nearing the end

One week from today I'll be back stateside, enjoying the comforts of home and trying to make sense of everything that has happened over the last few months. I stay awake thinking about how I dont want this trip to be over and how it feels as though I just left yesterday and now I'm already headed back. Being on the go all the time makes the time fly, but when I really think about all the places I've seen, and look through my pictures, I realize that indeed it has been a while that I've been over here.
I'm now writing this from Simon and Susies lovely apartment in Berlin, which I arrived to yesterday. They've done a nice job with their place, which is nice and open and sunny (or it would be sunny, I can tell, without all the clouds in the sky). They seem more happy and in love than ever, and I'm really really happy to see them both. I have yet to get out and explore this city at all but Susies dad, Remi, is going to take us out on a driving tour of the city later today, which I'm excited for.
The last two weeks in Italy were quite lovely, with lots of great memories in the making. I have to say, though, that I'm glad to be away not so much from the country itself but rather its inhabitants. Italians in general did not make a very good impression on me, and seemed rather pushy and arrogant on the whole. I realize I had a very limited experience with them, but I have a new appreciation for the general courtesy that most people grant to others in the states, and in lots of other European countries, too, but which seemed to be missing in Italy. Mom and I ended up losing track of what day it was in Venice, where we had an apartment bed and breakfast booked for 6 days, and we went back to Rome a day early, which we did not realize until we tried to check in to our hotel there, and the receptionist told us that we were not scheduled to arrive until the following day. Needless to say, we ended up with an extra day in Rome, which was great because we had not really seen all we wanted to in the day and a half that we had at the beginning of the trip. We went to see the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel, but were appalled by the lines snaking their way back for what seemed like eternity (we literally could not see the beginning of the line), so we decided to go for a walkabout and come back later to see if the madness had dissipated. We wandered into the square in front of Saint Peters Basilica and lo and behold, who's there but the pope himself, doing is weekly public address.. we could hardly believe our eyes, and were amazed at the fact that we had no intention of attending, as the thousand-or-so other people in the square had, but instead just happened upon him by accident. Pretty cool. When we went back to the line for the Sistine Chapel, we found that the entire line had disappeared and we bought our tickets and joined the throngs inside, but loved it regardless, and were left amazed, like at many other points in our time in Italy, at the power and influence of the church in Italian culture.
Soo.... this could perhaps be my last post for this chapter of my adventures. When I get down about the fact that I'm going home and that the trip is nearly over, I remind myself that not only are the comforts of home going to be delicious, but also that looming in the distance is a perhaps even greater adventure in Costa Rica and Peru, which I have hardly had time to plan or think about, but which I am certain will be wonderful. Lots of good things to look forward to and to reflect upon and to experience here and now... lucky lucky lucky....

Italia

How incredibly wonderful it is to be exploring such a beautiful place with my best buddy at last! To begin at the beginning, though, the last night I spent in a hostel was probably my most uncomfortable one yet. I arrived to Romes central train-bus station at about 11 pm after a long day of transit to darkness and rain. I've heard so many bad things about Italian men in particular that I was very hesitant to stop and ask for directions, and besides this, the vast majority of people you meet dont speak any English at all. I wandered around a while and after an hour or so of walking in the rain I arrived at my hostel to find out that they had overbooked the rooms and so I sat in the "lobby" (a couple of gross old couches next to the two beds that the Indian dudes who run the place sleep in at night, seperated from the rest of the hostel by only a couple of shower curtains) while they juggled people around to find me a spot. They eventually solved the problem and I got my bed and took a shower after I realized that the 24 people to a shower ratio would lead to a long line in the morning if I were to wait. The guy running the hostel spent over an hour standing in the big window of the room I was in, arguing with his girlfriend and keeping everyone awake. Oi vey. I eventually fell asleep, thinking that the next two weeks would be so far from this sort of reality and that comfort was around the corner. The next morning I made my way to the hotel where I was to meet mom and checked in and was completly elated to see her not long after my arrival. It's so wonderful to be able to share this experience with her! We spent the first two days exploring Rome, which is just as lucious as a city could be. The air itself feels thick and juicy... the huge palm trees and enormous old houses and of course the ancient center with the Pantheon, Colloseum, etc, etc... just amazing. We walked till we could walk no more and ate good food and drank fantastic coffee... wonderful. After our two days in Rome we took a train ride north to Florence where we rented a car and got ridiculously lost trying to find our way into Tuscany, where we have been the last two days. The scenery here is exactly what I had imagined it to be, with huge old vineyards and tall cyprus trees and winding roads. We're pleasantly suprised, as well, to see that there are almost no chains of any kind here. No huge hotels or McDonalds or anything of the sort. The beauty is in what this place is and also what it is not. We've been staying in San Giminiano, a walled midevial city atop a tall hill, with incredible panoramic views and perfectly preserved historical buildings. There are really too many details to even write about, so I'll just say that the trip has been a dream come true thus far and it's more beautiful than I ever imagined it could be. It's great to have a travel companion and it's great to be getting out into the far out places that having a car allows one to see. Fantastically wonderfully beautifully grand. That's it in a nut shell. I'll leave it at that.

