CINQUE TERRE- I met up with Ryan, Matt and Wes again in Cinque Terre, which is a series of 5 little towns on the Italian Riviera. We stayed in the southernmost town, Riomaggiore, and on the first day, did 5 mile hike to all the towns. It was a beautiful hike with some amazing views, but also very hot and tiring. The next day we did some snorkeling and I was the only one who managed not to get stung by a jellyfish. The water is a clear bright blue and really warm. At night we would just hang out in the town and listen to a live band that was playing for some kind of town anniversary festival. It actually wasn't that hot there and it was nice to have a couple of days to relax and not sightsee.

ROME- We arrived in Rome and met back up with the other 4 and headed off to St. Peter's Basilica. It was gigantic, with lots of paintings and sculptures, including Michaelangelo's "La Pieta". Since I tend to go at a slower pace, I got separated from the guys and ended up not being able to find them after searching for quite a while. I then tried to go see the Sistine Chapel but it was closed. It was kind of a bummer because I was staying at a place by myself (their places were booked up) and wasn't sure when I was going to meet up with them again. I decided to make the best of it so later on that day I went and saw Circus Maximus, the Mouth of Truth (by accident), and then ate at a little ristorante where I had some great penne pasta. By this time it was dark so I went on a night walk through the city where I saw a few interesting things. I saw some old temple ruins where Julius Caesar as supposedly killed, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish steps before heading home.

The next day I headed straight for the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. After wandering my way through all the different courtyards and mini-museums, I finally reached the chapel. After so much buildup, it truly was amazing. The colors were vivid and the figures almost leapt out towards you. After that I just hung out for a while until I randomly saw Ryan and Wes across the subway tracks and then ended up meeting back up with the guys for dinner.

Matt, Wes, and Ryan left in the morning for Florence, and Brett and Scotty headed to Cinque Terre, while I stayed back to see a few more sites and meet up with Joe finally. We were supposed to meet up in Cinque Terre on the 24th, but I was still sick and wanted to just chill out for a few days, and by the time we contacted each other, today ended up being the soonest we could meet up. I went to the Catacombs in the morning. It was a little ways outside of the city, but well worth it. The tour took us down underground to see where the early Christians were buried starting at the end of the 2nd Century. After that, I headed back and went to the Colosseum. It was awesome. I can't even describe how cool it was and I probably took about a hundred pictures when I was there. It made me want to see the movie Gladiator. Next was the Roman Forum, and it was cool to see all the ruins but it was nothing next to the Colosseum. After the Forum I finally met up with Joe. It was great to see him and get to share stories of our adventures so far. We had dinner and walked around a little bit (also with his brother and sister-in-law and sister) and eventually headed back. I am leaving for Cinque Terre tomorrow for 2 days and then I will get to meet up with him again later.

FLORENCE- After my nap in the Florence train station, we headed to a park where waited for Matt's friend Jenny to meet us. WHile we waited, I tried to find a Doctor, because I was still feeling sick. After walking halfway across town and trying the ER, I was directed to a little clinic, where after my best efforts of hand motions and the little broken English that she did speak, I was able to get some good medicine and hopefully get off to a full recovery. We finally met up with Jenny and got to relax at her and her cousin Melissa's apartment for a little while. In the evening they made us dinner (which was amazing) and I felt much better.

The next two days we didn't do much besides sleep in and walk around town and hang out in the girls' apartment. It rained both days and the weather ended up being a little cooler than I thought. The second day I decided to cut my hair. I was tired of taking care of it, with it making me hotter and taking longer to dry and just being downright annoying. I didn't want to pay a lot for an expensive haircut so I just had Matt and Jenny do it. It was a learning experience for all of us, and it pretty much looks like a buzz cut that's grown out a little (the difficulty was that we didn't have clippers so we had to use a pair of cheap household scissors). The next two nights were filled with good food and great gelato as we would walk through the town past all the vendors and street performers. On the 26 we finally left for Rome after a wonderful and relaxing 3 nights in Florence.

