Ok, now that I'm in Munich I have some time to get this entry done finally. I'm kinda falling behind here a bit because I've been on the move pretty much constantly for the past week or so. Promise I'll get the Amsterdam and Berlin entries done soon. As for Bruges, it's a beautiful city that is stuck in the middle ages as far as appearances. Pretty much all of the buildings in the city are very old or have been rebuilt to the same original specs. It is also a very small city as it only takes about 15 minutes [View Full Entry]

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Paris was interesting. At first I didn't think that I was going to enjoy it after my first afternoon and evening there. After coming from a bunch of smallish beach towns (compared to Paris that is), Paris was a bit overwhelming as it's such a huge city. After a bit of trouble trying to figure out the metro system there (just wasn't used to the system they used there) I made my way to my hostel which was located in a not so nice area. The hostel was decent I guess, but for some reason I ended up being in rooms [View Full Entry]

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I have a bunch of cool things to add and have met a lot of great people since Genoa. I'll add more when I get a chance. I'm leaving Nice tomorrow after spending three nights here, longer than I anticipated, but for good reasons. Some of the highlights: gambling in Monte Carlo, swimming off of the beaches of the French Riviera, doing vodka shots in an Irish bar, and many more. I'll add more details when I'm in Paris, which is my next destination and I'll be there for three nights at least. Also sorry that I haven't been able [View Full Entry]

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I came to Genoa planning on only passing through for one night and then continuing on to Cinque Terre the next morning. I decided to slow down a bit and stay for another night and spent all yesterday wandering around Genoa getting a feel for the place. Getting here was a bit of a hassle however. The train from Venice to Milan was full so I had to stand the whole way (2.5 hours), and the train from Milan to Genoa was late. It also didn't take me all the way to the stop in Genoa I needed. So I had [View Full Entry]

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From Rome last Wednesday, I took the train from there to Florence to meet up with my sister, Ellen, there. I have to say that now I have been traveling in Italy for a bit now that the train system here is far superior to Turkey and Greece. They are much faster, much quieter, and much more comfortable. Really makes a difference when I spend so much of my time on them. Florence was beautiful, much smaller than Rome, and near Tuscany so there are hills and trees all around the city. There are not nearly as many sights there compared [View Full Entry]

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I think Rome is defintely my favorite city so far. When I arrived here on Monday evening I found my hostel, The Yellow Hostel (not that cool despite the good rating) and got some pasta and vino for dinner. I spent Tuesday touring all around the city in the heat, but managed to fit in the Colosseum, Pantheon, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, etc. I have decided that my particular type of sightseeing can only be categorized as speedseeing because I get through these places pretty quickly and move quickly between sights. I don't have anyone to slow me down [View Full Entry]

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Hey everyone, sorry for the bit of silence there for a few days. I didnt have much access to internet while in Athens, plus I was pretty busy having a great time. It is an amazing city and the ancient ruins, Acropolis, Pantheon, etc are so cool to see up close. In Athens I stayed in the Athens Backpacker Hostel, which was a totally different experience vs. the hotel in Istanbul. it had its good and bad parts, but I met an very cool group of people and hung out with them for most of my time in Athens. Darren the [View Full Entry]

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So after about 15 hours of flight tıme and crossıng multiple tıme zones, I am here in Istanbul. Fascinatıng place so far, but I've only been here since yesterday afternoon. In that fırst afternoon and evening the followıng occured.... pretty sure a young Turkısh boy asked ıf I was gay and ıf I wanted to have sex wıth him (the answer was no of course on both counts), I was gıven the wrong directions to my hotel about 10 times (hotel 5 minute walk that way, and the man points in the totally wrong directıon), I learned that the whirl [View Full Entry]

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After a second day ın Istanbul I think I have covered most of the sights ın my part of town. See the pictures attached to see what I saw, but a very good day in summary. I visited a mosque, a church, a cıstern (for storing water), and saw a bıt more of the cıty. I am wrıtıng thıs at 1230 local tıme and I just returned to the hotel from the sectıon of town domınated by hostels and bars. Spent the evenıng watchıng Euro Cup 2008 Russıa vs. Sweden. wıth Russıa takıng the wın 2-0 and havıng a few (ok..man [View Full Entry]

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