So I am at the final stop on my trip. Paris. Just to sum up what has happened since Florence;

I stayed in Florence for a few days wandering around the city like I always do - trying to get lost in the massive crowds. Having seen the Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo and all the other sights (even a well-protected anti-mafia office) I left Florence after a few nights at the camping Michelangelo to go to Rome. Here I quickly met up with my cousin Hans Christian, and we found our hotel after quite a bit confusion. With the help of some mormon missionaries, we found the place we were looking for. Our hotel was situated in the north-western part of the city, 15 mins by bus from the center. After a quick shower at the hotel, we decided to go downtown to find some decent food. But finding a cheap restaurant in Rome can be challenging. So we walked around for quite some time before we agreed that cheep restaurants do not exist in Rome. So we found a nice place to have some pasta, that wasnt extremely overpriced. Having had our first meal in Rome, we went back to our 4-star hotel and had a nice sleep.

The next morning we woke up to the best breakfast you could ask for. Included in the price for the room at the hotel was their breakfast. And I couldnt ask for more in a breakfast. Wow - we just stuffed ourselves at their massive breakfast buffet. Then we were off to explore one of the world's most cultured cities. We decided, since it was 36 degrees celsius in the shade, that we wouldnt do much walking this day, and having seen the line at St. Peters Square to go into the Cathedral in the Vatican, we decided to have someone do all the hard work for us. So lazy as we were, we bought two tickets to go on the sightseeing busses (you know, the hop-on-hop-off ones) which was valid for 24 hours. So driving around in the extreme heat, we got to see all of Rome at least 3 times this and the next day while listening to some pre-recorded instruction about who had built the Coluseum and for why there was an Egyptian obelisk at the Piazza del Popolo etc. So we drove around numerous times, hopping off, walking and then hopping back on the bus to take us to a different part of town. Equipped with the map provided by the sightseeing bus, we thought we could find our way around the city from the Trevi Fountain to the Spanish Steps. This turned out to look easier than it was in reality. So we got lost - again... On our way, we met a nice Swedish who had got just as lost as we had, so we decided to find it together. And finally, we did. A big staircase with about 5000 people around sitting and taking pictures of it. I don't really get what all the fuss is all about, but I have never seen so many people on some steps. Overrated! It was beginning to get dark and late, so we found our first pizza not far from the Spanish Steps. And what a nice pizza after a day of sightseeing and walking. Beer and pizza for dinner in Rome - who can ask for anything else? After, we headed home to the hotel to sleep.

Next morning, same routine with the breakfast before going to the Vatican. We decided to get all oiled up in sun screen and just take the time needed to go see the St. Peters Cathedral in the Vatican. So we went there, and it turned out that the line was for security and actually went really quick. It went litterally half way around the square, but we ended up only being in line for about 10 mins which wasnt that bad. We had expected to be standing in line for about 1-1,5 hours. When we got to the security, we found out what kind of country the Vatican is. Screening people based on the clothes they wear, people were just pulled out of the line, because there were not wearing clothes that covered their shoulders and knees. Even children. And people did not get a chance to argue with the security people. Total power to the Pope. We finally got in, and began downstairs in the basement where all the popes were buried. We also got to see the grave of Pope John Paul II which of course was the main attraction to people in the basement. But no photos were allowed. Having seen the dead popes, we went to see the Cathedral including its 20,000 visitors. I know it is the world's biggest church - and it IS amazing - but there were still just about 10,000 people too many inside the church at a time. The rest of the day was dedicated to the Vatican museum (incl. the Sistine Chapel) and the rest of the sights in Rome which we had not had the chance to see the previous day. (Fun fact: did you know that we found 3 versions of the Spanish Steps?)

So having seen all the sights in Rome, and Hans Christian leaving me Friday morning to fly back home, I decided to hop on a train to go see Naples by myself which I heard should be a really nice town. So I took the 3-hour long train ride to Naples only to find the dirtiest town I have ever seen in my life. I dont know if they in fact have traffic laws and regulations in Naples, and if they do, they certainly do not follow them. You should consider yourself lucky if you find a car driving in the right side of the road. They drive like maniacs there, the city is dirty with garbage just laying in the streets and not easy to find your way around in. So having spent a few hours there walking around in the small streets - i left the city to go back to Rome not very impressed with what I had seen. That same night in Rome, I had a reservation for a train to take me to Milan for the night (I had my own bed on the train - very comfortable), and the man I shared the compartment with (not the Euro Trip movie kind of Italian luckily) told me that Napoli is where pizza comes from. Why didnt anyone tell me that before? That SUCKS!!!

The next morning we woke up on the train when it was close to arriving in Milan. The conductor came to our room with complementary croissants and tea/coffee. Great way to start your morning. A newspaper was provided (in Italian of course) and I quickly learnt that Ibrahimovic had left Inter Milan to go to Barcelona (for those of you who do not know, I am a HUGE Inter fan). So I felt quite upset that they had sold their best striker in an exchange with Eto'o, Hleb and €49 million. But thats Italy. Arriving in Milan (home of Inter) I only had about 45 mins to switch trains to continue my journey towards Paris. So unfortunately, I didn't have time to go see the stadium (San Siro, Giuseppe Meazza) or any other sights in Milan. I found my train and got comfortable on this wonderful TGV train. We soon started driving, and I didn't really feel anything. But apparently we went over 300 km/h which one does not notice at all. We quickly went across the alps (beautiful view) and got to Paris Gare de Lyon by 15 o'clock. Finally a country where I speak the native language. I found the metro and went to Créteil where I would meet with Aurélia - a camper from Camp Rising Sun 2006 - like Maja in Slovenia. I was going to stay with her for two nights, but unfortunately she still had work at a restaurant when I was visiting. So after meeting with her, we went for a walk in her neighborhood around the river which is right next to her house. Later, I went to bed early since I was exhausted from all the travelling I had done since Rome. Since Rome, I had been in a train for 2,026 Km (according to Google Maps) - Roma - Napoli - Roma - Milano - Modane - Chambéry - Paris - Créteil - all within 24 hours.

This morning I woke up, and Aurélia and I went for a nice long walk in Paris where we saw the Centre Pompidou, the Hotel du Ville, Louvre, Seine, Notre Dame, Place de la Concorde, Place de la Bastille and the parliament. Aurélia has work tonight, so we decided to make it a quick tour which was ok with me, as I have already discovered Paris about 5,000 times thanx to my family who is quite enthusiastic when the word "France" or anything in this relation pops up in a conversation.

So tomorrow, I am heading home. One last trip in five stages. Créteil - Paris Gare du Nord (metro), Paris - Köln (Thalys), Köln - Hamburg (IC train), Hamburg - København (ICE train), København - Ørestad (RE train). And then I will be home.