Yesterday started much like any ordinary morning, only this particular morning found us in a hotel room in Geneva... so I guess it wasn't very ordinary at all. :-) With our bags mostly packed, there was only one conceivable thing left to do: go out and buy more Swiss chocolate and tacky souvenirs... what? that's not what you'd have conceived? We had a fistful of Swiss Francs left that were pretty useless, so I spent them in a shopping area connected to their major train and street car station near our hotel. It's also where I spent an hour trying park the other day. After loading up on chocolate and a few interesting souvenirs, I grabbed the car and brought it over to the hotel. Getting out was clearly much easier, as I actually knew where I was going at that point, lol. Oh man, I'll never forget that wasted hour, lol.

After packing up the car for one last time, we began the final journey back to Paris. The drive was nice, relatively uneventful, and the traffic in Paris wasn't anything to complain about. It was an odd drive though. As to be expected, the atmosphere was one of mixed emotions. As we drove nearer to Paris, the landscape almost immediately turned back into the green sloping hillsides, with old castles here and there, and that rural cottage-esque feel that I had missed so dearly from our beginning travels. It felt like we belonged, as though we had lived here all our lives, and we were just coming home after a long journey. It also felt like the ending of an incredible book - you know? Like the last page of a book that you just don't want to end? It was exactly the same emotion. At the same time, knowing that this was the final call, we grew even more excited to get back home to our friends and family, and our dog Moses, but also sadder at the notion of leaving this beatiful and exciting part of the world. So yeah, mixed emotions.

We stopped for a quick lunch to let us keep moving, and managed to arrive in Paris around 2:30pm-ish. Our to-do list was relatively short. We first had to check-in to our hotel and clean out the car, and then I drove the car over to the offices where we had received it (which was about a ten minute walk from the hotel, I'd planned it that way). It was a really sad experience that was thankfully quick and easy, I've grown to love that car soooo much. It got us through some crazy driving experiences, and never failed us once. It makes me sad that they don't sell Peugeot's here in North America. I chatted with the lovely secretary there in a mix of French and English until the guy came out to check the car and have me sign some forms. As I had expected, not a scratch or damage found. I was out in no time, and found my way back to the hotel pretty easily.

Once back at the hotel, I had some trouble getting up to my room, lol. First of all, I should explain that this hotel was a four star hotel incomparable to any we've stayed at thus far. It's luxurious to the nines. In my haste I had forgotton my room number, so I had to awkwardly go over to the concierge and mention my dilemma. He laughed. Then he gave me the number. I went over to the elevator to go to my floor, and pushed the button... ... nothing... so I pushed again... ummm... nothing happened still... that's when I realized that this place has special keycards that get you access to everything, and Lindsay had ours with her up in our room. So, once again, I made the walk of shame to the concierge, who almost seemed to know that I'd have to come back... bastard guy, lol. He handed me a new keycard and I was off.

In... wait for it... ... ... ... ... credible. The room was beautiful! The bed was the most comfortable I've ever laid or slept in, the bathroom was huge and had a shower and a separate bathtub, and our view was pretty decent overlooking modern Paris in La Defense. We got settled, grabbed our cigars and camera's, and went out for our last night on the town. We played it really loose, and figured really on just going down to the Tuillerie Gardens to see how they looked now closer to Spring (not to mention our first time there it was raining), and then to go to dinner near the Eiffel Tower, ending the night with a cigar while overlooking the Tower from below.

The gardens still weren't blooming, but you could see life on it's way for sure, and I can only imagine what it would have looked like. There were, however, alot of people there. It's plain to see that tourist season is now in full swing. We then strolled up the Champs once more to see the Arch D'Triomphe, as it seemed like the right thing to do. We just tried to take it all in, attempting to sear it all in our memories. I quickly remembered how much I love Paris, it's such a fascinating and beautiful place. After enjoying the Arch, we grabbed the subway over to the Eiffel Tower. We decided to have dinner again at the same italian restaurant we ate at the first time we went to the Tower. It was a nice meal the first time, and we had wanted to try their pizza if we ever went back. So try we did! Amazing, incredible pizza. Better than any pizza we had when we were actually in Italy.

After dinner, we strolled peacefully through the many African dudes trying to sell their crappy tourist crap, and over to the Eiffel Tower. I think it's the most beautiful at nightime. The steel structure looks less like steel in the dark, and is brilliantly light up, also feature a wicked awesome strobe light show with thousands of strobe lights that flash for about five minutes every hour. It's really incredible to watch - though epileptics may consider averting their eyes... I'm jus' sayin'... might be a good idea. We found a nice bench that took in the whole Tower, and smoked our cigars in relative peace - despite some a--hole French police who hassled Lindsay for no good reason. You can ask Lindsay, I was about to get up in their face had they not left us when they did. Didn't speak english my ass, they were jerks. Anyways, it didn't bother us once they left. All in all, a nice night.

We made it back to the hotel and put the finishing touches on our masterful packing job, lol we're just glad nothing broke in our suitcases on the flight back, phew. After packing, we turned in and had the most fantastic sleeps of the trip, and I'm pretty sure my whole life, lol. It was so comfy. I never wanted to leave that bed, lol. This morning was pretty calm, which is what I was hoping for. With no scrambling left to do, we simply went down for the breakfast included. Holy crap, was this hotel amazing. The breakfasts that we've had so far have been lame. This breakfast was fit for royalty. They had eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit, breads, cheeses, EVERYTHING! and it was ALL incredible tasting. We were so sad though because we didn't want to stuff up and have stomach aches on the plane ride. So we were forced to eat reasonably, which sucked lol.

