Manning Mountains.

So, the second leg of my three part journey - Norway - is now complete and was an absolute thrill for me. Seeing everyone again and exploring the beautiful city of Bergen was never better. Now, after a 26 hour travel day, I am in Lynchburg, Virginia, where I am staying with some old friends - Joey, J. Forland and Mr. Listor. Today was spent resting and preparing myself for the final part of my journey, my wanderings through the Appalachian Mountains.

My parents sent a box to Virginia for me filled with many good things that will help me one my journey - rice, oatmeal, hiking poles, coffee, vitamins and tons of snicker bars. It was a tough thing to fit it all into my backpack, and for the first few days of hiking I think my pack will be much heavier than anticipated. But, I am pretty sure that will just motivate me to eat more food to lighten the load...

I am excited to hike. It will be quite the transition from busy Europe to the solitary wilderness, but it is a transition I am prepared for, probably more mentaly than physically. I believe I will lose some pounds, although I was hoping to, at this time, have more pounds on me to lose. Probably I will just become a thin stick of a person with a rather hairy face. I have a lot of reading and questions on my mind that I am hungry to ponder, and 8 or more hours hiking a day should give me plenty of opportunities for thoughtful ponderings.

So yes, my Europe trip was great and I have a small desire to go home to show off some video footage and be in my own bed again, but that desire will have to wait for another 45 days. I wont have internet access for the most part, but I will perhaps stop at a few libraries to check my email once in awhile and will have limited cell phone use, so hopefully I can keep you updated once a week or so. We are starting tomorrow at 6 o'clock, since David will be driving us a bit north to drop us off at the trail. I better get to bed...I still have to make sure I have all of my sweet gear ready...

Oh, and I made a back-up stove out of two soda cans 'welded' together. Its pretty neat...

Jeg Norsk.

Norway has been purely delightful. I have been enjoying the friends and the mountain views while the brown cheese and chocolate satisfy my appetite. I've been kayaking around the islands of Sotra and hiking all over its mountains. I've both heard and played wonderful music, read in Bergen University Library, drank coffee with biscuits three times a day and been swimming in the 35 degree sea water. I've ran into friends I haven't seen or expected to see and am anxiously waiting for many others to come home for Easter break. Its been snowing and its been raining, but today is a promising sunny Sunday and some mountain hiking or Norwegian churchgoing could be in the mix. Unless we decided to play chess all day instead. For supper we are going to go get some kebab, probably the cheapest but greatest student food in all of Bergen. I have one week and two days before I close my European book and open another, but until then I haven't much to worry about except wallowing in the happiness of Norwegian life. I've also realized most of my other blog entries were rather long, but today I haven't got much else to say except that Bergen, well...it couldn't be better...

The Last Shall Be First?

Well friends, today is the one month mark of my trip - two months yet to come and I couldnt be more thrilled. I am in Bergen now, perhaps one of my favorite places - due to all my friendships and the extreme beauty of the place. I will be here for two weeks, visiting with old friends and making new ones, exploring the city and strengthening my legs with hikes to the seven surrounding mountians.

After Copenhagen, we left for Gøteborg, Sweden, a short 4 hour train ride. There we were picked up by Emma, another exchange student from the Erickson home. We spent the day walking around Gøteborg for a few hours and met a friend of Emma's for an extremely funny cake and coffee snack. We laughed for an hour straight, at stories from one anothers past, but mostly for no reason at all. Later we ate dinner at Emma's and later hung out with her and her boyfriend. It was a nice night to relax and enjoy another country. The next morning however, I left for Oslo. Our 21 day pass had only two days remaining, so I decided to leave to go to Oslo while Tim stayed behind for another day in Sweden.

I took the morning train and got to Oslo around 4:30 pm and was met by Ingrid Skogestad, an old friend from Hillcrest. We hung out with some friends for the night watching the Brann game, which was pretty fun. We had some pizza and plenty of Norwegian chocolate, of course, on my first night In Norway.