Nice- We (Matt and I) got to Nice in the morning after a night train. We got tickets for 2 nights later for a train to FLorence. We found a hostel and checked in. I was still feeling pretty horrible, but as soon as we checked in we had to leave because the hostel closes from 11-3. I decided it was time to get some medicine for whatever my sickness was so I went down to a pharmacy (they're everywhere) and tried to esplain to the lady what was wrong with me and why I was sick. I got the medicine, took it, and went down to the beach with Matt. Not a fan of the stone-covered beaches. The water was really warm though, and it made me feel so much better. we chilled there for a while and headed back to our hostel. I was hungry, and after spotting a McDonald's, I decided it sounded good and went for it. A big mac, fries, and a coke. It may not have been the best decision, but it made me feel bettter for the moment. After getting back to our hotel I took a long nap. I awoke, showered and headed downstairs to find Matt jawwing with some other travelers. I hung out with them for a while as well, and then tried to go out with them. After about 20 minutes of walking, I was feeling bad again so I went home and to bed.

The next daywe checked out of our hotel and then headed to Monte Carlo. It was cool to see some of the nice yachts in the harbor and cool cars on the road. We also got to see the famous Monte Carlo Casino. I still wan't feeling that well so I went back to the train station and waited while Matt and our Danish friend Matias went and explored a bit more of the Island. After heading back to Nice we went back to our hostel where our bags were and hung out until we had to leave. We grabbed dinner and got on our train to Florence. The train left Nice a little after 9 and got to Pisa at 3:30am, where we had to transfer and then go the rest of the way to Florence, arriving some time after 6. Needless to say it was a long train ride as we had seats in a cabin. Matt was able to sleep because there was no one sitting in from of me but I wasn't so lucky and didn't manage much sleep at all. We finally cruised into Florence where I proceeded to sleep in the train station for about 3 hours.

It's been a long week We left San Sebastian with hopes of the road less traveled and better weather. We started off by heading to Pamplona, which is, of course, the site of the famous running of the bulls. Because of our travel choices we missed the festival and bull running but decided to check it out anyway. It was cool to walk down the path of the bulls and see the how the town looked empty, but someday it would be fun to go back for the festival. We wanted to camp in the foothills of the Pyrenees somewhere, so we took a bus to a town called Javier, where we saw a sweet castle and then walked 5km to the next town and then 2 or 3 more to try and find a campsite by a beautiful lake. Just as we were taking a dip, we heard thunder and lightning and decided we better get back indoors (as we have no tents, just a sleeping bag). We then powerwalked the 2 or 3 km back to Yesa and found a nice little hostel where we had a good and dry night's rest.

Since we weren't too fond of camping in the rain, we decided to head for Barcelona. We had to catch a bus in Yesa to a bigger mountain town called Jaca, where it started pouring about 5 minutes after we got there, and then waited in the train station for 2.5 hours to take a train to a tiny city called Tardientas. There, we had to wait another hour or so and then take another train to Barcelona, which was a long train that got delayed, with us ending up arriving in Barcelona at 1245am. We then took a cab from the station to the hostel that we had booked earlier on the phone. It was a crazy day. What was crazier, was that I started feeling sick that morning, with a fever and a swollen throat.

After spending the night in a super hot hostel room, we packed up and went back to the train station to reserve a ticket on a train to Nice. Matt wanted to go out and explore Barcelona, but I was feeling horrible, so we locked our valuables away and I just sat in the train station from 12 to 8, when our train left. When I got up to leave, I noticed by handbag was missing, which means someone had stolen it when I was sitting there, half dead, trying to sleep or pass the time or something. This of course did not make me happy, and I couldn't even try to search for it or look in lost and found because our train was leaving in 5 minutes. Luckily I didn't have my camera or passport or railpass or wallet in there. What I did get stolen was a few maps and postcards, my sunglasses and my Journal, which was the thing I was most upset about. There was nothing I could do now, so I had to move on and be even more careful with all of my belongings. Tonight, I'm off to Nice.