After breakfast, our hotel called our cabbie, and that was it. The end arrived at approximately 9am, on this day Saturday the 28th of March. The cab ride was short, and we found ourselves at the airport with a decent amount of time to spare... which was lucky, because it took us over and hour to get through the security gate! The line was massive, and we experienced our first true dose of the rude Frenchman. They were cutting into line left right and centre, pissing off countless travellers. It was really a shame. Anywho, we made it through without worrying, and had a relatively nice flight back. The turbulence was minimal, and I managed to watch a bunch more great movies. It was great to see my mom and dad at the airport to pick us up, I even teared up a bit for no apparent reason. It made me laugh. We picked up our little buddy Moses who was living with Lindsay's family for the past month, and he was so stoked to see us. The feeling was mutual. Now we're home, mostly settled in, and life has seemingly returned to the way it was. The trip was unforgettable, and I'm so happy to have had shared the experiences with the person I love the most in this whole world (aka Lindsay). And with that, I leave this link to a few more picture of our last day, as well this appropriate picture of Moses I just took to show how happy he is to be back home. Cheers!

The end is nigh... very, very, nigh. Sidenote: I've no idea what nigh means, but I believe it's being used accurately, lol. Tomorrow morning we leave Geneva headed to Paris, right back where this whole thing started 27 days ago. We'll have only the afternoon and evening there, as our flight leaves on Saturday morning just before noon. It's sad, but oddly I think we've prepped ourselves for the end. Ever since we left Venice yesterday morning, we've truly felt as though we're coming home. It's as if the climax of our story has been reached, and now we find ourselves in the closing pages of a fantastic novel. The adventure has numbed into a more serene and relaxing environment, and as I said in my last post, we really see these past two days and tomorrow as a cherry on top. That being said, the elements of adventure have still been present yesterday and today, with perhaps the most beautiful sight that I have enjoyed during the past month: The Swiss Alps.

Driving out of Venice was easy, and the highways were incredibly fast. This was very encouraging, as I had anticipated a six hour drive at the very least to get to Geneva. Instead we made it in about four and a half... boo' wait for it... ... 'yaaaaa. The drive was ominous, as the further west-north-west that we drove, the larger and more magnificent the alps became. Beginning as a simple, 'oh look, pretty mountains', it quickly turned into a, 'holy s---, f------ amazing mountains!' ... :-) They just kept growing larger and larger the closer we got to Geneva, with the second most reflective inspiring moment coming when we stopped for lunch. I had searched through Frommers for a city to stop in for lunch on the way, looking for one that had a good restaurant worthy of stopping at, and a city that wasn't so big that getting in and out would eat up massive amounts of time. I found the historic city of Aoste, located directly at the foot of the alps. The city dates back thousands of years as a northern outpost of the Roman Empire. It has one of the oldest triumphal arches in the world, and it's city walls are still standing, incorporated into the the city itself. As if that isn't cool enough, this was the inspiring view from where we parked to go to lunch:



Pretty stinking fantastic. After a mediocre cheese fondue lunch (actually it was pathetic), we continued on toward Geneva. What we enjoyed next is unparalleled in sheer natural beauty. Never have I laid my eyes on a more magnificent landscape - and we've seen alot of incredible landscapes in the last month. I'm speaking of Mont Blanc. THEE Mont Blanc. In order to get to Geneva, one must first drive one of a few tunnels that go THROUGH the Alps. Our pass was the famous Mont Blanc Tunnel. Higher and higher we drove up winding roads and tunnels along the alps, watching as the temperature dropped ever so slowly. We finally found ourselves at what by all appearances looks like a border crossing station. After a few customary questions by the patrol guys, and paying the fee to use the tunnel, we made our way in. Spanning twelve kilometres and strictly regulated to 70 km/h, it took about ten minutes to drive through. It was bizarre though, as we saw the temperature rise from seven degrees to an astounding twenty degrees! You could also feel that you were clearly still on a vertical incline, heading higher and higher in altitude. And then... it happened. The tunnel ended and it spat us back into the real world, at what seemed like almost the peak of the mountain. It was snowing! Every where we looked was jaw-dropping, the massive mountains, snow covered and dotted with evergreens. The temperate quickly plummeted to two degrees at it's lowest. Just incredible.

We began the slow descent down the mountains, and even stopped at a rest stop to use the bathroom and then just stood outside in the dead quiet, watching the snow coming down on the mountains that surrounded us. I'll never forget that moment for the rest of my life.

We made it down the mountains and into Geneva shortly after that, and got settled in. After having the worst time trying to park the stupid car in a nearby lot (took me an HOUR to park at a place that was a two minute walk from our hotel... ONE HOUR!), we decided on dinner. Thanks to a lousy cheese fondue at lunch, I was determined to enjoy a true swiss fondue in Switzerland. A local restuarant provided one that was pure heaven. The restuarant was designed in old country Swiss decor, and they even had an Oompa Loompa band. It was alot of fun. We walked down by the lake after dinner, just enjoying every moment, and admiring the beauty of the city. It's alot like Monaco in alot of ways, though more like a baby Monaco in comparison to Monaco's oppulence.



