onewheelneil

[onewheelneil]

Healing at home

Hi guys

Sorry I haven’t been updating you on my progress but my knee was hurting too much and I had to go home. I had hiked 5 miles on the trail after coming back from town and the knee was acting really badly.  From the trail i called up the same shuttle that got me to the trail and he agreed to pick me up and get me to a train station.  I set up my hammock and relaxed while i waited for the shuttle to arrive.  The train wasn’t leaving till 10 pm so I had a lot of time to spare. He had other people to drive so he dropped me off in the center of town again and let me hang out in town until it came closer to my train depart time.  I got lunch at a nice pub that had great hamburgers.  I got the southern style which came with bacon and cole slaw on top.  It was delicious.  I also had a stout and an IPA to help it go down.  If you’re ever in Dahlonega, GA definitely stop my Spirit Tavern for a great hamburger.  Once I was finished I hung out on a bench in the center of town reading a book on my phone while my shuttle driver finished other rides he agreed to take.  He came by at around 6:45 pm to take me to the train station.  Once there I continued my book and waited for the train which ended up being delayed an hour.  Once on the train it was a 13 hour ride back to DC so I had a nice long sleep.  Once in DC i took the DC Metro to where my mom’s car waited for me while she was at work.  I drove home and started my healing process.  I went to a doctor that told me I could have a tiny tear on the cartilage under my knee cap and it could take 6 weeks to recover.  Yesterday I put 27 lbs on my back and tested it out by climbing the local hill called Sugarloaf Mtn and the knee still hurt only on the downhills.  I hope to get back on the trail on May 11th where I will start at Harper’s Ferry and head North to Maine.  But who knows with my knee the way it is it could be longer before I get better.  

Just wanted to update you all and thanks for reading

[onewheelneil]

[onewheelneil]

[onewheelneil]

My first 3 days

Day 1: Today I started my Appalachian trail thru hike journey. I woke up at hotel in Dawsonville, GA from sitting in a car, that my parents were so graciously driving, all day yesterday. We had an exquisite dinner the night before and my tummy wasn’t feeling well. I woke up at 7 am and took a nice long hot shower since I wouldn’t be having one in a long while. It was good for a hotel shower and I was thoroughly cleaned. I brushed and flossed as well. Afterwards my parents took turns doing their morning ritual and we left the hotel around 8:30 pm. We stopped at a breakfast place and a grocery store before heading to the trail. By that time my stomach was feeling better. Once we got to the visitors center I had a little orientation with several other thru hikers and were showed a new method to hang our food so bears couldn’t get it. After that I was off! My parents joined me to the top of the Amicalola Falls and after some pictures and hugging I was by myself for the rest of the 7 miles to the start of the Appalachian trail. It doesn’t start at the visitors center it starts at the summit of spring mountain which is an 8.8 miles climb from the visitors center. So I technically haven’t started the trail yet. Once I got started from the falls where my parents sent me off I was going at a nice pace and my legs fell into a rhythm and the pain from going up the falls seemed to melt away. I crossed some other hikers when the trail crossed a gravel road and kept going up. They were looking beat and I stopped to have a quick drink of water. We talked a bit but then I started cooling down which I didn’t want to do yet. So I kept going. I got back into my rhythm and got up a quite steep part until it went flat for a while. It was nice listening to nature through my grunts and breathing and hearing nothing. It was awesome. The farther I got the more I hurt. My legs were aching and my lower back was complaining but I kept on trudging. Of course it got to a point where I had to stop and eat some trail mix and more water. After finishing the trail mix from several stops I was almost there. I also had to sit down a few times to rest my legs. Eventually I made it to the to of springer mountain. There was one point where I crested a hill and was looking at the summit from below where I thought “that cannot be the summit its too far”. But of course I was wrong and walked up it anyway. After resting at the top I started down the actual Appalachian trail. I was beat so I decided to set up camp near the shelter 100 yards from the summit. It didn’t take long and it was well marked. I set up my hammock and put my sleeping bag and pad in to weigh it down as it likes to flip over when empty. Then I got my med kit out to put some mole skin on some parts of my foot that were getting rubbed. After that I got my food out and heated up some water to cook it. Tonight was chili with beef dehydrated by my loving mother so all I had to do was boil water and pour it in there. While it was cooking I started to shiver as the wind picked up and a drizzle started. I had on my gloves and my long johns and my fleece and my rain gear but I was still cold. Wishing I had my ski jacket but knowing that it would be way too bulky and heavy. Once the water was boiling not even a minute later I poured it over my food and let it sit in the food cozy my mom sewed together herself. She treats me well. There were lots of other people at the campsite and one of them even had a dog but it was very protective and would growl at you if you got near the owner. Still a good boy. I ate my chili after it had rehydrated and then climbed into my hammock because everyone else was retreating to their sleeping bags to get out of the cold. I laid down inside and just felt my body slowly warm up but the wind kept chilling my butt and I wished I had an under quilt. I’ll buy one maybe at the next town and see where I can fit it. The rain slowly tapered off until it was only drops falling from the trees blown by the wind. It was after dark then and I slipped into a warm cold sleep.