Amsterdam fun

Just arrived in Brussels after four beautiful days in what is my favorite European city yet, Amsterdam. The city itself looks a lot like Bruges but is a much bigger version, with much more action going on and more of a big city feel to it. The buildings are again very typically Dutch... tall and thin with interesting detailing at the roof line and with big windows maximizing the canal views. There are again arching bridges over the canals, which are lined with beautiful old boats of all types of design. Perhaps the highlight of my time in this city, besides Simons company in general, was the afternoon we spent on rented bicycles, touring around the city with the hundreds of thousands of other people on their bicycles. Seriously, besides the architectural beauty of the city, the thing that most struck me, and one of the things I loved most about the city and the attitude of the people who live in it, was the use of bicycles. For them they are a priority, and have been for many many generations, and it is therefore sortof part of the national psyche to use a bike as a daily way of getting to points within the city. The bike paths are thorough and well kept and logical and connect litterally everything within the city. There are people of every age peddaling together, grey hair or training wheels, it's all there. I was really quite struck by the Dutch people and their laid back attitude, where they are very practical and sensible, they are also easy going and are not people to interfere with the decisions of others. Besides this, they all speak impecable English and are entirely polite and welcoming to the tourists who swarm their city. All in all, it was a very accessable city for an outsider. I felt a bit of jealousy for people who get to live in such a lovely society and such a clean and practical city. There are, of course, the neighborhoods that Amsterdam is notorious for, along with all the beauty and practicality, but these neighborhoods, as far as I could tell, were about ninety-five percent tourists looking to partake in any of the miriad activities this city allows, but really, I dont think the Dutch people themselves are frequenting the "coffee shops" or red-light district on any sort of a regular basis. My favorite areas were definetly far away from these places, in the more residential neighborhoods, which frequently have little squares with cafes where people were relaxing and spending their afternoon with friends or reading, and just generally enjoying the lovely afternoon from what I could see. All in all, Amsterdam was wonderful and I hope that I'll one day be able to return for perhaps a longer bit of time. I was instantly trying to come up with ideas as to how I could reasonably find employment to stay for a bit of time. We'll see... :-) It was also wonderful to spend a bit of time with my beloved brother and get to experience a foreign place with him, no matter if only for a couple of days. Today I'm in Brussels, where there is a nice older neighborhood center surrounded by a lot of financial/industrial sort of buildings. I'm only here for two days and will spend them washing my laundry and repacking my bag in preparation for Itlay, which I'm totally psyched for. It's amazing that I'll be there in only a couple of days, and mom will be there, and it will be warm and wonderful. It's all great and exciting and fantastic. I feel so lucky to be over here.

Bruges!!!

I think I've landed in a little piece of heaven. After the busy busy streets and OH-so-crowded metros of Paris, I took a train north to Brussels (first class due to a very nice train station ticket window guy who gave me a sweet deal), and then another train further north to Bruges, a city that will forever bring to mind the Europe that I always wished to see. Its seriously beyond me to adequately describe this place with words. It's like landing in the middle of a fairytale except that there are people who actually live and work here and it's not just a make-believe village built to appease tourists who are searching for "old world Europe". Everywhere you look is a flawless vision of a 15th century Flemish village, with canals cutting through every direction and little arched stone bridges, and tiny, winding cobblestone streets and huge peaked stable doors. The main square has spiring cathedrals that have bell chimes at each hour (I've heard this is one of few cities in Europe who still employs a full time bell chimer for their main squares clocktower). Today the air is thick with cool moisture, not rain, but very atmospheric, and the light has a very soft look to it, making for what I hope will turn out to be beautiful photos.
There are, of course, tourists absolutely everywhere. I try my hardest to get away from them though and go for walks in the fringes of the city, away from the shops and public squares, and try to feel for what it is like for those who live here. There's a little bar underneath my hostel where I've been getting a pint of different Belgian beer each night of my stay and I talked for a while last night with a man who has lived here his entire life and says he wouldn't imagine living anywhere else. I told him he was lucky to live surrounded by such beauty, which I'm sure he already realized. My hostel has been one of the best on this trip thus far, in a 500 year old building, and thanks to the hostel-bed-placement gods, I got the best bed in the house, right next to the window, with a view of the magnificent church across the street to fall asleep and wake up to.
I am a bit sad to leave but I must. This city will certainly be one of my top suggestions to anyone who in the future might ask me where I would recommend travelling in Europe. Tomorrow I go to Amsterdam, where I'm extremely excited to meet up with Simon for a couple of days of carousing. I miss my brother and very much look forward to some good catching up. Lots to look forward to, but this moment now is still so sweet.