We were sad to find out that there didn't appear to be any cruises or tours going around the area, and the famous Jet D'Eau wasn't spraying at night, but it was okay, we didn't complain. Today was alot of fun! We got to see the Jet in action, and spent the morning walking around the harbor, getting right up close to the Jet. It's been around for a couple hundred years from what I understand, and displays the Swiss engineering spirit. It sprays a few hundred feet into the air, splashing back down in sheets and daggers of clear water.



We then went on an outlined walk through the city that Frommers had recommended, which was perfect. We saw the historical part of the city, and many other fascinating things. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch called Place de la Madeleine, which was one of the best meals I've had in awhile. Thanks to last nights Fondue and today's lunch, we finally feel as though we've returned to a world of good food. Italy started so well, and then just got spotty throughout. Too bad. Anywho, this restaurant is fascinating as it's owned and run by a religious anti-alcohol group that gives much of it's profit to helping people with alcohol addictions. They don't serve any alcohol, but had a fantastic non-alcoholic beer. Their roast chicken was hands down the best I've ever had anywhere.

We then went shopping! There's a HUGE shopping district in Geneva, though it's all very upscale. Lindsay and I enjoyed window shopping, but also stopped off at a famous cigar shop called Davidoff's to buy a couple stogies, and hit up a fancy looking grocery store for good times. The grocery store was super high class, with some of the most magnificent looking meats and produce, and a great selection of wines. We bought some chocolate there, mmm swiss chocolate. After that we just leisurely strolled back through the city and towards our hotel, stopping to 'smell the roses' along the way. We got cleaned up, and then grabbed the local transit outside the downtown core for another highly rated cheese fondue restaurant. The Swiss know what they're doing with their fondue, that's all I can say. Though I am extremely proud to say that my cheese fondue is equal to both we've had now here in Geneva. Lindsay and I shared a bubbling pot of cheese, and some nice wine, before heading back to the hotel tonight to get ready for our last day in Europe. The transit system appears to be completely free here in Geneva, as we boarded the bus both times without having to pay a dime, and nobody else seemed to either... ??? Pretty awesome if you ask me.

We've now just finished the arduous process of trying to pack all of the liquor and souvenirs we've purchased throughout our travels, along with our clothes and stuff. It wasn't fun, and we still have some junk sitting out that we'll have to find a home for tomorrow night, but we wanted to get as much of it done tonight. This way, we can enjoy tomorrow night in Paris without feeling we have to rush back to the hotel to pack. The more we think about home, the more excited we are now to get back to life. We miss our wittle puppy Mr. Moses alot, as well as both our families, and all of our dear friends. It was great to have so many comments on our posted pictures from everybody following our adventure, and we can't wait to share more when we get back.

Tomorrow will be bittersweet, though I'm excited to see what a month's worth of change has made on Paris, and it'll feel nice returning to the rural landscape that I grew to love at the beginning of our adventure. Here are some pictures of Geneva, next stop Paris, then home. Cheers!

Venezia has been a mixed bag... it's perhaps one of the most beautifully strange and different cities on the face of the earth, unlike any we've ever seen. It surprisingly has captured our imagination and left us REALLY sad that we have to leave tomorrow morning. The mixed bag part is only that we've come down in reality this last day, realizing in full that our trip is basically all but over. Tomorrow we leave for Geneva, where we'll spend two nights, and then we're off to Paris for our last night in Europe. We're sure Geneva will be beautiful, and we plan to enjoy our last night in Paris, but we're equally as sure that it'll be over in a flash. So yeah, Venezia is amazing, and it's only black mark is that it's the beginning of the actual end to our month of living out of suitcases, zipping through beautiful landscapes and terrain, visiting exotic cities, seeing some of the most amazing pieces of history and art, eating out every day, the list goes on... What an incredible trip we've had.

We left Firenze without issue three days ago (including today). The drive was nice, and without any hiccup. Arriving in Venezia is really cool, as you have to understand that it's a series of man-made islands connected to land only through one long bridge. Once across, parking was a little nuts to figure out, as things are just not clearly directed. You're basically spat off the highway into a large parking area. It's really ground zero for entering the city, as the main water transit stops are there, along with hotels, and baggage boats that take your stuff to the hotels, etc... We finally parked on the top floor of a lot, where we counted ourselves lucky to find a great open spot. Almost every empty space was double-parked by some idiot driver, who then forced everyone else to double park, eliminating tons of spots. Anyways, we found a spot, so I won't complain. Taking our luggage, we trekked down to the ground zero, following my GPS to direct us to our nearby hotel. I had chosen a hotel close beside ground zero for two reasons: it's cheaper, and it's close to the car. It's on the outskirts of Venice, but it only takes about half an hour to walk from one end of the city to the other, which we both agreed was so worth it. We got to experience the full city throughout our walks, I wouldn't have had it any other way.

We checked in to the hotel, got some lunch, and explored. We made no plans on what to see and where to go, other than to head towards St. Mark's Square - which without a map is impossible, lol. We tried to go by our sense of direction and ended up going in a giant U-shape, lol! It was all good though. We finally cracked and checked the map dumbfounded at how far off the path we'd gotten. Correcting our course, we continued to travel through the endless maze of alleyways that are the streets of Venice. The other amazing thing about the city is that are obviously no cars beyond ground zero, meaning walking or boats are your only means of transportation. It's so peaceful that way.

