Medicine for the eyes

I just wrote my postcards and I feel good, closer to home. We left Stockholm at 12:40pm after two great days there. We are still with Helen which is awesome. She is so cute - with her Australian accent. I try to get her to say "inoy" (I know). She leaves for Englad on Wed. I admire her for travelling for five months alone! She had never ice skated before but she and Amy did today in an outdoor rink in the middle of Stockholm. I enjoyed watching them holding each other up. Right now we are headed for a little town, Mora, which is on a lake. I love seeing the smaller towns as much as the big cities. Through the window I've noticed we've passed may farms since leaving Stockholm, and also much water. Scandinavia is medicine for the eyes.

Yo estoy in Espana

Hola! Yo estoy in Espana con Amy para dos dias y yo le gusto mucho! Can you believe it? Im in SPAIN! It's so much more beautiful than I ever dreamed. We went from Paris to Madrid (after London) on a 24 hr. train trip. Madrid is a HUGE city with many city squares and rich culture. We arrived there at 5pm and put our packs into lockers. Then we found a train going to the Mediterranean coast (!) and we walked around the city until our train left.Madrid had an extensive metro - our first introduction into any city because the trains usually only go as far as the city outskirts). We walked down the Grand Via - the Champs Elysees of Spain. This street had tons of fashion stores and restaurants like in Paris. There were a lot of statues and fountains. Then we came to Plaza de Mayor which was a very impressive building with a long black iron gate and 3 guards protecting it. Near this was Plaza del Sol where two tall satues were. this looked like the Fanuel Hall of Madrid. There were literally hundresds of people everywhere we looked. I actually witnessed a pick-pocket attempt take place! Some guys were eyeing our bas, too, so we walked like a couple with our bags wedged in between us. Madrid has a beautiful Opera house and as we approached a performance (orchestral) had just endded. The streed leading up to the Opera house was lined with statues from the 1700s. That ended our tour of Madrid. We arrived by train overnight to Alicante, Spain. It's on the Southeast coast of Spain and is so hot. Today it must be 89 degrees! The trip was an awesome adventure. We booked couchettes, which we don't usually do, and the view through the Pyrenees mountains was spectacular. We could see the ocean way out in the distance on one side of the train. On the other we saw huge, rocky mountains rising up beyond land.Right now I'm on the beach and the water is a really clear blue and there are mountains in the distance, not too far from the coast. Amy is beside me topless like so many other women on the beach. We have been on the beach all of today and yesterday. We were on the train so long (from London to Madrid via Paris with a three hour stop over there) that we decided we deserved two days at a beach. Today is a national holidy in Spain so the beaches are crowded. If I didn't know it was October I'd think it was Julyl! I'm actually getting really sunburned - but it feels good. Now that we soaked up some sun we can go north toward Sweden!The Spanish people are very nice. I've gotten some yells, but not all that many. We ignore them so they stop. I've had to use my Spanish and we're getting around fine. The Spanish are really short, too. Amy and I are always the tallest ones around. Well, not always, but we are noticeable..After this we will go to Barcelona, then Paris and other parts of France, then Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Austira, Italy and Greece.

Again like the locals

Update from Paris (October 15-18) We are in a cafe on the Rue de Lyon, Paris and we have earned exhaustion. We arrived in Paris again on Friday and we're staying with Thierry and his roommate Thierry (yes, they both have the same names!). Friday night they had a dinner party that lasted until 1:30am. Last night we went to another party which reminded me of one of our parties, which lasted until 2:30am. Tonight we are going dancing with a group, so needless to say, we are delightedly tired. I'm hoping Thierry will like me tonight - I suspect he likes Amy. Thierry can speak English well, but with me he only speaks French. How odd. Earlier today I was listening to him engaged in a long conversation with Amy - in English! I thought I heard his door close, too, while she was in there :-O

St. Peter's Basilica and the guy himself

We are outside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican and taking time to reflect on the amazing feeling we each felt within the church. Would you believe we've visited St. Peter's everyday we've been in Rome? We saw the Pope last night, too, driving away with his entourage. None of us is Catholic yet we were so excited to spot his little burgundy cap as he drove by we collapsed on the ground in uncontrollable laughter. We heard the choir there yesterday and saw two masses. Nuns and priests were singing acapella in a small side chapel and honeslty I wanted to be one of them with all my heart. How pure and peaceful their voices were. The church is absolutely breathtaking. At 1pm we were supposed to leave for Brindisi, Italy, where we were to catch the ferry to Greece, but we found out the ferry doesn't run on Monday night. We;re glad to have one more night in Rome! Our trip is almost over and I'm feeling depressed about it. I've had the greatest time and have so many memories. Our time in Rome has been so fun. We arrived Friday night at 9pm and got hold of a friend of Amy (Giovanni) with whom we made plans for dinner. We also called a pensione to get a room. Well...we got lost looking for our meeting place with Giovanni and ended up having the policia drive us to the correct spot. Thank Godness the police were there. We had walked about an hour to reach what we thought was the right location and we could have been in danger had they not been there! We met Giovanni and his two friends for dinner and reached the pensione at 1am - only to have the owner tell us he had given our room to someone else! I'm glad we didn't stay there, afterall. It was dirty and in a bad area, we were told lately. Giovanni and the guys and Amy and Nancy (a great girl from NYC who's been travelling with us) and I went all over before finding a hotel at 3am! Thank Godness that Giovanni was able to drive us to various locations until we found room at the inn. The hotel we chose was much more expensive than our budgets but we like it (a little tase of luxury) and we stayed there three nights! Each night we were treated to dinner, we went to a party at an Italian apartment and were given a great walking tour by our hotel desk clerk, Benito. We've been to the Colesseum, Forum (almost, it was closed), Panthion, Trevi-fountain (where groups of Italians were singing), catacombs, the top of St. Peter's Basilica. Tonight we are staying in Plaza Narvonna which is located near the Pantheon and are going to celebrate our last and extra night in Roma together. It's our first night without the guys. Giovanni was a kind and tall host. How he fit into his little car I'll never know. The Italian people are so lively and their culture, so diverse - from amazing art to the mafia. We saw Venice, Florence and Rome. I threw a coin into Trevi fountain so I'll be back - I know it.