Days Slipping Away...

I am caught in the downward slope from what is such a great high one gets in travelling. I have had so many inspiring, moving and life changing experiences in the last few weeks that it is quite easy to keep track of all that i have seen and what it all means to me as who i am now, and how it will change my future, or at least my outlook upon it. I don't want to start in on this long and boring reflective period in writing, especially since i haven't even finished my travels yet but it is a concern and something that ways upon my mind often. I started out as the lone and solitary traveller, exploring the strange and foreign lands of Poland, becoming increasingly surprised and impressed with the country and it's people. I am glad to have done it, and especially to have done it alone. Now after joining the group on Christmas Eve in Geneve Switzerland, I have gained the value of experiencing travel from both the perspective of the individual and also one in a group of friends. I won't say that one is better than the other, and they both have their merits, but I must say that my experiences in Poland, have gone unparrelled in places full of learned lessons and future memories. My thoughts of Poland, though further in the past than the most recent events hang on my mind more vividly than i had thought at the time.
Well, as much as i could write on that topic alone, i better get to a few of the events and details of my trip up to this point, so that you all may be brought up to speed on where Ive been. Since my last blog, i have travelled to 7 more cities and 5 countries! Yes, I Ive been moving around a lot, and thus it would be near impossible to try and relate that all here in this small space. Even so... here is a rapid fire account of it all:
After Zakopane, I took I nice lengthz train trip to Wroclaw. Liked the city well enough. The most worthy thing to mention here was the two Greek Guys i met at the hostel and went to a club with the first night i was there. Dimitris and jargos and they were really cool guys with lots to say about their lives and the world. One was a short quick talking little guy decked out in dreads, and the other was a bit beafier a guy, yet despite their initial appearance they were really nice guys.
Munich was next following an extremely long 12 hour train ride, switching trains about 4 times to make my way there. Walked for a few hours to get acquainted witht the city and woke up early the next morning to treat myself for christmas eve day with an early three hour walk through their 1000 acre park, freezing my ass off and not really seeing anything that was impressive or that felt all that nice as parks might do. Caught another train, 7 hours, and behold! All my friends were there in Geneve.
Christmas in Geneve, was extremely dissappointing at least as far as what the city had to offer. It had very little for christamas lights and decorations and was not the most idyllic or attractive town to begin with. What made christmas indescribably wonderful is that i managed to find myself a lovely lady. I won't say much, and you can email me or call my mom if your curious but I will say that she is an amazing girl from Luther who is one of my flatmates. Alas no British Princess, but an American Maiden nonetheless. Name: Mary Ites... and there goes the gossip!
So things have been interesting and very exciting for me the last week. After Christmas, a few uneventful days in Koln Germany before Paris. Celebrated new years to the most dissappointing display and countdown to the new year I have ever seen. Hardly anything happened. And Paris is acclaimed to be like the third best place to celebrate new years in the world. Not like i really cared, since i had me a girl by my side through it all. I nice date the evening before, and exploring much of the city including going to the top of the eiffel tower, and exploring the overwhelming Louvre art museum were some of the events of the turning of the new year. On the first we made our waz to Amsterdam for a night with Kevin, his friend from home Alex, Mary and myself and then on to Berlin for a few days. I enjoyed Berlin a lot, and visited a few spots like Checkpoint charlie, and the east side gallery which are constant reminders of a world torn in to during the cold war.
I am currently writing from Dresden Germany. It is just Mary and i hanging out here and then Leipzig for the last few days of our holiday before we have to return to Nottingham and a world full of course work and some major catching up for our final exams. Yes, as if they arenät strange enough the British send us on holiday, and have us come back in January to study for a week and spit out all of the info we had just studied knowing we wont remember anything from before Christmas. Lets see how good at cramming I can be. I am quite sufficently freaked out for what is to come in this next month.
In other news, just cause i feel like sharing, I was checking out the website to my old and all time favorite band Journey and learned a few things. The site www.journeymusic.com is as great as ever, and i caught up on the new lead singer they now have, Jeff Scott Soto, who has now replaced Steve Augeri as the official lead singer of Journey on December 19. little fact that I had never known, which is sad since i claim to be a huge fan, but i've moved on in the last few years is that January 21, 2005 has now become Journey Day and the band went down in history earning the 2,275th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. they have now sold enough records to place them as the 29th best selling music group of all time!!! I am overjoyed, and I also now know that they realeased another new album. Gotta get it, Generations.