This morning I woke up at 7 to take the 8 o'clock train to Bergen, since it was the last day my rail pass was valid. But, during breakfast I lost track of time while drinking coffee and chatting and had to run to catch a tram that would take me to the train station. When I got to the tram stop, there was a tram there that had the number 18 on it, which was the right number to get to the train station. However, in a moment of hasty absentmindedness, I didn't realize the tram was going the opposite way - away from the train station. After 5 minutes I discovered I was going the wrong way and by the time I changed and made it too the train station, I was 10 minutes to late and missed the 8 o'clock train. So, I had to wait until 10.30, not a bad thing...but a frustration I will probably later laugh about. Anyway, I guess it is appropriate that my LAST train ride is the FIRST one I miss.

But, all worked out in the end. I arrived in Bergen three hours later than expected, but luckily Anders Vage was smart enough to figure out I would come on the next train and came to meet me. Now Anders and I are cooking dinner in Fredrik Brunstad and his friends apartment, which is actually an old monastary that also houses three other priests.

I am totally pumped up for the next two weeks to catch up with all my friends. Bergen rules...

And if you are reading this and are in Bergen...please...come see me.

Kilograms.

OKey Dokey.

Well Switzerland was awesome.We were there for three nights at Delphine's house, which was nice. We took a much needed break from being tourists and instead just hung out. We were given reign of the basement, which was actually a furnished apartment with a couch, tv, beds and bathroom. We were able to sleep as long as we wanted in the morning, giving us always a good 8 (or 9 or 10) hours rest. In the mornings we hung out at the house (snacking on delicious breads, cheeses and yogurts) until Delphine would be done with school.

One day we went and walked around the old part of Fribourg, which was great. We had coffee in a cafe overlooking the old city, tasted fresh bread and later some Swiss chocolate at the chocolate factory, and experienced a Nespresso.

Nespresso is a brand of espresso that is very popular and classy here in Europe, so much so that it has its own store, dedicated to the selling of espresso machines and coffees. In your mind, picture a fancy jewelry store with expensive furnishings and salespeople dressed in suits. Now replace the jewelry with coffee cups and packages, and you will found yourself in a Nespresso store. Kind of funny in my opinion, but hey, good espresso is hard to come by.

We went to a hockey game the other night - the Fribourg club team was playing in the semi-finals of Switzerland playoffs. It was really fun and everyone was pumped up - especially after underdog Fribourg (who supposedly is always bad at hockey) won the match 5-3 and advanced to the Finals. I am now a proud Fribourgian hockey supporter...

Anyway, we left Fribourg yesterday to spend a day in Basil, a town claiming to be the culture capital of Switzerland. We spent the day walking around and enjoying some breads and fruits from the bakery. Basil is a very old town and we spent 7 hours in the sunshine sitting, reading and playing chess. At 6 pm we boarded a train that would take us all the way through Germany to Copenhagen the next morning at 10 am - a 16 hour train ride. I slept well enough, but thought it ridiculous our compartment had 6 people in it while the rest of the train sat vacant. I have bought a book, A World Without End, by Ken Follet and have already read close to 300 pages in the past two days while on trains. We had hoped to stop in Germany to see a few sights, but decided we would run out of time on our 21-day train pass, so we opted for Copenhagen instead. Now we are here staying with Tim´s "aunt" where we just enjoyed a marvelous dinner and a day spent at the aquarium and the Little Mermaid statue - which actually is quite little...

And now, I´m sorry to keep on rambling, but writing in this blog has started to grow on me - despite the fact that I have also written close to 100 pages in my much-appreciated travel journal.

My Dad noted that I look as if I lost weight on the trip so far. I can honestly say that I havent weighed in recently, but I think it would be a miracle I am lighter considering the amounts of food I have been eating...