People have complained ad nauseum about the stench from the city when they visited. I can honestly say that in March, the stink is next to nothing. Yeah, you smell an odor like you would down by most waterfronts along Lake Ontario, but the septic sewery stench is next to nothing. Every once in awhile it would waft up, and you be like, "oh man, I can taste it, eugh", but it would pass quickly. Thus, I can completely imagine what the city must smell like during the high season when the temperature really warms up; however, March is clearly the time to see Venice. The crowds were super tame and minimal compared to what I'm sure they are during the high season, which gave us a more intimate vision of the city, and it doesn't smell.

We ended up seeing alot in our first afternoon in the city. We made our way to the Ponte di Rialto, crossing it into the San Marco region of the city. The Rialto is much like the Ponte Vecchio in that it's a bridge with shops, however is far more beautiful as it offers an incredible sweeping image of the Grand Canal, and also offers more reasonable tourist shopping - although it is only tourist crap, so it's not exactly a win.



That's the view from the Rialto, it was like stumbling upon what had always been my romanticized classic vision of what Venice would look like. It was amazing to see that parts of the city actually really looked that way.

We continued into St. Mark's Square, which is just beyond what I had imagined it would look like. It's such a beautiful Piazza, lined with a couple of famous cafes, and some of the most incredible places to shop for jewellry, glass, masks, etc... We made the decision to go up the Campanile bell tower in the square for the view, and were pleasantly surprised to find that they had an elevator! WOO HOO! We've climbed enough stairs for one lifetime, and welcomed the change :-) The view that it offered over the whole city was INCREDIBLE! We were also up there as the sun was making its descent, which cast a beautifully bright hue over the cityscape. We could see the bridge that we came across, all the wonderful windy streets, as well as a great perspective of St. Mark's Square below. The bell tower is really fascinating, as we learned that the original tower collapsed back in the early 1900's. One evening a giant CRACK was heard throughout the square, and it could be seen streaked up the side of the tower. The square was evacuated, and the tower collapsed in on itself the following morning. The reason this happened is because Venice is built on a marshy bed, and the whole city is basically un-level and improperly supported - some of the buildings are hilarious to look at, as they're almost diagonal. Anywho, the new bell tower re-used as much of the old as it could, and is now built on special supports that can actually be shifted mechanically to keep it level. Crazy.

We continued walking around that area, which is basically downtown Venice, before heading for dinner, and then back to our hotel. We ate at this place recommended by Frommers, and it was okay. We chose it because it was cheap but had a good review, and almost every restaurant in Venice is expennnnsive. You can't get a cheap meal in Venice, unless you're not eating much and then it's still relatively expensive considering what you get. The one cool thing about the restaurant we chose, was that I had a whole fish for the first time in my life. I wasn't expecting it until I noticed the gentleman next to us having the same thing. I studied him carefully, as he clearly knew what he was doing in cutting up the fish. Once mine came, I employed the surgical techniques I had memorized with much success. The result was actually a really tasty fish, with a fun story to tell. I didn't eat its head or anything, as it was clearly looking at me.

Our next day (yesterday) brought us back into St. Mark's Square, where we went into St. Mark's church, along with the Doge's Palace next to it. It was a nice church, very much in the Byzantine style, but after St. Peter's Basilica I don't know if I'll ever be in awe of any church's architecture. The Palace was pretty cool, but they were really strict about taking pictures inside, which was a buzzkill. The best part of the palace was a stairwell whose ceiling was entirely laced with real gold. It was fantastic!



We continued to the Bridge of Sighs, a famous bridge that connects the palace to the old prison next to it. The palace held a court that would judge the guilty, and they'd be sent to the prison next to it. The bridge has some cool windows with stone lattace, offering a cool view that was said to make prisoners sigh as they went to their dungeon-like prison cells. Pretty cool stuff!

Afterward, in the afternoon, we decided to enjoy one of the famous outdoor cafes in St. Mark's sqaure, an experience that was worth every penny. It's like afternoon tea, and they have a small orchestral band that plays most of the afternoon. You pay through the nose though, like $50 or so for some hot drinks and dessert, but it's so worth it - especially since it was another beautiful day.



We browsed through the city on our way back to the hotel, and then got ready to go to dinner at a place that sounded fantastic. We headed out to find the restaurant, only to be completely stumped. We looked everywhere for this place according to the map in Frommers, with no luck whatsoever. We settled for a restaurant along the Grand Canal beside the Ponte di Rialto, and it was expensive and lack-luster. The food in Venice is not great, and it's expensive - but you know what, you deal with it.

Today was just perfect. If today had been our last day in Europe, we would go home feeling complete - which really makes the next three days seem like bonus days. It was a relaxing day filled with a couple of art galleries, some nice walks through the city, some fun shopping around St. Mark's Square, and an unforgettable evening that borders on the most fantastic I've ever had. Our evening started by deciding to take a water bus over to St. Mark's Square, where our dinner reservations were. You see, we chose not to pay ridiculous amounts of money for a Gondola ride while we were here. I appreciate that it's an experience, but it wasn't one that Lindsay and I felt was worth having. The result was that we hadn't been on any boat rides, and so thought it would be cool to at least get out onto the water for our last night here. We sat outside at the front of boat, in the frigid cold of night, and laughed, took pictures, and just thoroughly enjoyed ourselves despite the ridiculous cold.

