Boring Update

Everyone reading this should congratulate us. We survived Italy. This was no small feat. You have no idea how many times I almost pushed Paul into the train tracks while waiting for the eight million trains that were super super late. Also, the room next to ours in Venice was robbed, and I got robbed in Pisa. Luckily, I intimidated the thieves into giving me back my wallet. You would have been impressed. So, another country is done, and the only robbery remains that of the sexist bathroom in Koln. (I had to pay 1.10, and if Paul had had to go, he would have only paid .90. Bullshit. I wanted to pee standing up.)

I think we don't update as much as we should because we want to write posts that will entertain and inform you. I don't have time for that right now, so in an attempt to appease our parents, this post will serve to let you know that we are still alive. And in France. But not in Avignon, as our itinerary might have suggested.

We decided to spend an extra night in the Cinque Terre. As we were sitting in the glorious sun, looking out at the glorious Mediterranean, drinking glorious coffee, we realized that we didn't have to go anywhere, and we didn't really want to. So we continued to sit for three days. It was incredible, and although I hate to use Rick Steves' stupid language... it was a great vacation from our vacation.

We tried to leave Riomaggiore this morning at 10:09, but Italy wouldn't let us. Finally, our train arrived, and two more trains later, we ended up in Marseilles. After dragging ourselves away from our sea-view terrace the other day, we tried to find a place to stay in Avignon. Turns out, there wasn't a place. The cheap hotels were closed for the season, and the hostels were hardly cheap and hardly convenient. So, we arbitrarily (in the five minutes before the internet cafe closed) decided to go to Marseilles. The hostel here only had beds for one night, so we're leaving tomorrow. We didn't get in until 9, and we're leaving early tomorrow afternoon, so I doubt I'll have much to say about the Provencal region... it'll have to be another trip later... during summer.

Tomorrow, we're off to Barcelona for three nights. Don't worry, we booked a cheap hostel, so now, Spain can only rip us off with their mandatory train reservations. After that, it's Madrid for four nights. Unfortunately, we'll be doing the 4.5 hour train ride on Thanksgiving, but hey, at least we'll be commemorating the Pilgrims' long journey...? Also, fyi, Paul made an astute observation today... the Religious Right's ancestors are the Pilgrims. Maybe we should stop teaching kids to revere them.

Only one minute of internet left... we're safe, we're finally done with Italy, we don't hate each other, and we're still having tons of fun!