Lisbon…. Lisbon 2am on a Monday night and the streets are packed. Within a 4 block radius there must be 80 bars and cafes that hold anywhere from 25 to 100 people inside. Some of them had live music, some with DJ’s, and some with just people. If that were not enough the streets are packed with young-ins partying everywhere in the streets and the most polite drug dealers you have ever met. They come up to you, first say excuse me or sorry for interrupting then ask if you want hash, weed or cocaine. Then they leave saying sorry for interrupting or I even got once a, “well have a nice night.” It was blatant and I am told they decriminalized drugs which made it possible for me to get offered it about 20-30 times ... read more

I never made it to Zurich. I never really wanted to go to Zurich in the 1st place. I wanted to go to Switzerland on this trip, but not Zurich. I was tentatively planning on going to Switzerland on my way back from Spain while heading to Germany’s Oktoberfest. I wanted to stay in Lucerne and Interlaken. On my train trip from Italy I decide to make one last audible and skip Zurich and head right to Lucerne. I get in pretty late (with no place to stay) and while stumbling around I was surprised to see how alive this small town was at night. Tons of young 20 and 30 something’s out at café’s, bars and the city square near the train station. I walk into a fully occupied hostel but because it is so ... read more

Pallio= Kentucky derbuy of Italy Similarities of Pallio to the Kentucky Derby; Both are horse races, both have a lot of history behind them, both have high class grandstands and both have an infield for the rest of the on lookers. How are they different? There is no alcohol at Pallio, none. Try cutting off the flow of mint juleps and miller light on Derby day and see how that goes. This surprised me A LOT! So race day… There were more parades and more misinformation on when to get there (would have been fine getting there around 3:30, I got to the sun baked square around noon). They had the same 12 horses and napoleon’s doing a prerace charge, and more cannon firing that I am sure had a meaning- but it was over me. ... read more

I got into Bologna, and it was quiet, very quiet since it is a college town and it is August. I walked around and did not want to stay. The city architecture was a little different than others in that all the sidewalks were under the buildings in that the 2nd floor overhung above the sidewalk. Seemed perfect if there are a lot of rain storms, it would allow you to walk forever and not get wet. The only thing interesting in the city were 2 famous towers I went to see that were right next to one another. One is straight (imagine that) the other is leaning. There was at least one other leaning one I saw. Combine these, the leaning tower of Pisa, and the famous bell tower at St. Marks square that fell ... read more

Venice= least romantic city So I flew into Venice from Kiev and when looking out my airplane window I see the island, st marks square, and know I need to head over there. I had no plans, no place to stay and it was a Friday. My backup plan if I could not find a place to stay was to take the train from venice to Bologna that left every hour. Having that backup plan was a great stress reliever. If I liked the city and found a place great, if not then at least I saw some sights and got out alive. My first destination was from the public water taxi (private water taxis from the airport to the island was 100 euro’s) to St. Mark’s square. Now I cant not think of a more ... read more