We chose to go to a restaurant that was both recommended by Frommers, and we had noticed looked great on the first night we were here. We didn't go the first night because it also looked too expensive, but damn it everywhere here is expensive! So we said screw it, it's our last night here and the food looks as though it might actually be worthy of the price tag. Ristorante Do Leoni is an absolute must if you visit Venice. No choice, go there on your last night. It was fantastic. Second most expensive meal of our lives, and quite rightly the second best meal of our lives. (Far Niente in Toronto still holds the number one spot for both of those categories) Here's a breakdown of the meal:

Starter: A single little cherry tomato stuffed with a ricotta cheese and pesto mix
Antipasta: Carpaccio of beef with a green salad in a parmasen cheese crusted bowl
Primi: Vegetarian Lasagna (Lindsay) and Risotto with Cuttlefish Ink and bits of Cuttlefish (me)
Secondi: Sliced grilled beef with potatoes (Lindsay) and Roasted Duck Breast (me)

Fantastic. Some good wine, an incredible waiting staff, and an opulent interior... just amazing. Our evening didn't end there though. I brought our bottle of cognac that we've been drinking since visiting Cognac, along with two snifters and a Cuban cohiba cigar that I bought this afternoon at a smoke shop in St. Mark's Square. Virtually empty, we went to St. Mark's Square and grabbed a table at the cafe we had afternoon tea at (which was closed at that point in the evening). Although a bit chilly, we shared the cigar while enjoying our cognac, just taking stock of everything that we've experienced so far on the trip. It was such a perfect experience.

Afterward, we chatted with a few of the illegals trying to hawk their wares in the square, one of whom was all the way from Senegal in Africa. Craziness. These people seem barely human anymore, instead even when trying to just talk with them, they attempt to sell you their wares without cessation, almost robotically. It was interesting to say the least, not nearly as insane as the markets in Dominican Republic, but still kinda nuts. After another walk through the city, our last here, we're now back at the hotel packed up to go tomorrow morning. We're making about a six hour drive to Geneva, where we'll chill for the afternoon and next day, then make a second six hour drive to Paris before leaving. I've posted pictures between two albums for Venice, with THIS ONE, and ALSO THIS ONE. Hope you enjoy, talk to y'all soon!

p.s. We actually found the restaurant today that we had looked for last night. Frommer's messed up bigtime, they had it marked on the wrong side of the Grand Canal, and we only managed to find the place after asking one of "Gondola, Gondola!" guys this afternoon about it's location. I plan to write Frommer's when we get back to complain about that little tidbit. I figure they'd want to know.

The world is kind of a stupid place sometimes. I'm not talking about war, poverty, and suffering: that stuff is clearly stupid. What I'm speaking of is something that Lindsay and I have noticed on our trip in terms of what the Countries actually refer to their cities as - for example, Italy calls and spells Rome as Roma... meaning that the name of the city isn't Rome... it's Roma. Why on earth other countries would have to change that seems absolutely retarded to me. We call Pisa - Pisa, why should the big cities be called different. Also, Florence as we know it is actually Firenze (Fear-ens-eh)... and Venice is actually Venezia (Ven-eet-zee-ah)... Milan is Milano... the list goes on. Are we so entirely degenerate in our language skills that we refuse to acknowledge the actual pronunciations, instead nationalizing the names into our own version? It's dumb... plain... simple... one-sided. What a dumb culture we've fostered, so much that I would likely never have known this had we not traveled to Italy. France isn't so bad, though Paris isn't pronounced Pair-iz, rather Pair-ee. Is that SO hard to say? I don't get it. There's no valid excuse in my head apart from it's just the way it's always been... which in itself isn't even an excuse not to change. Anyways, that's my rant for the day, lol. On to Firenze!!!

We left Roma yesterday morning as early as our bodies would allow us, which wasn't too late. I think we were out of the hotel by 10am. The drive out wasn't nearly as bad as the drive in, which I kind of expected. I had found on the way in that I was quickly picking up the nuances of Romano driving, and as we had kind of got turned around a few times on our way to the hotel, I had a pretty clear image in my mind of the local streets. Traffic also wasn't as jammed up, so we were out of the city in about a half an hour on our way north to Firenze.

I can't begin to describe how different and beautiful the Italian countryside is. Small mountains, with small villages and cities, span the entire country it seems. The roads are much nicer than people had led me to believe as well, though the polizia are everywhere it seems. France had next to no gendarmerie on the roads, so it's been a bit of a shock. We've kept our speed down a tad just to be safe. I've heard that France has a ton of radar camera's though instead, and Linds and I have joked about getting home to a mailbox full of speeding tickets, lol. We'll see.

We got into Firenze around 12:30pm and checked into our four star hotel just outside of the downtown core. Really nice place, huge bathroom, free breakfasts which were good, and a parking spot included. The concierge was really good as well, helping us find restaurants and call taxis for us. We decided to drive to nearby downtown Firenze ourselves, taking a scenic route around the outskirts, and ending near a restaurant that looked good for lunch. The place was called Mamma Gia's, and we just made it before they closed for the afternoon. We had some interesting pasta dishes that were so-so (which again has me surprised, as I was expecting ALL pasta to be heavenly in Italy). The best part was this incredible lemon pie that we shared for dessert, I've been craving it since.

