Last Roll

This is the roll that I tried to develop in Madrid and almost lost it. My new friend Linnea and Jolanda picked it up for me and just emailed it to me. Enjoy:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11194305@N05/

Second to Last Roll

There is one more roll that has more of my Italy pictures. I will hopefully have those soon. In the mean time:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11194305@N05/

The End

So friends, family, and songbirds my trip is winding down fast. Faster than I have expected. I am at my last hostel, and am flying out tomorrow morning. My adventures are ending. I appreciate you all coming along with me. The comments on the blog and just knowing people were reading were a reminder I have many people all over who love me. That came in useful, for times in like Prague which were cold, rainy, and lonely.

I do have two rolls of film that you have yet to see. I will get them up here soon. I am also putting a book together that I have designed in my head already. So, also look out for that.

In case you weren't counting you have tracked me through nine different countries: Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, France, Italy, The Vatican, and Spain. You have also tracked me through thirty-three different cities:
Bruxelles (BE)
Gent (BE)
Amsterdam (NL)
Texel (NL)
Kassel (DE)
Greifswald (DE)
Berlin (DE)
Praha (CZ)
Muchen (DE)
Freiburg im Breisgau (DE)
Weil am Rhein (DE)
Basel (CH)
Geneve (CH)
Vesancy (FR)
Vicenza (IT)
Thiene (IT)
Cogollo del Cengio (IT)
Tresche Conca (IT)
Asiago (IT)
Bassano (IT)
Venezia (IT)
Firenze (IT)
Roma (IT)
Riomaggiore (IT)
Manarola (IT)
Corniglia (IT)
Vernazza (IT)
Monterosso al Mare (IT)
Pisa (IT)
Madrid (ES)
Barcelona (ES)
Cerbere (FR)
Paris (FR)

Thank you to all who have read. Looking forward to seeing all of you soon.

JOEL

Paris

I got into Paris early this morning. My first priority was to ditch my pack for the day. My second priority was to hit up the Eiffel Tower area before the tourists hit it. I did manage to do this, but as I was leaving I was being overtaken.

My next stop was the Musée Jacquemart-André, which came highly recommended from my friend Susan who I visited in the Geneva area. I made the hard decision to skip the Louvre, and boy I am glad I picked this one instead. It was spectacular! It was couple of amateur art lovers who built their collection and estate and then left it to the State in their will. Now it is on public display, for almost 100 years now. So, with the audio guide, you walk from room to room hearing about their collection and the story of their lives and how they used the rooms. Most of the rooms I was in I was alone! So, this was a lot better choice than the Louvre considering the short amount of time I had. I will save it for another trip.

Next, I hit up a market for some snacks and found a beautiful park for lunch and a nap. I saw the Notre Dame (not Chartres) and the Pompidou Center.

I hoped another train. I am in Brussels for the night and am flying out tomorrow morning.

JOEL

Cerbere, France

My overnight ticket from Barcelona to Paris had short layover in the border/coastal city of Cerbere. I was getting rapidly sick of the city life and a day on the coast sounded wonderful. So, I headed out of Barcelona earlier then planned and arrived in the afternoon.

Of course the train station had lockers but had closed them down for security reasons. So, I had nowhere to ditch my pack. I ended up heading for the beach pack and all. I quickly found the very small center of town. I started heading up the mountain outside of town and found a path leading down to the water. I found a slip of crystal clear blue beach with only a couple of other friends on it. I enjoyed multiple swims and just laying out. It was wonderfully relaxing. The Mediterranean seems incredibly concentrated, at least that portion, I was floating like descriptions I have heard of the Dead Sea.

My train to Paris was better than my last over night train. I actually had a reclining seat and I slept!

JOEL

Spanish Cooking Class

I caved last night and did my first thing that is catered to tourist. No I did not do a bright red double decker bus tour. I saw a poster in my hostel for a group doing a cooking class three nights a week. It caught my eye and it seemed like a way I could be social in Barcelona since I wasn't really meeting people in my hostel.

All the courses of dinner were deliciously explained how to prepare them and their history. We started with Sangria, which we continued to make jug after jug throughout dinner (A Canadian and I taught the Aussies and New Zealanders at our table the word pitcher, they kept thinking we were saying picture.

Next came some tapas, gazpacho, and paella. The woman leading the class had been vegetarian for 10 years, so she made a separate little pan of paella for those three veggies in the class. She said she always caters to the veggies, even if there is only one.

I am heading up to the coast of France sometime this afternoon. To the town of Cerbere. It is a coastal town where my overnight train to Paris is leaving from.

