Tim_Day 204 - 217 (Europe w P&B)

Day 204
After a short nap we woke up at 4:30 am to catch a shuttle to the airport. We were headed to Europe and true civilization. We were also headed to meet Patrick and Brian in England which I was really looking forward to.

Our shuttle ride to the airport and catching our plane was pretty painless. Soon enough Africa was fading away in the distance under the clouds and we were gone. Looking back on Africa from the plane left me with mixed emotions. There was a part of me that was happy to leave Africa. We had survived 2.5 months of travel without any major problems and I was thankful for that. We weren’t robbed and nothing was ever stolen from us. On the other hand though part of me was sad to leave Africa. This continent had been so adventurous and crazy and I knew Europe was going to be easy, predictable and lack that edge that I have grown to really love about third world countries. Either way though it didn’t matter what I thought since we were on the plane and where we were headed to civilization and a soaring costs.

The flight from Cape Town to Munich, Germany was an eleven hour flight. For the first half of the time I slept. I was pretty tired and the Dramamine I had taken was really effecting me. Eventually though around the middle of the flight started to get really turbulent and the falling feeling in my stomach forced me to wake up. At one point I remember the plane falling and banking to the right as we were falling. I’ve never been in turbulence that bad. The wind actually stalled out or was being forced down. The falling feeling in my stomach lasted about 10 seconds and was a little bit scary. I hate that feeling in my stomach. Ana was nervous but did really well. My little tough Panamanian.

Once we landed in Germany we had sixteen hours till our next flight to England. We were both really tired and I though sixteen hours in the airport was a little too long for us to handle. We decided that we would take the only room available to us for $200 American dollars! Holy shit we hadn’t paid over $10 for a room in all of Africa. We had to get used to these kinds of things now that we were in Europe. Whatever we splurged and got the room.

The room turned out to be amazing and was a wonderful experience coming from Africa. The place was immaculately clean and everything seemed very thoughtful. The TV had my name on it and there was even toilet paper in the bathroom. Imagine that.

We jumped on the beds and smelled the clean sheets for at least and hour before settling down. I took a killer hot bath that left me intoxicated I was so relaxed. It was great and we crashed early to get some sleep. It was surreal to be in such a nice place.







Day 205
I woke up feeling like I was in my bed back home. The sheets were fluffy, the pillows were soft, and the bed was soft and comfy. It was so hard to leave that bed but in the end we were headed to meet my brother and Brian which I was looking forward too seeing.

For breakfast we had some healthy Burger King burgers. While our stomachs tried to figure out how to process the really weird food we headed to the terminal to catch our plane. I wished we had more time in Germany. I really wanted to spend some time in Munich since we were there but things didn’t work out with the flights. Oh well I got to eat, sleep and poop there and I’d have to be happy with that.

The flight to London was smooth and it was great to see Brian and Patrick in the airport. This was the first time I’d spent time with them somewhere other than America and that was pretty cool. I was glad they were able make the personal and financial sacrifices necessary to make it there. I was especially happy for Patrick since this was his first international trip for him. He also was the first other person in my family to see more than just America.

We dropped off my extra suitcase in storage for Brian to pick up later. He was going to take it home for me and I was thankful for that. Saved me some money and also made sure that what I had would actually make it home. I wasn’t too hopeful the other stuff I sent would ever make it back to the States.

We caught the Tube to town and found our hotel for the night. It was a pretty nice little room and the bunk beds Brian and Patrick were going to share were pretty funny. The bunks were pushed close to the wall so they wouldn’t lean when someone jumped on top. I was pretty sure at some point in the night Brian was going to wake up with Patrick and the bed on top pf him.

The bathroom was pretty micro and I had to let some air out to get inside. But everything was clean and that was sooooo nice.

After we got settled and Patrick showed us the five hundred pounds of food he brought us we headed out to check out the town. We walked around to a popular part of town and met up with our friend Maya for a couple beers and fun. We ended up putting down a few pints and going to a couple bars. We joked about the differences we had in language. Things like how they pronounce “urinal”, the word “bollucks”, and the biscuit - cookie dilemma. It was fun and nice to be in England.

Eventually we headed back to the hotel and crashed out. Me and Ana were pretty tired and I can only imagine Brian and Patrick were as well. They were dealing with a major time change. I fell asleep like a champ.







Day 206
We woke up early the next morning to try and see England. We had a very tight schedule and wanted to see all the sites we could that day since we only had one day. The hotel offered a free English breakfast which consisted of eggs, boiled tomatoes, beans and some toast. Not bad but a little different than an American breakfast.