Day 2: This morning sucked. I was woken at midnight by a cold wind that sent shivers up and down my body. I also had to pee really badly but I didn’t want to get out of my sleeping bag knowing it was much colder outside it. I tried to fall asleep and I must have been successful because th next time I woke up was at 4 am. I noticed that all the condensation that happens from you breathing with a rain fly above your head was frozen to the ceiling of my hammock. You see my hammock is basically a floating coffin with an insulated bottom and a rain fly that encloses me in a protective cocoon from wind and rain. Unfortunately it was way below 32 and it doesn’t protect me from sheer cold. My sleeping bag is rated for 20 degrees so it must of been below that as well. At 4 I begrudgingly got myself out of the hammock tiptoed to a tree and pissed on it. Then I scurried back into a relatively warmer hammock except it wasn’t warm enough for me to fall back asleep. I just lay with my eyes closed trying different positions trying to get warm. I put my rain pants on and put my rain jacket over my sleeping bag to protect it a little from the eventual drops of the frozen condensation when it warms up in the morning. I changed my alarm from 7 am to 8:30 thinking I could get a little sleep after sunrise instead of getting up at sunrise. So when 8:30 comes around i tell myself there’s no reason to stay inside any longer. I start to unzip my bag as my brain is telling me “WHAT ARE YOU DOING ITS COLDER OUT THER YA DINGUS” but I ignore him. As I get outside I look around and everything is frozen. Every branch is covered in ice and even my hammock is covered too. I quickly put my rain coat on to warm myself up and do some exercises to get warmer. I jog in place and stretch before starting to pack camp. I even make some tea to help with the cold. I try to eat my breakfast of cliff bars but they were frozen solid so I put them in my inner pockets to warm them up. I pack everything back into my pack and set off knowing I’ll warm up faster from hiking. While I’m hiking the wind is blowing the ice off the branches in wood chip sizes. It was like walking past a wood chipper when it spews the wood out. But ice was falling on me instead. Sometimes it hurt but mostly it just fell on me harmlessly. I had most of my clothes on including my long johns and fleece and rain gear. It surprisingly didn’t become uncomfortably hot until mile 4. I had descended quite a bit from starting on top of spring we mountain and it was just raining from the branches down here. I passed many people and even several doggies. When I was changing out of my warm clothes a bunch of day hikers with their children came by asking how far I was going and when I replied they said to their children, “wow he’s better than all of us combined”. It brought a smile to my face. As I kept hiking along I stopped at one point to eat my breakfast and some beef jerky and just listened to nature. I was surprised no one passed by during that moment since there was so many people today. There was a pair of guys with a dog that kept playing leap frog with me. I asked them where they were headed and they said the same place as me but they didn’t know if they’d make it at their pace. I kept going knowing I’d see them again. Then I found a glorious sight. A big tent with oodles of food and water underneath it. A group of adults who had thru hiked before had set up a table and rain tarp and were handing out goodies. A bunch of other hikers were there already and while I was munching and drinking more hikers stopped by as well. We all talked about different things and at one point a guy asked me about my future and I said I was going to grad school for robotics. He replied, “Robotics?!?!?, you mean you wanna be responsible for sky net?” And one of his friends said, “Oh Terry shut it with that trash”. I chuckled and responded with, “No I want to help make sure skynet doesn’t happen”. That brought a few chuckles and the subject was changed after that. As soon as I was done I thanked them all and headed on my way determined to go 15 miles before sundown. But as it turns out that was a mistake. At around mile 8.5 my knee started giving out going down a hill so I stopped took it easy and rested. Then when I thought it was better I kept going. It wasn’t better and I gingerly limped hoping maybe taking some weight off it would be good but still gaining ground. Eventually it came to the point where I was limping painfully and after a frantic text to my mom and dad (I was lucky for any cell service) I staked camp at a little tent site about 4.5 miles from my destination. It hurt to put any weight on the knee so i just sat and elevated it on my sleeping pad. A couple hikers passed by and when they asked if I was camping here I told them of my predicament and one of them handed me an instant ice pack. It helped reduce some of the swelling and made it so I could get to work on setting up my hammock again. Before I set in for the night I had to put my food into a bear bag using the pct method. The method involves pulling your bag full of food up all the way to the branch then tying a stick in the middle of the rope so when you let go, the stick keeps the bag suspended and the bear can’t cut the string to get your food which they had now learned to do. It took me a while to find a branch suitable to carry my food since my food weight about 10 pounds and all the branches around here looking pretty flimsy. Eventually I found one and with a little difficulty, since it was my first time doing it, I had my food suspended in air. Afterwards I went back to my hammock jumped in and enjoyed the music of nature. I even took a video because there was a really loud bird of some sort making some weird noises. I thought it was an owl but let me know what you think. Then since it was going to rain again I closed up my rain fly just as the sun was setting. Before going to bed fully, I read my book a little bit until sleep took taking me by the hand into dreamland.

Day 3: Today I tried to hike on my hurt knee today but had no luck. I got myself to Horse Gap where the trail crossed a road. There many hikers passed me making sure I was okay with one hippie looking girl offering me some pot to ease my pain. I of course said no. I had called a cab company to come pick me up and take me to a drug store so I could pick up a knee brace. Luckily a local who helped thru hikers with their problems had happened by and agreed to let me hitch a ride with him. We drove to Coopers gap where he handed off some packs back to some other hikers who asked him to carry some weight for them. After meeting them and talking with other hikers that stopped to get some water from his truck we drove down to the town of Dahlonega. There we stopped at a Rite aid so I could get a knee brace and then to a motel where I got a room for the night since I wasn’t capable of getting back on the trail with my knee in this condition. It was a cheap motel called the Mountain Inn and I got a room for 65 dollars. So I cooped up and watched some TV and read a book to keep my knee healing. I iced it as well to reduce the swelling. I also got to hang my stuff over the shower to dry since my hammock and sleeping pad were wet from this mornings rainstorm. Hopefully the rest will help and I’ll be back on the trail tomorrow I already have a shuttle service booked to get me back to the trail so I can try again and this time take it slow. That’s all today I’ll update you on my progress tomorrow hopefully it won’t be bad enough to go back home.

[onewheelneil]

This includes everything I’m bringing on my trip on the AT

clothing: shirts 2 short sleeve 1 long, 1 shorts, 1 zip off pants, 1 fleece, 3 pairs of socks, long johns, rain jacket and pants, 2 pairs of underwear

hiking poles

sleeping bag 20 degree

camping hammock/bivy sack

hiking shoes and sandals

sleeping pad

Jetboil camping stove

2 Nalgene 1 Liter bottles

food cozy for dinners

solar panel battery pack

bandana sun hat and winter hat

bear bag 

Med kit

towel

head lamp

toilet paper

rope 

toilet trees

pack cover for rain

gloves

[onewheelneil]

My next journey is here! The Appalachian Trail, a 2,189 mile trek through the eastern US wilderness. It starts in Georgia on the top of Springer Mountain and ends in Maine at the top of Mount Katahdin.  It goes through Georgia to North Caorlina and then zig zags across the border of NC and Tennessee and then across West Virginia and Virginia into a tiny bit of MD before Pennsylvania.  Then it continues into a tiny bit of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts until it goes through Vermont then New Hampshire and finally into Maine.  I start my hike officially on April 7 2017 more widely known as my birthday! My lovely parents have agreed to drive me down all the way to Georgia to send me off.  They will also be sending me my mail drops with food for 5 days among other things i request along the trail.  I will be updating my blog every week so my posts are not too short and it will be something you readers will hopefully look forward to.  One thing I will miss is my unicycling since it is too heavy to bring along :(.  Oh well I know it will be waiting for me when I get back.  I’ll also be missing my girlfriend dearly who couldn’t join me. I’ll be posting photos here when I can as well as my facebook.  I don’t plan on finishing hiking until August 25th just in time for grad school.  I hope you have as much fun reading about it as I do hiking it! See you next post!

