Ahh Firenze...I realized why I like Tuscany so much not an hour after I returned. I was hauling my pack around trying to find accomodation when I finally decided that I had to eat...ya know manngia! Anyway, I had left about 20,000 lire (10$ or so) in my bag from my last visit and hauled out what remained from my travels...about 15,000 or so. I sat down in a little pizzeria and ordered as frugally as I could only getting a plate of pasta and a 1/4 jug of the local chianti (cheaper than a coke). I scarfed my meal, as I had been in the same unfortunate situation my smarmy little bro had encountered a few days before of being stuffed into a seat on the train with no room to grab some shlep. Back to the point, I was ravenous and I dismantled my lunch like so many dot coms laying off employees....quickly and with a vengence. After that the attractive and pleasant waitress (a major part of the reason I so enjoyed this), asked if I wanted any dolci o cafe....I sadly informed her that I was only in possession of enough cash to purchase what I had eaten but thanks.
Note: I did not put any whiny inflection on this in order to make myself seem more pathetic, I am clearly pathetic enough without that!
Back to the story, I started to collect my bits of change and coinage and out comes the waitress with a big ole honkin' piece of some sort of mixed fruit pastry thang that was unbelievable...just a nice gesture to make this clearly tired, smelly loser enjoy himself. It was bellisima!

It looks like I will be in Firenze for a few more days, as I can't get into that backpacker heaven place until Tuesday...shows you how well I plan ahead. Other than that, it is treating me well, as with last time I met some cool random people in a bar (they all worked there) and they started feeding me free drinks and such....good stuff.

Well, I am back in Vienna...where I began this portion of the trip just a few weeks ago, but it feels as if a whole lot has gone down since then. I am killing a few hours here before taking a train south to Florence for a visit and to take in a few more Cathedrals...and a bit more pasta, of course. Trying to put on some of that weight I lost in the course of the last 7 months. As for after that, I have heard grumblings about a backpacker "heaven" of sorts between Florence and Siena that includes accomodation in a restored villa and things such as wine boozing and horseback riding....perhaps not in that order though.

I too spent the evening from Munich in a seat rather than the vaunted "couchette", but mine was uch more pleasant as I crosed Austria and head to Budapest. Arriving here, I took my little bro's advice and headed for the "Yellow Submarine Hostel"...did you know that Yellow Submarine Hostel is Hungarian for Dirty Little Shithole? Well it is. After one unrestful evening I hitched up with another unsatisfied customer and booked to the suburbs...kind of a travellers "white flight" thing for a much nicer and less pricey hostel. Now I have explored Budapest, and it is nice....large to cover, but very pretty, as it was the Hapsburgs Eastern capital. Anyway, things here are bueno, as I spent a majortiy of the afternoon soaking in Budapest's famous thermal springs....veddy nice. By the way...little tidbit...the city of Budapest was actually two different cities, Buda and...yes you guessed it....Pest....amazing my grasp of all things isn't it?
Take care all, and more from either here or my next stop...most likely Italia for more mangia.....

Mangia....mangia....

Munich is a place for chow...
Don't know whether it is a good healthy place, and by the look of Udder and friends the food may be a bit on the fattening side, but damn it be good. Favorties thusfar include:
Schweinerbraten - The king of all swine...big roast pork slices with kraut and dumplings.
Bratwurst- Everyone knows these buggers.
Leibekassen - Some sort of meatloaf served on bread and smeared with hot mustard...uhmuhm good.

Anyway, I head out for Budapest this PM, but I have yet to decide whether now is the time to head back to the states, with all of the trouble a' brewin. I will see, but honestly it is difficult to enjoy things as I was with the nasty cloud hanging over everyones head...We'll see.

As for Germany in general it is a pretty cool place, even with the German "creepy factor". In fact, a good example of the german sense of humor was at the hostel bar last night when the bartender brought Neal over a note asking him to have dinner the next night from an admirer, named Thomas...after letting Neal sweat for aminute he explained that it was some guy who had been there earlier and a note he had written to a girl sitting where Neal was...very amusing to watch my little bro squirm like that.

More from the Pearl of the Danube...