A 3,040 word blog

That little speck in the air is the Gondola that we jumped from. That even smaller speck is a person in mid fall. And that water, 430 feet below, is how far we fell.
And yet, the cow seems unimpressed.

Things that make our moms worry..

What weighs 175 lbs and falls like a mishapen bag of rocks through the chilly swiss air?

(perfect comedic timing)

An American tourist falling 450 feet from a gandola above a lake with a rubber band tied to his feet!

So, in case you haven't heard, we went bungy jumping in Switzerland yesterday. It is the longest free fall of any bungy jump in the world, and we plummeted all 450 feet of it. So, just for perspective:
-The Marriot building downtown is 13 stories. We fell roughly three times that height.
-We fell one and a half football fields.
-The height of 43 NBA basketball hoops, end to end.
-From home plate to deep center field, plus a hundred feet (in most ball parks)
Basically, it was a long drop, with a hell of rebound. I would try to describe the sensation, but I don't think I could do it justice in a blog. Although, it was completely different from skydiving. From and airplane, there is so much wind resistance that you really feel as though you are flying, but from the gondola, you feel as though someone just kicked you in the butt as you peered over the edge of a building. The rush is insane, and you can feel the adrenaline throughout your entire body. Plus, the scenery in the little swiss valley wasn't half bad either.
And I know we haven't posted about Vienna, but I'll leave that to James. Trust me, it'll be good. There was a buffet, unlimited beer, and an eating contest...

Rome, part (however you say two in italian)

So, up to this point the whole train thing had been working perfectly. But, between James and myself, with our overwhelming intellects and extreme levels of maturity, it had to happen sooner or later. So, long story short, we missed a subway train by less than two minutes, that made us five minutes later than planned. This five minute delay had a domino effect that made us miss a sleeper half way across italy later that night.
Crap.
So, seeing as we were stuck in Rome for the night, we went straight back to the hostel we had stayed at before, and begged for a room. We ended up in the exact same room as before. And, since tradition was holding, we went back to the same restaurant we ate at so much the first time. We got the same waiter, and the same food. We then spent the next day on the same beach, being grossed out by the same old naked Italians. All in all, a very enjoyable mistake.

I am so blessed. Wow.

I just sat here in Budapest watching a music video. The theme of the video was to show people lip syncing to the song in as many cool places around the world as possible. What is amazing to me is how many of these places I have been to. They were singing in front of the bramburg gate, times square, huntington beach, chicago skyline, los angeles skyline, paris, prague, and long beach. As I watched it, I could not believe how many of these places I have been and recognized instantly.
I have been so blessed.

It was only a matter of time before one of us ended up bleeding....

We are in San Agnello, Italy right now. We are about two kilometers west of Sorrento, one of the most beautiful places in the world. Yesterday, we went on a boat tour of the Gulf of Naples and the island of Capri.
Capri is hands down one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The entire island is a massive piece of limestone just sticking out of the ocean. It is a lot like Hawaii, just with a rocky beach and not as jungle like. To put it in perspective, real estate is $18,000 per square foot on Capri. Yes, per square foot. Needless to say, it is really nice. But, now on to the bloodshed.

Our boat tour included cliff jumping and cave diving. We spent a while jumping off of a forty five foot cliff, which was a blast. I've discovered that this is just the right distance for a person to have fully formed thoughts and ponder wonders of the universe while falling like a sack of rocks into the open ocean. Even though we had to wait a half hour for one of the Canadian girls to jump from a twenty foot cliff, it was still fun. Sadly, our guide would not let us jump from the ninety foot cliff. I am still kind of mad about that.
From the cliffs we went around to different caves that you have to swim into. The cool thing about this is that each cave produces a different color based on the type of coral and algae that grows on the rocks below you. When you first swim in, it just looks dark, but once you have turned around the light bounces off the bottom and turns the water a vivid color. It was an otherworldly effect, much like something out of a bad movie set. There is a white cave, a green cave, and the blue grotto which is supposedly world famous even though we'd never heard of it.
After seeing the white cave, our guide, Captain Augustino (I think he deemed himself a captain...) told us that if you swim down under a rock wall, you can come up on the other side into another small but very cool cave.

At this point, I need to digress for a second. I had always heard coral refered to as being razor sharp, and I never really believed it. I mean, its coral for hell's sake, how can it be razor sharp? Well, its true. But anyways...