San Sebastian, Spain We arrived in San Sebastian at about 830 in the morning. As we did not have a place to stay, we headed toward the tourist office but found it closed. Just then an old man walking his dog asked us if we need a place to stay and we ended up staying in a pension right in the heart of town. It worked out great and the old man and woman who ran it were very nice. We met an Aussie there and he hung out with us the rest of the time in San Sebastian (seem to run into a lot of traveling Aussies). It was really hot the whole time we were there so we just tried to stay cool by being in the shade or in the water, which was the perfect temperature (much warmer than California). We were gonna try and surf but there were really no waves. When trying to book a train for Barcelona we found out the one we wanted was full. We ended up deciding to split up with Matt and I taking the slow route through the Pyrenees and Wes, Ryan, Scotty and Brett staying an extra night in San Sebastian and then taking the day train to Barcelona. Matt and I are off to Pamplona and we will catch up with those guys in Italy.

Paris- We decided to leave Paris a day earlier than planned, and so we took the chunnel train and got into Paris at 1115 at night- which was a problem because we did not have a place to stay. After being kicked out for trying to sleep in the train station, we tried to find a park near the hostel where we were staying the next few nights. It ended up being closed so we thought, if we´re in Paris we might as well sleep by the Eiffel Tower, right? Little did we know what kind of hike we were getting ourselves into. After walking for about 2.5 hours with our full packs on, we finally arrived at the foot of the tower. We found a place in the park and tried to sleep for a couple of hours.

Da 4 - We took the metro over and waited to get into our hostel. We finally got in, slept a few hours, had dinner, and then went to the Eiffel Tower lit up, which was an amazing sight.

Day 5 - Went sightseeing. Saw the Louvre, Notre Dame, and climbed the Eiffel Tower (3rd time we saw it in three days). At night we took it easy.

Day 6 - Took a daytrip to Reims (Champagne region) and took a champagne tour. At night we went up to the hill in Montmartre (Paris) and then up by this cool church too watch the city at night and some fireworks in the distance.

Day 7 - Bastille Day (France Independence day). We walked down Champs Elysees and saw the Arc d' Triomph. WE then got good seats for the Bastille day Fireworks at the Eiffel tower. We had to wait there for like three or four hours, but it was worth it. It was the most amazing fireworks show I have ever seen. It was choreographed with music and it lasted likme 35-40 minutes. Truly Amazing. Afterwards it was pandemonium in that probably 2-300,000 people or more who were watching the shoe all tried to get on the metro at the same time. Needless to say, it took us about 2 hours to get home, when it would have taken 15-20 miniutes normally.

Day 8 - We slept in did some Laundry and then went to Versailles. THe lines were too long and for us to go in but we did walk around the amazing gardens for a while. they were huge! Got our stuff and took the night train to San Sebastian.

London- After a long day of traveling, we finally arrived in London. The first day, we visited Kensington Gardens and Picadilly Circus before meeting up with the other guys at Big Ben. For dinner we had our "local meal" of fish and chips and a brew. Everything after that consisted of me trying to stay awake in order to beat jet lag. It was tough considering I woke up at 430am pacific time, got maybe an hour of sleep on the flight to Montreal, 3 or 4 hours over to London, arriving in London at 645am London time, and not napping during the whole day. Needless to say, it could have been the longest day of my life. But I don't care, because it's London!

Our second day in London we tried to find Knights Templar (some Da Vinci Code place), saw the London Bridge, Tower of London, Tower Bridge (WAY better than the London Bridge, which was just a plain bridge), the outside of Westminster Abbey (it was closed, on the account of it being Sunday) and then chilled and played Frisbee at Speakers corner of Hyde Park. At night we watched the soccer game from Soho. We tried to see it at a pub or something, but it was so packed everywhere, we ended up in a Chinese restaurant. After the game, the little Italy section of Soho started going insane, people jumping up and down and yelling and waving the flag. We soon realized that not only was that area crazy, but pretty much that whole part of London was going nuts (especially Picadilly Circus). It was easily the craziest sports celebration I have ever witnessed.

Third day in London we saw the inside of Westminster Abbey, and then I went and saw the Globe theatre and the outside of St. Paul's Cathedral and the Old Bailey's before returning to the hotel to get my bag and head to the train station. Now we are off to Paris!

It's late, but I am finally packed and soon will be asleep. My flight leaves LAX at 8:20 tomorrow which means I'm going to get about 3 hours of sleep tonight. That's okay because I'm usually good about sleeping anywhere. I have no idea what the next few months will bring but I am super excited for whatever it may be. I still can't belive that I'm actually doing it.