We spent most of the day walking around to all tourist sites like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Parliament, London Bridge, etc. It was nice to see the sites again but the distances we were walking were really tiring. At the end of the day we were pretty exhausted and headed to a local place to try and grab some food. We found a seat but after a little bit decided we didn’t like the place and pushed on to try and find another place. We were all pretty tired and just wanted to find a good place that was cheap. What we found was a Pizza Hut and we were all fine with that. We ordered a ton of food and drinks and it was great. We were all full by the end.

After the food we walked the twenty miles back to our hotel. When we were close we headed into a local pub to grab another quick beer. Since the bars in England close so damn early we didn’t get to drink much before we were kicked out. Damn last call bell rings early.

We headed back to the hotel and crashed. I think we were all pretty tired from the miles that we had put on that day.







Day 207
We woke up early the next morning to catch a 5:00 am bus to the airport to catch our flight to Paris. Everything went pretty smoothly getting to the airport and getting on our flight. I really love the cheap airlines that fly you all over Europe.

Once I was on the plane I took a little nap. That was nice since the flight was so short it felt like I barely got on the plane and we were already landing. Once we got off the plane we caught a train to our hotel. On the train ride I was really surprised to see the outskirts of Paris were so dirty and covered in graffiti. I had forgotten that it was that way. It wasn’t what you think of when you think of Paris – graffiti and dirty old buildings.

We made our way downtown and found our hotel without any real trouble. Brian had map quested the directions and it made things go pretty smoothly. Our room in Paris was larger than the one in England and that was nice to see. We all had our own beds and we weren’t in bunk beds.

After checking in we hit the town to see if we could see some sights before it got dark. We only had about twenty four total hours in Paris so we had to make the best of it. We had to head to the Eifel Tower first and we did. It was great to see to see the tower again and it seemed bigger than I had remembered. Crazy to think they built that tower for a fair. Crazy French.

We got in line to climb the Eifel tower and as we were waiting it started to rain. Luckily it wasn’t that much rain and all it did was thin out the line a little. Eventually we made our way to the front of the line and were allowed to climb up the stairs. All of our legs were a little sore climbing up to the top of the tower. We had put some serious miles on in England.

Once we reached the top level we took some shots and enjoyed the view. It was really nice to see Paris from above. It was crowded and seemed to go on forever.

Eventually we headed down the stairs and onto the Arch de Triumph. That was pretty cool to see again as well. The weather was kind of crappy and it kept looking like it was going to rain on us.

Dinner was Micky D’s and really nasty. But it was cheap, easy, and we knew what it tasted like. After dinner we headed back to the hotel. On the way we passed the tower and it looked very magical in the night. They had put sparkling diamond like lights all over the tower and for about five minutes they let them shine then would turn them off. It was really a beautiful site to see.

On our way over the bridge a cop almost caught a guy selling illegally. The guy was caught with such surprise that he ran away and left his goods. Patrick was joking with the officer saying that the small Eifel Towers he was selling were now free. The Police Officer said go ahead take some souvenirs. We laughed and I grabbed a few free sculptures. I got a nice large crystal tower and one bronze one. Patrick and Brian also got a few as well. It was pretty funny and they made some really cool souvenirs. The souvenirs were especially cool due to the circumstances.

After getting some free souvenirs we headed over to the grass area to chill out for a little bit and enjoy the tower. Brian bought some wine from a local vendor and we all enjoyed a plastic cup full. It was a nice evening and eventually the cold and our tiredness forced us to be on our way back to the hotel.

Once we got back at the hotel I crashed pretty hard. I was tired. We had been running really hard and it was starting to catch up with me.








Day 208
We woke up early to see some more of the town before we had to catch our train to Amsterdam that day. I was pretty tired and really wanted to just sit in bed and chill. But we were in Paris and we had to take advantage of that.

In the morning we walked over to the Notre Dame and the Louvre. We didn’t have much time so we did the fast tour making sure to see the highlights. We got to see the Mona Lisa and couple of other paintings. It was very fast and I wish we had more time. But I don’t know if a week was enough time for the never ending Louvre.

We headed back to the hotel and had lunch at a little place just outside of our hotel. We then grabbed our bags and headed to the train station. Things went pretty smooth and we jumped on the train to Amsterdam. The ride was only four hours long and it was nice just to chill for those four hours. This is the first time we had slowed down since we hit England and it was so nice just to sit and know we didn’t have to walk or figure anything out. We were all pretty tired and looking forward to Amsterdam and slowing down a little.

We pretty much played “Texas Hold’em” for the whole trip to Amsterdam. There were some pretty mean games and we used ripped pieces of paper as chips. Was pretty fun.

