Nancy was fun. It was a lot of fun to see someone in Europe who I know and could show me around his town. We went to a few cathedrals and the park and went on a hike. The nature hike was a lot of fun. Blake said that there were no squirrels or wild life in Nancy and I did not believe him at all. So on our hike I had my eyes pealed for a squirrel and I did not see one! I was so shocked. Seems really weird that they wouldn't have any. But they have a lot of pigeons and crows. We did see a couple rens and bats. That was neat. A bat is like a rat is like a squirrel. Does that count? Dang. But the walk was fun anyway. Nice to walk through the forest for a while. I could not do that in London.
After the walk, we had dinner in their cafeteria. I haven't eaten cafeteria food in a while, but it wasn't too bad. Then we went out to another bar but again, I didn't really want a beer so I got a nougat milkshake instead. Only it was more milky than shaky. But it was still good I guess. Then another early-ish night. I got the floor this time and it wasn't that bad. Just a couple blankets laid on the ground but good enough for me!
There was also a little zoo we went to a few times. They had peacocks that just walked around wherever they felt, in a fenced area or out. There were also goats, rams, and various water fowl. The best thing was a family of macocks, they're like monkeys. They were funny little guys that got into lots a of mischief. Their was a baby that clung to his mummy the whole time. Also, there was a little guy that liked to start fights with others. It was fun to watch them but also said because they were in a zoo...
On another day, we went to the library and I got on the internet and Blake studied for a bit. After that was done, we went a got a pastry! Yummy, mine was called religious (but in French) and had a lot of chocolate filling. Oh it was good! We ate that in the park and then went on another walk around the town. The day after that, I caught my train back to Paris to connect to Evry. That ride went just fine. I got there and jumped on the RER to Evry and checked into my hotel without much troubles there.
Now, Evry is next to Lisses and Courcouronnes. These towns are were David Belle and his friends started parkour, so it was fun for me to go and see all the places I've seen in the videos. There is a climbing wall called la Dam du Lac that is very iconic in the parkour community. Technically, it is blocked off to the public, but just by a fence, so it's not hard for someone like me to get over! I climbed on it one day and it was really cool to do. I will have to come back in a few years and climb on it again. That was basically all I did while in Evry. Everyday I went to the Dam du Lac and just looked at it. Fun for me!
The first day I got into Evry was the 4th, I think we all know what was going on on that day. I tried to watch the coverage but I only have French channels. There were some covering it, but speaking french so I watched those a caught a bit of English and looked at the pictures. I wanted to stay up and watch the electoral votes come in, but at 2 McCain was winning 13 to 3 and I was tired, so I set an alarm for 7 to see the results. When I got up, I wasn't exactly sure who won, but they were talking about Obama a lot so I could only assume he did. It really wasn't as exciting as it would have been to hear straight up 'the next president of the US will be Barack Obama'. Oh well, he won and that's all that matters. Thank goodness!
The last day I was there, I caught a train back to Paris and spent the day there wandering around because my train to Milan didn't leave until 745pm. Not much excitement here, I saw the Arc de Triumph which was neat for a minute or 2. Then I got bored. That night I wanted to have creme bruleé but didn't, so I have an eclair instead. A real French one too! Just as good right? I'll be back anyway, I'll get it then. The train to Milan was a sleeper so that was an experience. I didn't really sleep though because, again I was nervous about getting the right stop and the ticket man took my passport but he took everyone else's so it must have been normal but I wanted to know when I would get it back! So I got about 3 or 4 hours of sleep and got into Milan at 540. My train to Levanto left at 610 and was just a few platforms over so no worries on that. I slept a bit on that train and got to see the sunrise which was very pretty! Didn't get pictures though cuz I didn't want to get my camera out, sorry. I got into Levanto at 9 and found our hostel. Ian's wife was there on the computer and I sat down next to her and said 'uff-da'. She turned to me and without recognizing me (she really had no reason to do so) asked where I was from. I said Minneapolis and she said, me too, well 30 minutes from there in a town called River Falls. So I said, oh, I actually go to River Falls. She was surprised and said really?! But then it dawned on her. Kind of funny to play a little trick on her. Funny to me at least.
I was the first person to get there so I went on a hike with her and Ian. There are 5 villages in this area with paths between them so we walked one of those. I had been in shoes for a very long time and it was finally warm and safe enough (no glass) to go barefoot which was lovely. But I did get many strange looks again. I don't understand why though. One lady even took and picture of my feet. Weird right? I didn't care, I was happy with the cool mud I was walking on. The hike lasted about 3 hours and ended in a beer by the water. We then headed back to see who else had arrived. We got back and I went with those people to find food but it was about 430 and places around here don't open for dinner until 7 so we had to wait around hungry for a few hours before we could get any food! Ended up at an Italian place (surprised?) and got pesto! It was good, but I thought there would be more food because I was still hungry, but oh well. Time for bed.
The next day, I went out with Heidi and climbed around on the rocks by the sea for a while. I love doing that and Heidi isn't very experienced in that area but she was a trooper and did everything I did (almost). I was proud of her and I think she surprised herself. I liked coaching her on hand and foot holds. I think I could be a good rock climber coach! But I've been doing that a lot back home at Minnehaha Park so I have some experience. We went probably half a km before heading back. Then we walked on the beach and I made a sandcastle! Of course I did. It was a nice one too. Just a mound of sand, but I gave it rocks on top and rock windows and rock doors and a moat and a bridge. Very nice. Then I jumped on it. My philosophy is that when I leave, if I don't jump on it, someone else will, so why shouldn't I have that fun?
Well now I was dirty so we jumped in the water and swam around for a bit. It was chilly but you got used to it. Then it got chilly again. Maybe I just need a bit more fat on me to keep me warm in the water. Or not. The shower warmed be back up. Then a lot of card games before dinner. That night, we went to another Italian place (is that worth saying?). I got spaghetti frutti e mare. Sea food pasta basically. It had mussels, prawns, shrimp and calamari in it. It was yummy! Then someone couldn't finish their pizza so I ate that too! Ended the night with some gelato, and was that good! I had strawberry, pistachio, and chocolate, mmmmm. I like Italian food. After that, we went to the beach and talked in groups for a while. Not much night life in Levanto so we had to do something!
Today I went out by myself and played on the beach for about 4 hours. There is a little fresh water run off stream that goes to the sea so I found a coke can and made a little boat with a rudder and sail to float down that. I also made a few sand dams and just threw sand into the water for fun! It was a good time. When I got back, I found people playing cards again so I joined them and we played for a while. Then I got on the internet and it is free here, even though it says you need to pay, no one does, and no one says too. So yeah. Gonna have a group dinner in a bit so I have to shower up before that.
Oh yeah, one more thing; Now that I'm starting to travel, I don't know where I will be able to find internet or for how long. When I do find one, my first priority will be to find where I will be staying next so I cannot say how often I will be able to update this but I will do my best. So if nothing comes for a while, don't worry, I am most likely ok, I just haven't been able to find time and a computer. Got it? Good, I'm gonna go shower...
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