here goes:

alright, here is a shot at the last three weeks in three countries in twenty minutes:

1. barcelona- i made a decision on the bus to madrid to keep going, so i ended up here. zack took me for a drink with his ESL teacher-in-training friends... spent three hours in the cathedral-in-progress, la sagrada familia. too bizarrely cool to bother describing. go there. tried to get into a football match at the last minute and ended up watching it on tv at the home of a random italian instead. finally got my wallet stolen on the bus (spain had two close calls, but mary and i had been able to fight crime then). this whole time, stayed with the landlord of a friend of a friend, a sixth-storey flat with amazing views. at a dinner party held by the british girl flatmate, had chocolate cake that i would never have paid that much for. stayed up late and slept on the bus back to...

2. madrid- which is also a good city if you like looking at art. the only time my volunteer ID has gotten me anything, i was granted free entry into the great reina sofia modern art museum... spent another three hours in the prado. goya's black paintings are cool. i needed to spend time outside. andreas, the non-beer drinker from bavaria, accompanied me to the world famous flea market which in the end was full of crap. later i took dinner with stephanie, the swiss other roommate, and her brothers, who were far too good looking to be only 20. walking through the red light district we surfaced in a nice cool bar which i'd walked past earlier in the day when window shopping at expensive shoe stores stuck between tattoo parlors. four hours later, nearly missed my flight when my alarm failed to ring. vowed to be more responsible in rome.

3. rome- hostel A sucked, my two english boys pointed me to a more lively spot where i ended up meeting a fantastic kiwi (adrian) and a swedish londoner (annelie). the first night we threw pennies into the trevi fountain and went for the first pistachio gelato. the next morning we joined a tour for the colosseum but were disappointed to not receive matching headseats. it's not as big as the movie makes it out to be, but the place itself did not disappoint. every corner turned in rome leads to another gigantic impressive structure... i had to check out of my hostel at 10 the morning after a bar crawl and toured the vatican still buzzed. sistine chapel: okay, it was fine, but not life-changing. st. peter's cathedral left more of an impression on me... the last night there coincided with a giant outdoor festival, where i watched a quasi metal band roll down the street in a float with little men doing flips in this contraption on top, crossing paths with a group of drummers with flares, and a guy with a broom who kept jumping on statues.. at the end a string quartet and opera singer suspended from a crane in a sort of human mobile performed with the drummers and metal band. i can't even describe this. i took pictures.

4. florence- in a hostel which was once a convent and had retained the feeling, i met caitlin, my canadian counterpart. we happily spent over two hours in an outdoor market being indecisive and finally coming away with roughly three purchases each. we speak similarly, like the same things and even look a bit alike. clearly we got along. we spent two days in florence and sienna with selby. we took pictures of the beautiful streets, the bridges, the tuscan countryside; selby took pictures of himself. you should see his galleries on facebook. anyway. sienna: walled medieval village at the top of a hill. the highlight? saint catherine's head in a box. impossibly small... "was she a midget?"

5. cinque terre- five villages on the cliffs of the west coast of italy, south of genoa. steven (beligium) and i hiked for most of the day between four of the five, on a path carved into the side of a cliff in one spot and winding high through olive groves in another. it inspired awe. i said 'wow' every time i caught my breath and looked down. in the fourth village we swam in completely clear water in the marina, then i fell asleep on the rocks in the sun. i can't remember too many better days.

6. verona- another pretty spot. there was a bike race going on that finished in the main square so when you crossed the street you were requeseted to do it quickly. at "juliet's house" love poems/ graffiti cover the outside wall. i took a photo of some tourists on the balcony who did not resemble juliet at all, then moved on. here i stayed at a random hostel on the edge of town which turned out to not be a hostel at all, but rather university dorms rented out during the summer. i hung out with a med student from sierra leone and an economics major from ghana. nice change from aussies.

7. venice- when it rains in venice, you are literally surrounded by water. i watched a storm from the edge of piazzale san marco, the kind where the sun comes out when the sky is still dark. at one point it actually hailed. i liked the city, though the median age hovered around 65. through wth churches and museums we stayed outside all day walking up and down bridges. gondolas floating couples down the canals backed up and looked more like a ride at disney. video cameras rolled. i got over my issues with pigeons enough to feed them some seed in the square. felt scarecrow-like. my last day i spent with a french hippie (guilaume) and two argentinians (ivan and max). we opted for an all day ferry pass and rode out to an island. compared to venice it was deserted... just blocks of brightly colored houses... sitting next to the water and shared a picnic of beer and cookies. it was one of the best days i've spent.

8. athens- jesus, i am way past my 20 minute limit. i'm on mykonos now.. i'll save greece for later. i'm going to turkey next. hopefully i'll write more before i'm home: october 11.