My Final Day

Well, it is finally here. The end of my wonderful trip. It has had many incredible moments as well as difficult ones. I am very glad to say that I had this experience. It has truly been amazing. I don't know if I could do it all at once again. I hope to spend more time in a few places next time. The Tour De France was riding through Barcelona today, so traffic was crazy. It was exciting to see. On the day I arrived in London Wimbledon began and now as I leave I get to see the Tour De France. Today I made it to Sagrada Familia. I have been wanting to see this cathedral since I saw it on tv during the 1992 Olympics. It was truly worth the wait. My eyes teared up as soon as I walked around the corner and saw this magnificent piece of architecture. I want to thank all of you for reading my blog and sending your comments. I have missed everyone and will be sad to leave Europe, but also very very very excited to come home.

Day 15 Barcelona

I took the train from Madrid to Barcelona around 12 today. It was a cool trip. The train displayed the speed on a screen. At times were traveling at 190 mph. It would take a 6 hour drive, but took the train 3 hours. Barcelona, like the rest of Europe is humid. I am dealing with it, but much prefer the dry heat. I am staying in Las Ramblas area. It has a main street that is full of artists, shops and cafes. I wandered around for a while, before sitting down and having artichoke tapas. It was very good and only 5 Euros. I am looking forward to hopping on a tour bus tomorrow. I am so excited to see Catedral de Santa Eulalia de Barcelona tomorrow.

Day 12, 13, 14 Madrid

I haven't posted in a couple of days. When I am not out sight seeing, I am asleep. My cold is now a chest cold, but I am surviving. Madrid is a beautiful city and one of my favorites so far. It is hot, but a dry heat.

Day 11 Nice

Today was a great day. I walked to the beach and played around for a while. The water in the Mediterranean is colder than I expected. It was just gorgeous how blue the water is. Nothing like the Pacific Ocean. A few of the surprises were the topless ladies. I have to say that I wasn't too excited about that. Also the old fat men wearing speedos were not very attractive. Other than that it was great. It was nice to just sit back, relax and enjoy the sun. It was interesting to think that on the other side of the water was Africa. It seems like in the U.S. we are so far away from everything.

Day 10 Florence to Nice

I arrived in Nice around 8 pm today. It was a gorgeous train ride. I had to switch trains in Milan, but was only there for about an hour. The northern part of Italy and the south of France are very mountainous and I couldn't count the number of times the train traveled in tunnels. I was able to ride through Monaco which was exciting. So back in France now. I am about a 10 minute walk to the Mediterranean Sea. I can't wait to hit the beach tomorrow. It will be nice to sweat some of my cold off on the beach since I have been sweating like crazy as it is. I only have a few pictures so I will post what I have. Also, I saw a pug on my walk home tonight. I miss my Pancho.

Day 9 Florence

I have to say that I did not do much today. I am coming down with a cold, so I tried to rest as much as possible. Just my luck to get a cold on an incredible trip. I guess it could be worse.

Day 8 Florence

This morning I took a taxi from my hotel to the train station in Rome. I realized on my way there that they do have traffic lanes on the roads, but it must be optional to stay with in them. They drive all over the place, turn when they want to and just flat out drive how they want. I kind of felt like I was riding with Sonya. Anyway, I made it to Florence around 1:00. It was very hot and humid here. My GPS wasn't working properly, but I knew that my hotel was within a 3 minute walk from the station. The only problem was that I didn't know in what direction. After about 20 minutes I found my destination. A 3 minute walk can take me 20 I guess. Florence is beautiful. I mainly wandered around the city just seeing what it is like. Tomorrow I plan on getting on one of the tour buses. I am going to enjoy an early night again tonight.