adventures end and new ones begin

"ayup" friends and family,

it is a rainy day here in birmingham, but probably one of the last i will have the pleasure to experience. since my last post one month ago, school reached its peak, trips have been travelled and now it is time to start packing my bags and saying goodbye to all the friends i've gotten to know over this past semester. it is safe to say that i have had the most fun i possibly could have had and made the most of this exchange. i met many people from many different countries all over the globe, and travelled to a good number of countries as well. at first i found it strange that i didn't really know many british people, but i soon found that it was very fun and educating to get to know about other cultures while experiencing the english way of student living. (and if my flatmate ben is a accurate guide for the english, then i'm sure that they are great people).
at the beginning of june i found myself travelling once again. this time to a 3 day festival full of ROCK in germany. i travelled with joe america, martina and silvia the italianas and yves of germania. the festival called "rock am ring" or "rock in the ring" for all you english speakers is named so because it takes place on a formula one race track. it was absolutely out of control, imagine 80 000 of the hardest rocking germans rocking all night and sleeping all day in tents set up on the race track. there was lots of alcohol consumed, and terrible food eaten, tent sleeping and of course a heavy dose of musical entertainment. highlights for me were the kooks, muse, wolfmother, zoot woman, the smashing pumpkins and certain songs by the white stripes. it was very draining physically, but very worth the effort.
after an 6 hour overnight dash beginning directly after the last concert, joe america and i incredibly caught or flight to lisbon from stuttgart. we definately were prepared to miss our flight, but we got there with time to spare. lisbon may be one of the most fascinating places i have experienced in europe so far, the weather, the people, the city and food made a perfect combination for 5 guys who just finished school to relax and have some fun. i spent 2 days at the beach, a day and a half exploring lisbon and one day in the small city in the mountains called sintra. sintra was definately the highlight of the trip for me. the picture perfect town, with castles on the hill, and palaces with incredible gardens complete with caves 100 meter deep shafts made it unforgettable. the great part about lisbon was that it was so cheap compared to england. if i had spent 4 days in london i would have spent quadruple the money. all in all a great way to wrap up the semester.
yesterday martina and i made our way to warwick castle, one of england's best. it did not dissapoint. inside of the castle was completely furnished with period peices and very lifelike wax figures. the grounds were excellent as well. a trebuchet, victorian gardens, towers, ducks and an archery range. it was a perfect way to spend the day...even if it rained a bit.
so, on the 20th my new italian adventure begins. i'm sure that spending a summer in the tuscan hills with martina will be difficult to rival. i look forward to telling you all about it soon.
see ya