Florence, Venice, Interlaken, and Bern!

Ok, quick post. Pictures from Florence, Venice, Interlaken, and Bern. Some small notes of stories, mostly to myself to remember. - Cool guy from Napoli that showed us Spanish cards, - Can't find a hostel, or cheap hotel, or open church = me being bum on the floor - Awesome restaurant in Tuscany - Knocking on ppls doors, hey sir can we see your vineyard? no? but...umm...please? -Bugging the hostel guys to see if we can stay there -Bugging the hotel girl until we could stay there - And Zaina just interupted me so now where was I... - oh the best showorma place is in florence? haha - ppl stopping at 3am to let us use their cell phone - ppl stoping on the street to help us look at a map - a guy driving by, stopping, reversing and asking if we needed help - us talking to a bus driver, blocking traffic for 10mins and NO ONE Honked!! - The david being so much bigger and more impressive than i thought - venetian masks are actually native to florence and so much more but i'll leave it at that for now. next up will be paris, brussels, and amsterdam We got to Florence really late, couldn't find a hostel, hotels really expensive, we sit down and rest at the station infront of the newstand And like a bum I fall asleep on the floor....hey I was really really tired! and it was only for 1hr! Florence was an amazing city. I think I remember 1 of Darrins pics from here too which was cool cause i recognized it when I got here. Manpreet trying on a mask Tomatoes in Italy were soo good!! The country-side was really nice too. We went biking in Tuscany, such a nice day. Manpreet and Rasheed wanted a bit more speed at night. Enjoying the night by the water. Posing on our bikes haha Fooling around in the baggage room at the hostel Then we say good bye to Manpreet and head out to Venice Venice! And more Venice and me and Venice And now on the way to Interlaken, Switzerland. The train ride had amazing scenery. Rasheed can't believe it. Its really georgeous. We rented a car, went driving, and well...my driving scared rasheed a bit. But hey, its a small car what could happen. Rasheed happy to be alive after. We're just goofing around haha Now in Bern, thinking what my next move should be. I decide to go Einstein for help, but unfortunately, he's not in.

Pisa

Ok, mini-post here, just 4 quick shots of Pisa. This weekend I'll bring you some more. Its a long weekend for me!!! And I'm going home!! :) ttyl peoples. Walking up to the Leaning Tower of Pisa woah it really does lean. A lot! Rasheed, Manpreet, and I having lunch. (We're on the other side, thats why it looks straight). Just a nice shot of the city

Pompeii

Ok, first whats going on with me right now? Hmm...actually not much. I went to an Urdu dinner Friday night. That was fun, met some ppl, and the food was good. There wasn't actually much urdu speaking going on though but ah well. Maybe next time I'll try to say more. Interestingly, 1 girl from the party announced that she got engaged (almost official) from a guy she met at the last Urdu dinner. That was only 1 month ago! Wow, but still congrats to her, as long as your happy. I also saw Da Vinci Code yesterday. It was good. Not as bad as the critics say but definitely not as good as the book. I'd give it a 6 or possibly a 7 out of 10. Other than that, not much going on. I might go back to Sauga next weekend as its a long weekend here. Anyhow, let me continue with the trip. We left off in Rome and I'll first give a couple more pics from that. Why? Cause I can and I liked Rome. hehe The Circus Maximus with the Stadium in the background I believe. Just a nice shot of Rome. We ended up here cause we got lost while trying to find the collesium. I asked this 1 couple (another set of tourists) where it was and seriously, the woman almost ran away from me. Crazy. Everyone else was friendly and even more helpful when they found out we were canadian. Me at the old Roman Stadium Taking a break from the walking. Seriously, so much walking...too much. Now to Pompeii. In the set of pics in the previous post you saw a group dinner. At the dinner we're talking to some of the ppl and we say we're going to Pompeii and then Florence and tell one of the girls, Manpreet aka Money, to come along. She thinks for less than 3 secs and says ok. I wish I had that kinda freedom. But I guess when you take 2 months off for travelling you can. We planned it out kinda last sec so we slept for maybe 1-2hrs and then grabbed a train to Pompeii. Sleeping on the way to Pompeii Manpreet also taking a nap Welcome to Pompeii! Another shot near the entrance Rasheed on top of....something hehe Manpreet took the picture...for some reason she likes to take crooked pictures...probably cause it matches her personality...hehe j/k More of the ruins Me looking out upon the grounds Myself, Rasheed, & Manpreet in the Amphitheatre The smaller amphitheatre Rasheed by a wall mural in the inner court yard One of the bodies recovered from the ground. The person was killed when the city was destroyed by the volcano. Manpreet walking down the street in the lost city Rasheed and I looking through the ruins Rasheed and Manpreet Its actually a pretty large sized (ruined) city Another shot of the city And another Rasheed, Manpreet, & I Next stop, Pisa & Florence!

