My Birthday in Italy

While all of you got to celebrate my brithday, and coincidentally the 4th of July, with some nice fireworks, and maybe some burgers and hot dogs over a hot BBQ, I was stuck in this horrible place:
I know, I know, it was rough, but we made it through.

Also, in an earlier post, Miles was kind enough to wish me a happy birthday. Thank you Miles.

However, in her comment, Kimberly stated that I had been making friends with new cats in Italy, behind Miles' back. Well, I provide this picture as proof that she is slandering my name to protect herself:
I'll let him be the final judge.

It's Been A While...

...since we've psoted anything on here. And, unfortunately, this post won't be very good. We've been having trouble finding cheap internet cafes - this one isn't too bad, but we don't have much time. So instead of a real post, some bullet points. Because everyone loves bullet points: concise, easy to read, fun times. OK:

• I think the last time I wrote, I was sick in Bologna. That was a while ago. Since then, I've mostly gotten better. MY throat still hurts on accassion, but I think thats because it's fairly hot here and I'm always dehydrated. Bologna was pretty cool, but much larger than we expected. We mostly just hung out. But we did go to one of the most interesting museums we've been too. It was a zoology museum, and deserves its own post (which I've startd, but refuse to post until I can put up pictures). We also watched an outdoor movie in Italian, and understood probably 75% of it.
  
• We then spent 4 days in Mila, with my cousin Manu and her boyfriend Guido. They were fantastic, letting us stay in his apartment for free, bringing us to very fashionable places where we were grossly out of place. In fact, Kimberly almost got thrown out of a bar because she took a picture. When the bartender said, in perfect english 'you didn't take a picture, right?' and she replied 'I'll take one of you next', his look said that this was no joke. But we really realy liked Milan. Most Italians say Milan is like the US. Well, it kind of is in that it isn't too chaotic or full of people pushing you out of the way to get to the cashier first. It's a big clean city, where people work full days. Its more Western than the rest of Italy, but I wouldn't say American. Maybe German.
• We spent a day on Lake Como, half-an-hour north of Milan, on the border with Switzerland. We walked up and down very steep hills. Our legs hurt. We ate very god food. Although I enjoyed it, I think I would have liked it better had it been sunny, and not raining.
• When Manu asked us where we were going next, and I told her, she made the I'm jealous face. That's because the Cinque Terra is in the Italian Riviera, has lots of sun, and is absolutely beautiful. I'll post more on this roo, if I can upload pictures somewhere, because it is beautiful. It's much more touristy than when I went 7 years ago, but the hiking, sun, and swimming were as great as I remember from back then. We were planning on spending 3 nights here, and ended up with 5, so that should tell you something.
• We are now in Parma, which I can best describe as Milan-lite. Its a small industrial City with no tourists. It is famous for Prosciutto, Parmigiana cheese, Parmalatte milk, and some other industries (I think Pirelli is near here). The food has been exceptional. The people friendly. And we've found an Internet cafe that serves wine. So nice. We are really enjoying our time here, although short. Because tomorrow we go...
• to Venice. Which we are very much looking forward to. It is the last crazy-tourist place we will be visiting on our trip, but it will be great. The Biennale is happening and we will go to the Guggenheim, both of which will hopefully provide some rest from the Renaisance art that dominates Italy. Other than that, we plan on getting lost on the small narrow streets of Venice.

After Venice, we will be heading north to Padua, then the Dolomites and finally on to Germany. We have 2 weeks left in our trip, which is a long time, but seems very short. We're having a great time, and still haven't killed each other yet (although Kimberly's sun burn is hurting).

Not sure how often we'll be able to post - it seems internet is more expensive and harder to find as we move north - but we'll do our best. I imagine a steady stream of 'remember when...' posts once we get back to the states. And we have about 2000 pics to post.

Ciao.