Hey folks, Tracy here reporting from Paris! (The keyboards are funny here so please excuse any grammatical errors.) It's been a while so I'll try to fill you in on the past few days. Levanto. Nina stole a towel from the hotel. I know, I know. I, too went through the same range of emotions- a mixture of shock, disdain, hurt, then finally- acceptance. She is a klepto. Free Winona? Free Nina. Our friendship teetered for about 30 seconds then it was okay and I secretly wished I had stolen mine, too. It did make for some bad karma, though. Our first train to Genoa was late, making us miss our connection. We then had to sit in a dirty, pigeon infested plaza in the sweltering heat with all of our stuff. After staring at a Christopher Columbus statue for 2 hours, we headed to Milan where we then got on the wrong train. All because of that effing towel. The only logical thing to do to calm our nerves and perhaps save our friendship was to drink Heinekens and eat chips on the platform of the train station whilst counting our mosquito bites. To date, Nina had 19, I had 14. A new low.

After a brief stint on Lake Como, we arrived in Venice. Such a cool city! Nina talked about it a bit so I'll leave that alone. A side note to Doug T: Venice didn't "smell like piss and diesel." The piss part maybe but that was due to the fact that some drunk camper (because we were camping-to get the full effect please just visualize Chunk in Goonies-"Nature, I hate nature" and you've nailed it) pissed outside of our tent one night. Nina woke to the lullying sound of drizzle but not I. I was passed out after a bender of a night in which Nina relived her babysitting years in taking care of her 23 year old charge. I was a hurting unit. Red wine now replaces the red blood that was once flowing through my veins. I swore off alcohol forever. That meant 48 hours of course as we could not resist consuming some beer in Zurich. How could I resist trying something called Schutzengarten Lagerbier Hell? And Ms. Huntemann went with your Urweizen Muller Brau Bugel. You know, your everyday beer. Good stuff. Better than our meals which essentially consisted of hot dogs and American Chop Suey. Substitute apple sauce for tomato sauce and you've got German Chop Suey!

And how did we get to Paris one might inquire? Paris was part of my master plan unbeknownst to my darling travel companion. I had just reached over to twist her arm when she reluctantly agreed :) This woman and Paris go hand in hand. I am quite impressed by her grasp on the language and culture. Anyways, here is Nina to add some of her thoughts....

Nina here: Two overnight trains and I haven't showered since Saturday, but I'm in Paris! We "did" Switzerland in a day via train yesterday. Lausanne, Geneva, Bern, Luzern and Zurich. We jumped off trains, saw a bit, very little in fact, and jumped back on. Bern was my favorite. They love fountains there. We saw one of a bear, the city mascot, and a tribute to the Muskateers. As Tracy mentioned, I had a strange version of my Mom's famed torture food - sorry Mom. Oddly, it was comforting. Okay, I'm way too frustrated with the keyboard and I need to bathe. Ahhh, hosteling. I amaze myself everyday with the new lows to which I stoop. Bon nuit.