostel (thats where hostels should be). we asked the airport shuttle bus-driver, and he told us with suprise in his eyes that our hostel was about 45 mins outside of venice (not really in venice at all). we got really really lucky when he told us that the bus depot that he was going to was only 500m down the road from our destination. 500m seems like a short distance, but when it is midnight in the middle of nowhere, walking 500m down a highway with crazy italian drivers flying past you...it seems alot longer.
venice is an incredible city, the number of canals, bridges and gondolas blew me away within 5 mins of being inside the city. the buildings are jammed together, the streets are winding and unpredictable. i found every street to be a suprise, some open up onto squares with incredible architecture, others take a turn to picture perfect canals. great city.
from venice we hopped a train south to florence. we stayed at martina's house in vinci, as in leonardo's birthplace. it was great to have a knowledgable tourguide in a city like florence, without her we would not have experienced like we did. i saw some italian nightlife, which kicks of with dinner on the dancefloor around 11:00, then people start dancing on the tables signaling that it is time to get the dancefloor cleared (a very "straight to the point" way of doing things). the place we went to was one of the more exclusive clubs in florence (i was only allowed in because martina had some sort of connection) and the 10 euro minimum price tag on drinks definately proved it.
after the night was over we were fined 200 euros because i lifted the gate at a parking garage on the way out, it may have been my idea but everybody in the car encouraged me. we were pulled over by the police halfway home as well, and martina dropped her i.d. so it was lucky to get out of that one unscathed.
the next day we got the royal tour, saw some amazing gardens, beautiful squares, michelangelo's david is everywhere, tons of history to take in. pictures will say more about the city than i can, so, wait for those.
the next day i saw the leaning tower of pisa...it really leans, it isn't some european joke that being played on us north americans after all. following pisa i caught a football match and getting there was nearly as fun as the game. i drove a vespa. i always thought that people who drove vespas were losers, but i take it back, they are ridiculously fun to drive and before long i was weaving through traffic like a local. (i did crash into the wall exiting the garage, but lets not talk about that). Empoli vs. Ascoli was the match-up, empoli won with a resounding 4-1 score. the fans go absolutely wild, the chants are continuous and the flags never stop waving. great experience. after that i caught my first sunset on the mediterranian, it turned out to be the best day yet.
rome. so much history and stuff to see that it hurts my head just thinking about it. colosseum, vatican city, fontana di trevi, the spanish steps, ancient ruins, you name it and i saw it. i walked my face off and completely exhausted myself, but it was totally worth it. i almost got robbed as well, this guy came up to joe and i on an empty street and forcefully tried to shake my hand proclaiming "i am your friend, shake shake, i am your friend" i think he was trying to trip me with his legs too. i am a smart cookie and realized he wanted my wallet and not my friendship so i told him to get lost. he began to do the same to joe, but joe wasn't having any of it and started to run, i guess this guy really wanted to make a new friend and started to run right along after him. eventually he got tired, so, we still had our wallets but no new friend. i will laugh whenever i picture joe getting chased down the street.
barcelona was next on the itinerary following rome. the hostel was directly on the beach, but a bit filthy. pluses and minuses i guess. barcelona was meant to be the relaxation portion of the trip and it didn't dissapoint. i took it sooo easy, walking along the beach, leisurely exploring the city and the amazing parks it has. this architect named gaudi totally shaped the style of this city, most of his work is outlandish, strange and makes you stare. i bet he was a cool guy.
we went to a bar called dow jones one night, it had screens all over the bar listing the drinks and their prices. that was normal enough, but get this, the prices went up and down just like the stock market and at select times during the night the market would CRASH! this meant all drinks dropped to 1 euro and a huge rush at the bar followed. they also showed the senators vs the penguins which was wicked. i met up with shideh and saw the olympic park and market with her. i switched hostels and stayed with her at a christian hostel, much much nicer. give it up for g-o-d. she stayed in barcelona a bit longer but gave me keys to her apartment in lyon. so i'm living the life here, sleeping in her bed, eating all her food and generally making her apartment alot dirtier than it was before i arrived. i hope shideh hasn't got into the habit of reading this...
so that explains my journey thus far, it has been great. soon dad will be coming over and i will meet him in zermatt, i can't wait. there should be some great spring skiing and lots of switzerland to see.
if you have read this far, you are truly dedicated.
talk to you in the fuuuture.