Sometime in the evening we arrived back to Van Kouwenberg’s motherland. It was great to be back and it’s funny how I somehow feel connected to the place. Patrick also felt that connection and it was nice to share that. If we had a past and a people they were from here. The bones of our ancestors were scattered throughout the soil and somehow that made me feel deeply connected to the place. Weird but yet really cool.

We walked with our heavy awkward bags to the hotel. Patrick’s bag had broken and was a real pain to carry. But we eventually made it to the hotel and checked in. Of course they moved our room to another hotel right down the street. They said the room was better than the one we had there. Sure.

At that point I just wanted a room and didn’t really care what it looked like. Just give us a room so we can drop our gear and go check out the town. We ended up with the Penthouse (attic) on the forth floor of the hotel. Getting to the room was like a joke. The stairs were REALLY steep and super small in width. The stairs were so weird it felt like you were in a fake house. The final floor was like going into a closet and going straight up. It was really funny and we had to pass the backpacks up like a like a fire line to get them in the room. The place was as weird as it was cool. You could only stand in the middle of the room and if you wanted to walk down the room you had to duck below the ceiling beams. It was a funny room and had a ton of character. I liked that about it.

We unpacked our bags and hit the town. Brian was saying that he wanted to come to the city when there was a large things happening. His wish was granted when we found out that we had arrived in the city on the weekend of the Gay Parade. All the local gay community got together to drink and drive boats around the city. Should be interesting?

We left the hotel and went to check out the city. Amsterdam is a pretty fun and crazy city and just walking down the streets was an adventure. People in Amsterdam are very open and things like cafes, sex shops, and the Red Light District are easy enough to find everywhere. I must tell you there are things that even surprise me in the windows of store and on signs.

We were pretty tired that night and didn’t spend much time checking out the city. We pretty much grabbed some stuff and headed back to our room to chill, talk and watch TV. Ana had a rubbery burger for dinner that supposedly tasted pretty bad but she ate it anyway. She must have been pretty hungry.

Falling asleep was pretty easy once we settled down. It was a good night and nice to be in Holland my homeland again.






Day 209
We all woke up pretty late and were really enjoying the first day of our trip where we got to chill and didn’t have to run to the next sight. We ate our free breakfast and moved back to the original hostel where we were supposed to stay. It was a pain in the ass but we finally got all our shit down from the attic of the one place and to the other room in the third story of the hotel.

We had to do some laundry and we grabbed it and went to find a laundry mat in town. Of course finding a laundry mat turned out to be a mission and was a little frustrating. We left Patrick and Ana to finish the laundry and Brian and I went to figure out some of the details for the next part of our trip. Brian was leaving home from Amsterdam and we had to figure out how we were going to get to Rome and then onto Switzerland.

I wasn’t in the mood to figure out things but with Brian’s help we got it done in only about three hours. It was nice to have that out of the way and we could go back to the room and meet up with Patrick and Ana.

We had planned on meeting up in the room and heading out to see the city but in the end chose to rather sleep in the room. We were all pretty tired and I think we were just tired of running and figuring things out.

After our naps we woke up and had the energy to go see the town. We walked down the old crocked canal streets looking for anything that looked interesting. Eventually we ran into the Red Light District and checked that out. I had seen it before but it was still interesting to look at. The women are beautiful to look at but also it is so interesting to see something so taboo in public view. This was the only culture in the world that I know actually has prostitution as a business. You can see people negotiating prices in the door way with the girls and it’s just a weird situation. I love weird experiences like that and I find them fascinating. I mean you could shop for a girl like you would shop for a home appliance. What a weird concept and a weird experience. My people are crazy.

Another taboo thing that is in plain sight of the public is the cafes where they sell weed. They look allot like normal bars but instead they have the funny smell of pot in the air. Weed was totally illegal in the states but here you could chill with your friends and just light up a joint. How weird was that. It was kind of cool to see it so accepted and un-taboo. It’s weird to see something so horrible in the States turn into something that had the same visual potency as a bottle of alcohol. It wasn’t long ago when a bottle of alcohol used to be as visually potent as a joint is today in America. Who knows maybe in my lifetime a joint in America will be the same as it is in Amsterdam? It’s funny how times change things.

After wandering around the city and drinking a few too many beers in a couple different bars we headed back to the room to crash. I was still kind of out of it and didn’t feel like I was back to normal despite all the sleep we were getting.





Day 210
We woke up pretty early and ate breakfast. We wanted to make sure we had time to go to the Heineken Museum before Brian headed out on the train to catch his flight home.

