Yesterday we did a lot of travelling. Our night train arrived in Milan just after 9 in the morning, and we had about 2 hours to look around the duomo and eat some gelato. I think that was our shortest time in a city yet. Then at one, we got on another train to Florence, or Firenza as the Italians call it. We didn't really do much yesterday, just checked into the hotel, walked around for a bit, and got some eats at a restaurant recommended by the hotel lady (boy did it take us a while to find the place). So I ate some genuine Italian pizza, which was all-right.

Today we went to the Gallery Uffizi in the morning. It was okay, but not overly impressive. All the prints by the TMNTs (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) are facsimiles, and mostly just sketches for their bigger paintings or sculptures. There were a lot of sculptures all in this big hall, and paintings in the rooms adjacent. Most paintings had to do with good old JC and the big man himself (INRI), or it was John the Baptist and San Sebastian (that guy had a lot of arrows in him); so I kinda got bored after a while.
In the afternoon, after a little siesta, we tried to find a supermarket, but to no avail. I guess we just have problems finding things. So it'll be fast food for us for a while anyways. After much searching for the unfound food market, Kev and I went to the duomo here in Florence. It's a big church with a dome and a bell tower. The main area was closed by now (just our luck), but we walked around, and the stairs to the top of the dome was still open. So we paid our dues, and started climbing (again, with the climbing, it's terrible). After what seemed like an eternity, we arrived at the middle of the dome, inside the building. It had a pretty incredible painting on the dome, what with hell, and heaven and angels and stuff like that. Then the climb continued, and finally we arrived at the top. We got a gorgeous view of the town, and the hills surrounding it. There were many castle-like buildings on top of the hills around the city, and it's just a beautiful view. I could stay up there all day. But at last, our senses returned to us, and we went down and got some food. Now, it looks like we might make a day trip tomorrow to Pisa and some other town, we'll see how well that goes.

I don�t think I�ve stopped sweating since I arrived at the train station here. It�s just so bloody hot. The average temperature here is around 35 during the day, and even more under the sun. Everytime I wake up in the morning, I have sweat all over my face.
We also discovered the "easy" empire here in Europe. I�m typing this from "easyEverything" internet store, they have "easyJet", "easyRentacar", and I�m sure there�s others. Kevin was suggesting an "easyEscort", where all the girls are easy.

Gaudi was a pretty damn weird guy. We visited the Sagrada Familia yesterday, and it�s mind boggling to see how someone could come up with stuff like that. The church was actually started in 1866, and Gaudi took over the construction sometime in the early 20th century, but he died before he finished it (he got hit by a tram, and died two days later, apparently they didn�t know he was Gaudi at the hospital because he was so obsessed with his project that he didn�t shower or shave and such). It is still unfinished, and they are still doing construction. Their proposed due date is in 2021, but this being Spain, where everyone takes siestas everyday, I don�t know if that�s gonna happen.
We also went to a park (G�ell Park) that Gaudi designed. We followed Chris� (our guide from the bike tour) directions, got off the metro, and went up some escalators (good thing those were there) up this huge hill. Then we walked around for a bit, and it was just dirt paths everywhere, so Kev and I were like, this is not very Gaudi like, what�s up with this. So we kept on walking, and little did we know, we entered via the back entrance (no jokes, please), and the front is absolutely spectacular. There are these giant cacti everywhere (I think Gaudi really had a thing for those cacti), and brilliant columns, archways, little sitting areas, etc all over the place. We had a good time, except I got attacked by a cactus, and I�ve got the marks to prove it.

We didn�t do much last night. We went with some Americans in our room to the restaurant (La Fonda) we went to the night before. Waited in line for about 45 minutes (it was the same thing the night before, except we waited with Swedish girls, so it was better), and got in. I ordered the duck with white beans, it was really good, and I also got an Irish Coffee. If anyone hasn�t tried one before, go to a fancy restaurant and order one, it�s good (whisky with coffee and cream).

Today we just laid around on the beach, relaxing. Tonight we�re getting on another night train to Milan, and we�ll be in Florence tomorrow evening.

