CIAO

We left Venice today. I want to see more cities, but I could easily stay there for, well, forever. I am walking with a limp because all of the walking in Venice. The lower part of the right leg is very sore and the back of my ankle is killing me because I am wearing Avila tennis shoes that I borrowed from my dad. I wanted to bring two pairs of shoes, but there wasn't enough room in my bag. So now I am hurting physically and fashionablly. Oh well. Drank a ton of great red wine and ate a pesto pasta last night. It was as good as if not better than the first dish I had when we arrived.

Today we stopped for lunch in Verona. It's amazing how every Italian city is simply amazing. I had another pesto pasta and it was great. The food portions in that part of the world are perfect, which explains why I didn't see one overweight person there. In Verona we saw what some claim to be the inspiration for the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet. Maybe I would have cared if I liked Shakespeare. We also passed a train that was used to take people to Auschwitz. There were flowers on it because it is some sort of rememberance month. The thing was tiny and had barbed wire on the six-inch windows. I'm not the type to get moved by objects, but this was definitely something that I won't forget. To see how those people suffered in such cramped quarters gave me my first first-hand look into how fucked up that whole situation was. I mean, reading about it in a book and touching a living piece of history are two totally different things.





It's snowing here in Garmisch, Germany. Being from LA, I'm not too familiar with snow, but it's pretty awesome to look at. We are staying literally in the middle of the Alps. Like everything European, I heard stories about the mountains but it never registered until I saw them. They make Big Bear look puny in comparison. That's probably lame even think that, but when I think of mountains, I think of Big Bear.


One week down. One week to go. I was really freaked out the night before leaving. Now I can say I am having perhaps the best time of my life. My girlfriend told me she was worried that I wouldn't come home. Although I can safely say that I will be coming home, she was definitely onto something as Europe is fucking unreal.

Taylor and Chip are both great guys to travel with, even though I can't keep up with them in the drinking department. I can hold my own, but these guys rage. I had to walk back to the hotel alone the past two nights because I was done. Bars in Venice don't seem to close, which means no one ever gets kicked out of anywhere. At some point, my tired ass needs some rest. It takes a lot of work to look this good!

The plan is to bobsled tomorrow in Austria. That is going to be awesome. Our sole Austrian experience so far is stopping at a McDonald's for lunch on the way to Venice. Taylor hyped the shit out of the place and told us it was the best Mickey D's on the planet. Being a vegan, I was skeptical, but once again, he was correct. The place was massive and overlooked the Alps. Even McDonald's is amazing here. I ate some cringle fries, marking the first time any type of McDonald's food has entered my stomach in at least 6 years, probably longer. Hey, when in Rome...

I feel like I have much more to say about this past week, but I need to be out living it, not writing about it. I'll save that portion for later. To anyone I know reading this, I hope things are well. Don't worry about me. I can assure you it's been smooth sailing since the second our plane landed.