Whenever we stay with a family (which we have every night except for about 9 days), Tim and I are treated like royalty seated at the head of the Banquet table. During "off peak" (non-meal) hours we are left to "feel at home" and help ourselves to the vast array of delicious foreign chocolates, varieties of sweet cheeses, fresh breads and enticing pastries, yogurts, ripe apples, oranges, bananas, pears, prunes, orange juices, apple juices, mixed juices, aged wines, and rich milks. During the peak hours of lunch and supper, our plates reap the bounty of our host´s harvests - and our plates are never filled only once. Every time we clean our plate, more food is insisted on and, in some cases, gently "forced." It has been a feast. Not a one day thing, but a feast lasting for days on end, as in the times of the kings of old. One night we will devour roast duck and pork, fresh rolls, salads and dressings, corn, brown-sugared potatoes, red and white wines; all followed by a desert of Danish pastries and chocolates, gummies and candies, coffee, tea, or (in Tims case...) more wine. On another day, slow-cooked chicken covered in a sweet glaze, sweet peas, potatoes, gravy, breads and wine; followed by desert of Swiss cookies and chocolate candies, finally topped with roasted pears covered in melted fudge. In Italy, mouth watering meals twice a day were common - pastas of every kind, with every sauce and spice imaginable to an American palatte; airy fresh breads, hard cheeses, soft cheeses, chunks of delicious parmesan cheese, cuts of ham, salads and wines, followed by ice cream and, our favorite, torte pie.

I could easily keep ranting and raving about other foods - crepes, fishes, and chocolate, chocolate (so much chocolate) - but I think I made my point. I love foreign food. Both eating it and writing about it, and I hope I made your jealous mouths water. But I fear I may be enjoying our reign as palatte-kings a little too much and my only hope is that, once in Virginia, we don´t die from the sheer disappointment of having to feed ourselves...

So anyway, have I lost weight? No. Rather, I fear I may be becoming a chowhoundy glutton...


STENDER SHOUT-OUT: Friends, I fear I will not see any Celtic warriors. I am saving that trip for another day. But I have seen the Swiss Guard at the Vatican and some Roman soldiers. Or, you could check out Pilskog´s profile picture...although, I don´t think either of us want B to look like Lucky the Leprachaun when he grows up...

Pictures.

Here are some delightful pictures to appeal to your visual senses. Click to view larger photo...

First, I thought a map would be a good idea...especially for those to lazy to actually find where places like Bayuex and Nice actually are. And I love drawing maps.

In Swizterland.

Leaning cliche.

Italian Riviera.

Italian Alps.

Sweet skills.

Oh Tim.

Alps.

Old Lady.

Paris.

Big Ben.

Sweet Jazz.

So I've decided that many of the good things in this world reside in Italy. For example, Michaelangelo's David, which, when seen in person, knocks everything else out of the park. The Leaning Tower too, in the medevil town of Pisa, is an exciting sight for a wandering tourist like me. And the food - oh boy the food...if I were to live in Italy there would be a good chance I would weigh twice what I do now. Florence is a great city, filled with reminders of a time long past and marked with the signature of thousands of famous Renaissance artists.

So, yes. Italy is a fabulous place.

After we left Rome last Thursday, we went to Pisa to spend some time taking in the sights. It was gorgeous out - probably close to 70, so we laid in the extraordinarily green (to my Minnesota eyes) grass to catch some rays and eat lunch. We walked around and explored, but since we are on a 21-day train limit we left for Florence after only 2 hours.

Our train was an hour late to Florence, which was a real bummer since it cut down the time we had before museums closed (one thing I dislike about Italy is their train system). Anyway, we would only have time to go to one museum that day so we decided to hit uup the Acadamie, which was really cool. It was a small museum but had many famous paintings and all the pictures were labeled and described in English, which really enhanced the experience.

We stayed in a neat hostel that night, one that was filled with travelers like ourselves. We ended up meeting a guy from Seattle and hanging out with him for most of the night. We also got a free supper and breakfast included with our rent payment, which was very welcome.

The next morning (Friday) we got up and walked around for awhile. We had planned to leave for Trento at 11, but Tim wanted to see a few more museums so he changed his ticket to leave later. I decided that I was museumed out, so I opted to keep my ticket and spend my time walking around, reading and writing. It was a quick train ride back to Trento, and since I had 2 hours before Tim arrived I enjoyed a sit in the park where I fell asleep and got perhaps a little too much sun. I also chanced to meet an old Italian man (he was 82, he kept tellling me) who lived in Trento. He said he used to work at the "hottest bar in Venice. In San Pedros square. Hottest Bar. Martini Martini, gin, whiskey sour. Hottest bar in Venice. I was 20. Now Im 82. 82. 82..." (and so on and so on) I believe he had Alzheimers or didnt know what he was saying in English, so it was a very interesting conversation.

