Oh Switzerland.

So, We are in our final night in Switzerland. The tour de France was Awesome to watch. However, we ended up standing around for about 5 hours before because I had read that the crowds pack in by 10= not true. It was great watching the riders break away and speed down the Champs Ellysee. Switzerland has been great. Yesterday I took off solo and did about 4000 feet of hiking in 4 or five hours to the base of the Eiger and Jungfrau. Near the end it started raining, and I caught a tram just minutes before a thunder, lightning and hail storm started. I rode the tram with a German family. The little daughter was terrified when the tram stopped because of the storm. I have to admit, it was a bit unnerving up there. Today we went to one of the lakes that sits next to interlaken, I believe it is called Thune, but Im probably wrong and dont want to check right now. The swiss people are great, but every time I get in line at the grocery store, a guy cuts me off (i swear it was the same guy both times). This doesnt seem to happen to anyone else. Perhaps it is a swiss compliment? Anyone know? Pretty on par with the more lax policy on lines in Europe. Anyway we head to Florence tomorrow, then Rome 2 days later. Im stayîng on my ôwn in Rome. My hostel was super cheap but also has a sauna and hottub. Whats the catch? Im not sure yet. Perhaps the fact that Im sleeping in a cabin. Hmm, what else to say? Cant think of anything. Best regards.
CB

Tour de France Tomorrow

So, We've been in paris for 3 full days. Tomorrow we see the tour de France. I hear that Carlos Sastre(sp?) is the presummed winnner by a rather small margin. It could be a good race to watch. We are going to the Champs de Ellesye (I know that one is spelled wrong) {:>) Today we saw the opera house that inspired the Phantom of the Opera.
Cheers.

Paris

Just got to Paris from Amsterdam. The hostel is nice, and so are the people, but it is in extrememly bad part of town. Cheers.

Berlin

Hi, This is our second full day in Berlin. We did a bike tour yesterday and are going to see the remainder of the cool sites today. There is a ton of history here. Yesterday I stood over Hitler's bunker-just yards from where his body was lain following his suicide. Today we are going to the memorial for the dead jews. As you would expect, a memorial like that is theoretically vulnerable to valdalism. However, that memorial is coated with a substance that makes all paint just scrub off. The armed gaurd doesn' hurt either. Ironically, the company that made that substance also created the chemical used in the gas chambers. The company ended up donating the material in honor of those it helped kill. Interestingly, the Nazi web caught up a large number of companies in Germany, Europe, and around the world. The legacy can still be felt. So, Monday we head to Amsterdam via train, where we spend two nights I think.
Continued:
We saw the Checkpoint Charlie Museam today as well as the topography of terror exhibit. The latter is a tour of the remnants of the Gestapo HQ. Both were somewhat interesing, but were a bit taxing. I'm not sure I'd go to them again.
Anyways, as I said before, we go to Amsterdam soon (Monday). Tomorrow we should be hitting some more sites. Best regards.

Crazy Day.

Wow, what a crazy day. First off, we ate breakfast and met up with kelsie. Now a complete traveling tripod, we set off to do a bike tour of London. This went great at first. We saw all the major sites. Half way through, I got a bungee cord stuck in my wheel. I stopped to fix it and Kelsie said something to me about it, so I knew someone saw and was going to tell the group to stop. However, I looked up about a minute later and no one was there. I quickly took off in the direction we had come (we were tracking back our route back to the begining, or so I thought). As I sped along the route, mile after mile, I realized the group had gone another way. I was too far down the route to backtrack. So I sped ahead, hoping I could find my way. Finnally, after retracing the whole route back, I made it to the begining. I couldn't believe I had remembered the whole route through London (thank you visual memory). I made it back and talked to a South African who had lent Kelsie her cell phone to call me (thank you dad for enabling my phone). The group showed up later. I thought about not paying, but the tour guide insisted (which was quite aggravating-seeing that I didn't get to do the last 1/2 of the route.)
The later part of the day was better. We went to Westminister Abby, which is basically a church where Monks live. However, it is also a burial ground for famous English people, from politicians to sports heros to an unknown solider from WWII. It also includes the Poet's Corner, where Dylan Thomas is buried.
From there we went and got lunch.
We then took off and saw Buckingham Palace.
Then, tonite, we went and saw Big Ben in the dark, it was great. We were also going to see the London Eye (the huge ferris wheel), but it was closed (and very expensive I might add).
Anyways, it was a good day. I am quite tired from it. I wish you the best.

London

So I'm still in London. We leave tomorrow for Berlin. We are currently trying to book a hostel. I actually saw Methodman (How high, Red and Meth) in london when he was getting off his flight from Amsterdam (read as pot smoking trip). I was like 5 feet from him and it was like I saw an old friend. Haha. Anyways we are doing a bike tour of London today. Peace.

2 minutes

So, I have two minutes to update you on everything. I'm in london, after an 8 hour waiting period for a friend. Now I've eaten and am jerlagged.
Cya./ More to come.

Ready to go

Hey,
So, I am about 8 hours away from leaving my house for the airport. This trip should go well. I am pretty excited for it to start. I know I'll encounter the inevitable unexpected adventures--but that is half the fun. I bid farewell to the states and all of you I leave behind.
Cheers!
Colin