Rome!

In the middle of the night, I go walking in my sleep... I'm back from my vacation and it was awesome! I saw so manythings and met so many ppl and just had a total blast. It all went by way too fast though. Now there is no way I can sum it all up but I'll try to describe a few things here and there, taking on a city per post. Still I know I can't describe to you my experiences and pictures don't do justice at all. So the first stop on my trip was Rome. Well technically there was an 7hr stop over in Amsterdam but I'll cover Amsterdam later. So arrived in Rome and did a bunch of things. A huge huge amount of walking. Basically Rasheed (the cousin I went on my Europe trip with) were out walking around the city for like 16-18hrs a day. Seriously, I killed my feet. I should have got those air max 360s (so comfy) and we should have paced ourselves better, probably taking another day. Oh well, it was amazing fun. Here are some pics below, maybe next time i'll include some stories as well. When in Rome The Collesium! Its ginormous! Rasheed & I inside. Still inside Rome Forums Roman Ruins The Pantheon was so well preserved inside it was amazing The Spanish Steps which we marched for hours in search of...by which time most ppl had left..long story.. And we come to the Vatican Museum The entire inside was amazing We enter the hallway of maps Paintings paintings everywhere! Everywhere Dinner with some of our friends from the hostel.

In Interlaken

Hey yo. So its like day 10? I don't know I've lost track of time, though sadly it feels like Europe trip is not too far from ending now. Still a good 1 week left and then 1 more week in india though. So far we (rasheed and I) have gone to Amsterdam, Rome, Pompei, Naples, Florence, Pisa, Balogna, Milan, Spidez, and now Interlaken. Its been a blast so far, too incredible to describe. At least for now. I'll try do tell the stories better when I'm back in NY but a hint of things to come are walking for hours (days) in rome, getting lost in the dead city of pompei, sleeping in the train station in florence, biking in tuscany, almost missing the train to switzerland, the best shawarma ever is found in italy? and so much more. I got a ton of pictures so I'll show you all later. take care, peoples.

Go see Avenue Q!

I think I'll keep this short b/c I'm tired right now. Its 645pm and I'm at work and I'm tired of being at work but I got a lot to finish up. I'm gonna have to take stuff home. BUT only 3.5 more days and then I'm off for a month!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait. I'm looking forward to the trip, but 1 step at a time. Well I'm enjoying the current spec I'm working but I mean, for the 1st step, I cant wait to go home. Sleeping in my own bed and seeing my friends again and cousins and it'll be nice. And Then the trip! And then the India portion of the trip! Fun fun fun. Omar and Aamir came down this weekend to visit. Friday we just went walking along Times Square. Times Square is nice and cool and I enjoy looking at it. But really, theres not a huge amt to do right there and its a pain to walk through the crowds. Saturday was all rainy but we walked in China town for a bit then rented a movie, I forget what, its a forgettable movie, and then went to Comedy Celler which was a really funny comedy show. I recommend that place if you want to see a comedy show. Sunday we woke up a bit late and had to run to theatre to make our show. We had tickets to Avenue Q. (I'm so out of shape, sigh.) And let me tell you, Avenue Q is AMAZING! Super funny and really really just fun and entertaining. Possibly my favourite show out of all the shows i've seen. I'm not sure. Mamma Mia, I love you Your Perfect Now Change, and Lion King were also really good. And then I also enjoyed Chicago, Whos Tommy, Producers, and well Rent wasnt very good though. Just when I was started to get tired of the theatre, Avenue Q makes me want to go see a lot more shows again. Then after that we grabbed a bite to eat and then went walking all over. Walked basically from 42nd street up to 80th then east to Central Park, across the width of it. Then all the way back down to 45th street in Times Square. Great weather though so it was good. The only bad part was a bit of racism I experienced while trying to play a game online. Some ppl are so incredibly ignorant its scary. I won't waste anymore time on that though. oh and I ate so much chocolate this weekend...hehe. Take care all.

I think too much...

Life, Life, I wonder, I wonder, will take me under... Everyday and every moment in life we are making decisions. Most of the time you don't think about it. Most things are inconsequential. But then sometimes there are things that make you stop. Not just stop but spin in circles. Going this way and that, and not really sure of what to do. Things are not clear cut, they aren't black and white. And they can not be examined by making a list or just using clear logic. You go back and forth in your head until you aren't even sure about anything anymore. Unfortunately, I do tend to overanalyze sometimes. To over-think. In the end, your not exactly happy, but you hope and pray you did the right thing and that it works out for the best. InshaAllah. ....life is confusing....... I have some friends, Omar and Aamir, visiting this weekend...should be fun. 7 more days and then I'm on vacation....... .........inshaallah.