[onewheelneil]

Going home

Today I got up at 7 am to do my morning routine and get my breakfast before checking out of my hostel. Afterwards I ordered an uber to get to the airport. A nice young man with great English picked me up 3 minutes after I requested a car. His radio was playing smooth jazz covers of popular songs. It was actually really good and I wish we had a station like that near me. It makes sense because the popular music style, Fado, is kind of similar to jazz. He told me that he had to leave me at the arrivals of the airport terminal because the police won’t let him into departures which is interesting. I guess only cabs and family members are allowed in the departures lane. We get to the airport and he helps me with my luggage. We shake hands and depart. Then I find an air Portugal rep right by the elevators before check in and she prints my boarding pass and luggage check tag. All I do is go up to representative at drop off and hand them my bag. It took 10 minutes tops. I was amazed. Then I went through the security which had no line in 30 seconds flat. After that I was searching for my gate. I couldn’t believe it. I got here 3 hours in advance to deal with all the lines and stuff and there was nothing. I got through to the gate area in 20 minutes. I didn’t know exactly what gate I would be at until 9:50 and it was 8:30 when I got through. I just sat in a seating area by the departure screens waiting for my gate to be released. My flight was at gate 42 so I walked there and bought a bag of m&ms and a Twix bar on the way. There was a long line before the gate where they checked people’s passport and boarding pass before allowing them into the seating area. A little bizarre but I waited like everyone else in line. A guy came by checking everyone’s boarding pass and I was a lucky one to go through a random security check. They pulled me aside and opened up my bag as well as checked my body. It wasn’t anything too intrusive just a simple pat down. Then once they went through all my stuff I was privileged enough to repack my bag and then board the plane. I found my seat and soon enough the plane was taking off. The plane ride was nice and smooth and there were movies playing on the little crappy TVs on the headrest in front of me. I tried sleeping in the beginning but that didn’t work so I watched some of the movie. It was playing Wonder Woman and I had already seen it so I got bored with in minutes. Then I remembered I had books on my phone so I started reading that. That really got the time to go by fast. It was a great book part of the iron Druid chronicles called Hounded. Once I was getting to a good part the plane was landed. I got off rushed through customs got my baggage off of the carousel and then took a NJ transit train to Newark penn station where I caught a greyhound bus to Philadelphia. I kept reading on the bus but I ended up getting a little car sick so I had to stop. I drank some water and felt better though so I wasn’t too uncomfortable. Then I got to Philly and squeezed my girlfriend so hard in a great bear hug. It was the moment we had been waiting for so long. We quickly got an uber to her place and then fell fast asleep. I hadn’t been on a nice comfy bed in a while. This will be my last post so thanks to all the readers who followed me on my journey. Until next time!

[onewheelneil]

Portugal last day

Today I got up at 10 am and did my morning routine and got my cereal and apple juice. I said good morning to everyone I hung out with last night and got some suggestions for what I wanted to do today. I caught a tram to Belem a part of Lisbon just west of the center of the city and started my exploration. I got out where the tram stopped and everyone got off. It was hot out and I was next to the Jerónimos monastery but it was closed on Monday. I continued walking and noticed I was walking right by the modern art museum I wanted to go to. The Berardo collection held a bunch of modern art from 1900 to present. Right when I was entering a bunch of school kids were exiting but they looked like they were elementary school age. When I was that young I don’t know if I would of liked the art museum but it would be different. It might enlarge our creative minds when we are young so that would be good. I bought a ticket and started in the 1900s at the start of the exhibit. Each room had descriptions of what era/style the paintings represented. It was really fun learning about all the styles but I have forgotten some of them already. The ones that stuck were the Dadaism, minimalism, concretism, and a specific artist group called CoBrA. They represented artists from Copenhagen a Brussels and Amsterdam. I thought it was a creative name. There were also three temporary exhibits. One was purely Brazilian art that featured artists that started in Brazil but did get teachings from Europe. Another was a photography exhibit from Lu Nan that photographed people in a China. specifically from mental institutes, small village Christian groups, and Tibetan peasant life. It was very interesting to see. The last exhibit was by Sharon Lockhart who photographed and filmed people in their normal lives in different scenes. It was a kind of weird style of art but respectful because it was like people watching. Once I was done with the museum I walked to the Belem tower which was one of the main reasons of coming out here. It was a beautiful medical style tower right on the river. Unfortunately they were striking today as well so it was closed. I still got some nice pictures and got to enjoy the river side view. Once I was done with the area I went to the famous pastry shop that served these egg custard pastries famous in Portugal. The reason I wanted to try them here was because the invented them! I got 6 two to eat now and 4 to either save for later or try to bring them home if they survive. It was not too long bf of a line so I got them pretty quick. Then right next door was a tasty looking burger place so I stopped by for lunch. I got a bacon cheeseburger and a Heineken and stuffed my face till I was full. Once I was done I paid and took the bus back to the hostel. I needed to pack up my unicycle and other stuff for my flight tomorrow. It once I took apart my unicycle and stuffed it into my duffel I was tired and lazy so I relaxed until sangria was served. It’s so nice to have a hostel on the last city that knows how to get travelers together (serving free drinks). I met so many people at this hostel just because we all wanted sangria. When it came out everyone there surrounded the bar to get their glass. Once we were done three others and I went to dinner at a nearby Portuguese place. We went in and got the only free table by the door. Service was super slow but they were really busy and it looked like only 3 waiters for like 100 people. It was crazy. We ordered beer and I shared a seafood and chicken platter with one person and the two others got seafood and rice dishes. All of it was delicious once it finally came out. We were all full when we were done but the others in my group wanted ice cream so we went back to the same place. They got their ice cream and we walked back to the hostel where I immediately went to bed because it was already 11 pm and I had to get up at 7 for my flight tomorrow. So I said my good byes to the people I talked to a lot at the hostel and then headed to bed. Thanks for reading!