We grabbed a local tram to get to the brewery. We were pretty excited to do the tour and heard that you could drink as much beer as you wanted at the end. But this turned out to not be the case and they only gave you three chips which you could trade for beers. Kind of sucked but oh well.

The tour around the brewery was a self guided tour and was really well set up. It was visually cool and very well thought out. It had different sections where you could interact with different informational kiosk and fun games. As you went through the museum you hit three different bars where you could claim your free drinks. It was really cool to get more buzzed as you continued through the museum. I think this was the coolest museum I’ve ever been too.

We had a great time at the museum and it was a nice way to wind down our trip with Brian. For lunch we headed to a local Gyro place we had found. It was the second time we had eaten there and the Gyros were killer.

Brian grabbed his bags back at the hotel and we walked with him to the station. It was great having him there and it was sad to see him go. It was so nice to be traveling and sharing our experiences with other people. Sometimes it’s so hard to relate to people when I talk about my travels. But now I had stories I could share with Patrick and Brian and that’s really special to me.

After we dropped off Brian we pretty much just chilled and walked around the city getting lost. We had a couple at a place called Bulldog’s and pretty much headed back to the hotel after that. We had to pack a little and get ready to leave the next day.








Day 211
We all woke up a little tired and burnt out. We had been treating out bodies too rough and they were starting to get tired of it. I guess the sleep we had been getting wasn’t enough. I think the time shifts also had allot to do with it. You can only get by so many days on adrenaline.

We grabbed our bags and headed out. It was sad to be leaving Amsterdam. I really enjoyed the city and the atmosphere was really chill. People were very open and just seemed to be really relaxed. Oh well we’ll have to make another trip there in the future to spend some more time and see some more things. I want to see some of sites and outlining cities.

We grabbed the train to a local airport and grabbed our flight to Rome. The flight was only about 1.5 hours and was over in no time. Once we were in Rome we grabbed a bus to get to the hotel. This was the first time I’ve been in Italy and it was nice to be somewhere new. I had already been to England, Paris, and Amsterdam so they weren’t as magical for me to see. But Italy was new and I was really interested in seeing some of the historic sights in Rome.

The hotel room we reserved turned out to be ok and the best thing about it was the price. Patrick had a pretty small bed but he said he didn’t mind it. The street was really loud outside the window but the nice thing was that once you shut the door it was quiet. The bad thing about that was it was pretty warm in Rome and closing the window heated up the already warm room. We got a little fan for the room that helped with the heat. The room wasn’t great but we would make it work.

My first impression of Rome was that it was a dirty city. The buildings were really nice in structure but they just seemed not to be very well taken care of. It was like having a nice Porch for a car but never washing it. All they needed to do was paint the buildings and cover the graffiti and the streets would have looked so beautiful. But the impression allot of people have about Italians may have been true – there lazy people.

We were pretty hungry so walked to an area of town that was recommended by our guy at the hotel. He said the place was cheap and the food was good. We found a little place on the street to eat that looked pretty a little expensive but we were all just in the mood to eat something. We were seated on a table with two other English people. It was tight but everything in this town seemed to be that way.

Patrick got the seat right on the street and was constantly buzzed by cars throughout our meal. He didn’t have to worry about being hit though since there was a potted plant between him and the traffic flying down the narrow alley.

Our waitress was a weird older lady with a couple too many layers of makeup on her face. We ordered some pizza and a salad for dinner. We were in Italy and of course we had to try the pizza – they invented it. But of course the pizza sucked. I had heard people say that the pizza sucks in Italy and they were right. They invented that was about it. The salad Ana had also sucked and overall we were left with the feeling we had paid allot for a crappy meal. Man Italy wasn’t living up to what I had seen in the movies. I was going to give it some more time before I started forming too many opinions.

We were all pretty anxious to see the Coliseum and even thought it was almost dark we thought we would give it a shot. We were SOOO tired of walking but what the hell we were in Rome and when was the next time we’d be there?

Sure enough after about thirty minutes of walking we saw our first glimpse of the Coliseum. It was great to see and I again marked another check on the list of “things I have to see before I die”. This was the place where so many people had been killed. People sat in this stadium watching people kill each other. Amazing. It was like going to Dodger Stadium to watch a bunch of huge guys killing each other. You could cheer them on and even decide if they should die or not. Wow that was a different time. I wonder how far we are from that? Will we ever let people do that? They could sign there own contracts and it would be a legal decision of their own. As crazy as it sounds it could happen in our lives. That would be a sad day.

The moon was full above the Coliseum and made it even more magical to look at. We walked down to the bottom and walked a complete circle around it. It was great to be there and I was so happy to be spending this special moment with my brother. We will always have that memory on that special night. We were walking in Rome under the moonlight looking at the Coliseum. Very, very cool.

