Möchtest du Sauerkraut mit deiner Bratwurst?

My summer adventures have begun and I can already conclude one thing: Ich spreche nicht so viel Deutsch. Oh well...I suppose I will learn...hopefully.

Jon and I travelled around Italy for three weeks...one week by ourselves and two with our parents. If you have Facebook, I have put up some pictures that you should check out. There are a lot missing, though...since my brilliant brother, Jon, forgot his cord to download pictures onto my computer. Nevertheless, the pictures are in my brain. Italy is incredible...although hopelessly tourist unfriendly. I can honestly say that I will never in my life recommend TrainItalia to anybody I know who takes a trip to Italy. Our first happy encounter with the wonderful company involved getting on a train from Napoli to Florence...a supposed four-hour train ride. Luckily for us, however, we got to endure a drawn out seven-hour trip sitting opposite from a couple who undoubtedly were having marital disputes over the fact that he was very fat and was ordering chips and pop when she had gone off to the bathroom. This, along with the two American women behind us who kept complaining because "no one on this train speaks english"...and the girl beside us whose two cell phones kept ringing off the hook simultaneously, made for a ride which we enjoyed very much.

Our second encounter involved a trip from Florence to Asti with a stop over in Pisa. First off, we were told that we didn't need a ticket to be on the train from Florence to Pisa (all we needed were our Eurail passes)...but Jon was sceptical. So, the morning of our trip we headed down to the train station to make sure all was well, and found out that not only were our tickets booked for the wrong day and that we would have to pay again, but there was a train strike and the only train leaving for Pisa was leaving in five minutes and if we were going to get on it we had better run. Well, the train left in four minutes...and we weren't on it. So, we had to catch a later train, which literally stopped at every stop in every town on the way to Asti, and our, once again, four hour trip, turned into an eight hour one.

Anyways, in Rome we saw the Colliseum and the Pantheon, the Vatican, Spanish steps, and the Trevi fountain (well...I saw the Trevi Fountain. Jon got real sick and so I went on an adventure around Rome by myself)...and much more...all the typical sights. We went down to a little coastal town called Sorrento, along the Amalfi coast...and to the island of Capri. Then we travelled up to Florence where we waited in line for three hours to see the statue of David -- doesn't seem worth it but somehow we manged to weasel our way in for free. Don't ask me how. Then we went up to Asti where we met my parents and a friend of ours who owns a villa in Piemonte. Then it was down to CinqueTerra, a quick jaunt over to Maranello to go to the Ferrari factory, and then over to Venice, which was really very picturesque, but also kind of smelly. And then finally we travelled up to the north where my relatives live, in the Italian Alps. Lots of travelling but well worth it, and I would go back in a second...however I would most definitely opt for renting a car.

Hmmm...so now I am in Deutschland. My parents and Jon left this morning. It poured rain for a couple dazs and was really cold, but still beautiful. I love it, and am excited to be here... however, I am a little scared about being here by myself for six weeks, and I really do miss everyone. I am here for two more months, three of which I will spend travelling with Hebbs...she gets here in 6 weeks and I can't wait.

Anyways...I should jet. Don't know who reads this anymore, but whoever does...I'll try to keep you posted on the travels, and how the Deutsch Sprechening is fairing...ha ha.

Tschuss!