I've been fantastically awful at keeping my end of the weblog up to date, limited computer availability notwithstanding. Sorry, folks. Whenever we're in Internet cafes, we need to spend a decent amount of time looking up travel info and dealing with emails before we can even think about postings. I'm also overwhelmed with all of the stories and places to share; I'm not sure where to start! I'll catch up as soon as I can.
Under the guise of being innovative and delightfully unconventional in my posting style, I'm going to save all sorts of time of covering the latest details by just pasting the email I just sent to Markus. We split up yesterday after visiting Rome and Cinque Terre over the past week, and I'm replying to an email he sent. Some details censored and omitted for your safety. Catch you guys later.
Yo Marky-Mark!
Glad to hear you made it to Munich -- I realized shortly after I jumped on the train out of Italy that we were at the wrong station in Genova. Stupid place has too many train stations and I assumed we were at the right one! I'm so proud that you spoke with those girls! Maybe you actually like girls after all! :O (Haha, you're thousands of miles from me... can't object, can't object!)
I was reading through the guidebooks like mad on the way to Nice (and I didn't intend on holding onto both, but the mad train rush didn't help; at least the Circus hostel should give you enough info on everything to see and do in Berlin), and decided I didn't want to stay in Nice after all, given our timeframe and that I'm a little beached and partied out. The best place to go sounded like Toulouse. I intended to take a night train once I got to Nice, but there was a tunnel that was closed off on the way to Nice, and we had to take a detour by bus, so I ended up missing the night train. Frantically managed to find a bed late night in Nice at a place mentioned in the guidebook, which turned out to be a nightmare...we're talking cockroaches, incredibly disgusting bathroom, and worst of all, the French! (Na, I'm just joshing those poor maligned French.)
Also met a girl from Ireland (Cork) that was super excited when I mentioned I would be there fairly shortly (at about the same time she gets home) and wants us to meet up with her and hang out with her in Cork. So, maybe we can do that, and I think she left it open to stay at her place. She seemed very cool but it was a bit odd how accomodating she was, even if I wasn't getting any sketchy mass-murderer vibes.
Anyway, caught a train to Toulouse this morning, and got to Toulouse today only to find out that the Tour de France's current stage ended IN Toulouse right about the time I arrived at the train station. I missed it, since I didn't know about it. Lance Armstrong's still in the lead, but just barely. And because of everyone in town, the only room I barely managed to grab is 40 Euros a night. Ah well, at least it's a sweet room.
Toulouse seems awesomely cool, though...120,000 students here (only about 600,000 total population), incredible culture and atmosphere, walkable everywhere, very clean, and it's a centre for high tech aeronautics, space, biotech, etc etc. I haven't seen much yet but it's got great potential so far. The two things I came for are Space City (supposedly a 'truly mind-blowing interactive space museum and planetarium' as Lonely Planet puts it, and is listed at the top of every tourism brochure list of sights), and a photography gallery that's supposed to be the biggest and best in France.
Also, I'm going to email Lindsay and Carrie (those two girls from Paris). I don't think they're here anymore, but maaaybe they are, or can tell me some other cool places to hang out.
So, my gameplan at this point is to do those things in Toulouse tomorrow and stay another night (I'm hoping I can find somewhere at least a little cheaper once the Tour de France masses ship out). Then, I'll head to Paris the next day; I really enjoyed it the first time around, and I know there are many things I'd still like to do. I'm not sure how long I'll stay there, for, so if you're still in Germany when I'm done in Paris (which seems likely), I'll head for Ireland and meet up with you there. If not, we can meet in Paris on the way to Ireland. Looks like it's best to take the ferry from Roscoff (far, far northwestern France) to Rosslare in Ireland, operated by Irish Ferries; that's the one with the 50% discount. It says advanced bookings recommended too, FYI.
Anyway, I better dash. Still want to update the weblog, plus if I hurry, I can head down to the local cinema about a kilometre from here and possibly catch a glimpse of ol' Arnie Schwarzenegger as he leaves the French premiere of T3. Crazy place this is!
Send my best wishes to your family (wish Tina a happy birthday for me!), have a great time in Berlin when you head up there (I'm jealous, so come back with some good stories!), and see you soon!
-Brian