So I went to swim under the coral covered limestone wall. I'm not sure if the captain pointed me in slightly the wrong angle, or what, but either way I didn't make it. I swam under the wall, and when I came up to surface, rather than hitting air, I promply ran the top of my head into a bunch of coral where two rocks formed an inverted V. This wasn't quite the worst part though. There was no air in the crevace that my head was almost lodged in. So, after shouting obscenities that probably offended many conservative fish, I realized I was now stuck under very sharp rocks, with no air in my lungs, and I didn't entirely know where I was supposed to be going. Rather than try to make it to the other side, I decided to go back. Seeing as I was slightly knocked stupid, bleeding a bit from my head, and kind of freaking out, I was swimming frantically back. In the process, I dragged my back along several feet of coral before I got to the surface. When I got back to the boat, we washed the blood out of my hair and off my back. My back now looks like I got clawed by an angry animal, and I have three goose eggs on my head and one small jagged cut. And all I wanted was to see the damn cave!
But, once we were sure that I wasn't going to die, we went to a few more caves and the blue grotto. (and just for the record, three hours of salt water in fresh cuts doesn't feel too great)
The blue grotto was the last cave that you normally have to pay to enter, but we got there late enough that the patrol was gone. It is about 25 yards square, and when you get inside the light and coral creates the most incredible electric blue color I have ever seen. I had no idea that nature can produce such intense colors with so much depth and vibrancy. I really don't think that any camera could do that place justice. It was such an incredible experience to be in there.

Also, James and I both now understand the rationale behind siestas. It is almost hot beyond description in Italy in the middle of the day. It feels like someone has just soaked a blanket in extremely hot water, and then wraps you up in it and laughs the whole time. But hey, we can't complain too much, we are in Italy :)

Pisa and Florence: leany things and pretty stuff

Well here we are in Florence. We spent last night in Pisa, in a double wide. Seriously. Our hostel was a trailer park where they have a few permanent ones set up that they rent out among the people that live in the park. It was a crazy set up, but it was kinda cool. I felt all red neckish while in Italy. I never thought that could happen.
We spent about an hour in Pisa actually doing touristy things. That is really all you need; there is the tower (which really leans at a crazy angle) a cathedral (that you have to pay to go into, yeah, right) and a baptistry. Other than that, there is just a bunch of shops and Nigerian dudes selling 'Rolexs'.
An hour and a half later we were in Florence. This city is exactly what my American brain thinks that all of Italy should look like. It is a city surrounded by rolling hills and tall thin trees. The buildings are all the color of old stucco with clay tile roofs. This city is gorgeous, and probably didn't look much different five hundred years ago. The skyline is still dominated by the cathedral, the river is nasty, and restaurants are everywhere. In short, this city is absolutely gorgeous. When we see more tomorrow, we'll have much more to tell.
Ciao.

Rome: "We put the Holy in Holy Merciful Crap!"

Well here we are in Rome. Our hostel looks like a cathedral inspired villa, it is almost totally empty, we can hear, see, and smell the ocean without leaving the parking lot, and we are full of the best pizza in the world and gelato. Life is good.

Oh yeah, and we saw priceless works of art and the foundations of possibly the greatest civilization in the history of mankind. (and they still make amazing pizza, by the way)

Well, yesterday we went to the Colosseum. To say it was unreal is an understatement. Of course there were the moments when we had to nerd it up and examine the style of columns and the endless barrel vaulting that made the concourse, but luckily we kinda zoomed out and realized "holy crap, we're in the colosseum!".
As you stand were the seats were, you can almost hear the roar of the crowd. You can now see the maze of underground tunnels where the tigers, lions, bears, and other dangerous angry animals were starved for weeks then set loose on christians and gladiators. You can see the elevators where the animals, soldiers, and even landscaping magically appeared out of no where. It is a massive structure, in every sense of the word. It is tall, heavy, imposing, and possibly one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I could write about this for hours, but honestly the best way to understand it is to go. You can't really get a grasp for the size and engineering that went into the building. It is creeping up on two thousand years old, holds as many people as rice eccles at full capacity, could be filled for naval battles, and is built out of rocks.

After that, we trekked to the Roman Forum. ( the romans were smart dudes, the trek consisted of sitting in the shade for ten minutes, then walking across the street)
The forum was a great experience. To be able to walk the grounds and know what happened there was a rush. We walked where emperors have walked, where the senate debated, and where conquering leaders had victory parades. Needless to say, it was pretty cool.

