Now for the big stuff. What I learned from my first backpacking experience in Europe: -Life is a rollercoaster. Sometimes you're waiting in line, sometimes you're at the top of the hill, sometimes you're rushing downward at 100 miles per hour. Take it all in. the best part isn't always the rush. -There is no right answer. Sometimes you just have to make the decision you can live with. -Travel brings out the best and worst in people. Embrace one, forget the ot...

On the train to Nice we met this gorgeous black girl, Colette, from Morocco. We got to talking and she said she has a friend who lives in Nice and would probably let us stay with her. So the friend, Amelie, meets us all at the train station and we go out to lunch. Djeneba only spoke French, but she said we could stay with her. It was so awesome. Unfortunately, Colette had to catch a train a shortly after, so we had to say goodbye to her. Amelie's apartment was p...

Last night was hilarious. We got stuck in Milan because there were no more trains going to Nice that night. So we found a moderately priced hotel across the street from the train station. There was a little mini-fridge in the room, so we figured we could put our chocolates in there to keep them cool. Unfortunately, once I shut the door, I couldn't open it again. Also, we couldn't get the tv to turn on. So when we went down to the front desk to pick up our passpo...

We were checking into our hostel in Rome at the same time as this guy. The manager only spoke Italian and the other guy, Dave was American but also fluent in Italian. He had to translate for us. All of a sudden the manager was pointing at our paperwork saying "Vriggata! Vriggita!" and we were completely confused. Dave looked at Becky and was like "You're last name is Wright, too? That's what he's trying to say. We have the same last name." lol...

Once again, we stayed in a campground just outside the city. Pretty much the same set up as the one in Venice, except that there were a lot more families and they didn't give us sheets to use. And of course, the night before in Venice, Becky decided carrying her own sheet around was pointless and threw it out. lol But that's how it goes, I guess. We wandered around for a bit and I had my first experience with bartering. I bought a pair of green beaded earrings ...