[onewheelneil]

Portugal day 2

Today I got up at 9:30 and did my morning routine. I went down to the lobby to get free breakfast as well. This time just a bowl of cereal and some apple juice. Once I was done I sauntered over to the main square again because i was going to catch a train from there to Sintra. Unfortunately I missed the 10 o’clock train so I had to wait for the 11 o’clock one to arrive. The train arrived at 10:30 so I got on to get a good seat. It quickly started filling up so I’m glad I got here early. At 11 we were off to Sintra and we arrived 40 minutes later. Once there I started hiking following everyone to the city center. It didn’t take like bf and I decided to head to the Quinta da Regaleira which is a huge property turned tourist attraction with a huge manor and chapel next to it. There’s also a path that goes around the whole place including fountains and towers and even an underground passageway. There was a well that you could walk down to the passageways that guided you to other points in the villa. It was really cool. One of them was a little pond with a waterfall. The funny thing was there was a layer of algae on the pond that made it look like a solid and that you could walk on it. Now any smart person would know it’s still water but there was a kid who hadn’t learned yet and said “mommy look a waterfall”. Before anybody could do anything this kid walks off the walkway right onto the algae and falls into the water. Immediately the air is filled of a kids shrieking as he goes from dry to soaking wet. It didn’t take long to get him out but the kid was now wailing and the parents looked like the whole trip was ruined. If they kept him in the sun it wouldn’t take him long to dry off. Once he was fine I had to walk away because I couldn’t control my laughter. I walked through the rest of the villa and then set out to hike up to the castle that overlooks the city. It’s on top of the tallest mountain of the area so I was excited for some great views. I got to the start of the hike and there were a bunch of drivers advertising to get people to hire them to get to the castles fast. I love hiking and they were all saying oh but the hike takes an hour and I can get you there in 5 minutes. It ended up taking me only 30 minutes and I got to walk through a beautiful villa with some spectacular foliage. Once at the top it was a short walk to the Moorish castle overlooking the town of Sintra. It was a great view but there were lots of people so it was hard to get around at my fast pace. Once I had seen everything this castle offered I walked over to Pena palace. It was just up the road but the grounds were much larger with more stuff to do. I had heard from hostel guests that did it before to go to the high cross. I went there first as all the tourists went to the palace to go through the circuit of all the rooms. On the way to the high cross I found a warrior statue on top of these rocks. I wanted to climb up to it to take a picture but it was too dangerous to do it solo so I did the smart thing and went back down. It was fun to climb around the rocks but I know when things are at my limit. Then I hiked up the steep road to the high cross which was a great place for a view of the surroundings. There were some other people there too but not enough to be bothersome. As I relaxed in the sun people came and went enjoying the views as well. When I started my hike back towards the palace I saw the leaf pile next to the steps start to move. There was a little animal burrowing right next to the pathway. I got my camera and was filming for 5 minutes waiting for it to pop its head up but it never did. More tourists came by and probably scared it away because the dirt stopped moving. Oh well I kept walking and eventually got to the palace. There were a ton of people here so I guess it was the main place to see. Everyone was taking pictures and going through the palace. Since I paid for it I might as well do it too. I walked through all the rooms which featured the dining rooms and bedrooms and bathrooms of the previous owners. It was all grand and expensive looking. Probably a perfect place to live back in its golden age. The kitchen looked awesome with all its perfectly organized equipment and huge counters and stove tops. I then finished and hiked all the way back to the city. When I was walking through the city down the skinny alleys with little souvenir shops and restaurants I noticed a bunch of them selling something called ginja. It’s this cherry liquor that they served in a little mini chocolate cup about the size of a cough syrup cup. It was tiny but really good. I found a place that wasn’t too crowded and for 1 euro you got a shot of liquor with chocolate. You are supposed to drink half of it and pop the cup and rest of the liquor into your mouth like a tasty treat. It was delicious and then the attendant offered me some almond liquor that they drink with lemon juice. That was even more delicious and I almost bought a bottle if I knew how to transport it home without any worry of it breaking. I don’t think I had enough room to cushion it. It was so delicious I can imagine the taste while writing this. Once I finished being a tourist I walked back to the train station to get back to Lisbon. It was dark by the time I got back. There was a viewpoint right by the train station that I looked at before heading back to the hostel. It was a pretty night and perfect for strolling. Anyway I got back to the hostel in time for free sangria and Portuguese soup. It was a nice bowl of salty potato base soup with seaweed in it. Once I finished it I had a huge craving for ice cream. I didn’t want to go alone so I asked everyone around me if someone wanted to join me and I got three people to join along! One of them was lactose intolerant and didn’t want to come at first but I told her I had found a vegan ice cream place that got good reviews so we headed there. The ice cream place was nearby and they were famous for their pistachio flavor. We get there and it’s a really nice looking place lit brightly with smiling attendants. I asked for a taste of the pistachio to see if the reviews were true and they were so on point. It was creamy and delicious and would have no idea that it was vegan if no one told me. I ended up getting a medium which came with three flavors so I got pistachio raspberry and passion fruit. They were all delicious and everyone that came along got pistachio as well. We walked back to the hostel and made everyone jealous with our super good looking desserts. It was really fun watching people’s reactions. Once we were all done and the conversation was dying down I went up to bed to relax you til I fell asleep. Thanks for reading!

[onewheelneil]

Portugal day 1

Yesterday I said I fell fast asleep. That was a complete lie. I couldn't find a comfortable position on my train seat so I was constantly repositioning myself in my seat in order to fall asleep. At one point at 1 am a bunch of people entered the train and made a bunch of noise. My seat was constantly being kicked by the people behind me. It was a pretty rough ride. Finally though at 7:30 am I got to my station in Lisbon. I walked to my hostel where I checked in but it being early I wasn't able to get into my room yet. I put my bags in their storage place and they let me have some of their free breakfast. I had a slice of lemon cake and a bowl of cereal. They also had apple juice which is my favorite breakfast drink. I then waited for the free walking tour to come by. It started at 10 so by the time I finished breakfast and relaxed a little it was time to start walking. The tour guide picked me and some other hostel customers up and brought us over to the meeting spot. On our way there we saw a really old coffee shop and really old book store. There was also an old elevator used by the rich after a day of shopping to get back to their homes that is now a tourist trap. We got to Rossio square where we met up with some other guides and people. Then we split up the groups according to the guides and went on our way. We introduced ourselves to everyone and then started the tour with some history and transportation facts. We stopped at another square with a fountain. We learned about the two tram lines in the city and how they get very busy during the day mainly from tourists. Then we went to a nice shady spot to learn about the history all the way back to roman times and the moorish times and also with dictators and royal families. It was a very in depth history lesson which was really cool. We got to a really nice view point and took some pictures and saw a bridge that looked like the Golden Gate Bridge and a statue that looked like the Christ statue in Rio de Janeiro. Then we wen to another area where some street art was on the side of the building about Lisbon and it's music scene called Fado. Our guide told us about the classical guitar being famous in Portugal and then the traditional Portuguese guitar is even more popular. There was a cafe that we stopped at to take a break and there was a view point across the street that we planned to meet at after we were done with the break. We talked more about the city and its intricacies before ending the tour. It was a very good tour and I met some nice people too. There was a nice American and German couple that I teamed up with for lunch. We found a nice sandwich place in the middle of the flea market. I had a prosciutto sandwich with cream cheese and arugula. It was very tasty and I also had a nice stout from a local craft brewery. It was all very tasty and I enjoyed every bite. Once we finished we explored the flea market with all the weird trinkets. Anything you could imagine they had. I got some gifts for family for the holidays and then we went on our way. I was going to go to the castle at the top and they were going to a ceramic shop to get some custom tiles. We split up probably never to see each other again. Once I get to the castle it has already closed because of some strike. It'll be open the other days tho so I'll be back. Then I decide to head back to my hostel as my phone runs out of battery. I get there and relax and shower as my phone charges. Once it is done its dark outside and I'm getting hungry for dinner. I get a recommendation from the hostel and end up eating there. I order a beer and the cod with potatoes and veggies. It takes a while to get the cod but it comes out looking splendid. I gobble it all up dodging the bones. It's very tender with a strong olive oil taste but not too much. I enjoyed it. Then I paid and went back to the hostel in time for sangria night. They served red and white wine sangria with traditional chorizo. Grilled to perfection. The sangria was really tasty and the chorizo paired perfectly with it. It was a small amount and I still had room enough for it all. I was in heaven afterwards so feeling good I went up to my room to make up for the lost sleep on the night train. Thanks for reading!

