Berlin and Before

Well I´m in Berlin, Germany right now but a lot has happened since then. First of the rest of The Black Forest. Well I pretty much did what I said. I just relaxed, got some correspondence done and went on some hikes. The second day I was there I went on a shorter hike where I ended up walking by an some sort of elk confine where there was a family of elk and one beast of a father. he had some massive horns. The last day there though was the best. I didn't have to do any internet stuff so I just went on a long ass hike that was about 25 kilometers at least without stopping. I intended to stop at certain points but I just ended up continuing. I didn't go to that other town Schitalch I just walked a circle around Freudenstadt basically, just a fat circle. I walked by some smaller villages and through a lot of forests with fall leaf colors of dark to light orange, dark to light yellow and a whole array of green. The map they gave me was a bit tough. I really had to use my direction skills with this thing. It was harder to navigate through the Black Forest then it was in Venice or in Amsterdam. Either way though it was pretty sweet. I walked by an awesome lake and trudged through a little bit of what looked like an off trail path that was a shortcut through a region. When I got back I was limping a little because of my blisters. The hostel wasn't serving dinner and I didn't feel like walking into town so I just bought like 6 of their candy bars for dinner because I hadn't eaten since breakfast. It was like the day after Halloween as a kid all over again.

Then I moved on through Switzerland to Torino, Italy. It was a marathon train day with 4 trains so 3 changes that took 12 hours. It was still pretty sweet though. After walking all day I just relaxed and looked at the scenary. Switzerland is beautiful and I'd been there before but not through some of the center parts that I went and the Swiss Alps are just an amazing view. I also went down by Lake Como and the Ticino part of Switzerland which is just like Italy. That area is gorgeous. It was cool to see the landscape change as well. I talked with a Romanian couple on the first rain about Gypsies, Romania, their kid, parenting and what type of work they do. I talked with 3 people from Chicago on the 3rd train, one of whom was living in Basel Switzerland for the last 20 years. We talked about sports, traveling, Basel, life and they gave me some damn good tips on Chicago. I also got to finish Barack Obama's book which was pretty sweet.

When I got to Torino there was some train issues but I was still able to meet up with my good friend Lauren who is an Au Pair there. She just met me at the station and we walked towards my hostel and then she went back to her host/employer family's house. The next day we met up and just walked through the center of Torino with all the squares and stuff. We stopped and talked a lot and just had some fantastic talks the whole time we were there. She showed me the Mole which is the main monument building there and we went back to her place for coffee and an afternoon snack. Then she had to pick up her kids at school and so i walked to meet them because they were extremeley excited about meeting an American guy. they had never met one and asked about how tall and big I was before I got there. then I walked through the old district of Torino, got some gelato and went back to my hostel to take care of shit. Lauren and I got drinks that night but nothing serious.

The next day we did a lot of the same exploring. Went to a park and a fake Mideveil castle. But first we went out to a big old Italian lunch with her other American nanny friends (Tiffaney the Mormon, Lindsay the crazy cool one, and Aubrey the international traveler/lifestyle) and just had a good ass lunch. I had the pesto pasta with the chicken dish later and orange cake. they had fancier names but I just don't remember. When Lauren left I took that opportunity to go to this dope cafe I found that was what I think a North African theme and great outdoor seating. then I walked through another part of town that she hadn't even been too and along one of their rivers which was great. The walk was awesome and Torino is beautiful It didn't seem like it at first but it has this homey feel. plus they have great monuments all over the place that are beautiful. After that I was invited over to her house for an Italian dinner cooked by her host mother Patricia (who was abosultely awesome and spoke fluent English as well). The husband Alfonso couldn't be there but the boys Filipo and Rugie were. It was a great meal and I liked those two kids. Reminded me of my cousins and I definitely got some throwing them around on the couch play time in. I helped Lauren put them to bed but then earlier in the day Lindsay said she was pheaning for a drink so Lauren had to stay in while Lindsay, Aubrey and I went out for drinks. We just had a couple but it was a good time. I accidently dropped a serious that's what she said line.

The next day Lauren and I met up again. She came to my hostel this time and we went back to the city center. We didn't even go anywhere we just sat and had another great talk for a couple of hours. She's and old friend of mine and we did a counseling group together in high school so we know each other very well and can have very serious conversations with ease. I really enjoyed not only catching up but spending time with her. I left and went to Florence (but not before Lauren gave me a luch that she packed for me) just for the night to meet up with my friend Mariel who I am traveling with now. I went to her host parents house, because she is studying abroad, and had another bomb ass Italian dinner. It was huge and they hate leftovers. they spoke just a little English but they were very friendly and with my Spanish and Mariel's translation we communicated very well. We talked about politics, the US economy and what I'm doing with my life. It was cool and Mariel and I set up lodging for the rest of our trip. We're in Berlin, going to Krakow, Auschwitz and Prague. She also snuck some laundry for me. My hostel was dope and I would've stayed longer but alas I wasn't there to sightsee. Plus I was there a year before for 5 nights.

Mariel and I went to the Pisa airport way earlier then we need to and let me tell you it is a blast traveling with her already. When we hang out we just act incredibly goofy around each other all the time. I can't explain it, it just has to be seen. There's nothing intellectual (or crude) about our little jokes but we find them hilarious and many times nothing even needs to be said. It's nice traveling with someone at this point and we'll have a lot of fun. She had some credit card problems but that all got sorted out so now we're just gonna paint the town. I'm gonna head out now because I can't wait any longer to have some fun in Berlin on a Friday night so peace out ya'll.