The Revival Would it be fatuous of me to assume you've missed me, or wondered where I have gone in the past few weeks...????...

Indeed where have I gone? Nowhere really; what has gone in my abscence was the internet access at work....but now, we've been allowed to play in the sun once more (in a much more limited, hall-monitered type of way), and so I can take this short time to write a short discourse on the past and nearly future events.

I've been to Florence in the mean-while, and I've looked at just about every priceless good they've had to offer me. I saw Michelangelo's David for free, having snuck through the back entrance, and I also saw Botteghelli's Venus and Springtime. I especially appreciated the Annuciation by Leonardo DiVinci. And the architecture in Florence is a thing all to its own...Fantastic little spot, you can do it all in about two days the city is so small, and being planted right in prime Chianti country, you can get a bottle of the reds for a nearly 'Baby Duck' price....tasty.

Then I've gone to Capri. Delicious water. We took the opportunity to swim in the Grotto Azure after all the boats were finished visiting for the day....this was by far the best thing I've seen....for those who aren't up on your natural wonders, the Blue Grotto is a huge cave that is accessed on the coast of Capri....Its filled with water, so you've got to take a boat or swim in. The entrance is tiny and the passengers of the small tour boats have to lay down while the driver swiftly guides them through between waves....once inside, you can't see too much cause its really dark (it is a cave, after all)....After your eyes become acclaimatised to the darkness, you can see the cave is massive, about 200 feet long by 100 feet wide...Go in a little further to the middle and turn around, and this is why they call it the Blue Grotto...the sun coming through the small entrance and into the water makes the crystal clear sea glow the most beautiful sapphire blue you'll ever see. The whole experience is tremendous, and free if you're swimming....

So now, I'm finishing up my last week of work before I head out for a 3 week eastern european tour. I'm heading to Rome on the 15th to see the Vatican Museam, then that night going to Venice where I'll stay for 2 days. From Venice I go to Slovenia and into the Julian Alps to do some adventure sports for a day or two and then to the capitol Ljubljana. After that, I'm moving onto Budapest for a three day jaunt over the weekend before heading out to Slovakia's High Tatra mountains for some more natural adventure. A little bit of hiking in the alpines and then I'm off again for Krakow and Wroclaw poland for the first half of the week. Maybe I'll meet up with some friends there, I don't know. From Poland its off to the Czech Republic where I'll spend an as yet undetermined amount of time in Prague and surrounding regions before heading off again. I may stop off in Austria and Switzerland before heading to Munich for the 4th of September if I have time. Then from the 4th to the 10th I'm in Munich for a conference and finally back to Montreal.

This is the last big breath before the plunge. I'll hope to see you all soon after this....

Ciao,
Phil  ¶ 08:36