Back in Leeds,

I hate French keyboards, so I decided that I'll jot notes down in my book throughout the trip and wait till I get back to Leeds for a full update. Like the brilliant mastermind I am, I forgot to jot stuff down and here I am stretching my memory to its limitations remembering all the details since Lyon. I'm hoping Fisch's blog entries have been more in depth so I can just take stuff from him.

Anyway, Lyon was one of my favourite cities on the trip. There is something about the layout and attitude of the city, from its bustling river-side food and art market to their wonderfully touristy old-town to myriad squares and fountains lining the city centre that really did it for me. Certain elements of French culture intimidated me, especially when my juvenile French linguistic abilities limited my abilities to communicate, but my overall experience with the city was amazing. We climbed a large hill in the centre of town in crazy heat to a cathedral that offered up gorgeous views of the city.

Much of our time in the city was spent walking around and eating. There wasn't a museum that was worth going to (that we knew about) and it was shabbat, so Joe couldn't go out anyways. Instead we spent time exploring the city aside from its tourist stuff. The first night we ended up at an Australian Bar (called Ayers Rock) because we thought we'd meet English speaking people. We ended up conversing in poor French with a few girls and met some American soon-to-be lawyers who wanted nothing to do with us. Following that I got a Falafel - which was decent - and we went home.

Our last day in Lyon I met up with my friend Emily Mallick, who lives with her boyfriend Jeremy in Lyon. They are teachers at an international school but are moving back to Canada in a few weeks. We went for Ice Cream and drinks and walked around, before I met up with the guys dinner. We went to a recommend burger joint, watched some world cup on TV and went back to the Ice Cream place for dessert.

The only crappy thing about Lyon was our hotel. I would never recommend Hotel de Bretagne to anyone. It is a 1 star. 1 star. We shared two double beds, had cobwebs everywhere and there was no hot water at night. Plus, the owners spoke no English. I tried to stay away.

On our third and final day in Lyon we went to Paris. We caught the 6PM train and proceeded to do nothing but find our hotel (a 3 star) and go for dinner. Dinner, and subsequently our introduction to the city, was fantastic. We went to a Kashmiri Restaurant around the corner from our hotel (in Villiers) and were treated like royalty. Good food, lots of it and good treatment. Kashmiri food is different from Indian I learned. The spices are a bit different and the presentation and preparation of the naan is different. Regardless, it was damn tasty. After that we walked around and Joe and I indulged in some Creme Brulee Ice Cream before going to sleep.

The next day was a bit of a whirlwind day. It was my last day in Paris and it was crammed with stuff. We left the hotel at 11AM and didn't get back till the Metro closed after midnight. I don't quite remember every single thing we did, except that we walked around for ages and ages. We went to Hotel Invalides, which houses Napolean's grave and the museum of artillery and armour, which was nice. The building was also fantastic. The grave was a bit ostenatatious, but such is life in imperial graves. Atleast it wasn't the pyramids. Following that we walked along the Siene for a whole before hopping the Metro to Montmarte, the area which has Sacre Cours. Sacre Cours is a gorgeous church on top of a big hill that offers great views of the city. We paid our €5 (after getting angry as all hell with the automated ticket teller) and hiked up the windy stairs to the top. The view was great, but the walk was crap. Also, my camera died on top so I only snapped a few pictures. Kowski, still feeling under the weather since Milan, decided to wait at the bottom as he did the hike last year.

Following that we ate lunch and walked back to Champs D'Elysses, stopping at a bookstore for a moment as well as some pay phones. We then had dinner, sat on the Arc de Triomphe for a while and walked down to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up, all tacky looking, at nite. It still looked gorgeous, despite the obvious over-doing-it of the decorations. Sipping Heineken, we relaxed around the eyesore for a while before going home.

Lastly, we went to Versailles on my last day before I boarded the train to Amsterdam. Versailles's garden is gorgeous, a site to be seen, but we all grew tired of its interior. It was nice, almost too nice, but it all moulded in looking exactly the same and we really thought the interior designers of Louis XIV went a step too far in outfitting the palace. An hour into touring the rooms after waiting in burdening heat for an hour outside and we were done with it. The best part of Versailles was a stick fight the four of us had. At times we got frustrated with each other and silence was usually the best weapon of choice. This time, in trying to hit Joe, I hurled a stick at him, accidentally whacking Fisch right in the head with it. A flurry of stick hurling ensued, entrenching all four of us in a stick hurling melee until we were all on the ground in histerics, pleased with our actions.

After lunch and a coffee, I boarded the train and said goodbye to the guys. I'll really miss them, but I sure do need a break from them as well. Travelling with someone, seeing them 24/7 can be exhauasing, and you can get on each other's nerves quicker, without having time apart. I think that happened a bit on this trip, and a break was needed. I also learned a lot about myself, and needed some time to just relax, be alone and think. More about that later.

Lastly, where in all hell are Kalman and Lance? They should really get in touch us, those shitheads... Hopefully they are still reading this.

Music - the radio in Josie's house... Robbie Williams, god help me I think...

This one will be fast...

I am using a french keyboard, so point form descriptions it is.

- Milan was crap for the most part
- Nice was lovely. We went to the Chagall museum, witnessed an amazing street party-music festival that reminded us of what mardi gras may be like.
- ate some flan
- spent time on the beach in both villefrance sur mer and cannes
- visited san rafael, monaco and antibes
- fisch fell into a broom closet at the monte carlo casino
- took lots of pictures
- spent quite a bit of time walking around
- met an anti-seperatist french canadian on the train to san rafael
- now i am in lyon
- it is amazing: hiked up a big hill and saw great views of the city
- went to an australian bar last nite. more proof i cannot speak french
- went to marsailles for an hour or so on a layover. not impressed. i also banged my toe up quite good
- gorgeous squares and fountains in lyon.
- meetin an old family friend for a drink.

more later

Milan is okay...