Coming quickly to an end. See many of you soon.

JOEL

Barcelona!

I had a pretty painful overnight train from Madrid to Barcelona this morning. But, I was able to check into my hostel this morning and take a shower which has been nice.

I was in a cabin that held 8 people, and there were 8 in there. I had to escape. I ending up spending the night in the loud, bright, reeking of fried food dining car. I got small spurts of sleep. It was glorious.

I have a full day ahead of me exploring all that Barcelona has to offer. Tomorrow at 5pm I hop another overnighter to Paris. Hopefully that will go better.

Adios.

JOEL

Madrid

Yes friends. I have made the jump over to beautiful España. Madrid is a gorgeous city with an extravagant metro system, beautiful parks and piazzas, wonderful museums, tones of character, and delicious food.

I got in and found my fairly nice hostel. I connected with Anne at my hostel, her friend that was also for New Zealand headed out for the evening last night. We did some walking and ended up at Irish pub somehow, but then made it to a more Madrid kind of place and drank a delicious pitcher of Sangria.

Today I explored Parque del Buen Retiro with two other friends from my hostel from Australia, Luke and Georgia. We had blast walking around this massive park in the middle of the city. We then hit up the free day at the art museum, Reina Sofia.

I also made a stupid mistake that I don´t feeling like getting into too much. I dropped off my roll of Italy at a one hour photo. I did not get back to it until 4pm today, and they closed at 2pm! The problem is I am leaving tonight. Two additional friends that I know made because of the situation are saving me, I found them at my hostel. I gave them all the info and they are picking the photos up for me. Needless to say, the photos of Italy will be delayed in getting up here. I am very very bummed because I wanted to see them so bad.

Alright, that is all I have time for now. I am heading out. I am doing an overnight train this evening to Barcelona! You will hear from me there.

Adios.

JOEL

Tips, Elbows, and Taps

From Cinque Terre, I took a train to Pisa. I had a short time in Pisa. About a half an hour to literally run to the Duomo to the see the tower and then run back to the train station. I had an 11:25am flight to catch from Pisa to Madrid.

I was flying a new airline, Vueling, which does not have the most space on their planes, probably because most of their flight are under two hours, some only minutes. I really wanted to hit up Spain, but did not like the idea of long train rides up the Italian and French coasts. I simply did not have the time or sanity for the train. So, I scooped up a cheap plane ticket.

Tips, Elbows, and Taps. These are the nicknames I gave to those in the seats around me. I had a running commentary in my head for the entire flight and would talk about my new ¨friends.¨ The man that I nicknamed Tips was for some unknown reason trying his hardest to recline his seat. The amount of reclining he was getting in now way could of made him more comfortable, unless he was getting comfort from comfort bank that was slowly depleting. Then we have Elbows, the lovely woman next to me who maybe was mistaking me pulling far away from her as non verbals for shove your elbows into my arm. Then there was Taps, which was the boy next to Elbows hitting is seat repeatedly which would vibrate the row of three seats. The baby kicking the seat behind me also coined the nickname Taps.

I survived the flight. I am now enjoying España!

JOEL

Riomaggiore

I am back. I am still alive and the journey keeps going. The internet access in Cinque Terre was no too accessible, so that attributes to the lack of updates.

The hostel I stayed in was in the first of five villages that make Cinque Terre. The first village, Riomaggiore, is stunningly beautiful along with the other villages. I don't think you could call the place I stayed in a hostel, I would call it more a private ocean side Villa house.

After some hard late and missed trains coming from Roma, I made it to the hostel office in downtown Riomaggiore. The woman took me and two other fellow backpackers up winding little streets and stair cases for what seemed forever with our heavy packs. After being out of breath and sweaty she brought us to this house overlooking the brilliant blue waters of the Mediterranean. It was the most amazing place with a beautiful terrace. Don´t worry I took many pictures.

After our trek up the mountain, my two newly bonded friends (Tracy and Pete) and I decided we were in for some showers and then wine. We found some wine and explored the streets of Riomaggiore. Found some delicious eats. After an evening on the town, we grabbed a bottle of wine and headed up to our terrace and sat with fellow backpackers on our killer terrace from UK, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, and Denmark.

We slowly got our stuff together, consumed some espresso, and were hiking by noon. The villages of Cinque Terre were once extremely excluded and self-sufficient. They were once only accessible by foot or boat. So the villages were not built with roads. Much of this character remains in the villages today. The mountains are covered with grape vineyards and gardens that have been gouged into the mountain side. You can hike the trail that connects the villages that was built ages ago. Words cannot describe the beauty. I was kicking myself sooo hard for not planning a longer stay. If you travels do bring you to Italy, this without any doubt in the world must be one of your stops.

