Prague:
The Land of Kronbars, Sausages, and Canadian Tourists
March 23 - 27

For the first leg of my trip, I was traveling with my buddies Jon (of Boston) and Brian (of San Francisco). Due to the fact that we are borderline insane, our flight from Cork Airport was departing at around 6:20 a.m., so our taxi arrived to pick us up around 4. After waiting in the taxi for about a half hour for Brian to pack, we finally could start our epic trip on no sleep.

Oh, just a side note - never buy food in an airport. Jon bought a little breakfast of eggs and juice and it cost him about 15 euro. Besides that little financial setback, our first of seven flights on the trip went pretty smoothly. We arrived in Prague and navigated our way to the correct subway stop. As we exited the station, we took a ride on the biggest escalator I have ever seen in my life. Seriously, it was massive. And it was fast too. Really fast. Upon reaching the surface, we were greeted with a lovely snowstorm. After sloggin' through the snow for a little while we eventually found our hostel.

We opened the huge wooden doors of the old-looking building, and found ourselves in a dark stone hallway. It was spooky, and we couldn't find a light switch. Eventually we found some stairs and opened the door to Ace Hostel. A little living room area, a few rooms, a few bathrooms ... seemed pretty basic, which was just fine and dandy for three students on a budget. Ace Hostel, however, exceeded our expectations.

This trip has taught me that traveling is more about who you meet than what you see. I met some really cool and interesting people on this trip, especially in Ace Hostel. There was Shea, an 18-year-old kid who was spending a year in Coventry, England, volunteering to help out physically disabled young people. His job was essentially to go out with the kids and make sure they have a good time. Shea is from northern Canada... like, 30 hours north of Calgary or something. He was really funny and intelligent; I couldn't believe he was only 18. My friends joked that I had a bit of a man-crush on him, which is probably true.

Then there was Liam, a 26-year-old guy who is in the process of a four-and-a-half month backpacking trip. Liam was really funny too... and also Canadian. Bonnie was a 34-year-old hippy who was really interesting to talk to. She acted young, looked young, and was traveling like a young person... but she's 34. It was kind of strange but kind of cool (she was also a Canadian... weird).

We also met a few Irish girls, and a few groups of American girls who were also on their Spring Break. Then there was a group of guys (I think they were from Switzerland but I'm not sure) who only spoke French. I don't know any French, yet was somehow friends with them by the end of the trip.

At night, the group at the hostel all went out together. One night we went to the backroom of a little pub where an amazing blues band was playing... the guitarist once opened for B.B. King. Another night we went out to a five-story club, with a different genre of music playing on each floor. Meeting people in hostels when you are traveling is much different than other circumstances. There is just an immediate bond that only smelly people living out of a backpack can have. We made friends with people aged 18 through 34, who spoke different languages, and were from different countries. I'm even Facebook friends with a few of them (you know it's serious when its 'facebook official'). Liam is actually going to crash in my apartment when he visits Cork at the end of May.

Anyway, back to the actual city. Prague is amazing. Literally every building in the city is beautiful and interesting-looking. Our hostel was in the section of the city known as "Old Town." In Old Town, there was a square that was bustling with people and noise. Tents were set up selling food everywhere, street performers were amusing crowds, and bizarre Czech performances were presented on a stage. I personally spent 220 crowns (the Czech currency, which for some reason my friends and I started calling "kronbars" because we misheard the pronunciation of the word. The word "kronbar" just stuck for some reason). 220 crowns equals about 8 or 9 euro which isn't too big of a deal, but handing over a bill with the number "200" on it is very disturbing. We also bought kielbasa sausages. They only cost 50 kronbars, so we had a sausage once or twice a day. You know what they say -- a sausage a day keeps the doctor away.

Speaking of food, I almost forgot to tell you about the sushi buffet we found. Yes, a sushi buffet. I had sushi with my BFF Justin for the first time back in December before I left, and I loved it. I know what you're thinking -- "sushi in the middle of Europe, that makes no sense". We gave it some serious thought and realized that eating mysterious raw fish was a great idea. The restaurant was on the top floor of a HUGE mall. We paid about 300 kronbars to get in, and sat down at a table. There was a conveyer belt that ran through the restaurant with little plates of food on it, and you just grabbed whatever you want. It was very exciting, and very competitive. If you saw something tasty you better have grabbed it before someone else did. There was a lot of tension at the table as the eating frenzy began. The top row was Chinese and Japanese food, and the bottom row was sushi. Brian and I ate way too much. I couldn't even stand up straight and Brian actually fell asleep at the table. It was remarkable. Memories like that will be cherished forever.