After admiring the great structure for a while we decided it was time to head back to the hotel and get some sleep. Our “dogs” were pretty worn out and we wanted to get back to the hotel as quick as possible.

Of course Patrick and Ana got us lost on the way back to the hotel. We ended up walking at least an extra mile or so out of the way. We were all getting pretty grouchy at that point. We did though finally find our way back to the hotel due to my amazing and instinctive guiding. I’m a great map follower and I should have never let them guide me around town.

Eventually we did make it back to the room and kicked off our shoes to let our sore feet breath. It felt great and after watching some Italian TV we drifted off to sleep.





Day 212
I woke up to that warm crisp smell of a continental breakfast. Patrick complained about the breakfast and I told him he had no idea. He’d only been eating these breakfasts for a couple weeks. I told him to talk to the hand because the head ain’t listening. Go girlfriend.

It was a nice clear day and a bit warm when we started walking to the Coliseum. After a thirty minute walk in the correct direction we hit the tourist crowds. Man I was getting tired of tourist. There’s allot of those fat white tourist laughing obnoxiously loud and saying things like “oh my God I can’t believer were here. Hee hee hee.” If I hear that again I’m going to Ralf. I know that there just people having fun and enjoying there vacation but after a few months on the road things like that are just like a screeching chalkboard to me. URRRRR.

The previous day when we were eating dinner we got a tip from a couple that said we should just pay for the tour around the Coliseum. It allows you to pass the line up and also get a free tour at a neighboring site. We bought the tickets and in no time we were in a tour group following the girl with a microphone. Oh man what had I become? I’m a click happy Japanese tourist. Oh well I’ll just try and enjoy it and ignore the fact that I’m on a machine ride with six million other people.

The first stop on the tour was in front of a large arch outside the stadium then to have our pictures taken with an Italian guy in a Gladiator suit. It was pretty funny and Ana and I got a shot with him. Right before the shot he put the sword in Ana’s hand and made it look like she was going to relieve me of my family jewels. It was pretty funny. When it was Patrick’s turn he picked up the guy and we took a picture of him. It was pretty funny. Crazy Patrick.

After the photos we were dragged around the site and told some pretty interesting facts. Despite the massive crowds it was amazing to see the stadium. It was an impressive structure and amazing to stand on ground that so many people lost their lives for the entertainment of others. Wow.

One thing that was really interesting was some of the technologies they had in the stadium. Things like trap doors where people and animals could be released into the stadium. They were under the sand so the animals seemed to appear from nowhere. That must have been amazing back then. Sand was used on the floor so they could cover up the blood and they even said they flooded the field and had ship battles. They said it didn’t work to well but that was a pretty amazing feat. The stadium could hold up to 80,000 people and celebrations in the stadium lasted for three months. Man what a party.

In the end we were left to wander around by ourselves and check out the place. It was nice just to wander through the architecture and enjoy it. The crowd and heat finally got to us and we decided it was time to head out and go get something to eat for lunch.

We found a small market around the corner and got some drinks and a box of ice-cream sandwiches. Patrick ate three, I ate two, and Ana ate one. They were pretty good but that was allot of ice-cream to eat.

We met up with our new tour guide and walked over to the local ruins. During the tour it started raining a little and it was good that we brought our umbrellas. We sat there while the guy keep talking and the people started getting wet and starting to get cold. Eventually the guy stopped talking and let us go. I think he was getting the hint when people were starting to leave because they were cold and wet.

The weather cleared up and we walked around the place. There were layers of history in the ground and you could see that they had not uncovered all of what was on the site. We walked around the hill where Rome started. That was back when it was a simple crazy family that everyone didn’t like. They were kind of like neighbors that nobody liked. But eventually with blood and force they forged Rome. Amazing.

The rest of the day we wandered through endless ruins which I didn’t know much about but it was still amazing to see. Patrick kept taking off his shirt to walk around and keep being told to put it back on. The Italian people were kind of being assholes about it.

Eventually we found our way into a really nice museum that had a bunch of sculptures of famous Italian generals. Eventually the place closed and the rude guards made us leave. So far the Italian people that we have come in contact with have been assholes. I had a much different view before coming into Italy but slowly my vision of the people and the country is starting to change. I know I’ve only been there a few days and that’s not really any ground to judge the people but my opinion so far is the Italians can keep there country. It’s dirty and the people are rude. We’ll see if my opinion changes?