[onewheelneil]

Spain last day

Today I was lazy and didn't get out of bed till 11:30. I did my morning routine and started walking towards another art museum that looked interesting. On the way I stopped at a restaurant that had a take out station where I got a yoghurt cup with bits of fruit in it a slice of lemon cake and a chocolate croissant. It was delicious and I ate it all up. The fruit and yoghurt had strawberry jam mixed in with the yoghurt which I thought was interesting. I was eating outside which was nice but there were a lot of brave pigeons walking around me with the occasional flying right onto the table but I quickly shooed them away. After I finished I was right around the corner from the museum. I entered the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum and bought my ticket where they told me a Picasso and Lautrec temporary exhibit just opened up. I was excited now. Only thing was I wasn't allowed to take photos in here as well. I got a little pamphlet with the paintings in it so I'll take photos of that. The other temporary exhibit was a hands on one. It was called a lesson in art and it had different pieces on shy learning about art at a young age is important. One was a really cool light show on ribbons hanging from the ceiling. Once I had seen the temporary exhibits I went to the main collection. They had 3 floors of paintings starting with the old masters in the 12th century and then ending with modern 20th century art. They had everything you could think of. Every famous painter in each period with a vast variety of styles. It was incredible and never boring. They even had a Jackson pollock which I think is pretty good for a Spanish museum. All the plaques describing the paintings were in Spanish and English so I could actually know what the name of the painting was. I loved it and on the ground floor they had three Rodin sculptures. It was a very well put together museum and I enjoyed it immensely. After I was finished I then walked over to the museum of archeology which had artifacts from all over Spain. It started with mankind's start about 1.2 million years ago when the first ancestors of our species started immigrating out of Africa into Europe and the Iberian peninsula. It went along the years teaching the readers all about the different ages and the different empires of the olden times. Then it got all the way to modern times and minting of currencies. It was a very interesting museum with lots of statues and pottery and jewelry. Anything you could think of that you would find at an archeological site was here. It was also very well organized as well. Once I finished I was starting to get hungry but not many restaurants were open at this time so I went back to my room to relax. Once it was later in the day around 6:30 I went out in search for dinner. I went out of my hostel a different way and found a very nice Mediterranean restaurant. It had a very nice menu and was very affordable. I went inside being the only customer I was seated immediately (it was still early in Spanish culture for dinner). I got a beer which was all it said on the menu "beer" no brand name or anything. It was very tasty with a creamy foam so I knew it was nitro injected. It was a pale beer but couldn't decipher if it was a lager or a pale ale. Anyway I ordered the pesto gnocchi and they also gave me olives to munch on while I waited. Soon enough my gnocchi came out with a perfect amount of pesto (I like a lot of pesto on my pasta) and some Parmesan to sprinkle on top. I ate happily and enjoyed the wonderful creation that is pesto and gnocchi. It was so good I don't think I breathed between bites. Once I finished I was still a little hungry so I ordered their "home-made cheesecake". I couldn't resist the temptation. They also had homemade apple strudel which I wish I could go back and try. It came out shortly with dollops of strawberry jam around it. The cheesecake was unimaginably good. The best cheesecake I have ever had at a restaurant by far. It was so creamy and delicious and taking a little bit of strawberry jam with it made it so good as well. Honestly it was perfect without the jam but who doesn't like a little strawberry with their cheesecake (I used to not like berries growing up but now I love em). Once I finished the last bite I wanted to order another one but I knew I wouldn't finish it so I paid for my dinner. It only came out to 15 euros which I was surprised about. Once I was finished paying I said my tanks and went on my way back to the hostel. Tonight was my last night in Spain as tonight I would be heading to Lisbon Portugal. Once I got back to my hostel I had an hour to relax before I packed all my things and checked out of my hostel. I then took the subway all the way to my train station that I would be leaving from. 15 stops later I got to the train station found my platform and found my seat since I couldn't get a sleeper. Oh well last overnight train of this trip so I won't complain. I settled into my seat and fell fast asleep. Thanks for reading!

[onewheelneil]