Welcome to the first, and unfortunately abridged addition for the second leg of our trip. This internet cafe in Milan is quite possibly the most annoying one we have ever been to, so updating the blog at length and remembering everything will be difficult.

I had a hell of a time getting from London to Venice in one day through Rome. I spent an amazing day with my amazing girlfriend in London before boarding a Ryanair plane to Rome. There was turbulance, quite a bit of it and I sat next to a lady who went to Rome to meet her mistress (still a guy) who she met on a girl's weekend a few weeks back. I became her psychologist, as she was asking me what to do with her life, if she should divorce her husband of 16 years, what to do with her kid etc... Twas fun. The plane was also 2 hours late, and since I timed it to make my 10:50 train to Venice, it became a marathon getting to the train.

But I made it. just barely. I sprinted with my bag to a bus, boarded it (it was also twenty minutes late) and then hopped the subway 4 stops before sprinting anohter 200 metres to find the train delayed 15 minutes. Thank the good dude!!! The train was horrid; people were sleeping in the hallway, their was no bar car and it was hot, but I made it to Venice at 5:30AM, made friends with an Iowan named Greg and began wandering around Venice.

Venice is lovely. All the transport is done by boat, which is kinda nice at first but annoying after a while, because it takes ages to get anywhere. My hotel was in Lido, the furthest island from the city centre and it took over an hour to get there from the train station. The hotel was nice though, as I got a huge room to myself (the attic) and no curfew, while the guys ended up at a Christian hostel with a midnite curfew and a lockout, located on an out of the way island. They would not stop complaining about the hostel, citing it as the worst one ever. I'd read http://adamfisch.livejournal.com to read more about that.

I did not meet up with the guys until 7PM, so the day involved lots of walking with Greg, an amazing lunch near the guy's hostel featuring one of the freshest and best sandwiches I have ever had: couple that by eating it right on a Venetian canal with a friend = perfect.

I split with Greg who had to go back to Rome and went back to my hotel for some rest... I then met up with the guys in Santa Maria square and we proceeded to walk through town, ending up at the local Chabad called Gam Gam for dinner. Joe is orthodox, so we ate with him because it was shabbat. The dinner was quite nice... They laid out dozens of tables right on the canal and we ate communally, like a family. Free food too, which was nice... I almost knocked a girl into the canal, which would have been horrid because the canals are extremely dirty, so thankfully that was averted. Post Gam Gam they had to make curfew so we went for a drink and I slowly walked back through Venice, taking the last boat back to my hotel.

In the morning I went to the beach and walked around before boarding the boat to meet the guys at the train station. Therein we left Venice for Milan, which I am in now.

Milan is a frustrating city... It is huge, dirty, cosmopolitan and busy, and in my opinion has a very arrogant feel to it. Last nite we found our hotel and went for dinner. Dinner was fantastic and quite cheap (best pizza I have had yet), before we took Kowski back to the hotel because he was feeling ill. He just recovered from a bout with strept throat, but we feel the bug is kicking back in and he has been in bed since last nite. We are quite worried about him, but we hope he'll bounce back. He is still in bed now, and after I update the blog I am gonna head back to the hotel to check up on him.

Last night the three of us went out and found the student neighbourhood, which consisted of a big square with bars and people relaxing and drinking. We'll hopefully head back there tonite. Today we went to the Duomo, but had to return to the hostel when they would not allow us in with shorts. Then we got back and hiked up its stairs for the view, which was marvelous, but upon proceeding to sit down and play the guitar, we were kicked out of the duomo for sounding too much like 'woodstock.' Some religions just confuse me... playing guitar is considered rude, wearing shorts is rude, pedophelia is okay... Alright, I'll stop.

I laso bought a water to find out it was carbonated today and my new mountain co-op pants broke! The zipper fell off. I saved it to present to them when I am back in Toronto... Lunch consisted of Panini... lovely panani and there have been copious amounts of gelato consumption. Today we gotta go back to the train station and try and get Kowski out of bed, before heading to Nice tomorrow. I'd like to return to the student area, as I liked it and not much about this place has impressed me. Apparantely I HAVE to go to Rome and Florence and see the David, so that will be done later this year or next hopefully...

If Kalman or Lance is reading this, e-mail us back ya fockers...

peace-

Sanity Music - Beatles in the internet cafe... one redeeming quality.

quick post...

Here is A LINK TO ALL THE EUROPE PICTURES.

peace-

Pictures of home!

Back in Toronto...

I'm quickly back in Toronto for two weeks. The Alli's Journey Concert held on June 1st was a huge success. I performed "Just Like That" with my band, Kae Sun and Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" with Vanderpark. In addition, Michael Burgess, Jackie Richardson and Guido Basso, among others lent their talents to a wonderful night introducing this amazing new charity. The concert next year is going to be even better, I promise you that.

Now, more pictures from Europe and after that, pictures from my BRAND NEW FLAT in Amsterdam. I found a wonderful place to live and I am posting exclusive photos for all of you who seek a couch to crash on in the near future... But be warned, it'll cost ya... he he. I'm so excited to move in. I'm sharing with a lovely Amsterdammer named Alex and I get a living room/dining room and bedroom, along with kitchen and washroom. Perfect. So here we go; Pictures ahoy!