Back in Paris

We do indeed have internet now that we're back in Paris, so I thought I'd give a bit of an update.

Rome was a good time. We got in, saw all of the sites, and got out. The first day that we arrived we took a bus to Colosseo and saw the Colliseum, and then wandered around all of Rome, seeing most of the artifacts, and eventually landed at the Pantheon. This was not intentional - more or less, we were lost. But, this uncertain path just happened to lead us by all of the important sites in Rome. So, we saw it all. The statues, the buildings - all of the ancient architecture. This part of Rome is incredible. To think that some of these buildings were constructed over one thousand years ago is just unbelievable. I doubt that our current mastery of architecture could come close to the grandeur that the ancients produced.

We had originally intended to only spend a day in Rome, but our train back to Paris was full, so we had to stay another night. We stayed both nights in a hostel run by what must have been the most laid back man alive. Anytime we saw him he looked as though he had just woken up, and his speech ran together as if he was constantly on opium. Regardless, we met some amazing people in the "Enjoy Hostel" and walked the streets of Rome with them. Katie, Karmello, the Bulgarian, and a few girls from Missouri were the highlights, and we really enjoyed their company. Karmello was especially unique because he didn't actually stay in the hostel, but in the 5th floor of the building that the hostel was in, basically in the rafters. He had 180 Euro for 22 days. Incredible.

So with the extra time we were able to better explore the Vatican, and Katie from Vancouver Island joined us. We saw the Sistine Chapel, St. Pieter's Basilica, and everything in between. It was insane - just ridiculously elaborate and completely beautiful.

But, in the end, Rome was actually very dirty, and the traffic was ridiculous. It's great to have ancient monuments scattered around a real city, but the city just overwhelmed everything. The constant buzz of traffic mixed with an infinity of tourist shops and graffiti made the Rome experience expensive and occassionally unpleasant. The buses were irregular too. Don't get me wrong, Rome is worth the visit, but without a ton of Euro, it loses its appeal very quickly. We were happy to leave.

So we came back to Paris and had another wonderful lunch of baguette, cheese, salami, and wine. This time I found a 2008 batch being sold for 2 euro a piece, so I bought two bottles. I was supposed to be off searching for a market, but Nicholas and two bottles of wine seemed much more important. Brian and Shannon found the market after I returned and spent a triumphant 5 euro on lunch. Great! We can live for much less in Paris...which is weird, considering the stereotype. We probably spend half as much money in Paris as we do in Rome.

Anyway, we visited Notre Dame and met up with Jenny (sp?), a friend of Brian and Shannon's who was involved in a foreign exchange program to Lindsay high school. She was so kind to us. She took us to an amazing brewery/restaurant in the Bercy district (The Frog) and took care of us. Brian and I shared a pitcher of Dark de Triumphe and the ladies had cocktails. It was happy hour so all was well. We then ate the cheapest food we could find - Chinese. It was comforting. If there's one kind of food that is consistent across the board, it's Chinese. Marvelous.

So now here I am in a hotel that Jenny graciously booked for us so that we didn't have to stay on the street. I just drank most of the second bottle of wine that I bought for today. What a great night. Tomorrow we hopefully end up in Belgium. Chocolate and beer...this is paradise!

Thrumming man, thrumming.