Spain day 5

Today I got up at 10 am to do my morning routine. Then I hit the road on the way to the first museum. On the way I picked up breakfast. I stopped at a fairly busy breakfast place that had a bunch of cool dishes. Their main one was scrambled eggs, potatoes, and your choice of filling. You could eat it inside a roll of bread as well. So I ordered two one pork sausage and one beef and vegetables. They were only 3.5 euros each so I assumed they were small. They came out decent size portions and I am sad to say I was not able to finish them. The beef and vegetables was by far better as the pork sausage one was filled with pork grease. I did not like the pork one at all. I gobbled up the beef and vegetable one though and had a glass of orange juice as well. I paid and left with a tear in my eye since I couldn't finish both of them. I then continued on my way to the museums. First one was the Prado museum that is famous for its vast collection of European art. The most famous being the Velazquez and El Greco collection. They had everything from these painters including religious, portraits, royal paintings, still lifes, landscapes, and sculptures. There was also a Goya exhibit as well. They had a super interesting temporary exhibit of a Chinese modern artist who uses gunpowder to paint. It really shows the imagination of today's painters. There was also a feature film of how he put his paintings together using the gunpowder. I got through all the art which took about 2-3 hours then made my exit. I decided I was going to stroll through the big park nearby. I passed the famous five arch statue Alcala and a huge fountain. The park is named El Retiro and it was beautiful with musicians playing for tips and a wide lake with people rowing boats. I stopped at a cafe and had a smoothie and a pizza to satisfy my hunger. It wasn't anything special but the smoothie really hit the spot. The people watching was fun and I also stopped at a building called Placio de Cristal. It was a completely glass roofed building with letters on the floor filled in with water. When the sunlight hit the water it looked like crystal! It was pretty hard to photograph but it was beautiful and so funny to find in the middle of the park. Afterwards I decided to buy my ticket to Lisbon from the train station because it was close by. This would be my last long distance train and maybe my last train in Europe if I don't do any day trips in Lisbon. The train station was actually really cool. It had a mini forest of trees inside with little ponds filled with turtles! It was crazy to see. Afterwards it was only a short walk to the modern art museum that had works from the 20th century including some Picasso! They were all pretty political exhibits but some of the paintings were very interesting. There were two temporary exhibits one on the comic artist for Krazy Kat. It was cool to see old comic strips but his writing was hard to read. The other was really really weird by William Kentridge on his weird plays. He apparently directed these weird shows and the things they showed in the museum would have been spooky in a haunted house. I was really creeped out by it. After I had seen everything it was 6 o'clock so I headed back to my hostel to relax before dinner. For dinner I looked at one restaurant just next door but when I sat down and looked at the English menu it was waaaaay too expensive so I just searched for another close by restaurant and saw a highly rated Mexican place. Now I'm sure you're all wondering why the heck am I in a Mexican place in Spain. Well it was affordable and it being near the end of my trip I needed that. I ordered the taco variet plate which had 4 small tacos with pork, beef, seasoned beef, and chicken in them. They were delicious and I ate every bit of it. They even gave me a spicy sauce to put on it. It was so good and my tongue was burning after it all (the good kind of burn). It was a pretty small portion though so that was probably the reason for the cheap price so I ordered dessert as well! I ordered the lemon Carlotta cake which is a creamy lemon cake with layers of cookie. It was so freaking delicious. I started feeling a little bit dizzy from the mojito when I finished everything. It was one of the better meals I've had here. Once I was done I paid and went back to sleep off all the good food I just had. Thanks for reading!

[onewheelneil]

Spain day 4

Today I got up at 10 am which was a little later than intended because I had a train at 11 to catch. I did my morning routine and got all my stuff together to check out. I then rushed to the subway to get to the train station. Once there I walked through a maze of hallways before arriving at the train station. I found my platform and I had 15 minutes to get there but there was security! This was the first security stop I had witnessed in all the train stations. It only took 5 minutes to get through and then I went through another checkpoint so they could scan my ticket. Finally I got on the train with 5 minutes to spare before the train took off. I was at a window seat but right between two windows so I got almost no view. It was sad as I wouldn't be able to see much of the Spanish scenery between Barcelona and Madrid. I did get a few pictures of the beautiful landscape though. A beautiful arid landscape with mountains in the distance. It was breath taking. Finally we arrived in Madrid and I exited the train and walked to my hostel. It was a very nice sunny day and I walked along a park and a pedestrian walkway lined with bars that looked very welcoming. I got to my hostel, checked in, and put my stuff in my locker before heading out to explore. I continued along the walkway and eventually got to a nice square with many restaurants. I sat at one where other people looked like they were having a good time. It was a bar restaurant and I ordered a pina colada to start off the day! Soon enough a big glass of pineapple deliciousness came out with a slice of orange on the rim. It was everything I expected and more. I also ordered the seafood paella cause it seemed like everywhere served paella in Spain and I wanted to try it out. It wasn't that good but it was decent enough that I finished it. I'll have to try it at a different place to get a better sense of it. The pina colada was delicious though so at least they got that right. I paid and then continued my journey around the city. I love the pedestrian walkways and huge squares that Madrid has. I walked to the Almudena cathedral and walked inside to see the beautiful architecture from the inside. There was a huge altar and multiple stained glass pieces and lots of statues around the whole cathedral. I walked around mesmerized by all the art. Right next door was the royal palace as well which had a long line to get in. I just took a picture and went on my way. There was a nice peaceful garden next to the palace on the au to the Egyptian temple. This temple was on top of a hill overlooking the west side of the city. It was beautiful and the temple was free to enter. They had old hieroglyphs on display as well as bits of altar blocks from when it was in full use in 2nd century AD. I couldn't believe something this old was in the middle of Madrid. Once I was done visiting the temple and taking in the sights I headed through another garden with a beautiful fountain in the middle of it. Afterwards I traveled down a busy road to another big pedestrian square where there were some street performers. They were so many people around it was almost overwhelming. I got past it and walked back to my hostel. I relaxed a bit before there was some free sangria in the kitchen for people who wanted it. I got a cup and tried to start a conversation with some people but everyone seemed to be in their own conversation already so I went back to my room to plan out my next day. Tomorrow is art museums so I'll have some good pics tomorrow on my Facebook. Thanks for reading!

[onewheelneil]