Kevin was feeling better Saturday night, so we went out for a night on the town. It was rather interesting, we met this American guy who's been in Barcelona for a couple of years, whom Valerie picked up, who went there because of some girl he was crazy about, and is now single, who is trying to become a English teacher, and is living off the money he made, get this, as a lawyer for 9 years in the states. We also drank a lot of cervazas (beer in Spanish, we think). So we didn�t really do much on Sunday. Didn�t even get up til around 1 or so. We did manage to go to the Picasso Museum. It contained a lot of his earlier work, as well as many of tiny paintings he did as studies. It�s really crazy seeing how many phases that guy went through, from his earlier student period, through his blue period, then onto cubism and all that abstract stuff. He even painted pottery.
Never in the history of Ming have I ever seen such a cruel thing as I saw on Sunday night. We went to a bull fight. They have them every Sunday around here. It�s just like a systematic slaughtering of the bull, but they try to make something out of it. It wasn�t as "fun" as I thought it�d be. I guess it was just the whole killing for fun thing that I don�t really get. I mean, they literally exhaust the bull by making it run around their capes, and stick a dagger in its head, there�s not a lot of sport in that. Oh well.

Swedish girls, hmmm. Yeah, so we were going for a good dinner at this cheap place (you would figure good and cheap would come in the same sentence, but it does) last night, and we met up with some Swedish girls and some other people from the hostel. So we had some sangre and some good (emphasis on the good) dinner. Then we all went back to the hostel and played some drinking games, and then we went out clubbing, which Kev and I did not plan on, we were actually supposed to go to bed early and go to the Dali museum today, needless to say, that didn�t happen today. But those Swedish girls, they�d stay at one place for like a song or two, and then leave and go to another one (along the Mare Magnum, there�s about 3 or 4 clubs all in a row), good thing there were no cover charges. There�s also this one American kid that we were with who was seriously hitting on one of the girls, but I don�t think she responded too much. Anyways, considering the fact that we didn�t leave for the clubs until two in the morning, and didn�t come back until after four, I think I did pretty good when I got up at 12 noon.
Yesterday, during the day, we visited the Palau G�ell, designed by Gaudi. That guy was either a genius or a madman, or both, cause that palace is seriously messed, but in a cool way. There was twisted iron work and intricately carved wooden ceilings every where, and the floors were made of wooden bricks, which I though was really cool. In the afternoon, we took a bike tour around town. There were only three of us on the tour, so it was pretty interesting, and our guide is a funny guy. We went to a couple of sites, and he explained to us a bit of the history around town. It was a good one. They also had bike tours in Amsterdam and Paris, but we missed out.

Well, we have decided to stay in Barcelona for longer, instead of heading off to Ibiza. It�s a very nice city, things are pretty cheap, and we thought that it was about time we relaxed and actually took a "vacation". So we did some shopping today, and went to the beach again. It�s all good.

I went out last night. Kevin was a little under the weather, so I went with two American sisters (Trista and Valerie) who were working as nannies in London. We first went to a place called "The Black Sheep", and had some sangrias (don�t mind the spelling). The place was like a big beer hall, with rows of tables, and everyone sitting down and drinking. Then we went to another posh little bar/club, and saw John Hannah (the guy from the Mummy and Four Weddings and a Funeral). He was hitting on Trista pretty hard, even though his wife was there. Damn actors. Afterwards, Trista went back to the hostel, and Valerie, some people she knew, and I headed onwards to another club. Since she was now essentially along, I felt obliged to bring Valerie home safely. So I stayed at the club, even though she was making out with some Spanish guy. We didn�t manage to get back to the hostel until well after 6, in the morning. Needless to say, I�m pretty beat today.
But I did find out something about myself. I think I�m not really the clubbing type of person. I enjoy going to bars with some friends, and have a conversation, instead of going to a club and picking up strange girls. Maybe I�m crazy, but that�s just me. I also found that sometimes I�m too much of a nice guy, and as they say, nice guys always finish last, so maybe I should stop that too.

Well, that was my little bit. Time to go eat (people don�t eat until like 10 or 11 at night around here, gotta love their siestas).