One day, we did one of those city bus tours, which is always a good thing to do in a new city. We saw all the sites and the city continued to amaze me. So much culture, amazing architecture, and interesting side streets -- Prague is da bomb diggity. We figured we should do something educational, since we were having such a great time. About an hour outside of Prague is Terezin Concentration Camp, and we decided we wanted to check it out. The bus station was right near our hostel, but we weren't sure of its exact location, so we just decided to take the subway to the bus station. And that was a fatal mistake.

Everyone kind of just wanders on and off the trains in Prague, and we rarely noticed anyone buying tickets. We figured we could just buy them down there if someone asked... they were very cheap so we didn't think it was a big deal. On this particular day we were stopped by ticket checkers. I punched one in the face and dropkicked the other one in the stomach, and I ran out of there. Eventually the cops caught me and I spent the next four days in a Czech prison. Okay that's a lie, even though I did briefly consider running for it. The ticket checkers didn't speak much English so we couldn't sweet talk our way out of the situation. They handed us a ticket -- by ticket a mean a fine, not like a train ticket. Our ten second train ride that should have cost 20 kronbars ended up costing us 700 kronbars (so I handed over my thousand Crown bill... ouch). That's like 30 euro! We were depressed, but at least we learned a valuable life lesson. Hooray! I will keep that little ticket notice in my wallet for the rest of my life.

The day continued to pose challenges for us. We got to the bus station, but what bus should we get on? I don't know. We finally found an employee that spoke English and she pointed us in the right direction.

"Terezin?" we asked the bus driver.

He nodded. "How much?" we asked. He didn't respond. He just looked at us like we were aliens of some sort. We eventually gave up on communicating with him and just handed him some money and sat down. We weren't even sure we were going to the right place, but hey, how lost can you get in the Czech Republic, right? We saw the concentration camp and got off. It was actually a very moving experience ... kind of put our 700 kronbar fine in perspective. Getting into the facility was our first challenge, since we didn't have enough cash left and they didn't take credit cards. Eventually we found a stand that gave us kronbars for euros, so we made the exchange and got in.

As we walked up to the facility, we noticed a huge field of graves, most of them unmarked. Terezin seemed like a terrible place to be, but get this -- it was actually one of the nicer camps. Inspectors were sent to this camp because it wasn't as bad as the others. Disturbing stuff.

I could go on about Prague for at least another few pages, but this post is already going to be a monster, so I'll move on. As we boarded our 11:30 p.m. flight, we left the snow and awesomeness of Prague behind for the warmth and awesomeness of Greece. Prague was Prague-tastic. Maybe even Prague-tacular.

Traditional Czech Goulash. So good.

Greece Lightening
Oh Sandy!
March 28th - April 2nd

We landed in Athens at about 2:30 a.m. or so. We didn't have a hostel reservation for that night and we figured public transportation would not be running yet, so we attempted to sleep next to the baggage claim. It was not pleasant. While Brian passed out immediately, Jon and I sat there, ridiculously tired and pretty uncomfortable. At about 4:30 we woke a disgruntled Brian up and jumped on a bus. Then we wandered through Athens trying to find our hostel. We finally arrived at Athens Backpackers, where we had about six hours or so before we could check in. We went to sleep on the couches in the lobby, and I imagine we looked like homeless people. We essentially were homeless people if you think about it.

Anyway, Athens Backpackers was a lot different from the hostel in Prague -- it was a very trendy, modern looking, loud place. It was run by Australians, and they were all very friendly, but the place didn't have the homey intimate atmosphere that we enjoyed in Prague. A few days later, we switched to another hostel ... it was more like a hotel, actually. We opened the door, and to our shock and horror, there was one small bed and one big bed for the three of us. Jon and I slept in the same bed, and we swore to never speak of the disturbing experience again.

Another disturbing part of the hotel was the bathroom - you couldn't flush toilet paper down the toilet. There was a sign that said we had to throw it in the garbage... gross.

Our first afternoon in Athens was discouraging. We wandered around aimlessly and all we could find were apartment buildings and slums. Is this all Athens had to offer? We were wrong, of course. The next morning we went on a walking tour -- we saw the original Olympic stadium, the changing of the guard at Parliament (or some government building), and walked through some squares and markets. There were ancient ruins throughout the entire city -- it's interesting to see modern buildings and amenities mixed in with ancient ruins. Another thing - Athens is also full of people selling junk on the streets -- fake sunglasses, purses, etc. One of our favorite pastimes was sitting on a bench as the street salesmen frantically ran away from the cops. Cruel, but funny.

