This is a wham bam slam post, friends.
I can't give you much.
It's been such a whirlwind.
I have no pictures.
This is my fault.
6:00 am. Venice. Alarm goes off. My foot goes off. The computer goes off (the bed).
No more computer (bites knuckles).
You see the dilemma.
I left you at Turkey with a pile of thoughts.
I'll give you a list now.
Now, our last night.
Dead Mouse Hostel, London Ghetto.
But I left you at Turkey.
Boat back to Rhodes.
Rhodes back to Athens.
Parthenon, Acropolis, Acropolis Museum, Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, Olympic Site.
Naked boys in statue form...
Athena, Goddess of Wisdom.
Owl on my Shoulder.
Athens to Meteora.
Highs in 120s.
Baked brain.
Clifftop monastery treks.
First cloudy day.
Meteora to Igoumenitza.
Yucky port town.
Rockin' 70's Hotel Oscar.
Dreams of The Shining.
24 hour ferry to Venice.
Camping on deck with the myriad hobos.
Infected chest cut (Lauren).
Visit to Venetian ER and geriatric boob "specialist".
(Thanks, two months of camping.)
Leonardo DaVinci Machines Exhibit.
Peggy Guggenheim Venice Collection.
www.guggenheim.org
Piazza San Marco with pigeons and dancing.
Salvador Dali Venetian Exhibition.
Flight - Venice to Paris.
Mild stomach flu (Chris).
(Thanks, germs.)
Bus - Paris Airport to Gare du Nord Ghetto Hotel.
Moderate stomach flu (Chris).
Two hours in Gare du Nord Ghetto Hotel.
Severe to Hideously Severe stomach flu (Chris).
Visit to Parisian ER and Chris adorably/super sadly hopped up on IV fluids.
Three day hole up in Gare du Nord Ghetto Hotel with Real Time Olympic Coverage to Soothe.
Realization that same day arrivals in both Venice and Paris marred by ER visits for each of us.
Later realization that we paid a total of 45 euro for two hospital visits. Socialized Health = Boss.
Venture tentatively out.
Louvre Love Love Louvre Louvre Love Love Louvre Louvre Love Love Louvre.
http://www.louvre.fr/en
Train - Paris to London.
Dead Mouse Hostel, Ghetto London (name created by me for obvious reasons).
National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery (with book tours for children/ADHD adults).
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/ http://www.npg.org.uk/
USA SWIMMERS 2012
Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament.
Queen's House (i.e. Buckingham No One Should Live Somewhere Like That Palace).
USA SWIMMERS 2012
Emirates Stadium with Lauren Happy Dancing Like Nobody's Business.
WHO ARE WE? ARSENAL! WHO ARE WE? ARSENAL! WHO ARE WE? ARSENAL!
Dead Mouse Hostel, Ghetto London (namesake still in same spot).
USA SWIMMERS 2012
Which brings me to now.
It's all I have left.
Thank you to everyone who watched us through these past two months.
Thank you to everyone that watched our pesky pets and our ever peskier mail (you know who you are).
Thank you to everyone that we met on the way that made us happy.
Thank you to Europe for being so unbelievably cool.
Thank you to Socialized Health Care for keeping us alive and well without trying to rob us of a future.
Thank you to everyone who read and put me over ONE THOUSAND views in a matter of weeks.
And last, but never, ever least -
Thank you to Chris Padesky for being alive (especially after that whole deathbed in Paris thing). It came to my attention recently (because of you) that, in the 15 months that we have been inseparable, we have stomped across 14 countries and trekked thousands of miles of trails. We have toppled at least ten national parks and attacked more permit-required hikes than some achieve in a lifetime. We have seen near a hundred children through a year of their lives without losing (what's left of) our minds. Waiting for us right now is a pair of pups with more problems than I care to mention and more love/hilarity/hair than could be found in the entirety of the sea. Our home is a ridiculous wonderland of books, NPR, Flight of the Conchords, socks missing mates, ravaged dog toys, scraps of poems, photo gear, and backpacks, and in the middle of all of the beauty and the chaos and the interminable barking, is us. You and me. Blossom and Gumby.
Before you, I knew I'd travel the world and hike the Grand Canyon and raise an insane animal.
It was in my blood.
But without you, it would have been nothing.
Because you are more in my blood than any dream I could have designed for myself.
And with you, it is everything. The smallest things are everything. You are everything.
So, let's go home. You and me.
We did good.
That'll do, pig. That'll do.
I love you, Big Guy.
I can't give you much.