So we�re in Barcelona today. We took the night train from Paris over. It was a really nice train (it better have been, it cost us about $99 on top of the Eurail pass). It was 4 to a compartment, and it was nicely air conditioned. We didn�t do much today, checked in to a hostel, and then went to the beach. The beach is nice. The soft sand, the Mediterranean Sea washing up ashore. It was a nice break from all the hard core tourist stuff we�ve been doing lately.
There were also a lot of topless people on the beaches. We didn�t even go to a nude beach, people just take their clothes off. I guess they�re a lot more open than North American people. It�s not all good though, people also involve the old and wrinkly, the big and bloated, and the hairy. But it was interesting.

I don�t know what we�re going to do next, I really like it here in Barcelona, things are very cheap, and it�s very beautiful here. I�m inclined to spend more time here than we alotted. We�ll see.

The Louvre, a national monument at the least, although world treasure would probably describe it better. A Canadian peace keeper moved into our room yester night, he was taking a vacation from serving in Kosovo. So we went to the Louvre today. It was quite the sight. I think I enjoyed the architecture more than the things in it. You would never realise how gianormous this palace is, we were in there for about 4 hours, and we walked maybe one level, there is just too much stuff there.
Yes, I saw the Mona Lisa, and the Venus de Milo. They didn't strike me as being truly amazing though, maybe the actual piece doesn't really live up to all the hype that it's given, or maybe I'm just uncultured. But walking through the palace, I was just amazed at how beautiful the entire place is. There are arched ceilings and paintings on the ceilings themselves in many of the rooms, and the marble columns with carved wreaths, along with the sculptures both outside and on the ceilings, it is indeed awe-inspiring.

I saw a lot of paintings, artifacts, things that people would say "wow" to if you showed it to them. But I think that there is so much of that stuff in the Louvre that you quickly become desensitized to it, and it doesn't seem as incredibly anymore after a while. Also this lot of walking is making my feet my worst enemy. I think I need to take a break from excessive walking over the next couple days.

After the Louvre we went around the Forum de Halles (a shopping centre) and did some shopping. Needless to say, Ming's wallet is hurting right now. Oh well, we're off to Spain tonight, and hopefully by this time tomorrow I'll be in Barcelona.

It's a beautiful day (well, that's what I'm listening to right now). But these French keyboards are really messing me up, Kevin knows my frustration, having to look down at the keyboard every two seconds to find where the right key is. It's not exactly the qwerty keyboard, but very similar, so it really messes up my typing skills.

We went to Versaille today, and what a beautiful castle they have there. It was built by Louis XIV, and was part of the reason for the later French Revolution. The French royal family devulged so much in themselves that they weren't really concerned for the peasants, and the crowning moment must have been the Marie Antoinette quote "let them eat cake" (although heavily debated here). The whole palace itself is just huge, and did I mention exuberant. The garden was most exquisitely carved and cared for. The hedges and trees are all trimmed square, and there were a lot of trees there. We started walking around the big pond in the garden, and what a mistake that was. It took us about an hour and a half to walk all the way around. I'm still sore from that, or it could have been the build up of soreness from the past 7 days that I've been here.
We also took a tour of the king's apartment, and it was a worthy tour. It gave me a little insight to how elaborate the ceremonies are. I mean, Louis XIV had 100 lords attend to his getting up in the morning and going to bed at night. It's a bit much.

Speaking of much, me thinks Ming is definitely spending a little too much money on this trip. There were some unexpected expenditures, and things are just expensive for tourists anyways. It's not like I'm throwing money away, we've been having bread and cheese (bought from the market in Amsterdam) for the past 3 days. But I guess I don't need to get too defensive, it is mine own money that I'm spending. Good thing I'll be on my work term soon.

Wow, I've never climbed so many stairs in my life. We arrived in Paris this morning, and checked into the BVJ hostel, right beside the Louvre. Then we went to the Notre Dame Cathedral, waited in line for 2 hours, and climbed to the top of the towers. What a view of the city. Then this afternoon, we went to the Eiffel Tower, climbed, yes climbed to the middle of the tower, and took some more pictures. Then, we went to the Arc de Triumph, and yet again climbed to the top of the arc, and took some more pictures. All in all, that was a lot of climbing, and I'm dead tired right about now, so I'm going to sleep.