We had been walking most of the day and we were getting pretty tired. We chilled at a fountain just outside of the museum with the generals for a bit before heading back to our hotel.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a pizza place that looked pretty good. But to our disappointment it really stunk. Man I’m going to stop eating pizza in Italy. What a way to end a long day with bad food. Oh well.

We headed back to the room to relax a little and just hang out. After some tube time we crashed.







Day 213
We woke up early to try and get to the Vatican City before the lines got crazy. I knew the religious aspect of the place would attract a massive crowd. As soon as we got to the train station it was evident that all of Italy was headed to the same place we were. Getting on the train was interesting and required some of the pushing skills we had learned in Bolivia.

We survived the train and eventually got off our stop with all the other people on the train. We were right on time for the opening of the Vatican City. Once we saw the four blocks long line to get in we decided that we would try to come back earlier the next day and try it again. It was ridiculous. There had to have been at least a few thousand people in line. I was thinking maybe we should just skip it. Were the crowds really worth it? But in the end it is worth it and I would kick my butt later for not dealing with the crowds and seeing the city.

We decided we would save the Vatican City for the next morning and we would head over to the Basilica to check that out. Since the book was really hard to understand we really weren’t too sure where we were going. We tried asking some of the staff and they were total pricks to us and I’m really starting to hate the damn Italian people. I went to the information office and the girl acted so rude with me and I left there still as confused as I was before I entered. This place was starting to really piss me off and at that point I would have been happy flying right out of that city and leaving everything behind. There’s allot of places to see in this world and I didn’t want to deal with the crowds and idiot Italians.

Eventually I calmed down and we found our way into the Basilica and walked through the catacombs of the church where many of the previous popes were buried. Even the recent Pope John Paul III was buried there. It was pretty crowded but at least we were seeing something and that made me feel a little better.

We continued through the line and up a narrow set up stairs upward. As we came to the top of the stairs my breath was taken away by the sight of the inside of the church. It was amazing and the most beautiful church I’ve ever seen. My frustrations and anger were washed away and amazement and the feeling of being awestruck took their place. This church was an amazing human accomplishment. The size and immaculate detail was incredible. I was so glad that Patrick and Ana were there with me experiencing something so amazing. It truly was beautiful.

We spent about an hour wandering around the different sections of the church. The ceilings, woodwork, and sculptures were AMAZING. What a great experience.

Eventually we headed out and went to visit some more of the sites around Rome. We made our way first to a circular castle that I wasn’t familiar with but it looked interesting. We didn’t end up going inside when we got there and instead Ana bought a fake purse from one of the vendors outside.

After the castle we walked to the Pantheon. Just before we got there we hit the local Mc Donald’s for lunch. It was pretty crowded but the food was cheap, fast, and good.

With a few more pounds of grease in our stomachs we headed to the Pantheon that was right around the corner. I was really interested in seeing that building and it was more impressive than I had suspected. The marble from this Pagan temple was taken off to build the Catholic Basilica. I always think that is funny when the church takes the pieces of a devils temple to build there own place. It makes sense why they would but it is still funny.

The circular hole in the ceiling of the Pantheon was really interesting and much larger than I had imagined. It was about thirty feet across and gave me allot more respect for the building and its place in history. It was a pretty amazing accomplishment.

After the Pantheon we were all pretty tired of walking and headed back to the hotel to chill. On our way to the hotel we stopped off and grabbed some beers. While in the room we played some cards and drank some beers. It was fun and nice just to chill and enjoy being in Italy and on vacation.

After we got a little buzzed we decided we were getting a little hungry and went to get something to eat. We had noticed some nice places across the street from the Coliseum so we headed over there.

When we finally got to the area with the restaurants we decided we weren’t that hungry and we were actually thirstier for some drinks. We checked out a pretty slick bar across the street from the stadium and decided it was a little too expensive. Patrick said he would sport the bill and told us we should enjoy being there. It was a good call and we had a great time. Ana had a Mai Tai that was pretty strong and got her pretty drunk. Patrick and I ordered the same and sure enough they were strong. We sat there talking and looking at the Coliseum in the moonlight across the street. That was a wonderful memory and a magical night. It was a good call on Patrick’s part to stay and spend the money. Sometimes Ana and I get to caught up in the price and forget were there for the experience not to save money.

Eventually we stumbled back to the hotel and crashed. It had been a really good evening and falling asleep wasn’t a problem.








Day 214
We tried waking up early to get the Vatican Museum early but didn’t have a ton of luck. We were all pretty tired and a bit hung over from the previous night. Eventually we showed up to the line for the Vatican City about thirty minutes before it opened. The line was about two feet shorter than the previous day and still wrapped around four long city blocks and was about ten feet wide. Great. We sucked it up and got in line.