Me outside the first Olympic stadium

We went to several museums in Athens, which were pretty interesting ... for a while. Eventually it was just statue after statue, artifact after artifact. Jon loves that stuff so we spent a lot of time there, but it was a bit boring after a while. I prefer wandering around aimlessly, finding good views and scenery, watching street performers, and interacting with the people and things first-hand as opposed to looking at sculptors and museums. Traveling with people requires compromise sometimes. But hey, it was good to see the museums anyway.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was our afternoon on the Acropolis. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day, so we figured it was a good time to see the Acropolis. It was stunning. I can't even fathom how people built those massive temples and structures thousands of years ago. Sitting in the ancient theater, I tried to imagine how many people sat in the exact location I was sitting throughout history, and it was a pretty cool feeling. When we made it up to the top, the Parthenon was what first caught my attention, of course. That thing has been standing for thousands of years, it's amazing. Then I looked around and took in the view of the city... it was pretty glorious. Next, we found a patch of grass and hung out in silence for a little while, kind of just taking the whole scene in. It was therapeutic in a way.

Brian and I in the ampitheater on the Acropolis Water fountain with the power of Zeus Jon, Brian, and me

One day, we took a subway to the ocean and decided we were going to visit one of the Greek Islands. After wandering around the peer for a while, we finally found out where to buy tickets. The boat was basically a plane on water, it was really fast. An hour later we arrived on the island of Puros. It's not one of the major tourist spots, which was a good thing. Everyone there travels by moped, so we went to a shop to rent them for the day. The guy asked to see our driver's licenses, so I showed him mine. In order to rent a moped, you needed to be a licensed driver for a year or more. This passed summer, I got a new license because my old one was expiring... so the license said it was issued in the less than a year ago. The moped rental guy refused to believe me when I explained I have been a licensed driver for four and a half years, and there was no way I was riding on the back of one of my friend's mopeds, so we walked. And walked. And walked. Eventually we found a little beach and had it all to ourselves. It was like nothing I've ever seen - the water looked a bit like the Caribbean, but the rest of the scenery had a European feel. We laid around, took a swim in the freezing water, and before we knew it, it was time to catch our boat back to the mainland.

Me getting some sweet air in Puros

Greece wasn't all fun and games. One day, Brian and I picked up a sack of delicious strawberries from a street vendor. While we munched on the fruit, we wandered towards the Temple of Zeus to meet up with Jon. As we crossed the street, the crosswalk light turned red. There was a line of mopeds waiting for us to get out of the way, so I started a half jog. As I started my jog, Brian yelled in a ridiculously high pitched voice "dave. Dave! DAVE!" A speeding car flew by my face, and came within inches of ending my life. Then I ate the rest of the strawberries. Man, those strawberries were awesome.

Just like sausages were our food of choice in Prague, gyros were our food of choice in Greece. We would get at least a few of those bad boys per day, they were delicious. By the way, restaurant owners in Greece are extremely aggressive. They are out in front of their stores begging you to come in. I think it's a terrible business tactic -- if I'm outside a restaurant looking over the menu, I may or may not decide to come in. If some guy is coming out and bothering me, I'm going to walk away regardless. Oh well.

I almost forgot about one of the coolest parts of my time in Greece. It was about 6 p.m. and we were returning from a day of activities when a roommate in our hostel shared some top-secret information. He had noticed that there seemed to be police everywhere during the day, so he asked one of them what was going on. He was informed that at around 7 p.m., the Olympic torch would be passed and ran through Athens. We jumped out of our room and walked over to the main street, where a small crowd was gathering. The flame always starts in Athens because it was home to the first Olympics. Seeing this moment was quite a thrill. The media weren't even told about the event, so it was pure luck. I didn't get any great pictures because a van parked right in my way, but here's my best one.

Prague had basically marked the end of our nightlife experience on the trip. In Greece we went out just one night, and the streets were packed. I mean PACKED. You couldn't even move, and that was before we even went into any pub. It was pretty terrible. Additionally, when traveling, you need to make a choice -- wake up early and enjoy your day, seeing all that you can -- or going out until late and sleeping half the day away. The choice was pretty clear to me.

