Once again, I don't have as much to say about Western Europe. But I will impart a little information gleaned from this stop instead of ignoring it completely:
- Everyone goes the the Colosseum and Vatican City in Rome while I will admit are must-sees, but after that, just as entertaining is to sit in a square and watch people in tourist groups get pooped on by pigeons. Roman pigeons seem to aim for the Japanese, though that could be a sheer numbers game, but it is quite a good day out if you are as easily amused as I am.
- If you are ever in Ireland in a pub reading Finnegan's Wake and it starts to actually make sense, you are officially too drunk and it's time to go home.
- Likewise, if you are ever in Dublin, dazed from just having arrived, carrying a huge backpack with nowhere to go and a group of wasted guys (still drunk from the night before because it's 10 a.m.) invite you to sit down and have a beer with them, despite your first reaction being to run away, do it. They will likely sing you Irish songs and rhymes and be hilarious to hang out with and a great welcome to Ireland.
- I'm going to go ahead and put Croatia in with Western Europe because it is so easy and touristy. If you ever go to Dubrovnik, it's a great afternoon to play hide and seek with kids in the old city.
- Do not go to Corfu, Greece if you are feeling independent and loving being the only tourist. If you are looking to get laid and wasted with a bunch of half-naked 18 year old Australians, then it is your place.
So that is a little bit of what I learned. I'm glad that I saw the things I did in Western Europe and feel lucky to have been there, but I also realized that's not the type of life-changing, challenging, brain-quenching, thought-defining, or adventurous travel that I am looking for at this stage in my life. But someday I will be back with money to have a good time!
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