Federica picked us up again and we went back to her place, where her parents had another wonderful meal ready for us. Later we went out with Fede and a few of her friends to get some ice cream and we actually ended up going to a Cherl Porter jazz/soul concert, which was really funny. She sang in English and I suspect nobody in the audience really knew what she was singing about. It was a great concert though and the piano player was phenomenal.

Saturday afternoon we headed out for Fribourg, Switzerland, where I am at the moment. We are staying with Delphine and her family, who are friends of Tim. Last night we had a very Swiss meal - cheese fondu. It was much different than I ever would have expected as it consisted of dipping bread and potatoes in melted cheese. As many of you do know, I am not much of a cheese fan, but surprisingly on this trip I have had plenty of cheese...and I have enjoyed it as well. Strange.

I believe I forgot to write about two strange incidents that happened to me in Rome. When we were in line to go into the Coliseum, I looked back and 3 people behind us was our friend Joel, who we had met 6 days earlier in Nice. He was alone so we invited him to join us for the day. It was very random we were at the Coliseum at the exact same time...

But even more ridiculous was who I met at the Pantheon later that day. We were on our way out when I noticed a big dude wearing a Bethel Football t-shirt. Who was it? James Foster, who graduated a year ahead of me from Hillcrest. It was probably the most insane random meet I have ever experienced, especially since I hadnt seen him for 2 years. But really, what are the chances you meet someone you know from high school at the Pantheon in Rome? Wow. Turns out he is studying in Europe and was on a trip during his break throughout Italy. We both had a good laugh indeed. Small World...

Anyway, we have exactly one week left on our rail pass and then 2 weeks left in Norway. I am getting really excited to see all my old Norsk friends and am pumped up for some NOrwegian mountain. Tomorrow we spend another day in Fribourg and might even get a chance to go to a hockey game...haha.

Also, if anyone reading has extra questions about anything in particular, dont hesitate to ask. It is hard to go into great detail without writing for hours and hours...so hit me up - calvinbrue@gmail.com

And Ive been thinking...on this trip I have had only two regrets,

1) That my elementary and high school years didnt stress the importance of learning another language.

2) That I didnt bring a scooter...

The Downlow.

Today went by in a blur. We spent our morning sleeping in, which was both delightful and refreshing. Then it was on to Vatican City, a 45 minute walk through downtown Rome.

The Vatican is an interesting place. Considered a city-state, it lies in the heart of Rome and is encompassed by massive walls. When we got there we really had no idea what was going on. Hundreds of people were standing around taking pictures of St. Peters Basilica, a huge church that is the focal point of the Vatican. Our lucky streak picked up again, as the Pope made an appearance 25 minutes after we got there. But I guess considering I have (and still dont) no idea who the Pope is or where he is from, perhaps it isn't a very big deal? Anyway, he had a pretty tricked out golf cart that he drove around in.

We went to the Vatican museums, which is home to many famous artistic works including the Sistine Chapel. When looked at in a picture, the Sistine Chapel looks pretty impressive; when seen in first person, it is almost unbelievable. Its detail and the amount of time that must have gone into it is ridiculous. The rest of the museum was also fun, but the Sistine Chapel was definitely the best thing I've seen in awhile...

After we hitched a train to a small Mediterranean town north of Rome to catch some rays and enjoy the beach. The sunset was brilliant and the salty air very pleasant. After a few hours we headed back to our hostel.

Anyway, I have yet to give a true rundown of how things are played out here in Europe with the trains and how we travel everywhere. For the most part, we have a very rough itinerary that is constantly changing, a nice aspect of train travel. We can decide the night before if we want to go somewhere, or even the day of if the destination is close enough. If you remember, we planned on taking a ferry from Barcelona to Rome, but because of date issues with hosts, things we'd heard from travelers and locals, we decided to skip that part and reroute to Northern Italy.

Trains are very easy to catch here in Europe. Every city has a train station that is continually sending trains all over the place. Unlike the US, it is rare that someone will drive to the next town, let alone drive for even an hour. Trains are much more efficient, cheaper and the system Europe has is very well done. Because we have a Eurail Pass, we can ride any train we want for free. The only hitch is if the train requires a reservation (a night train or a "speed" train), we have to pay an extra fee of 3-15 Euros. So far we've made it with only several fees, riding the smaller trains that go through more country.