Today, we went to the Vatican. The Vatican has a large museum.
Wait, let me rephrase that.
The Vatican's museum is a monstrosity that is outdone only by the Louvre, but not for lack of trying. Where most museums have a specality or one thing they have a lot of, the Vatican goes for a shot gun effect. They have a lot of a lot of things. The Etruscian and Roman collections were incredible. I have never seen so many original marbles in such good shape in one place. Usually bits are reconstructed so that you don't stare at fragmented torsos all day, but there was very little of that. Most of what was put out to see was in very good shape and original.
*side note for other art nerds that might be reading this: we saw laocoon. he is amazing.

Of course, the best part of the Vatican museum was the Sistine Chapel. Pictures don't do it justice. The colors, the anatomy, the play of light, the positioning of figures, the scale, and the otherworldly effect it has when it all comes together is hard to describe. There is just a feeling of magnitude when you see it. A person could be utterly ignorant of all the importance of the work Michelangelo did to art, and still be wowed by it.

After that, we strolled over to St. Peter's to see what all the hubub was about. The only way that I can describe the inside of the basillica is enormous. That building is bigger than big. It is beyond cavernous. Google a picture of the inside, admire how everyone looks like ants infront of any of the pillars, paintings, or statues, then accept the fact that pictures are futile in trying to convey the gigantic-ness of the building. I've seen a few cathedrals in my day (thanks to Cheryl), but this was the cathedral to end all cathedrals. Everything about it is just on a different scale from anything I have ever seen. The height, the light, the stretch of the nave, it is all in its own little universe of amazing church stuff. The play of the light reflecting from the golden roof (and walls, and everything else..) off of the red marble, to the white marble, and then to the statues (which are rather large, also) will take your breath away. I had to make an effort to admire the art and proportional beauty and avoid being awed by how big it was.

So, now you are all caught up on our galavanting about in Rome. Add in your own witty comments about lots of pizza and the mystery of why only flabby old women take advantage of the topless beach policy, and it is as if you came too. Although honestly, if I had been fully aware of the abuse of the whole beach thing, I might have had second thoughts. But only maybe.

Ramstein: a vacation vacation

We spent the last few days with our friend JP. We met him in the dorms at the U, and he lives in Germany, so we figured why not go see him for a bit. It was a perfectly timed break from all the traveling (even though we spent 12 hours on trains to get to him). He lives in a villiage just off of Ramstein Airbase, which means he lives right in the middle of the biggest population of Americans outside of the states.
Because his dad is a civilian contractor with the air force, we got to go galavant about on base and enjoy all the wonderful Americaness there. Just for the record, hearing large amounts of english is a beautiful thing, as is going to chili's.
While we were there, his dad was nice enough to take a day off of work and take us to a few small towns along the Rhein and some awesome castles. I can't even tell you how beautiful that country is. I have never seen such thick forests outside of a rainforest. You can sit and watch the wind roll over the wheat fields for as far as you can see. It was really a beautiful place to be, and a nice chance to stop traveling and eating stuff on the run.
Here is the part to make our moms feel better:
We got warm beds provided by someone that we aren't afraid might rob us. We had breakfast made in the morning, hot dinner at night, and laundry washed and dried in the Bavarian sun. And yes, we had showers with as much hot water and pressure as we wanted. It was a beautiful thing.

After a night train from Munich, we are now in Rome. Our hostel is way out of down town Rome but it is right on the beach and huge. So far, all we've done is eat panninis and get an initial sunburn, and I'm totally okay with that.
Have fun at home everyone, and if you are reading this, you are being missed.

African pimps and cheeky gelato salesmen...

So we're now in the Czech Republic, at the national capital of Prague. Prague is exactly like every other city that we've been to so far, completely unique and fascinating in its own way. It's completely opposite of what we were expecting, too. Amazingly, the city survived numerous religious wars and both world wars almost completely unscathed. The result is that you have a massive city that has more identities than you can count. As you walk through central city square you can honestly see the evolution of architecture over time. It's so incredible. On the top of a huge hilltop is a castle that was first built in 300 AD, and a mile away there's a building inspired by the cubist movement. It's an art history dream. We had both expected to see towering, heavy buildings made of incredible amounts of stone, but the entire place actually has a light, airy feel to it. I think the best way to describe the tone is that it feels like a movie set. It's so fluid and ever-changing that you almost don't expect it to be real.