So we've been around Amsterdam a couple of times. Walking by at night, seeing the prostitutes sitting in their little windows, it's like looking at animals in a zoo. It's really kinda sad. They're just caged up, waiting someone to feed them. It's no way for a lifestyle.

Yesterday we went to see the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum. The scenery in Amsterdam is absolutely beautiful. Right beside the Van Gogh Museum is a huge field with victorian architecture on three sides, it just looks awe-inspiring. The Anne Frank House is truly a piece of history in itself. It's where the little girl who could and her family, along with some friends lived in hiding for several years before finally being captured by the Germans. Eight people lived in a small extension at the back of a factory (a small one at that), and they lived there for years. They had to shut the curtains all day, they couldn't look outside, they had to tread lightly when walking, they couldn't flush the toilets lest the factory workers hear them. It's amazing how they lived like that for so long. Anne Frank died 1 month before the liberation in a German concentration camp.

We lived in a little hotel called the Old Nickel. It was pretty quaint. We lived on the fourth (top) floor. It was almost like the penthouse, except not really.

Today we didn't have a whole lot of luck with the whole tourist thing (I know I'm jumping from topic to topic, but I've just got too much to write, and no time to organize my thoughts). We tried to go to the Heineken Brewery for a tour, but it was closed. Closed on a Monday, go figure. Then we tried to find the Dam that blocks the Amstel river, but also to no avail. We walked pretty much the length of the city (well, the central city anyways), and couldn't find anything, so we finally gave up. Maybe we were going the wrong way, who knows. So we went to see Final Fantasy, then sat in the central square and ate some dinner.

Tonight we are going on a night train to Paris, to arrive tomorrow morning at 6 something. This ends our little stay here in Amsterdam, but I've had a great time here, and hopefully, I'll be back to visit later in life.

Oh, another little stupid tid bit of me. Being the typical Ming, I brought 20 rolls of film with me, but 15 of them are 12 exposure rolls. So much for being literate. So I'll probably have to buy a whole bunch more. Silly Ming.

Well, we're in Amsterdam now. Our hotel is right beside Ceentral Station, which makes it pretty much downtown. So we have the red light district on the East, and the shopping district on the West. I had a nap this afternoon, so to compensate for some of the lack of sleep I've been getting. Still a little beat though.

Anyways, gotta go.

Am I ever tired. I've going on almost 3 days now with about 8 hours of sleep. Hopefully I can get some quality shuteye tonight, but it stands doubtful since I'll be on a bus, and a ferry. Maybe in Amsterdam.

So I broke down and went on a tour bus today. I was tired, and tired of walking, so I forked out �14, and got a tour bus ticket. It was a hefty price, but it also gave me a free river tour on the Thames, so it's justified, a little. I stopped by the National Art Gallery today as well, it's right in the centre square in Westminster. I think that visit enforced my belief that I don't get art. For example, I saw a painting by Henri Rousseau titled "Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!)". But the tiger looked nothing like a tiger, more like a rat, and the whiskers were blowing in the opposite direction of the leaves. Now some people might say that the tiger looked a rat because it was scared, or reflects the painter's emotions at the time, yaddi yaddi yadda. Bite me. If you're gonna paint something, at least make it look like the real thing. Which is another thing I don't really get about abstract art too. But there were some really nice paintings in the gallery that was lifelike. They were more like photographs than paintings, they were amazing.
I also noticed the frames on the paintings. I found those very interesting, because all the attention is paid towards the painting itself, when in fact selecting the right frame is also an art in itself (not to mention making them). Like how if the painting represents a sombre mood, or is of serious nature, the frame is usually very plain, but in many impressionist paintings, the frames were almost zealous. Just thought I'd throw that in.

Oh, and I saw Vinny Jones making a new movie in London.

I need to get some sleep.