Once we decide where to go, we check a computer or ticket officer to see when the next train leaves. On trains we mostly read, chat or nap (it is easy to sleep on trains when you are tired). Most trains have groups of 4 chairs facing each other, some in compartments, but mostly they are exactly like any tour bus. Usually they have room, but during peak hours can be cramped. I usually enjoy train rides, especially when going through the countryside, which is often very beautiful.

Once we get to the town we are going, we find a map and locate a tourist office to find hostels (if needed). Tourist offices have been extremely helpful (since we didn't book any hotels before we left) and always find us good deals and nice places. We've been lost, but have not yet been lost for good...

So anyway, hope that gives you a better idea of how and when we end up where we do. Tomorrow we take an early train to Florence to spend the day and night doing what may well be our last "touristy" type stuff. Then back up to Trento to pick up our bags (we left our large packs there and took only small packs to Rome - much easier) and on to our Northern journey - Switzerlan, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. We have about 26 days left in Europe, so it should be quite the ride!

SPQR.

It seems absurd to think about how small the world really is, considering the significant places I have been in the past two weeks. Only a little over a week ago I was viewing the Mona Lisa in Paris, Big Ben in London before that. Now I am in Rome enjoying excellent weather and the Coliseum and Vatican city, tomorrow I will be back up in the Italian Alps and the day after hiking through the Swiss Mountains. Modern travel rocks my world.

Trento turned out to be extremely fun. We ate great food and it was really relaxing to have some fresh air away from the clustered tourist exhibits we were growing accustomed to. Both days in Trento we hiked up the snowy Alps and tried our hand (most miserably) at snowboarding and other snow sports. It was ridiculously warm on the mountain, despite there being 5 feet of snow in some places. After hiking we would head back to the house for some Italian hot chocolate (more like hot chocolate/pudding) and hanging out. We played a lot of music, sang karoake (both in Italian and English), and even experienced being a double-minority (in gender and language) when we went out for pizza with 8 Italian girls to celebrate Italy's "National Women's Day"

We left Trento on early Monday morning to catch a train to Venice, where we spent the next 13 hours until a night train would take us to Rome. Venice was interesting, but there are no major landmarks or very touristy things to do (unless you pay 140 bucks for a gondola ride). So, we wandered around - literally wandered since the streets are interwoven with the various channels that have given the city its popularity. It is a very small city and you are able to walk from one side to the other very quickly. We enjoyed a lot of stops, sitting down to rest and read by the rivers.

Our night train to Rome was so-so. We met an italian guy our age who was fun to talk to and he spotted us each a sandwich and a snickers bar - a very welcome midnight snack. We slept little on the train as it was extremely cold and we had no blankets, but we felt refreshed once the sun came out in Rome.

Rome was great - I only have a brief time to write, so it will not do the city justice. We saw the Coliseum, the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, Palitine hill, huge churches, thousands-of-years-old buildings and other amazing structures. This has been a great place for me, the Coliseum being my favorite thing. The weather has also been profoundly wonderful, usually close to 60 and sunny. Today we head out for Vatican City, which I hear is enormous in the number of famous sculptures and rich art history. Who knows...maybe we'll even see the Pope?

Italians.

Tonight I experienced my first home-cooked true Italian meal and let me tell you it got better with every bite. We left Nice this morning after breakfast at our hostel and headed for Trento, Italy, a city of 105,000 a short distance north from Venice. We are staying with Federica, another exchange student friend of Tims, which is a real blessing and also very fun as we get to meet and talk with the family. Tonight was quite entertaining as neither of her parents speak a word of English, but we had a good time sharing stories through translation and sign language.

We had a 10 hour train ride that was somewhat long and boring, but we made it across nearly the entire northern part of Italy. Funny thing - I ran into 2 people (who were traveling separetely from each other) from Minnesota, which gave me a good laugh. Small world, I guess.

We will be staying here in Trento for the next few days and are going to take short trips to Venice and the surrounding Italian Alps, which are beautiful. I am looking forward to tomorrow and a short hiking trip up the mountain and maybe a sled ride. The weather has been nice and supposedly will be sunny and beautiful tomorrow.