Spain day 3

Today I got up at 9:30 again to do my morning routine. Afterwards I headed out to do some more exploring. I wanted to check out the beaches of Barcelona and the castle at the top of the hill. First, though, I started at the Picasso museum. Donacio Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter born in Malaga. He did a lot of his early works in Spain until he moved to France for his adult life where I saw his museum in Antibes. The collection in this museum followed his childhood in Spain all the way to his move to France in 1900. There his painting style changed to his more modern known works. They had an excellent variety of his works including sculptures and ceramics as well. Unfortunately I was not allowed to take any photos at all but I still managed some stealth pictures. There were also school trips here with a few groups of kids with museum guides talking about specific paintings. The temporary exhibits followed Picasso's love for bull fighting, boxing, the ballet, and his engravings. There were works from his close friends as well. The first exhibit had a bunch of black and white photographs that pocasso's friend took of him throughout his life. It was really cool to see the behind the scenes of this famous painters life. The boxing exhibit focused specifically on Arthur Cravan and Jack Johnson. The Ballet focused on a tribute to Picasso that he directed himself. The final exhibit was on the engravings of the famous artist with his friends. There was even a workshop where you could make your own engraving but I didn't bother due to the long line. After I was done I exited the museum and headed to the beach! The famous La Barceloneta beach was really nice today. There were many surfers in the water and many tourists with rental bikes on the bike path that follows the beaches. I would definitely come back with my unicycle. The beach sand was really fine but not deep at all so it was easy to walk on. I sat on a bench and people watched for a bit. There was one lady on the beach with a super playful yellow lab that was really fun to watch. The sun was really hot today as well so I decided to keep walking before I got sunburnt. The next destination was castle Montjuïc. On the way I got hungry so I stopped at a small take out place and bought two empanadas. One beef and one chicken. They were made in front of my eyes and then wrapped in a beautiful pattern of dough. They were delicious and helped give me enough energy to keep going. The walk to the top of the hill where the castle was long and steep. At first it was a bunch of steps. Then i hiked on the road which was just straight up. I saw some viewpoints to the right so I enjoyed a great panoramic view of the city as well as the harbor. At the top I found the castle and paid only 3 euros to walk around inside. It was an old building from the 1770s rebuilt by an engineer. The earliest part of the castle was the watch tower from 1073. It was amazing to be walking on such an old piece of history. The view from the top was amazing as well and you could see everywhere. I helped a fellow New Yorker take some pictures and then walked around the building learning about the different parts of the castle. Once I was finished I made my way down but a different way so I could see the old 1992 Olympic Park. I passed by the soccer stadium and a great square with a TV tower. There were a bunch of children with chaperones there as well playing in the square. It was a fun sight to see. I kept walking and passed an art museum and the magic fountain. They are doing construction on the fountain so it was not turned on. The art museum was built in an old building as well. Once I had seen everything it was time for me to buy my ticket to Madrid for tomorrow. I got it and then took the subway back to my hostel. I had to pick up my unicycle so I could unicycle along the beach. I Unicycle's all the way down to the beach and then along the bike path where people were taking a stroll. I got to a point where I wanted to head back and decided to go through the park by the Arc de Triomf that I had seen on the first night. There were beautiful gardens and a huge majestic fountain that I hadn't seen in the dark on the first night. It was quite the sight to see. Then I went along the log walk way to the Arc where street performers were blowing bubbles or rolling on their roller blades. Afterwards I made my way back to the hostel to relax for the rest of the day. I also got dinner of stroganoff. The hostel had made an excellent stew of beef and mushrooms mainly with rice and chips on the side. It was a tasty dinner and I enjoyed every bit of it. After I filled my belly I relaxed a bit more before heading to bed. Thanks for reading!

[onewheelneil]

Spain day 2

Today I got up at 9:30 and did my morning routine. It was a slow start and I was trying to catch a 10 am walking tour. It was free so I rushed out there to catch it. Unfortunately I missed it by 3 minutes and didn't see anyone at the meeting spot so I assumed I missed it. There was another one at 11 but I didn't feel like waiting until then. I decided to do my own walking tour and I started with the cathedral of Barcelona. It was a beautiful gothic cathedral with all the decorations you would assume one would have. It was huge and when inside you could walk around for 10 minutes looking at all the art. I did my round with all the other tourists and even saw confession booths set up for people who wanted to use it. Once I was done I went out the exit where there was a little garden with fountains and geese who had taken refuge next to the fountains. Once back on the street I went south towards the harbor. The sun was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Once at the harbor the sun was blinding and there were statues on the sidewalk including a big lobster. There were also lots of sail boats and palm trees and huge cruise liners. I got to the Columbus memorial statue and promptly gave it the bird as I don't believe he should be immortalized for what he did to the Native Americans. I continued up the famed La Rambla street. Passing restaurants and street performers and beggars I looked at all the sights along the road. It was a huge pedestrian walkway and there were tons of people. I walked up getting hungry from not having breakfast yet but not seeing anything good. Then I got to Lo Boqueria the fresh food market. There were meat stands fruit stands chocolate stands and fish stands. All within this tiny area. I got a fruit juice drink with mango and strawberry. Then I found a good looking meat stand that had these cones of meat and cheese for only 4 euros. It was really tasty and hit the spot. Then I went back out to the main road where I happened along a nice square. I had bought tickets online for the gaudi house museum and sagrada familia. So I decided to hit the gaudi house and park gruell. I took the subway there and walked up about 300 steps to get up there. At the top it had a beautiful view of the city. I walked through the park a bit before I got to the museum. It was a small house that the famous architect Gaudi lived in before his death. He designed many interesting buildings around the city and pieces of furniture that were displayed here. It was short 30 minutes but I learned a bit about the famous architect. Then I walked around the park a bit more and admired the design of the structures and gardens around it. Once I was done I decided to start heading to the Sagrada Familia. It was a 30 minute walk down hill so it wasn't too bad but they wouldn't let me in because my ticket was for 4:15. So I decided to look at the three Gaudi houses around the city. I got to one and it wasn't too special but it looked like a mini castle. Then the next two were much more unique. The Pedrera was this wavy looking building and the Batllo was a mosaic of colors and different type of architecture. They were really funky looking and you could also pay to look inside but I decided no to. Then once I was done I decided to hit a tapas bar. Tapas is the famous Spanish cuisine of small snack sized dishes. I found one near by and ordered some steamed mussels and chicken croquette. I also ordered a glass of sangria. The sangria came out first and it was a delicious mixture of alcohol and fruit. Then the mussel and chicken croquette came out and I loved every bit of it. I finished it all up and felt nice and satisfied as well as a little drunk. Once I was finished I paid and then it was time for my tour of the Sagrada Familia. I got an audio guide and walked around the cathedral learning about it from the voices fed into my ears. There are 18 towers at the basilica with the highest at 172.5 meters high but it is still under construction. The main entrance has 31 sculptures depicting the nativity scene. The inside was absolutely beautiful with huge columns that branched out near the top to look like trees. The stained glass was in different colors to depict cool colors on the east side and warm colors on the west side for sunrise and sunset. It was incredible big and the altar had a huge organ that was playing tunes as well. The whole thing was beautiful and I enjoyed it very much. Then it was getting near to sunset and I wanted to catch it at the bunkers a famed 360 degree view of the city. I caught a bus all the way to the end of its track. I got to the top right when the sun went behind the mountain to the west. It was still lighting up the city so it was absolutely beautiful. There were so many people sitting and enjoying the view with their significant others. It made me really miss my girlfriend. I took a bunch of photos of the 360 degree view and enjoyed the view myself. It was starting to get chilly so I walked back down to the bus and took it back to my hostel. When I got back to my hostel it 7 pm which meant I had been out for almost 10 hours. Walking for most of it. I was pooped and was looking forward to a good rest before dinner. Dinner at the hostel was only 4 euros and it was Mexican night. They gave us two tortillas and a bunch of fillers to make our tacos. They even had a nacho bean casserole. It was all really good. I ate my fill and then went back to bed because I was too tired to do anything more that night. Thanks for reading!