Our hike brought many adventures: wine tasting at a wine co-op, a swim in the Mediterranean, stop for dinner in the last village, a train ride return to Riomaggiore, and many adventures in between.

My Cinque Terre travel buddies, Pete and Tracy, were perfect people to run into. It made the experience unforgettable. Both of them are Architecture students at University of Oregon, so a visit to Eugene will be in the works very soon. 75% of our conversation had some thing to do with architecture or design. It was great. They were eating up the buildings in Cinque Terre.

JOEL

Cinque Terre

Thank you for those who played ''Where is Joel stopping next?'' (My father was correct, nice work Papa J) I am jumping on a train to Riomaggiore in a couple of minutes. I am heading up to the five villages of Cinque Terre. Google it for a preview of where I am going.

Can't wait to escape masses of tourists and do some amazing hiking on the coast. You should here from my soon, unless I am too busy soaking up the coast.

JOEL

I will miss you Fiesta Terrace...

This is the hostel I have spent the last two night in. Probably one of the most awkward experiences in a hostel. Definitely the most random hostel every. I guess if you are up for an adventure, you can stay there when in Roma.

So, the other night I unlock the door of my room, number five, and immediately see a woman lying in my bed and three other women in beds also. Some of my stuff was moved to the last remaining bed. There is a small pathway to navigate the room between all five beds. My entrance brings immediate giggles as the four women wait to hear what language I introduce myself in. In a couple of minutes, they get out like 20 questions, while I get out two. I find out the are all Hungarians from Budapest and are all 20. Between their one question each, I manage to sneak in a question.

The experience with my four new friends was most enjoyable. They were fun people to talk to and my alarm clock in the morning. At the end of our long day of hiking the city we met up for wine on the terrace of the wonderful Fiesta Terrace.

I set out rather early. Found a great place, per the recommendation of my new friends, for a cappuccino and chocolate croissant for a sweet 1.40€. After getting my caffeine and sweets charge I headed to the Coliseum, The Arch of Constantine, the ruins around there, Trajan Column, Pantheon, the Vatican Museums, and the Sistine Chapel. There was many sights also mixed in there. Despite the obnoxious tourists with their loud voices and flashing cameras, I did make an extended stop in the Pantheon and Sistine Chapel, it was hard not to. I found a spot on the wall at the Pantheon and gazed up at the magnificent dome for quite some time.

I have to admit, the use of my iPod helped me survive the tourist yesterday. I needed it to drown them out. I listed to all of Sufjan Steven's Seven Swans as I soaked up the ceiling of Michelangelo's magnificent work.

My travels in Roma have come to an end. Need to catch a train...

JOEL

Roma

Arrived in Rome. I am in the most random hostel yet, Fiesta Terrace Hostel. It is a couple minutes away from central station, so that really is the main bonus. I don't think I can begin to explain the randomness. I am beginning to see the difference between hostels that exist to make money and those exist to be a service to travelers.

I have a day of exploring as many sites as possible tomorrow: Pantheon, Coliseum, Sistine Chapel, etc. My next stop on my itinerary I will leave a mystery. Are there any guesses at the mystery spot? Let's play where is Joel landing next.

JOEL

Firenze

I got into Florence late last night. I walked a couple neighborhoods. Found a cheap eat and beer (a Doner, with falafel, not the most high quality eats but filling).

So, it is Monday today. Don't come to Florence for one day and make it a Monday. Mondays almost every Museum closes. So no Uffuzi. No David. No anything. Ah well, I guess it will be an excuse to get back here someday.

I did walk much of the city today. Ate a calazoni. Now I am ready to say good bye to Firenze. I am jumping a train to Rome in an hour. First I am going to hit up happy hour at:
www.thejoshuatreepub.com/

Cheers.

JOEL

Venezia = Tourists

I got into Venice in the early afternoon on Sunday. It was not lacking tourists at all. The tourist population was almost as bad as Prague or possible worse since it was concentrated on an island. I enter the city with not much of an itinerary. I didn't have any reservation of a place to stay last night. I made some attempt to find a place on the island that showed to be impossible. I made some phone calls to hostels in Florence, my next stop. I connected with one that said they had some open spots, but could not reserve over the phone. So, I just had to jump a train and take my chances. (I ended up snagging the second to last spot in the hostel once I got in at 10:30)

So, I walk the streets/waters of Venice for the afternoon. Had a full delicious meal, and the jumped a train to Florence to escape the tourists.

JOEL