To my surprise it only took about an hour to finally get in. That was pretty fast in my opinion for the amount of people there were. Once inside I tried to move quickly to see the Sistine Chapel. I was really interested in seeing that and I knew it was going to only get worse as the day proceeded. We pretty much ran through the first half mile of paintings and rooms to finally get there. The detail of the place was unbelievable.

Once we finally found the Sistine Chapel it was packed already. There were idiot Italian guards trying to hush everyone and after a while everyone pretty much ignored them. One thing that was immediately apparent to me was how small the room was. I’m not sure what I expected but the room and its design was really of poor quality. I guess when you hear so much about a place you expect it to be unbelievable and anything less is disappointing. The room was dark, poorly light, and the walls had no decoration on them they were just flat. If you took the paintings off the wall it was just an ugly little room. Really sad to see.

But the paintings were fabulous and that made up for allot of things. The entire room was actually one huge painting. It was wonderful to see the real paintings of so many images we see in everyday life. There was the famous image of God touching Adam’s hand on the ceiling and the huge image of heaven and hell on the back wall. It was great to be there and I got to check off another one from the “got to do it in my lifetime” list. It didn’t take long for the crowd to and guards to annoy us to the point we wanted to leave.

We headed back through the museum to look again at all the stuff we had flown right by. Paintings seemed to dominate the place and it was everywhere. Rather than create real columns they would just foe paint them. There was foe painting everywhere and it was kind of overdone in my opinion. They should have hired some more sculptures to help out. I think the blend of magical painting with wonderful sculpture and architecture is the best combinations.

The Vatican was covered from head to toe with paintings that seemed to all very in style and must have been done by hundreds of different painters. There was what seemed like endless rooms that all looked very different. There was no sense of unity and vision. The entire place kind of reminded me of an old Mexican car with way to many stickers, curtains, gold and silver things, and do dads all over the place. But obviously it was still amazing despite the unusual scattered and sometimes confusing order of the place.

We continued looking at the place and fighting the crowds for about three hours before we decided we had seen enough and wanted to head out. On our way out we grabbed some food in the cafe and were on our way.

Since we had a few hours to kill we decided to try and find some nice things to see in the massive park in the north. We got off the subway a few exits early and headed for the surface. We didn’t know where we were really and just decided to take any direction and get to the top and figure it out. We turned left and ended up walking about six miles and went up about ten escalators before we got out. It was ridiculous how we went till we finally surfaced in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. We were alongside of a highway with only dirt roads around us? What the hell?

We ended up walking down some dirt roads and jumping a few short fences to get to the area we thought was the park. We walked for a little bit and were getting tired of walking so we sat down for a little break on a park bench. We had put on some pretty long miles since we hit Europe and I was overall starting to get tired of it. What I love about third world countries is that you can taxi everywhere and that cuts down on the fatigue and time trying to figure out everything. But we were in Europe and two foot taxi ride cost about two hundred dollars. We had to suck it up and use our feet to get us places.

Eventually sitting on the park bench got the best of Patrick and I and we started throwing rocks at the trash can across the way trying to make a basket. That game lasted a little while until we invented a new game. We would throw rocks straight up in the air only using our thumbs and see if we could hit each other on the head. It was harder than it seemed and we only really managed to hit Ana on the head a couple times. It was pretty funny since she wasn’t even playing the game.

Eventually our dogs were rested and we headed out to find something to eat. We had some helpful Italians trying to give us directions. The first Italians we’d met so far that weren’t idiots. That was nice and accounted for about five percent of the people we had dealt with so far.

We found out there was a Hard Rock Café near by and headed there. It was expensive but we were willing to shell out a little cash for a descent meal. So far the cheap food we had been buying was really bad. Especially the pizza.

The Hard Rock Café was wonderful and the appetizers we had were just like back home. They also had free Pepsi refills - which was amazing to find in Europe. We were so thirsty I think I drank about five in the end. I’m sure Ana and Patrick were drank the same or more.

After our great meal we headed back to the hotel to do some laundry and internet time. I won the poker game in the room so Ana and Patrick had to go downstairs and do the laundry. It was really funny to yell at them from the window to iron my shirts and make sure not to wrinkle the collars.

When the chores were over we grabbed a few beers from the local market and played some cards. Of course me and my brother stayed up too late and drank a little more than I like to drink when I’m getting on a plane the next day. But oh well it was good fun.







Day 215
We woke up pretty early to catch a bus out to the airport and get our flight to Switzerland. I was hurting a little and my stomach was off. That always happens when I drink and don’t get enough sleep. I hate that feeling.