After lunch we made our way into the real downtown, where all of the museums and sites to see are located. We crossed the famous Ponte Vecchio that I'd read about. It was described as a bridge with a bunch of shops built along it. I was excited to see it... until I saw it. Every store was for jewelery or stupid tourist crap. Not a single variation to offer. What a shame. Interesting to see, stupid for shopping unless you're loaded and want jewelry. We continued on, and found ourselves in this long, thin, rectangular courtyard lined with statues of the famous renaissance artists and contributors. The courtyard and buildings basically make up the Galleria degli Uffizi, a massive art museum and former court I believe of the royal family back in the day(1700's). We got in line to go in, but it was loooooong, and wasn't moving much. It was close to closing for the day as well, so we decided not to waste our time there. We never went back in, but don't really care either :-) We moved on to another piazza that was filled with scupltures, elegently positioned for display. They were nothing short of incredible. With the day running out, and our desire to relax a bit, we headed back to our car, passing a place called the Palazzo Pitti - which is a large palace that didn't make the cut for places to go in our short time in Firenze. It was funny though, cuz it had a giant statue of a pair of lips at it's entrance - people sculpt the strangest things.

We drove back towards to hotel, though stopping first at a place called Piazzale Michelangiolo, a large piazza at the edge of cliff overlooking Firenze designed by Michelangelo. It was spectacular - FREEZING COLD - but spectacular. I forgot to mention that, after it rained the last night in Roma, the temperature has dropped down to around 5 degrees, and yesterday in Florence was super windy to boot... we were NOT happy campers. Anyways, the panoramic view was awe-inspiring to say the least.

We prettied ourselves up back at the hotel, and made our way to a famous Firenze restaurant called Buca Mario. If you're ever in Firenze you have to eat here, it's fantastic. It was a nice return to a good Italian meal - something that had oddly evaporated since the first night in Roma. We enjoyed some antipasta's, some risotto and lasagna, and a secondi that almost killed me, lol. I had almost ordered something called the Bifstecca alla Fiorentina at a restaurant in Roma, but the waiter had mentioned it was too big, and I wouldn't want it. So I didn't order it, but at this restaurant they clearly had it label in portions for one or two or three, etc... So I figured it must be a more reasonable size and ordered it for one. The waiter turned the corner with our meals in hand, and my jaw dropped. I started laughing nervously as he placed the plate in front of me, asking if this was really 'for one'. He laughed maniacally (that's an exageration by the way) as he said, "si". People at the tables next to us congratulated me on my courage, and gave their condolences to my wife as I clearly would not survive the meal. On my plate was the largest slab of meat I've ever seen in my entire life. As round as my head and almost three inches thick stood the Florentine Beefsteak - a massive t-bone steak cooked to absolute perfection, and seasoned skillfully. We guess-timated the thing was at least 28 ounces. But hey, when in Rome... or in this case Florence... I proceeded to engage the enemy. I went into it with a pratical perspective, I had no intention of eating the whole thing. I managed to eat about three-fifths of this monster, in what all honesty was a fantastic piece of meat. I tapped out, satisfied yet surprisingly not stuffed. Last night was a little rough for sleeping, as my body worked its magic, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected, and all in all I felt great today.

Today marked one of those unforgettable life moments, which I wasn't expecting. We saw Michaelangelo's famous statue of David today at the Galleria dell'Accademia. Incredible. Standing what must have been twelve feet tall at least, the David is the most magnificent scultpure I've ever seen in my entire life. I'd seen pictures before, and it's been a pop-culture icon forever, but in person is the only way to appreciate this masterpiece. What makes it so phenomenal is the pain-staking level of detail employed. Every single imaginable nook and cranny, muscle tissue, veins, facial detail, finger nails, my goodness the list goes on - they've all been accounted for. I could have spent all day just marvelling at the David. Apart from that though, the rest of the museum is really a complete write-off. Small and boring. The David is the only thing worth seeing, but boy is worth seeing.

We moved onto a small monastary nearby considered the birthplace of the renaissance movement in art. Basically a school of art, the head monk there was a brilliant fresco painter whose paintings inspired the break from the Byzantine era, into the Renaissance. It was a cool place. Afterward we headed toward the famous cathedral in Firenze, St. Marks. You can't miss this place, it's HUGE, and it's exterior is made up of what looks like dark emerald green and white marble. It's museum is across the street from it, so we went there first. Supposedly all of the major artwork and decor was moved to this museum from the church, and it certainly appeared that way. We had some pizza for lunch that was so-so, and then went into the church. We got into a line that I thought was to get into the church, but we found out that it was for climbing the hundreds of stairs up to the top of the dome. We've climbed the Arc d'Triomphe, a massive stairwell down into the Catacombs in Paris, up to the top of Mont-St-Michel, up to the top of Rocamadour, up the tower of Pisa, up the dome in St. Peter's in Vatican City, but none come close to the climb we made to the top of this dome in terms of stairs. It's a famous dome whose interior side is magnificently painted by Donatello. It features a scene of the spiritual realm, depicting the heights and beauty of heaven and it's citizens, down to the depths and horrors of hell and it's demons. It's amazing, AND by climbing to the top of it, it features a walkway around the interior that puts you a mere matter of 20 or so feet from the ceiling, giving the best view possible. We continued to the top, where you're spat out onto another fantastic viewing spot over the entire city. We had planned to climb the bell tower across from us originally, though this was WAY better so we didn't bother.

