I know it has been a long time since I last wrote in my journal, so this entry might be rather long. I don’t remember the exact day of my last entry, but the story resumes in Ios, where I boarded a ferry. I rode for about nine hours to Athens and slept almost the entire way.

In Athens, I caught a bus to Patras. This was especially amusing because the book I was reading discussed Piraeus, the port of Athens. I was aiming for a 6:00 ferry and arrived in Patras around noon. I found an internet cafe, wrote a few emails, then sat at a cafe and read by the port. I kept checking my PDA for the time, believing it was correct, but it was an hour slow. When I finally started looking for the ferry, I discovered it had been the ship right beside me. It departed while I wandered around searching for it. I changed my ticket to the 8:00 ferry to Ancona. Fourteen hours and one more night later, I was walking through Ancona.

I eventually caught a train to Milan, after seeing one friend I had met in Cinque Terre and another from Ios. Small world! I sat on the train with one of them, Jill, I think, and we talked a little about Ana and generally enjoyed ourselves. Good times.

We arrived in Milan later that afternoon, and I checked the internet. Sibyl and I agreed to meet on the 10th, leaving me two days, or really a day and a half, to explore Pisa and Florence. I caught a train to Florence and then continued towards Pisa. Since it was getting late, I stopped halfway between the two and fell asleep on a patch of grass.

The next day, I continued to Pisa. I saw the tower, found a good bookstore, bought more books, and relaxed. With no reservation, I simply slept outside the Pisa train station. The following morning, I took a train to Florence, wandered for a while, and eventually found a place called Michelangelo’s Campsite, or something similar. It was beside Piazzale Michelangelo and was excellent. I took a much-needed shower after about five days without one, then set out to see more of the city. Florence was amazing, and I could imagine returning one day for a romantic trip when I was a little older.

The next morning, I wandered downtown, saw a couple of cathedrals, and visited a place where I thought Michelangelo’s David was displayed, but it wasn’t. I needed to reach Zurich at a reasonable hour, so I caught a train to Milan. There, I had 20 minutes to email Sibyl with my arrival time and board the next train. I managed the email, but then decided to get food and missed the train. Knowing that might happen, I had sent Sibyl both possible arrival times. I reached Zurich by 11:00pm. She and her friend Benni picked me up, and we stayed at his apartment just outside Zurich. He was very kind, gave me two beers, and I slept like a king on his couch.

The next morning, Sibyl and I caught a train to Interlaken. We arrived a few hours later and eventually found Balmer’s, apparently one of the best hostels in Europe. We slept away part of the afternoon and watched a movie that night. The following day was also relaxed as we investigated places offering canyoning. That evening, we watched another movie, ate like kings, and relaxed some more. I went to bed at around 10:30 each night.

The first night was miserable. People snored in the room, and noise from above meant I got almost no sleep. I finally got out of bed at about 5:15 and wandered downstairs. One of the staff said, “Since you are up, why don’t you go to the lake?” I followed the river and eventually reached the lake, where I sat and watched the sunrise. It was beautiful. When I became cold, I walked back to the hostel, found some food, and wandered around some more.

Sibyl and I went downtown so she could buy gifts for her family, while I bought a really nice watch. I hoped it would last for the rest of my life, although I needed a few links adjusted for a perfect fit. That night, we booked canyoning for the next day, which must have been the 13th.

The canyoning trip was expensive but memorable. It had been promoted as extremely intense, and although it was entertaining, I felt in control the entire time. Nothing too chaotic happened. I was the first person to take the first “big jump.” It was substantial, but very safe. That night, we watched another movie and I again fell asleep at about 10:30.

The next morning, I ate breakfast, found an internet cafe, wrote to Ana, looked into some hostels, and headed to the station for our 9:44 train to Amsterdam. Unfortunately, we had not allowed enough time, and I ran the final stretch to the platform. I made it, but Sibyl was just approaching when the doors closed and the train departed. Bad luck! We planned to take the next train at about 12:44, which would make finding a hostel more difficult.

As a final thought, I was really looking forward to school, although I still intended to enjoy the rest of the trip. I missed Ana, of course, while gaining a little more perspective on that part of my life. For now, it was pastry time. Goodbye!