They say that 'All roads lead to Rome'.  Of course this does not appear to be true for train tracks.  It took three attempts for me to finally reach it.  While I was happy to move on, I was also sad to leave the mountains that I had fallen in love with.  But with a last night in Interlaken I climbed a nearby hill to enjoy a final sunset, promising myself I'd return.

A few hours later I was on an overnight train to one of the oldest cities in Europe.  I arrived late in the morning to a much improved temperature.  I could wear my shorts again!

Rome is an incredible city with a history of influence spreading over most of Western Europe.  The rubble of an ancient world lies scattered among the modern buildings of business.  A McDonalds in the shadow of the Coliseum.  One empire replaced by another.

One of the sites I found the most interesting in Rome was the Pantheon.  It is an ancient temple designed with such perfection that even Michaelangelo refused to surpass it when he designed the dome of St. Peter's Basilica (aka The Vatican Church).  Pantheon actually means 'many Gods' as i t was originally a temple for all faiths to worship at.  Today it's a Christian church.  I think that's hilarious.

Of course you can't miss the Coliseum either.  Blood.  Torture.  Cruely toying with lives...down the street from the Senates forum is the Coliseum.  It was worse.  Both beast and men were hunted in this arena.  Death was never quick.  That would hardly satisfy the audience.  The more exotic the animal or the more slowly the gladiator died...the more the crowd loved it.  Kind of like Football.  Today I believe the building is owned by the church.  Some might find irony in that.

You have to be impressed by an empire who's touch can still be seen today all the way in London.  You don't have to like it, just respect it.

Just beside Rome is the well known pad of ole'John Paul, the Vatican.  Vatican City is actually a country of it's own, outside of Italy.  Within the city walls you can see one of the best known murals painted across the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  To see this work of Michealangelo with my
own eyes was very cool.  However like most famous works of art I've seen, it didn't impress me as much as I expected.  But that didn't stop me from staring at it with appreciation until my neck hurt.

If your looking for something to do at night after the museums are closed and it's too dark to see the ruins I highly recommend the Rome(ing) after Dark Walking tour/Pub crawl.  Like all pub crawls, drinking is definitely involved.  But before your beyond the point of walking they show you some of the city's nocturnal charms.  Among these are the Spanish steps where you can observe the courting rituals of the Italian male with the tourist females.  No offense to any Italians but I thought the situation was hilarious.  A note to the ladies:  Unless you want to bring him home, do NOT make eye contact.  You've been warned.

As great as Rome was, it's unfortunate that it was my only impression of Rome.  I hope when I travel again I will have a chance to visit some other places like Cique Tera, or Venice.  But the clock was counting down and I wanted to see Paris before I went home.  So I was on my way to gay Paris.

I should have seen the Eiffel tower at night.  Instead I had to settle with seeing it in the day during a bomb threat.  I was climbing my way to the second level when they asked us to come back down. I was one of the last ones to come back down and it was a weird feeling being up there when it was almost empty.  Of course an hour later I had made my way to the top of the tower.  I had paid for my ticket after all.  Awesome view!!

Paris is a city who's beauty and magic can't be described by it's monuments and it's museums.  Not to say that any city TRULY can.  The Arc de Triomphe.  The Louvre.  Even the Eiffel tower.  They aren't really apart of the atmosphere of this city.  The night life was the same and different from any of the other places I'd been before.  I liked Paris...but I didn't love it.  Maybe it was because I had to rush my stay.  My flight was only a few days away and I wanted to be in London with some days to spare.

This was going to be my third time in London.  It was almost like going home.  The walk from the Tube station to the Earls Court hostel was so familiar I could probably have done it with my eyes closed.  But that would probably have looked a little odd.  When I got to the hostel, the people may have changed but the atmosphere was as good as ever.  I even ran into some familiar faces.  Unfortunately that just made it all the harder to leave.

While I had seen most of what I wanted to see in my previous visits, there were a few sites I still wanted to see.  Much to my disappointment, Shakespeare's Globe theater had finished its season already.  I had hoped to see one of his plays performed in the way he had intended.  But even without a performance, the theater was still impressive.

If you've seen my other stories about my visit to the UK you'll know that I have a bit of a taste for the macabre.  Those stories of ghosts and evil doings that just make a city much more interesting.  So how could I leave London without following Jack the Rippers hunting trail through the East End.  I highly recommend the London Walks tour company.  Heck, it was good enough for Johnny Depp.

Well anyway the days counted down and it was time for my trip to come to an end.  Of course the group at EC helped me make the most of my last night abroad.  Oddly enough I even met a few people from my home neighborhood on that last night.  Anyway as I have already said I am now back safe and sound in Canada.  I'm...adjusting.  Before me now is the task of finding a new job so that I can afford to do a trip like this again...some day.  It's a big world out there and I think I'd like to see a bit more of it.  But until that story is ready to be written I'll be here...or there.  Thanks for joining me on this trip.  I hope you had as much fun as I did.

If you joined the story late, I'll be posting all the parts on my web page shortly so you can catch up.  Pictures will follow as well...as soon as I've
gotten them developed.  And screened.  After that, we'll see what happens.

Until then, may your road lead you where you need to be and someday bring us back together.

Cheers,
David