Uncategorized

in

OMFG, canyoning was amazing, and I made it back in one piece. We (18 people total) decended 900 feet in about five hours. We repelled a few times but mostly jumped 30-40 feet into small pools and slid down 80-90 foot chutes. SO DOPE. My knee gave out a bit at the end, but I figure the adrenaline of it all kept any pain out of mind most of the way. I would definitely do it again.

Today I took it easy and hung out up at Grimmelwald, a small village way up in the mountains. Tonight I'm heading back to Zurich to catch my plane back to the States.

I can't believe the trip is over, but I've seen so much. I've kept MUCH more detailed notes as I've journaled through this trip than I've posted on this blog this far, so when I get home I'll furiously type them up and post them incrementally with photos.

Now I have a few thank you's to hand out:

  • Thank you wives for holding down the Ballard Burrow.
  • Thank you Katrine for lending me the backpack.
  • Thank you Beth Evans for giving me the Rick Steves travel items.
  • Thank you to all those who helped funding in some way. You know who are.
  • Thank you Lonely Planet for the guidebook, which only failed me twice.
  • Thank you New Balance for the dope shoes.
  • Thank you Scott for picking me up at the airport tomorrow.
  • Finally, thank you Paid Vacation.

Sorry if I forgot anyone. Thanks for keeping up here and commenting. I'll see you all on the other side.

- Paolo

in

Whoa. Lake Como is something out of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." Because I am neither rich or famous (yet), there's not much for me to do here within my non-George Clooney means. Also, the average age here is about 60, so I'm not meeting a lot of people that I wouldn't otherwise in Palm Springs. Even in the hostel, some people are in their 50s. Thus, I'm heading back to Interlaken tomorrow to party a bit before I head home. More later.

in

I am in Venice now. Love it. The canals and streets are beautiful.

Problem -- I did something to my right knee or hamstring. I can't tell which. I think it's the joint. All I know is that I can barely walk with my backpack. Forget about stairs. Thus, today has been a real pain in the ass as I've been hobbling around this very touristy city.

Everytime I try these canal bridge stairs my knee is like "FUCK YOU!" and I get a sweet shot of instantaneous pain. Lovely. So I'm leaving tomorrow to try and score a hostel at Lake Como where I can just sit back and enjoy the sun and view. Internet, like everything else here, is very expensive so I'm off for now. Painkillers, here I come.

in

Florence has been great. I like this city a lot for a few reasons:

  1. It's easy to navigate.
  2. Tuscany is beautiful.
  3. A lot of people speak English here because this is a popular study abroad destination (Read: Gonzaga brats). English seems to be the universal language.
  4. The city is very clean. There are far fewer cigarette butts littering the streets compared to other cities like Roma and Napoli.
  5. There are a lot of good looking girls here from the States (Read: Gonzaga brats).

Yesterday I went on a full day wine tour through Tuscany. This was one of my "Must-do" activities.

Did I knock over and shatter my wine glass at our first stop, stirring a roaring applause to which I stood, took a bow and blew kisses to my nearly 50 drinking colleagues? Maybe...

On our way back from dinner, did an Aussie and I lead a crowd of mostly retirees into singing the Bloodhound Gang lyrics "You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel" over the bus intercom system? Maybe...

Am I off to Venice today? Yep.