goodbye Europe

Well this is it. It's midnight in London and I'm getting on a plane to head back to Chicago in about 11 hours. I'm in the internet cafe at our hostel after a good last day of Amber and I exploring yet another city.

Italy ended well, Cinque Terre was awesome. The hiking between the cities was a blast and the view from the hilltops and the cliff overhangs was quite a sight. The place is just enjoyable, with some good yet not-expensive meals even at restaurants overlooking the Ligurian Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, whatever. Take your pick. The place was pretty crowded though, as we expected because of the Rick Steves' warnings. We did see several other people actually reading, proudly, their Rick Steves travel guides over the course of the two days we were there. He's really spread the word about the place, and I can see why.

So after Italy was Munich, where we got to drink some good beer at the Hofbräuhaus (among other beer gardens), eat some amazing German sausages and sauerkraut, and see a little bit of the city. We wandered around Marienplatz, took an hour bus tour of the city (which we half-way slept through actually...), and bought some stuff in the shops. We stayed away from most of the museums and otherwise 'educational' type stuff because we were relatively wiped out, honestly, after our 12 hour train ride. So we chose a little sleep and a calmer itinerary over a see everything, go crazy sort of plan.

Then we took a trip an hour south of Munich to see Lake Tegernsee and the surrounding towns by train, boat, and on foot. It was good to get back to our roots, see where dad grew up and the like. The place was beautiful! Peaceful lake towns, green grass everywhere, the classic white houses and buildings with the brown trim, uniform slate roofing, the works. It was the most peaceful and relaxing atmosphere I have seen in Europe so far. Loved it.

So that's the rest of Italy and Germany. Today was London, but this is getting long. So we saw Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Harrods department store (one of the largest in the world, it was ridiculous), and the British Library (the UK's national library). The library has a lot of impressive stuff in it, a couple Gutenberg Bibles, a couple copies of the Magna Carta from 1215 off in a side exhibit room, and all sorts of other important texts and manuscripts.

So it's been a busy 8 days since I left Barcelona, and a busy summer before that for that matter. I'm ready to head back to the States and get back to 'normal' life. I almost forget what that is. So, signing off from Europe, I'm out.