Anyway, I am going to go sleep and hopefully be rested enough to catch a sunrise coming over the Alps? I think that would start off the day right...

Nice Views.

I´ here in Nice, know to some as the capital of the French Riviera, which, despite the rain is quite the beautiful place - God´s creativity is surely prevalent. We arrived yesterday morning (Thursdy) and were planning to catch some rays by thhe Mediterranean and proceed to Venice on a night train. But, as some things go, neither turned out as we planned. Upon arriving to Nice, it was steadily raining, so we took a quick train to Italy, as we were craving some good pizza for lunch. After wlking around for about an hour we headed back to Nice. We went to the ticket office hoping t catch a night train to Venice, but it turns out the night train doesn´t run during these months. So we booked a train for this morning (which leavs in 1 hour) and decided to find a hostel to sty at for the night. We found a room for 17 Euros and ended up making a friend from Canada. We all walked around Nice for 6 hours, and there are places here that make you forget you are still in France. palm trees and endless ocean view is quite a refreshng sight - especially in Marceh.

Anyway, Im off for Trento, Italy today to meet a friend who is letting us stay with her family. It should be a good time and Im ready for some Italian food!

Countryside.

Well, I promosed a quick runthrough of the days I couldn't write...so here it is.

Our second day in Paris involved much the same as the first, except we were much better with the subway system. We started out at 8 o'clock with hopes to get into the Louvre before it got to packed. When we got there, the line was pretty small and better yet, we found out that on the first Sunday of the month, visiting the Louvre was free, so lucky us! We walked around and viewed paiintgs like the Mona Lisa and Libertie Leading the People and , my favorite, the Raft of the Medusa by Gericault. It was a great experience, but after two hours I was exhausted and had to opt out for a short nap at the hotel. A week straight of running around in foreign cities nonstop can definately wear you out...

After the nap, we enjoyed things like the National Assembly, I went up the Eiffel tower, the Catacombs - which probably was one of my favorite things (Thanks for the tip, Michael!). The story goes that once upon a time, Paris' graves were so full and many had begun to smell, so some smart guy got the idea to dig up all the graves and stack the bones and bodies in underground tunnels. Now, they let you wander through the tunnel - which is literally chalk full of bones, bones, bones -often stacked to the ceiling! It took us a good forty five ,inutes to walk through the whole thing - pretty crazy if you ask me. I nearly stole a skull, but figured I'd have no room for it in my pack...

Now I am sitting in Rennes, France, at Tims aunt and uncles house. It has been great to be here and our hosts have been extremely kind. Yesterday we enjoyed relaxing, great French food and breads, pastries and playing games, as well as touring the beautiful city of Rennes.

Today Tim and myself took a trip north to Bayeux and Arromanches, little towns near the D-Day beaches. It was fun to see and I love the history that is so alive in these places. The port of Arromanches was awesome. During the war and after D-Day, it was used by the Allies as a major port. They built a hugh floating dock that allowed tanks, jeeps and other equipment to be easiy loaded on to land. Some of the dock still rests out in the channel. We also took a picture on a tank, which had probably been a dream of mine since I was 6.

After we went to see Mont St. Michel, one of the seven wonders of the world. It is a huge castle that was built on an awesome island of rock. We went at night, so it was all lit up and also very empty, which was great. But, today was also the first day of rain for us and it was very windy and cold, so after being out for a little we went to a Crepéry and had a very good meal.

The French countryside is beautiful and train rides through are very enjoyable, especially when it is bright and sunny out. Tomorrow we leave Rennes and will head to Paris where we will either connect with a train to Bordeaux or to Italy - we havent decide yet. Oh the joys of the non-tourist season and being able to travel on a whim! Either way, I may not have internet for a few more days. Tomorrow I'm hoping for a nice bright day...and perhaps a few more crepes?

Au revoir!

Euros.

So, in the past few days, I have been unable to update, as I was without a computer in Paris...I am now in Rennes, France, a beautiful city, writing very slowly on a French style keyboard where all the letters are in different spots on the keyboard and all my words have red spellcheck lines under them because they are not French...but I zill type my hardest,,,so please pardon my errors!

