Venice

     First night in Venice they tell us we’re lucky cuz we’ve arrived for the toga party, “I know what this means”  Next day we find out that they do toga parties every other night for Topdeck, “About as predictable as their tours”  For our first day we went into Venice and wandered around aimlessly until we found all the kewl things you’re supposed to see, “Finally a place where a map is just as useless to everyone else as it is to me”  Venice is a great place to get lost in and

Munich

     Well before we got to Munich we made one small stop in a country called Liechtenstein, which I think is the 6^th smallest countries in the world.  We arrived in Munich around 5:30 and by 7 had started our pub crawl.  Not eating before a pub crawl is one thing, but before a German is just stupid.  The first hour “power hour” was all-you-can-drink, “This is getting fully taken advantage of, hell I’m traveling on a budget I’m gonna straight up abuse this opportunity.”  After more than my fair share

Lucerne

There wasn’t tons of stuff to do here but I figured I’d stop here for a couple days since Lauterbrunnen didn’t offer much a Swiss culture.  Again the scenery here was fantastic and seemed very small, maybe that’s just because of the mountains though.  For the two days we spent here we checked out Lucerne’s famous towers and bridges dating back to 1333 and the Lion Monument carved into the side of a mountain.  It was built in recognition of Swiss mercenaries that had died.  Briege, Becky and I also saw Angels & Demons.  Good film and even that was interesting; had an intermission and the seats lean back and get lower the further from the screen they are.  There’s not much to say about Lucerne except that it was nice to see and experience a bit of Swiss culture including rosti, fondue and some beer of course.  I was a nice quiet break before spending the weekend in Munich.

Lauterbrunnen

Seeing the scenery on the bus ride was enough to make me questioned why I never considered Switzerland as a stop.  Easily the most amazing landscape I’ve seen.  To see where the mountains meet the sky and see everything around it dwarfed by it’s magnitude is something

Paris

A bit hung over from the night before (should have seen that coming) I board the bus to Paris.  Happy to be leaving London I do have to say bye to the IPG crew for now.  Byron, tear... ok Party Boy you get a tear too.

So my first night in Paris was dominated by Canadians; Jeremy from Toronto, Joe from Vancouver, 2 girls from Calgary and another Joe from Atlanta.  All of us had arrived that evening so we bought a few bottles of wine, which is ridiculously cheap, and hung out at the Eiffle Tower. Pretty kewl.  

Day 2 we did a 3 hour walking tour that actually lasted 10 hours.  Reason being,

Number 2

     So the march down the hill has begun and I need to use the washroom. So I quicken my pace and almost begin my second roll down the hill. It's hopeless, I accept the fact that I'm not going to make it to a washroom and I veer off into a forest area leaving my stuff with a kewl Aussie dude named Angus. As I scramble through the trees to find cover

Cheese Rolling

Here's the breakdown, basically a bunch of people (drunk, crazy or both) take their spot on the starting line at the top of Cooper's Hill.  They release a wheel of cheese and the first person down the hill to catch it wins.  If you're wondering why it's not called 'Cheese Chasing' it's because everyone ends up rolling down the hill...

Trip Planning

  Week two at the job wasn't quite as good as the first, only made 210 pounds.  Still works out to be roughly the same as the pub, just a lot less hours, more relaxing and we all go out partying... feeling a bit more at home now.  Now a new stress has come up... finding someone to take my room so I can get my 300 pound deposit back; somehow it always finds its way back to money.  Good thing is that I haven't signed any contract so I can leave whenever I want, however, that 300 pounds can go a long way with the trip I've won.

June 1st I'll be in Paris to start a 6 week trek through 20 cities in 6 different countries.  The loops will take me through France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy, back through southern France into Spain and back into France to finish in Paris.  And if I can do some awesome sales in the next couple weeks I'll even sneak in an 8 day cruise in Croatia or Greece.

What's even better is that I'll still have one loop left to use before the end of September which means a 2nd trip back out here for Oktoberfest.  Also stops in Belgium, Netherlands, Czech Republic, and 2 in Germany.  Afterwards if I really want I can return to this paintball job... even after a 4 month hiatus.  Still a long way away though, right now I have to get ready to get drunk and watch some much missed hockey...  Canada vs Russia rematch

Finally

So I've been in the UK for just over 3 months and I've finally got things sorted to a point where I'm happy.  The pub job that was making me utterly miserable and basically ruining this trip is now gone and I've just finished the first week at my new job.  The new job is something I would have never imagined myself doing; I'm a street peddler.  That's right, I stand on the street each day trying to sell paintball packages (at least it's a kewl thing I'm selling), sometimes I even get to hit the universities until we're escorted off the premises.