[onewheelneil]

Spain day 1

Today I got up at 7 am in order to get to my train to Barcelona. I did my morning routine folded up my bed and got all my stuff together. I got to the train station after a short walk. Saying goodbye to the boats in the harbor and the snow capped mountains in the distance. I then waited some time before my train arrived. Eventually the train a little off schedule which wouldn't affect my transfer in Valence. We got going and I promptly fell asleep after taking some great scenery photos. Then I woke up to the conductors checking tickets. We were in a completely different biome! It looked semi arid with small trees and brown rock plateaus in the distance. It was crazy and we were pretty close to my stop. I showed my ticket and spent the rest of the ride looking out the window wondering when everything changed so dramatically. Finally we got to my transfer station and I exited the train to wait for my next train to Barcelona. It was a small but modern station with only 5 platforms. There were mountains in the distance that were really nice to see. I waited an hour till my next train arrived. I got to watch trains speed really fast past the station. They were going really really fast probably close 100 mph. It was like watching NASCAR but for trains. The wind from the speeding trains would cool me down since it was a sweltering 65 degrees. Then it was time for my train to arrive and I got on and found my seat. It was a part of the train where the rows next to each other faced each other. It was cramped leg space but not for long as the passengers across from got off at the next stop. I was very lucky as no one else got on those seats. At one point I was taking a picture of the sea with a big shipping container ship in the middle and another guy from the other side of the train came over and joined me. It was like a little understanding that this was picture worthy. I fell asleep again right before we got to the Pyrenees which I was pretty bummed about because I really wanted to see them. We got to Barcelona and I got off the train and walked all the way to my hostel. It took about 40 minutes before I got there where I checked and got my bed. I got to take a shower and I signed up for the free dinner! The Spanish don't eat dinner at times like we do. They eat at around 9 pm and the dinner at the hostel is served at 9:30. Anyway the shower was great and then I decided to go out and explore before dinner time. I started walking and got a little turned around before heading south towards the Arc de Triomf. I passed a little stall selling empanadas. And I couldn't refuse. I was very hungry after all and I needed something to hold me over until dinner. I bought a beef empanada and ate it while walking. It was very tasty and just what I needed. I got to the Arc and took my pictures and kept walking towards the Ciutadella park. It was a nice park with many people relaxing in groups around the park. I walked around a little looking at the fountains. Then I started heading back going through the alleyways of another area. It was a cool area with shops and restaurants that I would explore another day. I made my way back to the hostel ready for dinner. I got back after I also bought a bottle of wine. I got a rioja since it was a really good Spanish wine I had in Paris with my friend. I got dinner with everyone else who signed up which was a bowl of pasta with sauce and cheese. It was really good and I ate everything up. While eating I also met other people in the hostel. Once I finished I went back to my bed and opened up my bottle of wine. I drank half of it while relaxing and watching tv shows in my bed. I eventually got tired and went to bed. Thanks for reading!

[onewheelneil]

France last day

Got up at 8:30 am to get some breakfast of cereal with milk. It was like corn flakes with chocolate pieces in it. It was pretty tasty. Then we had to rush to the train station to catch an 8:55 train to Nice and then a 9:23 train to Breil Sur Roya. It was stressful and we got to the train station and were about to hop on the 8:55 train when they said we needed a reservation. It was very disappointing because since we couldn't get on that train we were definitely going to miss the next one. Luckily we hadn't bought anything yet. Unfortunately the next train to Breil Sur Roya was at 12:40. So we had to wait 2 hours to catch an 11:30 train to Nice. We went back to my friends place to relax before setting out on the real adventure. Once it was time we head back to the train station to catch the train to Nice. Once in Nice we went to a supermarket to buy some lunch and snacks for the hike. Once I got my food (a sandwich, cookies, trail mix, and a beer) we headed back to the train station to catch the train to Breil Sur Roya. It was an hour long train ride before we made it. Once we got in we decided to search for a hike. Having no sense of where on was we followed a guide that said to go to the south east of town. We saw many mountains around us and we wanted to get to the summit of one of them. We also saw a mini fortress at the top of one of the hills. We decided to head towards that. It was a cute small town with mini alleyways between the buildings. We passed some locals walking their dogs and eventually found a trail. Only it wasn't going where we wanted it to. We walked through some olive trees before we found some trampled grass that looked like a trail up the side of this mountain. Now my friend and I are pretty adventurous so we decided to go the quick route and do some rock climbing. There were little rock walls that we climbed over in order to have some more fun with it. In time those rock walls got a little taller the higher we went. Walking through trees and throb bushes we finally got to a point where we could see really far out. We were still in search of the tower so we kept going up. We strived for a great view of anything. We eventually got to the top of the cliff right under the tower. We couldn't quite make it to the tower on time before we had to catch the train back home. We decided to perch on top and drink our beers before heading back down. It was beautiful but not really a summit. We could see the whole town and beyond. We took pics and relaxed all the while strategizing our way down. We couldn't quite go back down the same way came up because the cliff was way harder to go down than up. So we looked for other ways down. We did find easier ways but it was scary. We had to teeter on the edge of some rocks about 8 feet from the next flat ground level. One slip and surely we would be hurt. There was one moment where I had to climb through a tree to get to a safe spot down. Clinging onto the rock face I nimbly got to the safer side. I was very nervous but my few climbing days paid off. We eventually made it back down to flat ground after doing some daring jumps and walked back into the city. We relaxed my emerald colored river that winded its way through the town. It was a beautiful color and calmed us down from the daring descent. We wandered into a nearby store so I could buy some snacks for the next train ride. Then once we were ready we made our way back to the train station. The trains got us back to our home safe and sound where we ordered a pizza for dinner. We ended up with a ham olive and mushroom pizza. It was delicious. I also ordered an apple tart that was even better. Who would have know a local pizza joint in France was so good at pizza and dessert. It even came in 30 minutes with free delivery! It as awesome. The only thing that weirded me out was the olives still had pits in them. Once we finished we shared a bottle of wine before relaxing and watching tv shows. It was a great last night in France. I will miss it dearly. It was soon time for bed and we both went to our separate beds. Thanks for reading!