5 days later...

Well the wild frontiers of America came calling and we have since left the civilized and sumptuous Western Europe behind us. We go now to brace against the ebbing freedom we've had these past months as the tide of reality encroaches. There are very few decisions in life that are made without a hint of regret or retrospective uncertainty; and this was one of them. While I'm sure growth did occur, I can't say I was struck by any one great epiphany that will guide me into adulthood proper. That only happens in movies.

I return eager for the summer, friends, and family - but also with a sense of foreboding. My time abroad was as much an escape as it was an adventure and I wrestle with the feeling that I'm walking right back into the mouth of the lion. What we go now to face today and tomorrow is so different and things change so quickly - too quickly. But not unnaturally. Shikata ga nai, neh? It can't be helped.

So nothing to do now except sit up straight, face forward, stiff upper lip - good show old boy - and steady as she goes Mr. Mendelsohn, the sun still rises in the east.

Some pictures to enjoy.

Homestretch is way too cliche a term to use...

We have just hours HOURS! before our flight from Charles De Gaulle. 70 precious few to be about.

Earlier today when I had more like 83 I set out for Le Louvre art museum in downtown Paris. Normally it takes a full grown male 4 days to make good on the massive collection; which ranges from artifacts of the ancient world through Renaissance art and 19th century aristocratic grandeur. This is all coming out now that I have the time to think back and sound pretentious. But on foot, I had just one objective: make as much use of 9.50 euro (and the great opportunity) as possible. I maintained a fairly solid pace for about 7 hours - taking about 30 min at halftime for an overpriced coffee and pastry. I almost ran through the religious art of the 15-1600's. Ive seen plenty by this point and have grown tired of the Virgin Mary riding tidal waves of infant angels.

I have a certain nerdy streak for ancient history and so enjoyed looking at the Hellenic and Egyptian archeology. I was even able to recognize two or three things (from history) thanks to the one classics course I've taken at UVM.

Rosey got a new passport today. It got stolen a couple nights ago btw. Short story. There was this kung-fu master, right, and he challenged Matt to an "honorable" test of strength. It was a good fight and properly animated. Rosey was this close, I mean italics close, to beating him but the cowardly kung-fu master used his Monkey Style Bag-Stealing Distraction Stance (a cowardly move indeed). Next thing we knew, he and Matt's bag were nowhere to be seen. We tried hunting him down to no avail.

But everything is ok now! We will return as scheduled.

Might do another update before leaving. Post some pictures or the like. Pictures of us CRYING (you will not actually see this).

Hamsterdam to Oui Oui Paris

Sorry I didn't post anything over the past few days. I guess my memory wasn't operating with full steam potential. Rosey and I just got in to Paris today from Amsterdam. I'd have to say, the latter was certainly great fun but it didn't have the shock value I had imagined. I had pictured something akin to The Narrows of Gotham City. This was of course silly of me due to the fact that the Dutch are historically renowned for their organization and intelligent engineering. Some houses did look to have that crooked and leaning feel; but they were so well maintained that I wasn't sure if they hadn't been built afresh with the crooked nature included for effect.

The notorious Red Light District did still have some lingering vestiges of its past extravagance. The night scene was lively and well illuminated. Prostitutes take their chairs behind a panel of glass around 7pm. Blacklights and Red Neon (hence the title) provide for a kind of creepy ambiance. This is of course not intimidating for youngsters, adults, or the elderly who come from all over and armed to the teeth with Cannon or Nikon. A bit of very legal substances, some window shopping of sex toys and prostitutes and follow it up with a ride on a ferris wheel in the center of town. Truly a family affair.

And plenty of boats. Many canals dissect the city in an expanding pattern-like ripples-from the city center. One day, we saw this guy. OK. He was dressed in lime green suit pants and button down shirt overlain by a grey cotten vest. He sat in the back of a painted boat the size of a large bathtub with an off-side motor propelling him in lazy circles. One hand was used to play a brass trumpet while the other turned the crank of a player piano mounted in front of him. Not sure if this was how he made a living - throwing coins seemed inappropriate and dangerous. I think applause from a happy audience was his intended satisfaction.

Got in to Paris today. Our hostel is located in the part of town described as "unsafe for women to be alone at night." Rosey and I got a real kick out of that. Haven't seen much of the city since it was about 11:30pm when we arrived, but the metro overpass near the hostel is pretty cool.

Too tired to use exclamation points or anything!

Arrived in Amsterdam late on the 19th and caught up with Rosey. The day will be called The Day of One Thousand Happy Laughters.

We got right down to things and bounced back and forth our various individual stories we had built during our interim of separation. Ironically enough we both went to Vienna, Prague, and Berlin and likely were in the same city at the same time on more than one occasion.

