Paris->Torino->Cinqua Terre

Whoa! Been a while since I've posted. To fill you in. I took a bus from London to Paris. As you might imagine this was rather a long trip. It was estimated to take eight hours...it took twelve. Apparently, our bus was chosen as the one French authorities cited as being the most hazardous to national security. This, however, due to our bus drivers language, was only the italian riders. To the rest of us, we stopped at arandom station as other vehicles drove by. After a while customs agents entered the bus and collected everyone's passport. Individuals were called one by one to be interviewed (not me thankfully). After this everyone was ushered into this small station and from following the lead of other riders we brought our bags along. Apparently this procedure brought up nothing unusual, and we were, after a long delay, aloud to head on our way.
Paris was a super short trip. I had six hours between my bus arriving, and my train departing. I saw the Eiffel Tower, the Cathedral's, and the Louvre at a fairly rapid pace. My favorite part was the pastry I had on the way back. I walked into a bakery and pointed at what looked best. The women picked the item next to that one, but I didn't feel like (or have the capability without being a total neanderthal) to explain. IT WAS DELICIOUS. It was somewhat like a cream puff, but way better. I don't know how else to explain it.
From there I grabbed the train to Torino (Turin, the one with the olympics a few years back). I got in late and stayed at a small (cheap) hotel in the downtown. From the outside it wasn't much but it was the first time I'd slept in a real bed since May 14th. Blissful. After a day of wandering, drinking espresso, eating paninis and gelato I headed back to crash at the train station before a 5 am train to Riomaggiore. This was fairly inconsequential except for at around one in the morning a woman sleeping on a bench nearby stood up, recited some sort of Eastern European chant, pulled down her pants and relieved herself on the floor. I moved.
On the train ride to Riomaggiore I met a cute older couple from Denmark who were also going to tour Cinqua Terre. They were the sweetest things. They held hands on the ride. Just awesome, and actually it was the first English conversation I'd had with anyone since leaving London.
There's not a lot of words I can use to describe Cinqua Terre. Just google image search it.
ciao

London (bridge, tower of, National Gallery etc.)

So... lots to talk about since my last post. I've covered a pretty big chunk of the classic "must-sees" in London. Saint Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Tower bridge, Camden town, The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Square, and the Tate Modern. This has kept me pretty busy over the last couple of days. There's plenty to say about all of this but I'm just going to hit upon the highlights of my touristy venture.

St. Paul's was absolutely remarkable. The comparison I made to Karl was that it was the Wisconsin capitol on steroids. There was a somewhat similar dome and it was four sided, but with a lot more gold, history, and japanese tourists. Walking through was absolutely remarkable. There was so much attention to detail in the minutely tiled floors and painted ceilings. My favorite part of the visit was the view of London from the absolute top of the structure. It was hard not to linger forever. An overwhelming amount to see, but at the same time it seemed to put this amazing city at the palm of one's hand.

The National Gallery was definitely a pleasant surprise. I'm not a huge art guy but I've definitely got a soft spot for aimlessly roaming an art museum. It was really cool to see a number of pieces I've only seen in books before. Including pieces by Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael, Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir... A leisurely day. One of my favorite parts was hearing one of the schoolchildren in a group ask the tour guide "why is that man eating her face" too cute.

Also, excitingly, I was asked for directions on the tube this morning. Apparently I look somewhat local. Of course the moment I open my mouth it becomes apparent I'm just another tourist. Though, I did know how to direct him. I felt great.

Not Being Mistaken for a Local Just Yet...

As the title states, I'm definitely not being mistaken for a brit just yet. Walking up to the counter trying to make that the coin I'm handing them is 50 pence and not 2 pence (Honestly why a two pence coin. seems absolutely silly to me). Staring blankly when a question is asked quickly with a strong accent. Things, however, are getting better. I "topped up" my oyster card, rode the metro, and ordered a couple pints of Guinness without any undo difficulties. Everything gets a little more interesting when you're lost, confused, and have the wrong accent. I've really taken to talking as little as possible. Not that I'm fooling anyone...just yet. My goal is to get asked for directions in the next 6 days.
I've recently got to meet a few of Karl's friends. We bonded over chess boxing, and American memories. They're a pretty cool crew. I'm excited to be spending the next week with all of them. Sorry, short entry, I'm headed off to the National Gallery this morning. Then Tiger, Tiger this evening. woot!

Hotel Heathrow

Random musings from yesterday...
So many things to talk about today: First off, the Chicago flight went smoothly. Lots of reading, and not a ton of sleeping. Being 6'2" in coach isn't conducive to catching a lot of z's. I made it through customs, which was actually kind of intimidating. By the end of the process I was pretty sure that I was a danger to the crown. By the time I was officially in London the last tube had taken off for the night so I found a comfy(ish) position in the number three terminal. I had a hard time falling asleep, but got to talk with some really interesting people. A couple of fellow American backpackers from the U of Chicago. A Nigerian man who had me take his picture (he was fully dressed in a gray pin-striped suit with a black bowler), and a mentally ill (or drug addled) man who lay on the floor of the terminal singing Michael Jackson (quite well actually), and scaring some of the older folks with his hip thrusting moves.
Today I took the tube over to Archway (where karl goes to school). Unfortunately today is the day of track maintenance and I had to figure out how to catch a bypass bus. Fortunately, I'm a smart cookie, as you know, and was quickly able to pick up the language to make a seamless transition.
Finally, I was listening to the American Airlines radio while in a nostalgic mood, and came up with some songs that have defined my last year.
Rydeen-YMO. Made any average night into a great night.
Girls Just Want to Have Fun-Dancing with Leslie (tiki, basement, her birthday)
Maiden-Noah
JASON DERULO!-Luke and LJ (much to the annoyance of anyone associated with us)
Baby-Julia bumping this against my wishes (it didn't actually bother me that much)
"There's only one solution"- power hour crew
KE$HA/Bedrock- Smokey Mountain Crew. nuff said
Sorry this got so long. I've just been killing time at McDonald's. (Free Wi-Fi!!) and waiting for Karl to get back.

Procrastination/Planning

One more exam to go before I jump on a plane for my first time leaving the country. It's really odd thinking that this is actually going to happen. When I purchased the plane ticket a few months back it really didn't seem real.
Besides Gmail and Facebook my new form of procrastination has been looking at different travel destinations, comparing hostel prices, and worrying about the myriad of things that could go wrong. My roommate reminded me of, and then described the plot of Hostel. This revelation has lead me to make the irrational cut off of a 75% rating on hostelz.com for choosing my quarters. Somehow, I feel that travelers couldn't rank a hostel over 50% if it was a sadistic torture quarters. The extra 25% is just for safety.
"The quarters were a bit dank, no breakfast, and the staff was a little rough on the guests. However, it is a nice location, and the pastry shop next door makes croissants to die for" (2.5 stars)

Alright that's about as much blogging I can justify as my physics final bears down on me.
5.10