Last night was eventful.. We started out at a Czech restaurant eating Goulash and Bohemian dumplings, got on the tram and went the wrong way, getting lost on a hilltop overlooking the entire city, finally found the center of the city where we made friends with a pimp and drug dealer from Africa (he was actually really nice), almost got into a fight with some anti-American gelato salesmen, walked along a beautiful, ornate bridge spanning the massive river surrounding the city, and watched Prague light up as the cathedrals, castles and museums all turned on their lights as the sun set. Sounds romantic, huh? Yeah.. too much "dude" on this vacation for those moments to have as much romance as it sounds. It really was so incredible though. This place isn't real.

Today we're going to go check out the main castle, go on a pub crawl (in our excitement for the beer last night we really did get on the wrong train and ended up on the other side of the city, missing last night's pub crawl. So disappointing), eat some more stuff we can't pronounce, and live it up :) there's apparently a pretty killer zoo here too.. If we can find a way to go to the zoo together without people thinking we're gay, I'm totally down for it.

One Love, Everybody

The blog where Cameron has no witty title.

First off, we are now in Krakow, Poland. It is the second largest city in the country, and does a lot to redeem our opinion of poor unfortunate Poland. It is a beautiful city, with energy, parks, buildings worth seeing, and people that actually smile. It is a very pleasant place, and somewhere I would love to come back to some day. But now, the reason for my lack of inspiration, humor, and wittiness...

Today we went out to Auschwitz. I could write at length in detail about the things that we saw and the experience, but I'd honestly rather not. Maybe James will feel the urge.
All I want to say is that we saw everything you have ever seen in a documentary. We have seen every heartbreaking photo, every other worldly story, every inhuman act. We have seen the bunks, the furnaces, and walked though the gas chambers. We have seen the stolen clothing and belongings. We have seen fabric made from the hair of corpses. We have seen the ashes.

Auschwitz is a place I don't ever want to go again. I had the opportunity to stand in the mud and personally watch the rain drip from the barbed wire. I wish I could describe it, but I can't. I have never been in a place like that before. Anything that anyone could ever tell you about it doesn't do it justice. It is literally impossible to imagine such a terrible place. If you haven't been, you just can't understand. I felt as though my humanity were slipping just by walking the grounds. We have walked the grounds of hell on earth.

Hmm...How to write a title for Warsaw..

So today is the first time so far on the trip that we've been to a new place, and from the second we stepped off of the train felt like we were in a different world. Poland, Warsaw specifically, is a place like none I've ever been. Cameron and I were saying from the second we broke into the sunlight after coming out of the pit of a train station, that it looks as though it were the movie set from the seventies.
Truly, it's a city of halves. On one hand, you have the nice district. An area that's the main tourist attraction. It's really a beautiful place, cobblestone streets and medieval styled buildings. There are numerous cathedrals and religious buildings that line the same street, all of which have striking sculpture both on the exterior as well as on the inside (side note... oddly there is absolutely no stained glass inside Polish churches.. it almost made them look half-done). It's on this same street that the president of Poland lives, as well as a massive concert hall with incredible column arcades. This half of Warsaw is beautiful.

The rest of Warsaw is not. It's striking in how different it is from the tourist attracting areas of the city. Without exaggerating, it completely feels as though the Iron Curtain were still in place. Capitalism in general feels like it's a completely new concept. The buildings, landscaping, public transport, all of it, it all feels ancient and decaying. In the part of town where our hostel is, it looks like what I would assume Bosnia or one of the eastern European war ravaged countries would look like. Most of the buildings are half finished, rusted out, or abandoned. Those that are still being used are mainly powered by generator, as they don't have reliable electric. It's so eye opening. Cameron put it well when he said that all of the building projects here look as though they ran out of funding halfway through. It's shocking. When we were walking back from the market we saw a number of homeless people sitting on a park bench by an empty and cracked fountain pool. When they asked for money, I instead tossed them an orange I had. When we walked back a few minutes later, we saw that they had eaten the whole thing. Rinds and all. It's amazing. It's so sad though that it takes moments like those to help open your eyes to what you have. We're so blessed... it's beyond belief.

Luckly our hostel is incredible. The place absolutely blew us away. Our rooms are some of the nicest we've had so far on our trip and the bathrooms/common area are perfect. You can tell that the entire place was purchased through an IKEA catalog, but it's still great accomodations. If anyone ever decides to stay in Warsaw, I totally recommend the Krokodyle hostel. That is...unless you're a single woman walking alone... or an orange peel.

