Yes, I know, I'm the worst person ever at keeping up with a blog. Sorry. Anyways, now for stories letting you live vicariously through me. I'm moving into my last month here. I make my triumphant return to Memphis on June 4. But that's not what's important. What's important is what I've been up to.

So we have 2 weeks for spring break here. It's pretty wonderful. So I did what any guy in France would do and went to Italy. It was awesome. Pretty much everything I expected and wanted. Most importantly, the food in Italy is amazing. Most meals I ate consisted of at least 3 courses and a bottle of wine. I never ate the same thing twice and only at 3 pasta dishes. I wanna go back and do nothing but eat. Anyways, where'd I go? Here's a play-by-play.

1-Rome
Saw the Vatican Easter Sunday. Verdict: crowded and boring because you can't understand anything said. Still worth it to say you saw it.
The Castello is awesome. Like this huge castle on the edge of a river. Ya the beggars and peddlers kinda suck but you get over it.
The Spanish Steps are brilliant. Like people everywhere just laying on these steps behind an awesome fountain. Eat some gelato while you enjoy a few moments of good weather.
The Pantheon is awesome. You have to go there. It's one of the few places in Rome that is still built exactly the same as when it was first built. You stand in there and realize you are in one of the oldest places that you will ever be and it has barely changed.
The Ministry of Culture is pretty nice. We mostly went there because it was huge and looked good for some pictures of the city.
The Trevi Fountain could be nice. But there are too many tourists there. You take your picture, throw in a coin, and scatter.
The Colosseum is perfect. It's touristy but not so much as to not make it enjoyable. You stand inside it and realize just how much history is in it. You can picture blood and gore and roaring crowds. It might not be pleasant to think about, but it is still awe-inspiring.
The Roman Forum is just a series of ruins. And they blow my mind. I could literally wander the Forum for hours and not get even slightly bored. I can't even go into details on it because there is simply so much. Like seeing where Julius Caesar got stabbed. The hill where Remus and Romulus founded Rome. It's just way too much for me to handle.
The Basilica di San Clemente may be my favorite thing in Rome. They don't let you take pictures there, so don't try to find any. But it is the single most wonderful thing I've ever seen. The ground level is a regular catholic church. Not surprising. But if you down a little hallway you find some stairs that take you to an old underground monastery. Like it was all underwater until recent years. You just wander these dank caves underground with the occasional religious fresco. You lose your way, find it again and hear an underground river. But then you find yet another staircase in a back corner. Which leads to a pagan temple of Mithras. You feel like Indiana Jones. It is this amazing pre-christian Rome that you really don't see untainted anywhere else. It's ruined, it's dirty, it's wet. It's jaw-dropping. There is one statue of Mithras still in the temple and it's so odd to look at. It's still in it's natural setting and is more than anyone can expect.
I did more in Rome of course, but I have more to talk about.

2-Venice
I love Venice. Rome is full of history, but Venice is full of wonder and mystery. I could talk about the churches and the museums and the Doge's Palace. I could tell you about the Clock Tower or the Murano glass blowers. All those things are cool. But the thing that makes Venice so fantastic is simply getting lost. It's so easy, yet nobody ever seems to do it. All the tourists stick to certain areas. Yet all you have to do is take first right you see, followed by another right, and then a left. Voila! You're now hopelessly lost. Enjoy it! You will find so much more joy in Venice if you just wander it and look at everything. You'll find the better restaurants, the authentic Carneval masks, the real Venice canals, all that you really came to Venice for. I may have spent hours just lost in the city. And when I got tired of it, I just picked a direction and walked. Eventually you hit the coast and catch the water bus to where you wanna go. Easy cheap joy. I loved it.

3- Cinque Terre
If you are not aware, Cinque Terre is the one single place I've wanted to see in the past 5 years. So I'm a little biased to how awesome I think it is. For the people that don't know, Cinque Terre is 5 little mountain Mediterranean coastal villages linked by paths. No actual roads for cars anywhere. There is also a train but you only use it when the paths are closed. Also, all the villages are extremely different. Like cuisine, life, placement, architecture, everything. It's amazing. I started in Monterosso al Mar. It is the more touristy of the 5. I stayed in a little single hotel room with a balcony. I kinda loved it. Anyways then I made the 2 and a half hour hike around the mountain to Vernazza. I wish could give details about how awesome it was. Literally, pictures can not do it justice. It was pure wonder. After that, it was getting late so I caught a train back to Monterosso and ate the best seafood dinner of my life. I'm talking prawns and rigatoni, calamari, and mussels. All fresh. With a bottle of white wine. I could not have been happier. The next day I took the train to the last village called Riomaggiore. It's a nice town that encourages things like scuba diving and fishing. I spent a while there and then walked along something called "The Lover's Path" to the next town Manarola. I stopped and ate lunch at a little cafe on the side of the cliff overlooking the sea. It is as awesome as it sounds. Eventually I made it to Corniglia, which is the only town not set exactly on the coast, because it is at the very top of a low mountain. Ya I was exhausted. Just thinking about it makes my legs tired but it was so worth it.

4- Florence
Ah Renaissance Italy! Florence is firmly entrenched in the Renaissance even after all these years. It shows a lot in their architecture and their attitudes. My favorite thing about Florence was the steaks. They prepare them so different than everywhere else. Florence was less entertaining than the other places I went. You can see most of the stuff in 2 days with time to spare. I won't lie, the Duomo and the Bell Tower are extremely impressive. Going to the top will induce a huge sense of vertigo, but once you get back on solid ground you'll realize how wonderful it was.

Anyways, I'm really tired of typing right now so I'm going to cut it here. I'll try to get on here again during the week to talk about how my time in France has been lately. Stay classy, everyone.