Paris turned out to be quite the adventure. We took the Eurostar train from London, which goes under the English channel. It was an excellent experience, despite thinking we lost our tickets for about half an hour and getting my knife confiscated (forgot it was in my bag - sorry Dad). Anyway, upon arrival into Paris we had no plans for where we were going to stay that night and I was a bi toverwhelmed at first with the first language barrier we encountered. We were pestered by a guy who supposedlly worked for the City of France to book a hostel with him, but we followed our instincts (quite wisely; I might add) and went instead to an infor,ation booth, where a very friendly guy found us a room for two nights at a three star Best western for 25 € a night, which was a good deal since most hostels charged 30 in France. When then stumbled down the street towards where we thought our hotel was and found it after 30 minutes or so of wandering (I feel like Paris was full of wandering...not always a bad thing).

Our first stop in Paris was the Palace of Versailles. And earlier when I said the crown jewels were excessive...well, I should have held my toungue for they are nothing compared to the splendor and goldenness of Versailles Palace. Everything was gold. Everything was huge. Everything was marble. It was probably the single biggest splurge of wealth I have ever seen, ever imagined, in one place. It took us a good 3 hours just to walk through the building and another 30 minutes to walk through just a section of the magnificent (even in Feb.) gardens. It seems Louis the XIV didn't care for much, especially the wealthfare of his people, since most of the French treasury had to have been emptied to build this monster Palace. The most amazing things for me were the huge paintings all over the ceilings and walls. Some had to measure close to half a basketball court; no joke.

After that we slowly made our way to the Eiffel Tower and hung out for a while pondering the good things in life like friends, smiling, crowns of gold, fields of gold, gold, crepes, French bakeries, big intellectual words, and sleep...sleep which is in the foremost of my mind at the moment. So, I will sleepily have to take my leave and hope to fill in the rest of the missing days tomorrow!

Gold Nuggets.

Good things today. For starters, sixty degrees and sunny. Can't ask for much more from London in February, huh? We slept in - mostly on accident, but foreign sleep still feels really nice.. Anyway, we decided to join the tourist crowds (which I'm sure were much smaller than summer months) at London Tower, where we spent a good 3 hours reminiscing on past AP Euro studies as we walked through the Old Fort. We followed a tour given by a Warder - a guard of the Tower - and were cheerily reminded of the rich, powerful, gory, English history - a history that, according to the Warder, could have been American's history as well if we had only paid our taxes...

Anyway, London Bridge isn't nearly as cool or stylish as Tower Bridge. St. Paul's Cathedral is really huge and Catholic. "Wellingston's" is the best place for some good fish-n-chips; my video camera is the best purchase I have ever made; Tim still doesn't know how to use a payphone, Starbucks in London makes life better - yes Wayne, better; the Crown Jewels are a bit excessive in my mind - who would enjoy walking around with two tons of gold nuggets strapped to them?; beheadings, hangings, stretchings, and quartering must have been quite the show for the mindless minions of the British Monarchy, bringing scooters with us on the trip would have been a solid decision, they always have to put ridiculous gift shops in every nook and cranny of historical buildings, Mind the Gap, and for real, God save the Queen.

It's been a long day and tomorrow we leave for Paris at 7:30 AM, so I am done for now. London has been a great time and an excellent choice for our first stop. But don't take my word for it - check out Tim's blog at http://www.xanga.com/terickson44 if you feel like reading something a little more witty...

Walking.

Today we walked a solid 7 hours, stopping at various places but mostly just getting lost in London. A highlight was when we accidentally stumbled in to the Household Cavalry Museum and caught most of the Horse Guards Parade. We had no idea what was going on - just a bunch of guys in red coats, guns metal caps, riding horses, but eventually figured it must be an everyday occurance. We also strolled through St. James Park, tried to gain entrance into Buckingham Palace (no chance), and stared in awe at the magnificent Houses of Parliament and Westminister Abbey. How they built those buildings is nearly unthinkable.

All the walking we did had to easily break in my shoes and is seriously preparing me for the Appalachians and if we keep going at this rate I'm going to be skin and bones before we even get there. My face took a nice wind-beating as well...