Time to go eat funny named cereal and relax for a few, we're off to Krakow tomorrow, then on to Prague.

Love

Jamesy

Berlin: part... whatever post this is from Berlin, there has been a few.

First off, a disclaimer. Foreign keyboards are all jacked up. Seriously, Germans just don't place the same priority on letter and symbols that we do. So any random dots and weird symbols, blame on the country. Also, some of the letters are switched, hence I have many Zs and Ys backwards. And, to get a proper contraction written, I have to hold down three buttons at once(there is an A thing there instead). §o, zouäll just have tü deäl with it.
Today we went to the Pergamon museum. It is the biggest museum in Berlin, and cool of great roman, greek, and roman copies of greek, architecture. One of the biggest attractions is the Pergamon alter, which was moved completely inside the museum. There is a huge frieze that goes all around the alter. It tells stories about the gods warring with giants, and the stories of many of the god's lives. The best part of it though is that on the massive staircase leading up to the actual alter, the relief characters actually spill out onto the stairs in mid battle. It is an amazing effect. If haven't seen a picture before, I highly recommend taking ten seconds to google image search Pergamon Alter Staircase. It'll blow your mind.
The crown jewel of the museum is the Ishtar Gate. It was built by King Nebakanezzer (hey, I can't spell with a normal keyboard, give me a break) as a tribute to the God Ishtar, and the ultimate defense of it's time for his capitol city, Babylon. It is made of blue hand baked and painted bricks that is seven meters (about fifteen feet) thick in places. It has lions and other animals prowling in rows, and the top is covered in defensive/artistic crenallations (that is for you, Cheryl). Once again, it is without question worth your time to look up a picture. It's bigger than it looks, I promise.
Well, that is about all for today, we head to Prague tomorrow night, where I'm sure we'll find more shenanigins for you all to read about. Until then, when in Berlin, try the pizza, it's great.

Berlin: The 4th Reich... The lesser known, American College Eurotrip Reich

So it's about time that I (James) actually sit down and do one of the blog entries. It's not at all that I haven't wanted to, it's just simply that by the time I email everyone my internet time is typically gone. So, in the event that anyone has anxiously been awaiting my words, I'm sorry for the long wait.

So we're in Germany now, stop number five. So far I've been absolutely amazed with Berlin. I can't even say how much different it is than I expected. Maybe it's that all my visual knowledge comes from Indiana Jones.. but I've been shocked. It's so unexpectedly beautiful (And so much cheaper and entertaining than Copenhagen. But then again, I think Tooele puts Copenhagen to shame). It kind of feels like a more diverse version of Washington DC. The architecture and sculpture is incredible. It has so many varieties of styling that it always keeps you looking. A good amount of the city is brand new, being built since the wall fell. A good chunk of it though has classical stylistics or Baroque tones. It's so easy to just let your eyes wander, trying to soak everything in.

Today we went on a free walking tour of the city. There's a company that recruits grad students and college professors to lead tours around the big cities in Europe to show tourists all of the big sites for free. They collect tips at the end, but they give you such an awesome historical account of everything. It's so much better to actually be able to understand what something is, and why it is where it is, instead of just standing there staring at it with a dumb American look on your face. They brought us to so many awesome places today though. The Pergamon, the haulocost memorial, the Brandenburg gate, the Reichstag, The Berlin Wall, just to name a few. It was incredible to think of so many of the historical things that happened in the places we were standing, even as few as 19 years ago. Cameron made an interesting point while we were at the memorial.. That if Hitler had had his way, I wouldn't be there right then. Despite my charm and good Arian looks, I do have some Jewish blood.

What I thought was amazing though, and perfectly fitting, is that next to the 34 million dollar monument dedicated to the millions of lives purged during the Haulocost, was an empty parking lot. Underneith the parking lot? Hitler's bunker where he committed suicide in the waning days of the war. There's barely even a marker acknowledging its existence, let alone any sort of an attraction.

Keeping in step with the rest of the trip though, yes, it did downpour on us again today. Word to the wise... next time you're in Europe, BRING AN UMBRELLA. Hell, bring a big plastic bubble you can walk in. It's nuts. The day started out so beautifully too. On the bright side, the rain gives an incredible effect to some of the more emotionally driven sculpture.