After that, we basically ended today by visiting the domed baptistry beside the church, another famous building in Firenze with a fantastic ceiling painting. We've made our way back to the hotel, where we've enjoyed a bottle of wine, some ordered pizza, and some skip-bo. We've packed up so that we can leave tomorrow morning as soon as possible, allowing us to get to Venezia with the whole afternoon to explore. Firenze has been cool for a few reasons, yet boring for many other reasons. You really HAVE to see the David and the panoramic view of the city, and also eat at Buca Mario, but other than that it's really not all it's cracked up to be (unless you're rich and can enjoy all the nice shopping the city offers, or are an art student or fanatic.) Here's the pics of the city that I thought were the best, mille grazie amici! Ciao!

You know it's funny, I've been using that saying jokingly throughout alot of our trip, and I had mentioned to Lindsay that it'll be funny to apply it once we're actually in Rome. Note: We've already established that I'm a bit of nerd, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to you to hear that I would find something like that funny... But would you know it, I completely forgot to use that saying over the past two and half days that we spent here in this beautiful city. What a shame.

One of the coolest features of hitting up so many different cities, across such a vast amount of territory, would have to be experiencing how each one is different in both style and personality. Starting in Paris offered a really great measuring stick for comparing atmosphere, people, etc. Rome is VERY different from Paris. Rome is the biggest city we've been in since leaving Paris, yet has a completely different feel to it. Paris suddenly seems colder and more aristocratic now having experience a deeper sense of vibrancy that Rome exudes. I can't say that it was necessarily the Italians that exuded this, as the city seems run by tourists (which is so bizarre, as practically everyone around us was either British or American it seemed). Instead, it was more the history and buildings that spoke of a life and world unlike anything we've ever experienced.

Our first night in Rome was fantastic. Again, as usual, we dropped our bags off and looked up a place to have dinner. We found this place that described itself as offering an authentic Italian home-cooked meal, prepared by the owner - an old Italian lady. Sounded great, so we looked at our maps to see how we'd get there, and what there was to see along the way. Being the evening, we thought it'd be cool to check out some of the famous fountains in Rome, and anything else nearby worth seeing. So we hopped onto the Roman subway system, which like Paris has one of the best systems - though not nearly as many lines as Paris has - and we made our way toward the famous Trevi Fountain. I don't think I was prepared for what my eyes laid upon once arriving at this fountain - it's ginormous! It takes up a whole side of a building, and consists of a handful of the most beautifully sculpted statues (which were gigantic). We kept walking through these winding alleys which have clearly become popularized by tourists, as they are lined with restaurants and souvenir shops, and we kept stumbling upon ancient building, after building. It was incredible to turn a corner, only to find another jaw-dropping feat of architecture after another. The best was coming out of one of the alleys into a large open piazza and seeing the Pantheon just standing there.

We kept maneuvering, ending at the famous Piazza Navona before finding our restaurant nearby. Sure enough when we entered the restuarant, out from the kitchen popped this classical image of an old Italian mama wearing an apron and inviting us into the restaurant. We had a seat and waited for our waiter to drop by. He didn't come very quickly, and when he did he simply asked us if we wanted red wine or white. After leaving, I remarked that we hadn't received any menu yet, and thought it would be super cool if they just started showing up with plates of food. Not even a minute later, out popped the waiter with a big 1L jug of red wine, and a bunch of plates with antipasta's - like meats, olives, a fantastic plate of beans, some fresh fennel, and some bread. We were so blown away, and the food was fantastic! Next came our Primi of a cheesy tomato sauce covered rigatoni dish that was some of the best pasta I've ever eaten, followed by our Secondi of veal, with some boccancini, potato chips (which was funny to see), and some bitter greens that were fun to try but wouldn't eat again. Anywho, after being stuffed by all this food, the waiter came out and said that would be 50 euros flat... ... we were like, that's all? You have to understand that 50 euros for such a large meal with wine and everything is an INCREDIBLE price. We left that place so stinkin' happy, goodtimes. :-)

After spending some more time retracing our steps back through the route that got us there, we hopped on the subway and went back to the hotel, getting some sleep for the following big day: Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel! I was really excited for this day, and it completely outdid my expectations. Vatican City, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel Museum are likely going to be my biggest highlights of the entire trip, and have only helped to cement Rome as the most magnificent city we've ever visited. The artwork, the history, and the grandeur of that trio beat out everything we've seen thus far, and that is saying ALOT. The Louvre has nothing on those three combined (which they really are basically one whole experience).

The subway ride over was quite nice, though a little packed. We entered into the Piazza in front of St. Peter's Basilica and instantly knew we were in for a great day. There were line-ups at each place we went to, but they moved super quick, so waiting was never an issue. Words can't even come close to describing these places, so you'll have to check out the pics linked to below to get an idea.