We went to Zorro: The Musical - on London's version of Broadway later and it rocked! I didn't expect the show to be as good as it was, so it was a very pleasant surprise. There was a very large cast and we got pretty good seats - at a cheap student price as well, because everything here is cheaper for students. Artemiz and two of her Turkish friends joined us for Zorro, so it was fun to meet and hang out with some new people. And who knew I'd make Turkish friends in London?

We have one more day in London tomorrow and then we head out for Paris on Saturday. We are working on securing a place to stay at a hostel in Paris, but it might end up we just walk around until someone lets us in...or we will just sleep with the pigeons.

Me and Tim also had some good discussions today and came to three good conclusions:

1) Boxes of crayons are meant to be shared.

2) Israel and Palestine should chill and be friends, because hey, can't we all be friends?

3) More things in life should be free - like train tickets, hotels, food...

Beginnings.

Well, here in London the sun sets just as in any other country, and tonight I find myself both exhausted and exhilirated after a long day of travel and two days of getting lost in London. My journey is well on its way and the transition from home to afar couldn't have gone better and London has been fresh and new, but for the sake of this blog, before revisting the first two days abroad, I had best start with the story of how I actually ended up abroad...

A few months ago, getting bored with the everyday things of school and work - who doesn't? - I . I had just graduated with my AA from the CC and knew where I wanted to pursue the rest of my college education. But I also realized I was in the perfect time in my life for an adventure - a grand escapement; a fresh experience; a Great Sojourn.

So, without hesitation, I pulled the trigger.

My friend Tim Erickson had also been balancing the rift between stages in life and, after coercing him perhaps just a little, he glady hopped aboard my Adventure Train. Together we set about planning what will, in the end, take 3 months to accomplish. Here is our master plan:

Starting in London, we are to traverse the whole of Europe on the Eurail train. From London we travel by Eurostar to Paris, where we hope to enjoy some good food and much history. From Paris to Rennes - a city west of Paris where Tim has family. From Rennes we move down by train to Barcelona, Spain, which rests near the Meditteranean Sea. Then, taking a ferry we will sail to Italy, where we will spend a good week or so exploring places of history and discovering the secrets of the many famous Italian cities. Next we journey to Swizterland, where a visit to the Alps will be my number one destination. We continue on through Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, stopping wherever we feel, and will eventually end up in perhaps what I think may always be my favorite country, Norway. We will be there about two weeks, reuniting with old friends and hopefully making new ones.

From Norway we are to fly to Roanoke, Virginia, where we will begin what has always been a dream of mine (since being inspired by the famous Kelly Gorman) - hiking the Appalachian Mountains. Tim and I have been researching and purchasing hiking equipment for the past two months and I feel that we are completely ready for this challenge (except for not being in the best of shape?) We will, from Roanoke, hike about 750 miles to Mt. Bethel, Pennsylvania on the Appalachian Trail. I will hopefully be blogging throughout the entirety of my trip, although while hiking it might be tough

So, although we have only spent one night of our many on our trip, I feel like I am well on my way. The weekend prior to leaving was spent (sick most of the time) in Minneapolis filming a wedding and making some final preparations for our trip.

The 8-hour flight from MSP to London went very well. There were very few people on the plane, and most were sleeping, so me and Tim watched a few movies, read and tried to sleep. When we got to London, Artemis Tankas, an old exchange student of Tims picked us up and brought us to where we are now - the International Dorms for King's College London. She is kindly letting us take over her room and is rooming with one of her friends, leaving me and Tim in our own International dorm room.

Our first day was a tired one spent walking around London. We ate a two different restaraunts - an "English diner" and a place that specialized in chicken. Both were good, and surprisingly paid for by our host. Having friends in different places definately has its perks...

Today, after sleeping 13 hours straight last night, we were at the British National Museum, which was really big and awesome. We spent 4 hours there but barely covered half of the museum. Huge exhibits from ancient Egypt and 14th century Britain kept us very entertained. The rest of the night was spent walking around enjoying the sights and eating at a at "Pizza Express" a very good pizza place.

So, that's it for the first update. Hopefully I will be able to write more soon! Hope all is well back home!

Oh and another thing I've found, is that it seems it would be easy to get hit by a car here in London, so I hope I make it through the next few days...