We probably spent one or two more days than necessary in Athens, so by the morning of April 2, we were excited to go to Rome. Jon lost his boarding pass at the airport, but he got another one and luckily we had another smooth flight.

Rome
Sopresso! SOPRESSO!
April 2 - 5

For the rest of the trip, we spent less time in more cities, rather than a lot of time in a few cities. I liked the "spend more time in less cities" approach better... you get a true feel of the city that way, but oh well. We landed in Rome and took a long train ride to the city center. We found our hostel and were immediately ready to check the city out. We wandered around Rome, and there really was so much to see.... Yet I'm struggling to think of the specifics. Hmmm.

We saw a few squares with cool street performers, found a bunch of really nice views, and some historic ruins. Rome was similar to Athens in some ways -- ancient ruins everywhere, lots of time in museums looking a statues, and tons of tourists and people everywhere. But Rome has pizza. And gelato. Mmmmm. The pizza was overrated. I've definitely had better pizza back in Jersey. But the gelato was magical.

We met up with some of our friends that we would be traveling through Italy and Spain with in the Colleseum. After hugs and pleasantries were exchanged, we wandered through the ancient stadium. I'm a big fan of Gladiator, starring Russell Crowe... and unfortunately that movie is about the extent of my knowledge of ancient Rome. It was cool to picture what the place was like back in the day, that in that very spot men like Russell Crowe and scary animals were savagely killing each other for the entertainment of Emperors, like Joaquin Phoenix.

You can't go to Rome without seeing the Vatican, right? The first thing we did in the Vatican was touring St. Peter's Cathedral. This place was ridiculous. The paintings and gold and statues and everything else in there were stunning, but I really didn't get it. Italy is full of these cathedrals, St. Peter's being the most extravagant. What does all of this have to do with religion? Why were they spending millions of dollars on decorating these places instead of feeding starving people, for example. It all seems pretty silly, but it was still pretty awesome to see. We also went to the cupola, which is on top of the cathedral. We had a view of all of Rome from up there, which was nice.

Other Rome highlights: the Trevi Fountain, The Forum, The Spanish Steps, St. Peter's Square, etc.

Our time in Rome was up, so we went to the train station to head to Florence. Our train was at 5 o'clock, and we were there nice and early. Then on the big board in the train station, next to our train number, we saw the word "SOPRESSO". WHAT'S THAT MEAN?! We finally found out that our train was cancelled. So we waited around for a few hours for the next one, and low and behold, we were sopresso'd once again. At this point we were starting to worry. We jumped on another train and had to connect to Florence at a different station, but at least we could get there. So we boarded, and right before it left we realized that we forgot to validate our tickets. There was no way I was going to get fined again, so I sprinted like a lunatic to where tickets are validated, and jumped back on the train with no time to spare. It was intense. But we figured out where to switch trains and made it to Florence. The gods were against us but we took the sopresso and threw it back in their faces.

Florence
I'm out of catch-phrases
April 5 - 7

There are so many Americans in Florence. I could hear American voices all around me, it was strange. Brian had a friend studying abroad there, and she was kind enough to show us all of the sites. It's a really nice city -- scenic, but smaller than Rome, which I liked. We saw the Duomo, which is a cathedral with an exterior that cannot be described in words. We also climbed a ton of steps to Michelangelo's Square, where we had an amazing view of the city and heard street performers play music. Finding live music on the streets was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Anyway, Florence is famous for its silk and leather. We went to a huge outdoor market selling all kinds of things. I bought a leather wallet (my current wallet is a Velcro one, I figure I need a big boy wallet for my internship this summer), a leather belt, and six silk ties. It was all cheap and I like ties. Don't judge me. I also bought presents for the sisters and mom, but don't tell them because I want it to be a surprise. Dad, you can share one of my ties.

We wanted to see Michelangelo's David and some other museums in Florence, but it was a Monday, which meant they were all closed. That was kind of disappointing, but what can you do. After dinner that night, I met up with my friend Nicole, a Bucknellian studying in Florence. It was good to see a familiar face... I haven't seen anyone I know from America since December. We caught up and realized that Bucknell is still going on without us... weird thought. The next day I hung out with Nicole and fellow Bucknellians Sabrina and Lauren. It was good to see some friends, and they showed me things that most tourists wouldn't think of seeing.