It was nice to be leaving Italy and I wasn’t at all impressed with that country. I’m sure other parts are nicer but I don’t plan on going to that country anytime soon. Overrated in my opinion.

We got to the airport way to early and actually had to burn four hours till we were able to leave Rome in the dust. It only took a little over an hour to reach Switzerland and Lawrence was there to pick us up. It was great to see more family and I was looking forward to traveling in Switzerland.

The weather was pretty grey and on and off raining. That was too bad since the weather before we got there was really beautiful. Oh well it was still nice to be there and really nice of Lawrence and Sabrina to let all of us stay in their houses. They had a beautiful house set in green and quiet area just outside of Geneva.

At the house we dropped our bags and were showed our rooms. It was soooo nice and quiet. What a great change from all the noise, heat and dirt we had seen in Rome. After we dropped our bags we headed to the local mall to grab some lunch and grab some groceries.

Just driving around Geneva was a trip. That place is so perfect and well taken care of. I love it. It seems like everything is thought about and organized. Even the fruit in the fruit section of the market seemed perfectly aligned and spotless. It was amazing. I can’t imagine a country in the world as perfectly organized and groomed as Switzerland is.

After the mall we went and picked up Gabriel from day care. He had grown so much since the last time I had seen him. He was a little boy now and before when I met him in Florida he was still a baby. He could talk now and interact with me. That was so nice. He was such a cute guy.

We headed to downtown Geneva to check out the city and see a couple of the sites. We took a little train around the city and saw the different sections of town. We also walked along the lakeside and saw a little fair that was going on. We also got to see the famous fountain in Geneva. I was really impressed at the height the water was being thrown. Pretty cool.

We headed back to the house and relaxed for the evening. Sabrina cooked us a fabulous dinner and we were so happy. It was so much better than Mc Donald’s and really bad pizza.

We talked for a while that night and eventually turned in. It was so comfortable and quiet and I slept like a dream.





Day 216
I woke up in the morning and couldn’t tell what time it was. The room was so dark and quiet it could have been five in the morning or eleven in the afternoon. It ended up being ten and we got up and showered.

Since the weather was bad they decided we would head over to the local go-kart course and drive. I was thinking that should be fun for everyone. Lawrence said they were fast and that was hard for me to imagine. Most go carts only go about five miles an hour maximum.

Once we arrived we bought only two tickets to race and Lawrence advised us that was enough to make us tired. Tired? Sure enough when it was our turn we had to go and put a little suit on and a helmet. It was really funny and Ana wasn’t looking too excited.

The guy gave us some really quick instructions on what to do when he waves the flags and Ana started freaking out. She was like “What did he say? Where do I go?” I told her don’t worry just slow down if you don’t know what’s going on. The guy who was flagging the course and helping the people out said he had broken his leg and a few fingers in the process. That was crazy. These cars must be pretty fast. That or he’s pretty dumb. I have a feeling it was a combo of both.

Once we hit the course I was surprised at how fast the cars were. They were really cool and by the end of the race my arms were dead tired and I think everyone on the track had passed Ana about twenty times. She didn’t like it that much but at least she gave it a chance.

We had a short breather and were back on the track in no time. It was pretty fun the second time and both Patrick and I were getting better. By the end of the second race my arms were getting soft and I was sweating. I was glad to see both Patrick and Lawrence were feeling the same way.

Patrick raced the last race and afterwards we headed out to have dinner at a little place located on the edge of a vineyard. We had some wonderful chicken, potatoes, and wine.

On the way back home Ana realized that we had accidentally stopped taking our Malaria pills when we hit Europe. It had been almost two weeks and we had totally forgotten. That was so funny since you would think we would have caught it earlier. But we didn’t and oh well we had to deal with it now. Malaria just seemed so far away from where we were now.

Once we got home we talked for a while and then pretty much headed to bed.







Day 217
We woke up pretty late that day and pretty much lazed around most of the day. It was cold and rainy outside so it was the perfect day for this. We did get into some pretty good games of Trivial Pursuit and Texas Hold’em.

In the evening we took Patrick to the airport so he could catch his flight to England then to America. He was going to have an interesting flight back since there was a bomb scare in London a few days before and to top that off he had to spend the night in the airport to catch his morning flight to America the next day. We dropped him off and wished him luck.

It was hard to see Patrick go and it was so nice to be traveling with him. It was me and Ana again and that felt lonely. We still had Lawrence, Sabrina, and Gabrielle and that was comforting to know. Man I’m getting tired of things changing so much. I guess it’s part of the experience. Soon enough I’ll be wishing things were changing.

We headed back to the house to hang out and relax. Eventually we crawled into bed and called it a day.