So before arriving in Amsterdam I was (as was Rosey) in Berlin. It was a pretty cool city but it is very large and I don't really feel like I've come away with nearly enough of the map revealed. It was the most modern city visited in terms of architecture and style. I imagine this is because most of it was built in the past 50 years. People obey crosswalk lights under any and all conditions including a deserted street. I picked up a new book that isn't Twilight. It's called Winter Breaks and is quite British.

So been now in Amsterdam for a couple of days. More to come on that.

Guttentad

On my last night here in Wroclaw, Poland. Nice hostel, crappy town. I was able to find a good park near one of several cathedrals where I could relax. I've already finished both George RR Martin books that my parents brought me and with so much down time I needed another novel. So on my way out of Prague I browsed the train station book store. Their English selection was mostly pop-novel "best sellers" and I ended up walking away with Twilight, to my and the cashier's mutual amusement. It was that or "The Lipstick Confessions" - or something similar by the lady who is responsible for Sex in the City.

Obnoxious sexual tension with vampires was a better choice. Honestly, I guess I can see why Twilight caught so much flak (especially from the militant feminist sector). But the negative mob thought against it was itself kind of ridiculous. It's an easy chick-flick monster novel - so whatever - it's a story. Also the last few segments were pretty of riveting. So I didn't actually come away with a feeling like my time was wasted as I had been led to believe.

Of course now I'm left with the problem of being without a book again. Twilight went faster than I expected (not really a page turner (for me), just short). I wasn't necessarily left with a sense of longing and wonder for the rest of the series; things are pretty well wrapped up by the end without any undue cliff-hangers. I might just skip the second and third books and just go right to the vampire-god sex that everyone else had to wait a cumulative 1200 pages to get to.

Like I mentioned, Wroclaw is kind of boring and exploring the city took less than a full day. The hostel is not terribly populated this time of year providing for a lack of bar-buddies. So I spent last night with some wine, beer, starcraft pro-matches and reading "first impressions" from the starcraft 2 beta testing. All in all a good night.

I think tomorrow I'm going to Berlin. Probably.

And here's a picture from a few weeks ago.

Prague

This is my fourth and final night in Prague. I initially had my skepticisms about visiting Eastern Europe; expecting a cold and bleak post-soviet backwater wherever I would land. That and whenever someone tried to pitch to me the idea, their resoning pettered out after "well...you gota go to Prague..." As if there was nothing else out there. Perhaps my generalizations were not totally unfounded.

But I will admit that Prague has proven an excellent visit. Here are some reasons:

1. Typical Czech cuisine has been inexpensive and substantially comprised of meat, bread, and meat in large portions, served in the sauce of the meat.

2. You can ride the metro for "free." Well..they sell tickets that you have to stamp to validate before entering, otherwise you get fined. But apparently the city doesn't actually employ anyone to enforce this policy so everyone just rides for free. I think the system relies heavily upon goodwill and naive tourists.

3. All the buildings are painted different colors!

I also had my very first clubbing experience here. These French Guys were pretty alright and had a car. The club was, well, in a building. I don't think I'm the clubbing type necessarily but I did appreciate the infestructural elements. Such as 4/5 floors of throbbing bass and dancing that certainly shook me at my foundations if not the club's. And the lighting was great and technical and properly optic. One room had the floor tiles that light up in random squares while above were wooden dragons exhaling fake smoke. The top floor was the quiet floor where you could take a load off the weary dancing dogs.

I came away with a few conclusions:

1. I. Hate. House Music. - I guess I did like the visceral stimulation from massive amounts of low frequency rhythm; but I'm not paying 200czk to listen to re-mixed mashups of the Spice Girls. I think I was the only person there who found this incredibly hilarious/humiliating.

2. Sobriety is better left at maybe. Sorry I know I have relatives out there (hey Nonie) and maybe future employers (probably not). Trying to be helpful.

3. If you don't like dancing you can always stand by the railing and make sure no one steals the jackets (get's hot in there!).

Well this has been an update of lists. I'm off to Wroclaw tomorrow/today/whever this get's posted. My watch broke so I've just been swimming in and out of time.

The Italian City that Could Sorta

Alright. So Milan was a pretty alright city. I think the one thing they have going for them is the epic last supper painting. You need to reserve tickets 2 weeks in advance so I mostly just bummed around the city as per habit thus far prescribes.

During my wanderings I did happen across a pretty excellent museum featuring a filmography collage and costume display of Greta Garbo. In a separate exhibit was a great collection of Roy Lichtenstein's. This particular collection had less of a focus on his iconic dot-comic style that for which he was made popular and was quite interesting to see.

Oh, and there was this really awesome bar where "happy hour" doesn't mean cheap drinks. Instead you get a beer (aprox 1 head in size) and then all you can eat buffet. And the food was damn good. Cooked freshly and abundantly.

Overnight trained it to Vienna. 14 hours and little sleep (trains just aren't good at that) so spent a day crashing and then finally adventured around today. I accidentally booked only booked 2 nights here and they are fresh out of rooms so looks like I'll be heading off somewhere tomorrow. Maybe Prague.