Another group of girls that I'm friends with in Cork were visiting Florence for one of the days we were there, so I gave them a call. It was while I was meeting up with the Bucknell girls outside the Duomo, and coincidentally that was exactly where the Cork girls were. I was being asked to hang out with three different groups of people at once, but I had to be loyal to the Bucknellians this time. I guess I'm a popular guy.

The next morning, we took a train to Milan. We weren't sopresso'd this time, woohoo. Then we switched to catch a train to Bergamo, where our Ryan Air flight was taking off from. (Prepare yourself for a rant... here it comes)... I don't understand why people complain about Ryan Air so much. So they have bad customer service, and so they charge you ridiculous amounts of money to check a bag in, and so they are constantly advertising dumb products throughout the whole flight. So what, that instead of a food tray they just have a sticker on the back of the seat with emergency procedures. So what, the airports are an hour away from the city they say they are in. At those prices, I'm surprised and ecstatic that I don't have to flap my arms to help get the plane off the ground.

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Pause. Take a break, reader. Have a stretch, go to the restroom, grab a snack, etc. This is long.

Davey's Superfun Random Travel Tip - Never take taxis unless you have no other options. Taxis rip tourists off.

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Granada
April 8 - 10

Granada. Hmmph. I liked it a lot. Umm. Now I'm going to take a dinner break, my brain is starting to burn out. BRB.

Alright, where were we? Granada is also a great little city. Our hostel was down a little cobblestone alley, and it was really nice. All of the hostels in Spain were really nice for that matter. The roof of this place gave us a view of the whole city. One night, the cook in the hostel made paella and we ate it up on the roof while enjoying glasses of sangria as the sun set. It was magical.

We spent one day in Granada at the Alhambra. The Alhambra is ... well, I don't know what it is exactly. Wikipedia:

The Alhambra (Arabic: الحمراء = Al-Ħamrā; literally "the red fortress") is a palace and fortress complex of the Moorish monarchs of Granada in southern Spain (known as Al-Andalus when the fortress was constructed), occupying a hilly terrace on the southeastern border of the city of Granada.

Once the residence of the Muslim kings of Granada and their court, the Alhambra is now one of Spain's major tourist attractions exhibiting the country's most famous Islamic architecture, together with Christian 16th century and later interventions in buildings and gardens that marked its image as it can be seen today. Within the Alhambra, the Palace of Charles V was erected by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in 1527.

My favorite part of the Alhambra was the walls in the palace. They had really intricate designs.

One night in Granada, our hostel offered transportation to hot springs about an hour outside the city. The stars were really clear out there, and we sat in the hot water and just chatted. It was necessary relaxation and a good bonding experience for me and my friends.

Besides the Alhambra, the hot springs, and walking around, we didn't do much in Granada. Some of us were sick, some of us were hurt, and some of us were tired. Due to the fact that I am a flawless physical specimen, I still felt fine, but a little rest didn't hurt. My friend and fellow TKE is studying abroad in Granada, but I didn't even get a chance to meet up with him. Oh well. On the evening of April 10, we got on a bus and took a long bus ride to Madrid.

Madrid
April 10 - 13

I can't write in paragraph form anymore... too tired.

Madrid had nice parks - we rented row boats and hung out on the lake one warm afternoon.

Busy town squares with tons of street performers.

Prado Museum - huge collection of artwork.

Sofia Museum - four huge rooms of Picasso's work, including the world famous "Guernica". Also had works by other famous artists, like Dali. Probably my favorite museum of the trip.

Barcelona
May 13 - 15

I really liked Spain, but for some reason I can't think of much to say about my time there. Hmm...

We flew from Madrid to Barcelona -- that was the cheapest and fastest way. I learned that it's the most popular flight route in the world. Anyway, the first thing we did in Barcelona was visit "La Sagrada Familia." The cathedral was designed by Gaudi, and construction was started in 1882. It is still incomplete to this day. Needless to say, a cathedral that has been in progress for so long is quite a beautiful site. At this point, we had once again reunited with our friends from Cork (the girls we met up with for five minutes back in Florence).

Parc Guell - Also designed by Gaudi. We liked this park so much that we visited it twice. It is an amazing area that is elevated high above the ground (outdoor escalators helped us get up there). There was plenty of performers and musicians mixed with locals mixed with tourists, all up there to enjoy the view and take in the scenery. One of the areas up there was the location of the filming of a scene in "America's Next Top Model" which made the girls happy, and a few of the buildings there looked like gingerbread houses which made me happy.

We visited another park in Barcelona, the name of which escapes me at the moment. It was an old fort, and to get there we took a sky-ride to the top. Another really nice view.

