i thought i was slowing down, but no, im addicted to travel

i've never claimed to be good at keeping up with these posts, but i figure better late than never, right? we returned to the states about 3 weeks ago now, but this europe trip has really stayed with me. literally i was jetlagged for 2 good weeks, but i mean it really played a part in deciding some things for my future that i'm going to stick to. i'll get to that. i left off as we were headed to mykonos, aka the party island, also the gay island, this was interesting. paradise beach resort, a crowded concentration camp-looking property with people sleeping everywhere, and then a beautiful private cove with bars, stores, restaurants (i think.. i pretty much stayed on the beach). it was what i imagine spring break to be like in mexico or something. we made a great group of friends for the few days as we explored the island and partied, and partied, and partied. it was amazingly fun, but by the time we left for italy, we were desperately in need of showers and sleep. ITALY!!!!! ...i cant describe the feeling of arriving in torino again... like being at home, only a lot warmer, fuzzier, and more nostalgic. and we stayed with my dear friend and used-to-be-co-worker at the bar, sergio. and we ate pizza and pasta and drank wine for the next 2 weeks straight! i love italy. torino was amazing, i got to see old friends and make new ones, then we went to genova, santa margherita, portofino, cinque terre... the riviera was as beautiful as ever. the pesto and focaccia delicious as ever. and then.. finally.. we arrived in rome! my favorite city. we spent 5 days there i think, doing everything again- trevi, pantheon, st peters, vatican museum, trastevere, and my favorite.. the colosseo. we pub crawled, sketched, and basked under the roman sun, and i spent a lot of time just staring at the colosseo and trevi, a LOT of time. by this time we had met up with an aussie we had met in greece, he traveled with us for the remainder of the trip, and 3 was a party everywhere:) but when youre with an aussie what can you expect? from rome we ventured south to the amalfi coast, where we stayed in the tiny town of atrani, with one small piazza and two luigis who we immediately befriended. it was such a cute friendly place, right next door to the town of amalfi, i will definitely go back there. we bused it one day to positano, had pizza and soaked up as much sun as we could, the amalfi coast is definitely a sight to see. the roads are sketchy and narrow and the bus drivers are probably the most amazing drivers in the world (right up there w latin american bus drivers), the cliffs drop like a hundred meters right out from under you, it was all i could do to get close to the edge! but it was incredibly beautiful something you should take your mom to see, i promised mine i would.
after amalfi we headed north to trento for a couple days, a big town on a river in the mountains of northern italy, and then into austria. austria took my breath away. its sooooo beautiful, green, really tall jagged mountains, tiny quaint chapels everywhere, and chalets. we stayed just outside of innsbruck in a really beautiful hotel right next to the old olympic bobsled track in the foothills. we trammed it up to the top of nordpark, the big ski resort of innsbruck, vowed to come back and ski, and spent a couple days exploring the town. and it snowed.. the first snow of the season, completely blanketed the mountains in white. it was quite a sight, and that is when i decided not to move to san diego, i need my winter. the food was delicious, the owners of the hotel memorable, and overall it was a lovely experience. did i mention the down comforters and the spa? this place was NICE. i told my parents id take them there too:)
the rest of the trip happened very quickly, starting with oktoberfest. we arrived in munich in the morning, locked our backpacks at the train station, went to oktoberfest allllllll day, drank, sang, cheered, rode a rollercoaster, a ferris wheel, made new friends and had another quite memorable experience, then made it back to the train station in time to catch a night train to berlin. it was a looooooong day. but its something i want to plan better and go again next year, just book a hostel in far advance.. berlin revisited was fun, we rented bikes and my german sister lydia met up with us on our last day. it was so good to see her! we went to the berlin version of oktoberfest that night, drank and danced some more, then said our goodbyes. we left the next morning, daryl was ready to go home, i was absolutely not. with no plan of where to live or work, all i wanted to do was stay in europe, but my best friend in the world got married 2 weeks ago so i needed to be back for her. after 3 weeks of living out of my truck and couch hopping (and mooching off the parents), im finally in a new place in truckee for the next few months so i can ski, be close to friends and family, work and save some money... and then im moving to rome in march or so. i love europe, i love italy, i love rome, i love prosciutto e funghi pizza, i have nothing holding me back, so what better time than now? this is an open invitation for anyone who wants to join me, you know how i roll, its going to be amazing. a presto a roma!..
j