Via Versailles

"If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."

Hamsterdam

For all those fans of the HBO program “The Wire,” I hope you appreciate the reference.

“Cedar Rapids” fans, I hope you appreciate THAT reference.

I know what you’re all thinking. “AMSTERDAM?! FOR EASTER?!?! I THOUGHT THIS KID WAS RAISED RIGHT!!!” Well, apparently Europe changed me, for better or for worse. Yes, I went to the most unwholesome place in Europe on the most holy-some of weekends. And, dare I say it, I went of my own accord. I CHOSE TO GO!!! And I’m neither ashamed nor apologetic. I saw some beautiful sights, ate some great waffles, saw the Van Gogh museum, and ate five racks of ribs (All You Can Eat, 10 euro) as just PART of my Easter Sunday dinner. For all I know, I really AM Amsterdam. So don’t judge me. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone, amiright? Wait … no … I’m not right. JESUS is right. So I got Him on my side.

Which is nice.

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Granada pictures part 3. Again, pictures are from the Alhambra.

Granada pictures, part 2. All photos from the Alhambra.

Satan’s Hangout AKA Granada

More spefically, Granada AIRPORT. The worst place on the planet, with stark similarities to Hell itself. I will explain why, hopefully with as few expletives as possible. Mother (by the way, Happy Mother’s Day!), be happy there has been a considerable amount of time for me to cool down and that I have no alcohol in my system right now.

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He’s Alive!!

The rumors are true! PJ is alive and well. Despite three weeks of tumblr silence, I am full of stories and pictures and videos of the remainder of my year. I got back from a three week tour of Italy and Greece just last night and now have one week until I leave for America!! Cannot believe that time has come. I have crazy amounts of blog updating to do in the next couple of weeks to catch everybody up - my last travel update was from a February trip :/. The good thing is that I have nothing to do after tomorrow (FINAL REVIEWS!!!!!!) other than visit more of Paris, say good byes, pack, cry, drink, sleep, and blog. So everybody should stay tuned. A very petite review of the most recent trip …

Italy took up 16 of the 21 days of the trip. I went to Venice, Florence, Rome, Sorrento, Naples, Pompeii, Capri, Amalfi, Ravello, and Positano. I had been to a couple of these places before which was one reason I was hesitant to go again, but I sure am glad I did go again. The cities were great and the coast was more beautiful than I remember.

Stayed in a house an hour and a half outside of Athens in Greece for the last five days of the trip, lounging in the sun, visiting the Acropolis (twice), and getting glass shattered on my face. A perfect cap to the work-intensive sketch trip. Included four of my favorite minutes of the whole year.

A trip I will never forget … can’t wait to share it with you all but I must update on Granada, Amsterdam, and a few other things first. I’ll get to those before America I hope and then spend my first few weeks in America writing about this huge trip, my  plans for the summer and hopefully my future, and ending it with what I expect to be one of my greatest pieces of writing: my thoughts on the whole experience this year. I hope you all read until then because I really will put a lot of time into all of this but especially that last one. Anyway, I jinxed that Chicago Bulls team with my last sendoff so …

Bye.

A Farewell

No no no … this is not a farewell to this blog and its oh-so-dedicated fan(s). No. It is a farewell as tomorrow marks the beginning of the end. I will be gone for the next three weeks staying in Italy for 17 days and Greece for 4. I know I haven’t updated the site with anything substantial in awhile. I just got the files of my photos back the other day and have been extremely busy as of late with design work, sketching, history, and travel planning. I want to summarize Granada, my design project, and Amsterdam but I feel like those will not be doing the places or my experiences of them justice. I have updated photos through Sevilla. I don’t think I’ll get around to posting photos of Granada by the time I take off. I will give the time necessary for my updates when reviews are over (May 10). Until then, everybody take care.

Go Bulls.


For Big Pete.

For Big Pete.