out of the blue

I think "mahogany at midnight" would be an excellent crayon color. It is also an excellent hair color.

I'm back, after a very long day of traveling. I should see some of you quite soon.

I got to Heathrow tomorrow to catch a flight at 9:30 am. After a layover in New York and one in Houston, I reach PDX at 11:07 pm. Sarah has first claim to my time. After that, I hope to see many of you other delightful people. If anyone in Spokane wants to visit Portland to see me, you're welcome at my house. See you soon!

Showing my family around London for a few days. It's a perfect temperature right now, about 68 degrees. It'll probably get a little too hot this afternoon. Anyway, see you folks when I get back.

The best thing about being away from the internet for a few days is being able to read a couple new xkcd strips in a row.

Some of you will think I'm crazy, but I was bored with this part of Italy by the middle of the third day. Sure, it's absolutely beautiful, with dramatic jutting cliffs and grape-laden slopes upon which perch yellow and red and orange buildings in the small villages that compose the Cinque Terre. And I have to admit that the warm Mediterranean waters make for perfect swimming, especially when jumping from low cliffs into the deeps after a boat has passed and sent its wake on a collision course with your cove. And there is indeed a panoply of fresh foccacia, Italian-style pizza, flaky delicious croissants, pasta and other Italian fare. But the heat withers me, and I can't stand the taste of salt water, and all the restaurants have pretty much the same menu. I liked our trip over the Alps and down into Italy a lot better, but that only comprised a couple of hours of the trip. I'm ready for the UK and its cool weather, and for Portland after that. Pretty much, I'm living for seeing Sarah the night I get back. Six months is a long time.

Miraculously, there was free internet at the hotel today. But it didn't work, until I found a different wireless network and connected to it. Last night I stood above the city on top of an old wall and listened to the bells toll the hour. One bell rang out alone, tolling seven. Two minutes later, I heard a set of at least six distinct bell towers overlapping in their ringing. For a few minutes after that, I would hear more bells every once in a while. The mountains had come out from behind their veils of clouds, and the late sun picked shadows out of the city.

Well, we bought internet for the day at this hotel on the Swiss-German border. Tomorrow we cross the border into Switzerland and hope we don't run into problems due to Euro 2008 (a big football [not American] championship held there this year). My aunt says Lucerne (Luzern) is the prettiest city in Europe. It will be ranked in my own mind tomorrow, though she has still seen many more European cities than I have.

We spent the past day driving down the Rhine, which is quite beautiful. I'm going to have to come back to these places someday and see them in a bit more detail. Hike up to the valley rim, and stuff like that.

Just a quick post, because I have to sleep. We get up at 7 or 7:30 every morning to have a breakfast of cheese, meats and bread. Tasty stuff.

Until later.

We made it through Norwich and to Berlin. My dad had a bit of a stressful time driving on the left on our way to the airport in the UK, but we made it just fine. We've been staying in the NW of Berlin with our exchange student Nora's family, and they have fed us really well. Today we had a goulash for lunch with dumpling-like bread. Each morning for breakfast we have bread, cheese, meats and tea or juice. I've actually been online for a little bit each day, so I've been able to talk to some people online.

From now on, internet is much less assured. We might be able to stop at an internet cafe every once in a while, but I doubt our hotels are going to have internet at any reasonable price. Don't expect me to be around.

I'm really enjoying the trip. I'll post pictures after I get back to the States. And after I don't feel the urgent need to see everyone I know, especially Sarah.

Quick trip from London to Norwich with my family. We'll be kicking around Norwich tomorrow, trying to hit all the highlights. I will be out of contact for a while, although I might manage a post tomorrow night as well. We'll see.