Basically my day consists of meeting in the morning with everyone and chilling out for an hour or so before heading off to different areas of the city.  Once in our spot I call out short catchy ads or anything I really feel like to get someone's attention.  I flirt with the girls and make fun of the guys, and it's really easy to make fun of most London guys, "Oh paintball hurts... It's too aggressive... I don't want to ruin my clothes" yes I've had people say that to me, nancies. Once I have someone even slightly interested the game is on, and I'm quickly learning how to become a sly sneaky selling SOB... I don't have much choice since this job is strictly commission based.  

It seemed like an odd choice for a job and something I wasn't sure I could do or if I'd be able to make any money doing.  But after a week I can't complain, I make my own hours, get to see the city and soon other parts of the UK (when I move to other areas they provide company housing for 7 pounds a week), work and party with kewl people; hell, we have drinks while working if we want to... As a bonus to all this, I seem to be pretty good at it.  I sold a package on my very first pitch and just made 580 pounds in my first week, compared 800 pounds in a month at the pub... I think I may have just found that hook that could keep me here.

Alexandria

This was easily the most stunning part of the trip.  Right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, it was hard to go wrong.  Here we visited one of the oldest libraries in the world, unfortunately it was closed for a Christian Holiday, "Show up to a predominantly Muslim country on a Christian holiday, how ironic."  On that note, the city was packed and took forever to get anywhere.  This is how it breaks down:

Camel Ride

So finally my long anticipated camel ride has arrived.  Sherwin I don't care what you say going for a camel ride in Egypt is not the same as seeing one at the zoo, it's way kewler.  Anyway, we get off the bus and there's a whole herd of camels just chilling out and one person snaps a photo.  Instantly a guy jumps up and starts saying, (and there's a lot of this in the tourist areas) "Money, money, money" and following us asking everyone.  "Dude are you kidding you didn't do shit, all you did was say the same word 3 times fast, I have dogs that can do better tricks."  But no one gave him money which is good.  There were other people who we did give money to because they actually did something like take pictures for you or dress you up, stuff like that.

Back to the point.  Camels, a lot bigger than I thought, and when they growl they are mean looking Mofos (yes I've just brought that word back from Grade 8).  My second surprise was the big Canada flag they had hanging at the stable.  On that note the group I traveled with were from all over: Jamaica, Spain, Vietnam, Brazil, U.S. and China, and our guides had some quirky associations/jingles for some of us.

Spanish - Ola ola Coca Cola..........?

Canadian - No woman no cry Canada Dry, Canada Forever

Doesn't make much sense but sounds good, and it was still one up on the Americans 

Americans - Howdy howdy, Hi ho Silver Yeeeeeehaaaaaawwww

     Okay, still trying to get back to the point.  So the camel ride was relaxing, they took us out into the desert where we had a distant view of the pyramids and were able to just chill out and watch the sunset which was just astonishing.  Now on the way back things got a bit more interesting, for me at least.  Half way back my camel decided he had had enough and he was done work for the day.  So he started pulling at the other two camels we were tied to and running into the other groups of camels causing a big camel jam. It was kind of like being trapped in Madusa's hair except surrounded by angry camel heads instead of snakes.  I repeat, "Mean looking Mofos"  So after the camel jam and attempted run away, the guide has to come and separate us from the group and have to walk back alone with the guide.  Reminds me of getting in trouble in elementary school then having to walk with the teacher during recess, "Ugh, this is so humiliating."

Cairo

While in and around Cairo we did the majority or our tours and activities.  The first night we had a dinner boat cruise down the Nile which is somewhat of a surreal experience when you realize you're lying on a deck staring through the stars floating down the longest river and most famous river in the world.

Day 2 consisted of the typical tourist stuff that most would associate with Egypt.  We saw the Pyramids of Giza which were also something to just stare at in wonder.  The shear size of them is intimidating, something that pictures can only attempt to capture.  Just thinking that these structures have lasted for thousands of years and were built with such miniscule technology compared to what we have now is impressive and for us even embarrassing.  We also stopped at a papyrus shop and saw how it was made and were given some brief lectures of some of Egypt's most popular symbols and drawings/themes.  The biggest and only real disappointment really was the Sphinx.  It was much smaller than you'd expect and basically just very boring to see.  Then there was the Camel Ride....