One of my favorite parts of Barcelona was a huge market. There was a ton of meat and fish, candy, fruit and fruit drinks, and a whole bunch of other great stuff. It was amazing -- we spent several hours there.

Jon and I were finished with our time in Barcelona, but unfortunately our flight was departing at 6:20 a.m. from an airport that was an hour away from the city. So we called for a taxi to pick us up around 2:30 a.m. The taxi driver, who only spoke Spanish, told the receptionist in our hostel that the bus station would be closed. The receptionist and I both agreed that he might be trying convince us to take a taxi all the way to the airport, which would be ridiculously expensive.

When we got outside to the taxi, the driver was talking to me in Spanish, and I tried to remember my high school Spanish class. I just said "autobus estacion" to the taxi driver, which means "bus station" (I think). So he took us there, and sure enough the station was closed. I knew there had to be some way to get tickets for the bus, so I went to the driver and asked "donde billetes por favor?" ... which translated means "where tickets please?" He pointed to an office nearby, and we got the tickets. We arrived in London bright and early that morning, thanks to my brilliant Spanish vocabulary.

London
April 15 - 17

I think London might be my second favorite city of the trip (after Prague). I was not expecting to love London so much, but there was so much to do and see in our few days there. Our hostel was located in a great location -- we were a short walk from the London Bridge, the London Eye, and Big Ben. We bought the 35 pound ticket for the London Eye (a giant ferris wheel) and Madame Tussou's Wax Museum. Imagine that... The equivalent of $70 for a ferris wheel ride and a museum. Anyway, the Eye gave us a great view of the city, so that was cool. I also really liked the wax museum -- it was a lot of fun. It's pretty disturbing how realistic those wax celebrities look. Britney Spears' chest actually moved up and down as if she was briefing. It was bizarre.

Morgan and I "Aw jeez" (second Travolta reference of the post... weird) Leo!! <3 Captain Picard and I Fresh Prince Robin Williams Me giving Tiger a few tips, and letting him borrow my hat Knocking out the champ Me giving Hitler a wet willy

We had two nights in London, and we made the best of it. On the first night, we went to a little comedy club that was in the basement of our hostel. The amateur comedians were hilarious, and it was interesting to experience English-style comedy. It is definitely different than American comedy, but we enjoyed it. The following night, we saw the comedy musical Avenue Q. That was excellent -- really funny play. London is great for theater buffs -- you can buy cheap tickets on the day of a show... try doing that on Broadway in NYC... not gonna happen.

One afternoon, we hoped on the tube to visit the Beatles Museum on Abbey Road. When we found the street, of course we had to stroll across the famous crosswalk that appears on the Beatles "Abbey Road" album. It sounds lame, but I thought it was a fun thing to do. We wandered back and forth down Abbey Road, but we could not find the museum. We went into the famous Abbey Road recording studio to ask them... we were informed that there was no Beatles museum. Good one, Jon.

Any resemblance?

Finally, on the evening of the 17th, we headed to the airport and flew back to Cork.

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This trip was really an amazing experience. Twenty-five days of seeing some of the world's greatest sites was awesome, but meeting interesting people, navigating through new cities, and dealing with potential problems is what will stick with me for the rest of my life. I realize I might never do anything like this again, and I am very appreciative of the opportunity. I'd like to publicly thank my parents for funding the trip. I promise I'll pick up the tab when it's time to send you guys to the old folks home one day.

So it's back to reality. I just wrote a few papers and have one more to go. Then four finals throughout May (but there will definitely be more travel time woohoo). The past month has been a blur -- for that matter, the past four months have been a blur. It's hard to believe that I'm approaching the home stretch of my time here ... a little more than a month to go.

Some stats on this entry-
• 10 pages, single spaced... longer than any paper I've written in my life
• About 6,017 words. Wow. That's longer than the two papers I just wrote combined
• The better part of a five-hour span writing, and another hour or two revising
• Even more time loading pictures
• Could have been longer
• Another stat - Over 3.5 gigs of pictures and videos taken on my camera - that's about a dozen video clips and a few thousand pictures

If you read this entire thing, thanks for taking an interest in my life... but you should probably get out more, or take up a hobby of some kind.

P.S. Please comment, IM, or e-mail me if you want to know more or talk about my trip. The fact that this entry was so long probably explains why I've been so baffled when people simply ask me "How was your trip?" But I didn't lie. It was pretty good.