It's been such a whirlwind.
I have no pictures.
This is my fault.
6:00 am. Venice. Alarm goes off. My foot goes off. The computer goes off (the bed).
No more computer (bites knuckles).
You see the dilemma.
I left you at Turkey with a pile of thoughts.
I'll give you a list now.
Now, our last night.
Dead Mouse Hostel, London Ghetto.
But I left you at Turkey.
Boat back to Rhodes.
Rhodes back to Athens.
Parthenon, Acropolis, Acropolis Museum, Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, Olympic Site.
Naked boys in statue form...
Athena, Goddess of Wisdom.
Owl on my Shoulder.
Athens to Meteora.
Highs in 120s.
Baked brain.
Clifftop monastery treks.
First cloudy day.
Meteora to Igoumenitza.
Yucky port town.
Rockin' 70's Hotel Oscar.
Dreams of The Shining.
24 hour ferry to Venice.
Camping on deck with the myriad hobos.
Infected chest cut (Lauren).
Visit to Venetian ER and geriatric boob "specialist".
(Thanks, two months of camping.)
Leonardo DaVinci Machines Exhibit.
Peggy Guggenheim Venice Collection.
www.guggenheim.org
Piazza San Marco with pigeons and dancing.
Salvador Dali Venetian Exhibition.
Flight - Venice to Paris.
Mild stomach flu (Chris).
(Thanks, germs.)
Bus - Paris Airport to Gare du Nord Ghetto Hotel.
Moderate stomach flu (Chris).
Two hours in Gare du Nord Ghetto Hotel.
Severe to Hideously Severe stomach flu (Chris).
Visit to Parisian ER and Chris adorably/super sadly hopped up on IV fluids.
Three day hole up in Gare du Nord Ghetto Hotel with Real Time Olympic Coverage to Soothe.
Realization that same day arrivals in both Venice and Paris marred by ER visits for each of us.
Later realization that we paid a total of 45 euro for two hospital visits. Socialized Health = Boss.
Venture tentatively out.
Louvre Love Love Louvre Louvre Love Love Louvre Louvre Love Love Louvre.
http://www.louvre.fr/en
Train - Paris to London.
Dead Mouse Hostel, Ghetto London (name created by me for obvious reasons).
National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery (with book tours for children/ADHD adults).
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/ http://www.npg.org.uk/
USA SWIMMERS 2012
Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament.
Queen's House (i.e. Buckingham No One Should Live Somewhere Like That Palace).
USA SWIMMERS 2012
Emirates Stadium with Lauren Happy Dancing Like Nobody's Business.
WHO ARE WE? ARSENAL! WHO ARE WE? ARSENAL! WHO ARE WE? ARSENAL!
Dead Mouse Hostel, Ghetto London (namesake still in same spot).
USA SWIMMERS 2012
Which brings me to now.
It's all I have left.
Thank you to everyone who watched us through these past two months.
Thank you to everyone that watched our pesky pets and our ever peskier mail (you know who you are).
Thank you to everyone that we met on the way that made us happy.
Thank you to Europe for being so unbelievably cool.
Thank you to Socialized Health Care for keeping us alive and well without trying to rob us of a future.
Thank you to everyone who read and put me over ONE THOUSAND views in a matter of weeks.
And last, but never, ever least -
Thank you to Chris Padesky for being alive (especially after that whole deathbed in Paris thing). It came to my attention recently (because of you) that, in the 15 months that we have been inseparable, we have stomped across 14 countries and trekked thousands of miles of trails. We have toppled at least ten national parks and attacked more permit-required hikes than some achieve in a lifetime. We have seen near a hundred children through a year of their lives without losing (what's left of) our minds. Waiting for us right now is a pair of pups with more problems than I care to mention and more love/hilarity/hair than could be found in the entirety of the sea. Our home is a ridiculous wonderland of books, NPR, Flight of the Conchords, socks missing mates, ravaged dog toys, scraps of poems, photo gear, and backpacks, and in the middle of all of the beauty and the chaos and the interminable barking, is us. You and me. Blossom and Gumby.
Before you, I knew I'd travel the world and hike the Grand Canyon and raise an insane animal.
It was in my blood.
But without you, it would have been nothing.
Because you are more in my blood than any dream I could have designed for myself.
And with you, it is everything. The smallest things are everything. You are everything.
So, let's go home. You and me.
We did good.
That'll do, pig. That'll do.
I love you, Big Guy.
Ha! I was half expecting a proposal to Chris at the end. So cool!
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