Blogs from Europe - page 14069

Im sorry guys, Im just not coming home. Haha, I wish. But I wont lie, I am considering it. This place is absolutely amazing. I was worried Thursday that we would never make it, but after running to the travel agency and attempting to speak in Spanish, French, and English, managed to get tickets home from Paris on Sunday night. Then we ran to the train, where we had an international fiesta and slept. Ashley's artist friend Kippie Hammond met us at the train station, and we continued on to pick up her son Micheal who was arriving from the US today also. We met at Kippie's boyfriends apartment in Paris then went to get the car. Thats when I decided I was not going home. We were in a hurry so stopped for a pastry ... read more

I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and sky. All I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by. -- John Masefield The festival has been great - the music is fun, the ships are gorgeous, and everyone here is really into it. A lot of the other tourists are actually Irish themselves - the race runs through different cities every year, and this is the first time in a long while that it's been in Ireland. There's fishermen from all across the coast, little kids running around the docks, all sorts of people who are genuinely excited that the tall ships are coming through here this year. The city itself has actually done a lot to help - there's apparently some sort of legislation the mayor ... read more

Well, I miss calculated my travel time and I won't have time to go to Ios and still make it to Alicante in time. So, I will go to Corfu for two nights and then head back to Italy and then Spain. I have found a hotel here in Athens that runs trips to Corfu. It is 39 euros for the trip and the first night stay at the Pink Palace. Everyone has recommended this place. It seems to be the best-known hostel in Europe. I will go scuba diving there. This place sounds great. It's basically a resort. Breakfast and a 3-course dinner are included! So, I leave tonight at 7pm and should be there early tomorrow morning. Last night, there were two guys in our room that had just come from London. They were ... read more

Today was truly a travel day. The bus ride from Nice to Barcelona was scheduled for 10 hours, and that's under the best of conditions. We didn't encounter the best of conditions. We did get to see a furniture truck reduced to a pile of ash - literally. Apparently, wooden furniture and diesel fuel burn pretty well together.... That kept the highway a nice parking lot for close to 2 hours. The stopover before that in Avignon was nice, but short. I was surprised to see that Avignon's walls are almost completely intact. I was also surprised to see the size of the pope's palace. I knew it was opulent, but I didn't realize it took up half the town centre! The official story if I remember is that the two resident popes were recalled because ... read more

Last weekend Laura and I went to Geneva to see my other friend Laura. I loved it, but I've always loved Switzerland! The 4 1/2 hour train ride up there was beautiful, and once we got near the border it was very serene. I wasn't aware that Lake Geneva was SOO big, but the atmosphere there reminded me a lot of downtown San Diego. Because the lake is so big, it is kind of like the center of the city, and there is the waterside, with cute little cafes and boats etc. The weather was gorgeous, and a nice change from Milan in that there wasn't much humidity and there was a breeze. Plus I always love having water nearby (makes me think I'm at home). :) So we met up with the other Laura and ... read more