Oh, my ... first night in England, and drunk as a (insert own descriptive noun here). Yep, went to Simona's yesterday, knocked on the door and no one answered. I thought that the cab driver took me to the wrong place. So I start walking back up the street, and two ladies pass me on the other side of the road, one yells out "are you Ming?". Imagine how surprised I was. Turns out that it was Simona's mom and sister coming back home. We had a lovely dinner, then bought 2 bottles of the cheapest (and apparently worst tasting) wine we could find, predrank that, then went out to a bar. It had live music there, so it was prtty good.

Tonight I'm going on an overnight ferry to go to Amsterdam. Good times.

Just made it to London. I've been in the city for like 3 hours, and I've already used up a roll of film. But I've got pictures of Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, The Millenium Eye, etc.
Tonight I'm gonna go to Oxford and meet up with Simona. Tomorrow I'm planning on see the Tower of London, and London Bridge. Then it's off to the Netherlands on an overnight bus and ferry. Should be good times. Everything in London seems so cheap, and then you weigh in the fact the English pound is about 2.2 times the Canadian $, and the 47 pounds I just spend on a ticket to Amsterdam doesn't see so cheap anymore.

Just waiting for Kev to email me back now, so we can finalize plans on where to meet.

It's still a bit surreal, to think that I'm overseas, by myself, in London. Wow. The whole time I was thinking to myself, am I really here? I also saw the most awsomest sunrise this morning, although parts of it was cut off by the plane's wing. It was that dark dark blue blending to the bright blue as the sun rose. Amazing.

One last blog before I leave on my journey. It's counting down to the hour now. It'll be the first trip that I'll be starting completely by myself. No one at the other end of the line to take me in, no relatives to visit. It'll be different, I'll have to handle everything by myself, it should be good times.

I'm going to be so broke after this trip, good thing it's coop.

Ming out

I've been trying to find accomodations in Ibiza. I know it's a great party island, but it would be nice to get some sleep some time as well. The thing is, there are a couple of major cities on the island, and I'm not so sure where Kevin and I are staying, which makes making reservations a little harder. I've also been informed that all the cheap places are mostly booked up, nuts. So the moral of the story? Plan ahead when travelling 1/3 of the way around the world.

Before I went to bed, I decided to find out my self worth in case I wanted to sell myself. Apparently it's $1,955,060.00. Just a little more than my good friend Kevin.

Boy am I glad to be done. I haven't done a thing since Friday at noon. Actually I have. I went to Curtis' wedding on Saturday. It was beautiful (I know, I'm a sensitive man), and their website is also set up curtisandamanda.com. But yeah, it was pretty cool times, I just can't believe that I know married people now (that are my own age). I mean, Gord and Leslie are getting married at Thanksgiving, which is 2 months from now. I feel left out (but maybe it's a good thing).

I'm getting really excited now, only 3 more days til I leave. I'm so unprepared, but whatever, it'll be a good time. I'm going to meet up with Simona on the 16th, stay in London for the 17th, and then go over to Amsterdam. I have to see if I can get an overnight ferry, that way I can get to Amsterdam earlier, and not have to worry about a hostel in London.

But now, it's bedtime for Ming.

Three down, one to go. But it's stats. Oh well, in another 19 hours, I'll be drinking myself into a stuper.

I just got a domain name for a friend (Curtis), he's getting married, and curtisandamanda.com just seemed to fit. I'm trying to host it at Matt's, and he's been really helpful, but I'm having a hard time putting everything together, especially since it is exam time, and his wedding is this Saturday. Me and my procrastination.

I'm really bad at studying. Even when I go to the library, I get nothing done. I read books instead of textbooks.
I think I have the anti-studying gene or something (maybe ADD).

Well, I just set up my account at blogger, and am officially joining in on the weblog fad. I am such a follower of fads.
Tuesday was not a good day. I spent like an hour at Columbia Lake taking pictures with my "good" camera, and finished my roll of film. Unfortunately, me being as dumb as I am, and technology being such a bitch, I didn't know how to rewind the film (I know how to do it now). So needless to say, I wrecked my film, and luckily, not my camera, so I can make the same mistake down the road.
Exams are almost over, still got two more though, on Thursday and Friday. Just finished my 240 exam yestertoday, it was a little weird, we'll see. Speaking of exams, I should probably stop playing with my computer, and actually try to get some studying done (it may be just wishful thinking).