Today is also a German holiday apparently.. So, happy Assumption (I think that's what they said...) Day, everyone! Go out and... assume some things?

We may be leaving Berlin as early as tomorrow night, we only booked our hostel for two nights not knowing that most of the hostels in town were sold out for Saturday and Sunday night. If that's the case, I guess we're on to Warsaw. If not, more rain and beer drinking! Pub Crawl tonight, oh yeah ;)

Happy Thursday to everyone, stay dry!

Love,

James and Cameron

Copenhagen: the city of, well, it's at least a city!

Okay, so let's be frank here. Paris, amazing. Brugge, preserved and beautiful and full of beer. Amsterdam, has everything you could ever want or need to make you happy or give you a reason to pray for someone. Copenhagen, well.... its Copenhagen! It has a kind of chew named after it? It's old?
Well, we got into town this morning after an 11 hour train ride during which we slept and travelled to the Czech, Poland, and Germany. When we booked our tickets here, James asked me, somewhat rhetorically, what there is to do in Copenhagen. And, well, we haven't exactly figured out the answer yet. But we are working on it. It is a pleasant enough city, not well preserved (at least for anything built after the 70's) with a nice museum and city center. It was kind of telling when the walking tour guide we got at the tourist office listed seeing the canals as a major activity. Not, the historic buildings near the canals, or the site where something happened, but the canal itself.

Wait, on further reflection, I have found something interesting about Copenhagen. There is a wonderful museum with dozens of original Greek and Roman sculptures and numerous Rodins. We spent a good amount of time there and enjoyed it greatly. Also, it hasn't rained. That seems like no big deal until you have to carry your entire life on your back on a daily basis. Hooray for no rain!

Amsterdam: the city of no shame.

We've been in Amsterdam for a couple days now. The most striking thing about this city is that no one ever really feels any shame, for anything. Obviously, there is the red light district where you can shop for prostitutes in public, and the coffee shops were you can buy pot and then smoke it on the street right in front of a cop. But the level of personal reservation on a person to person level is unlike anything I've ever seen.
See, there are these public urinals, in the middle of the street. They are divided into fourths, so four dudes can use them at the same time. That's not just a phenomen in the bar district though. They are all over the city, even in mostly residential neighborhoods (although these are single person models, but the fact remains that I can pee and watch people ride past on bicycles).
Second, we went to a rugby tournament yesterday for about five hours to watch international teams play sevens rugby and one group play tens (Zac, you are welcome to boil in jealousy right now. But we thought about you the whole time). There was two groups of streakers during the tournament. The first was a single guy from a team that had lost out of the tournament. The best part was that as he ran around the field and kicked the ball and danced (and James took pictures), no one really cared. In fact, he literally ran around for at least three minutes before anyone realized that security should probably make him stop, and even then they were exceedingly lazy about it. The second group was an entire team that came out to congradulate the womens sevens team that won their tournament. Needless, to say, both occasions were met with riotous applause and witty remarks from the announcer.

As we sit here waiting for our train to copenhagen, I can't help but think what a beautiful city Amsterdam is. The canals, cathedrals, and old houses and buildings are better than any post card or picture can do justice. Despite the cold and rain, this is an exceedingly beautiful place with a kind of fun and energy that I've rarely felt anywhere else. I can't even say how glad I am that we came here.

Brugge: beer, bars,and buckets of chocolately rain

First off, let me apologize for the last hasty post. I was typing with a timer literally ticking down my time above my text. I kinda just barfed facts and thoughts while trying to be witty, and I'm pretty sure I failed on all accounts.

Well, we are currently in Brugge, Belgium. From what I've seen, Brugge is west flemish (the random and endless strange dialect spoken here) for rain and old churches. The town is only a half hour walk from one end to the other, and its an endless maze of west flemish street names. But I digress, first a little about brugge...

It is the best preserved mideval city in Eurppe. There are computer shops in four hundred year old buildings.
It is ridiculously expensive. Even the bruggians (bruggers? bruggites? brugs?) bitch about it.
It is the epicenter of belgian chocolate and beer and other finery. You can literally buy over five hundred kinds of beer in a single bar. Most of them on tap.

So, we've been here for a couple days and are planning to leave tomorrow. We did pretty much everything to do in Paris the first day we were there. The second day we went to sacre coeur, almost got in a fight with a "souvenier selling" pickpocket that seemed much more interested in Juliet than James and I (imagine that, more attracted to a gorgeous brunette french speaking canadian girl than two smelly american dudes...) and got hopelessly lost.