On our way back to the hotel afterward, we decided to check out 'The Spanish Steps', as well as retrace our route from the night before to see everything in the daylight. The Spanish Steps are boring. Period. It's a huge bunch of steps that people sit around on in front of some old Spanish Embassy. I guess some people love them, we just thought it was boring. Also, the fountains are WAY cooler at night when they're all lit up as opposed to in the light of day, but the Piazza Navona had alot more going on during the day, which made it neater. The best part of our re-trace though was that the Pantheon was opened up so we could see inside. It's really cool in there, the ceiling is trippy. One of the more bizarre things happened at this place as well - I was taking video of the ceiling, and when I looked back down there was this creepy looking dude standing inches away from my face. I was like, "Can I help you?", and he was like, "You're in my way, I want to move straight." I turned and looked behind me, then looked back at him with a "you've got issues my friend" face, stepped aside and said, "well by all means, move ahead." Afterward I followed him taking video so I can show people this nutbag when we get back home. I thought it was a suitable revenge. What a freakshow, lol. We had dinner that night at a relatively forgettable restaurant, which was really the first "whatever" meal we've had in Italy.

Today was our last day in Rome, and it was another incredible experience. We woke up and had breakfast at our hotel, which is funny because the Italian version of a hotel breakfast is stale croissants crusted with sugar, and bread with nutella. Don't get me wrong, I actually have grown to like it all, and who doesn't enjoy nutella. It's just funny cuz' it's such a bad breakfast, lol. Afterward we grabbed the subway down to the Colosseum! It was nuts, cuz we got off the subway, exited the station onto the street, looked up, and there it was right in front of us. It was a really cool reveal. Again, words are useless to describe the Colosseum here so check out the pics. We got in line to enter the place, only to find out that they only took cash to get in. We had enough for Lindsay to get in, but I had to go on a marathon around the area to find an ATM. That's life I guess. I joined up with Lindsay inside and we spent the next hour and a half just admiring this colossal place. The history here just bleeds out of it's remains. The place wasn't at all what I had envisioned throughout my youth, as it's basically just the shell of what it once was thousands of years ago. We learned that the Romans abandoned the Colosseum and later stripped all of it's rich stone away to build new places in their city - leaving the Colosseum looking like a picked apart carcass. It was still cool though, really cool actually, just not what I had envisioned.

This area of Rome is steeped in an atmosphere of history, which makes sense as it's the site of Ancient Rome. Beside the Colosseum are the ruins of ancient Rome, which were so unique. We had seen some Roman ruins in France that were really cool, and made sense to look at, but the ruins here were mostly, well, ruined, lol. You'd look around and see SO much, but two-thirds of it all made no sense whatsoever. You couldn't even try to imagine what it would have looked like, it was like trying to focus a camera that just won't become sharp. It was incredible to walk through though, and some of the things were in pretty good shape, or had been restored. We then walked around that area of the city, just wandering and admiring whatever we saw.

We found that we had some time in the late afternoon, so we headed over to a laundry place near our hotel with all of our "two weeks and change" old clothes that were in desperate need of washing. I've been really amazed though at how long we've managed to go without doing laundry. We've washed our socks and underwear a few times in our hotel sinks and bathtubs, but our actual clothes haven't been cleaned since we've been here. It was a neat little place that is also a hostel and an internet cafe, and is run by a couple of VERY eccentric young people. One of them is a nerdy Italian guy that was a bit of a perv and a weirdo, and the other is this really cool Austrian girl who Lindsay and I chatted up for a quite a while. After leaving we made it back to our hotel just as it started to pour. We had little time to spare though in order to make our dinner reservation, so we headed out in a light drizzle, as the rain was tapering off. We searched forever for the stupid restaurant, which was nearby the Colosseum, and finally found it tucked away just as the rain was picking up again. For the second night in a row the meal was just okay but not really that great, especially compared to Lucca and that first night in Rome. The saving grace was the owner, who brought us out a free shooter of some cold bright yellow liquor. I took one look at it and said to this Lindsay, "I bet this is Limoncello", which is a famous Italian lemon liquor. It's the stuff that George Clooney and Danny Devito once got famously hammered from one night out drinking together. Sidenote: Danny Devito now owns his own label of Limoncello, too funny. Anyways, the stuff is awesome! Strong though, but really tasty. I asked the owner if that was Limoncello, and he said it was, at which point I mentioned it was our first time having it. Well what do you know, the guy brought us out another round of shooters on the house! It was really such a nice touch. The place also had a really authentic feel to it, as there were practically no other tourists there, and ALOT of old local Italian guys sitting down to a huge bowl of this or that. It was funny because it seemed like they all knew each other, as though this place was their "Cheers", and everybody knew their name. We left pretty satisfied despite the so-so food, and walked around the outside of the Colosseum to admire it all lit up at night. It was a bit disappointing though, as they really haven't lit it up very well at all. I don't mean that it needs to be flooded with light, simply that it isn't lit well. It looked bland and dull, needing quite a few more properly placed lights... at least that's our opinion having seen so many night shots of places lit up all across Europe. It started to rain again though, which cut our walk short, and it was POURING when we exited the Subway station near our hotel. We got soaked, but it's all good :-)

We're really sad to leave Rome tomorrow morning, but once again, as with everywhere we've been, we feel satisfied that we've seen all that there really is to see. I'll never forget Rome for as long as I live - if you ever have a choice between Paris OR Rome, pick Rome. Both are fantastic and worth visiting, but Rome edges Paris out by a nose. Enjoy these two albums of Rome, the first one is a continuation of the Lucca and Pisa album from the previous post, while the second one is pure Rome. We're starting to remark to each other now that there's really only a week left in Europe, and the reality of going home is really starting to set in. We're ignoring it as much as we can, but man, we wish we could just travel for ever... that's life though I guess. Next stop Firenze (Florence) and Michaelangelo's famous statue of David, can't wait!