In Brugge, there is a town hall building that is amazing. It is dripping with High Gothic architecture, and more gold and family shields than I have ever seen on a building before. Attached to it is a tiny cathedral that is obviously Romanesque, but had some strange windows and faces carved in the walls. I've never seen anything like it and it definitely doesn't fit any style I or James know. Cheryl, help!
There are also two town squares full of wretchedly overpriced shops and restaurants that sell all manor of chocolates and pasteries and of course, beer. (for example, some of the best beer here is brewed by monks. and it'll run you 4.5 euros a glass) I'd love to bring everyone lots of chocolate and stuff, but I'd rather eat as much of it as possible myself :)
It has rained both days we have been here. Actually, let me rephrase that, it has poured for both days we have been here. In Belgium, it gives you about ten minutes of warning rain, and then just breaks loose. It only comes a couple hours at a time though, so at least the entire day isn't trashed.

Today's fun visual for the people that know us best:
Being full of chocolate and such, James and I both desperately needed a workout. After asking directions from our friendly bartender/hostel employee/resident badass, we walked to continental fitness.
It is a gym that looks like it was built in an old barn, although the inside is quite nice. It had three rooms on two levels and quite a bit of good equipment By good, I mean a step above what was in the weight room in our middle school. It felt very old school, but was a good experience and we got a good workout.
(for the record, europeans have a strange obsession with early nineties music and eighties rock ballads, even while they lift weights, i.e. Meatloaf's paradise by the dashboard light and some Hootie and the Blowfish..)

Well, I have almost run out the battery on the computer I borrowed from a lovely australian woman named Andrea, so I must go. I'll leave you with a visual though.
I'm sitting in a dark back corner of a Belgian bar. It is fairly warm, with dark wood, barely functioning lights, and leather chairs so old Noah saw that animals that used to wear it. There are twenty people speaking thrity languages at once, and they are all enjoying a pint of something you can't get anywhere else, even if you tried. It is raining like the apocolypse outside. The candle holders have held flames for so many conversations, pounds of wax have dripped down and covered the handles almost completely. You can see the knife marks where the bartenders have cut it away so that they can move the holder without coloring their hands red. I just caught a wiff of chocolate, cigarette smoke, and cherry beer all at the same time. The table I'm sitting at was obviously hand built and looks older than the brick and wood plank ceiling over me.
Life is good.

Paris, the City of Light, Love, and Bodily Secretions...

So, we are finishing our second day in Paris. We got in about 10:00, and after a trip that would put Moses and crew to shame, walked to our hostel. This place is much nicer than anything I ever imagined. Our beds are clean, changed regularly, and the security for our smelly dirty stuff left behind is great.
We spent yesterday heading to the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, almost all by foot. It was just as amazing as the first time. James said that he could sit and watch the sun set on the Eiffel Tower everyday for the rest of his life and never get bored with it, I'd definitely have to agree.
After our desperately needed sleep and showering (there is not words for the smells that came from my feet) we went to Sacre Coeur today. We enjoyed the sights, artists, and beautiful part of the city. We then proceeded to get lost in an industrial graveyard part of town that was wretched and ugly as hell.
The best part of this whole city has been a nice Canadian girl we met in our hostel. Her name is Juilet, and her infinitely better-than-mine french and good looks have gotten us out of more than one jam and probably better prices.

So, Paris is stilll the same. Gorgeous, amazing, and covered in visible and non visible human excrement.

Holy Merciful Crap

It's official, we've entered full "freakout because we are about to leave the country and everything we've ever known and loved for a quarter of a year" mode.  It is surreal to be a day away from what we have worked for and dreamed about for six months.

James spent months dragging himself out of bed early enough to open Starbucks, and his afternoons getting cried on, cried at, cried about, cried with, farted on, concussed,and punched in the stones by utterly unapologetic seven year olds.

I was in my desk ( how I got there at times is still open to speculation ) at Discover Card at 6:00 AM, telling the world one person at a time that yes, you do in fact have to pay your bills.  And no, I can't excuse half your debt if you pay what you owed last month. And yes,it is legal to take your stuff for not paying up.  But at least I learned some creative new expletives and never got hit in the nads (although I was threatened with much worse).

So here we are, in a kind of brutal limbo where we can't cash in a half year's effort, but our bags are literally packed and waiting to be slept on under a belgian viaduct.