Sooooooo, I'm going to slow things down this week...I can't get it all sorted out at once. They say it takes one day of recovery for each hour of time difference, and if that is the case, I've got at least one more day of catch up ahead of me. So tomorrow, I will really rest. And try to keep things low key for most of this coming week.

I'll try to get back here before the end of the month with some final thoughts on five months of train travel through Europe. Be sure to ask your questions about Eurail tickets or European train travel in the comments section and I will do my best to answer them (between naps, of course :)

I spent a long weekend in Asti with my wonderful cousin and extended family, then two days couchsurfing in Lucca with a great group of folks, and I am now staying with more gracious hosts here in Florence. I continue to be showered with kindness from folks all over the world.

The trains have been fine -- slow and late and hot -- but fine. The first class car I was in from Asti to Genova on Monday had no air conditioning or electricity for about a half-hour, but thankfully when we got to Genova they put a new battery in and things improved dramatically for the rest of the trip down the coast to Viareggio. That was the only major inconvenience of train travel this week.

I don't think I'll be taking another train until the very end of my trip, when I am in Rome. I'm headed to a somewhat remote villa in Tuscany this weekend for a full week away, so this may be it from the Eurail blog until the final days of my five month adventure. Stay cool and don't forget to cheer for Italy on July 9th!!!

The Italian trains have been fine so far...I have been booking my reservations about a day or so in advance, and taking advantage of my first class Eurail pass to secure first class seats whenever possible. The reservations usually cost about 3 euros and are most often the same price whether booking first or second class.

But I only had a few hours, so I basically just walked around. You can store your baggage for 3,80 euro for up to five hours at the train station. The baggage office is to the left as you exit the main station, Principe. And on the right just before leaving the station is an excellent tourist office. The guide there gave me a free map and suggested a two hour route that would give me a basic lay of the land during my short stop over.

Best thing about the visit was that it was not swarming with tourists...since it is not know as a popular beach town (even though it does have beaches) it is not as popular with summer travelers. But I think it should be, there is a lot to see here and I def plan to make a return visit one day.

One more tip about the train station, there is a small second-hand bookstore with many books in other languages, including English. I picked up two for 8 euros...like I need to be buying more books on this trip! But handy hint to know if you make a stop here...

But here is some honesty -- four+ months on the road is starting to take its toll...the hostels, museums and streets are so much more crowded now. And the heat! It is unseasonably warm for Europe right now...I love warm weather, but it really wears you out when constantly on the go...I am ready to get rid of the backpack now...it is soooooo much easier to travel in off season, especially if you have already been on the road as long as I have. But of course, if I was in Nice in March, I would not have been able to lie on the beach today and walk around Old Town with a gelato for lunch. So I'm not complaining...just sharing how I'm feeling today.

I guess I got a little spoiled staying with family and friends a lot during the past month...this is my first youth hostel stay in a few weeks and it is a totally different vibe in summer, especially a beach town! I'm staying in a very popular youth hostel in Nice, with perks like free internet access, free towels, great food every night and a very social atmosphere. But with that comes drinking...and excessive drinking...which leads to puking sometimes. And a girl in my dorm room gave us all a gift about 2 am this morning. Fun stuff.

Considering how long Ive been traveling, it is a wonder it hasn't happened sooner. It's all part of the stories that make up this adventure, and I am still enjoying it all so much...but now with a much increased longing for home too...

About two weeks or so left, and all in Italy, which I know will be fantastic. And hopefully pukeless!

Hostels in Rome

I just returned from the Estacion de Franca here in Barcelona where I booked reservations for the two trains that will take me to Nice. First a morning trip to Montpellier, then a second train to Nice. I´ll arrive by 7 pm tomorrow, and spend two nights.

I am way behind on my journal writing and hope the train ride tomorrow is smooth enough to let me catch up. I wounld´t mind if it rains, because if it is nice out, I will wish that I was lying on a beach instead. But when I tried to book a night train for tomorrow evening (Barcelona to Torino) it was more than my accommodation for two nights in Nice to book a first class reservation, which I thought was very odd...

But all is set now...and I´ll probably wind up sleeping on the train tomorrow since I am off to enjoy my last night in Spain...with some more football!!!

Since leaving Berlin, I´ve taken a German ICE train, some regional trains in Germany and Spain, the sweltering Paris metro, and a French TGV night train with no sleeper car. All part of this crazy adventure I continue to have. The buzz of summer sport and heat makes traveling a bit more tiring, but also more exciting too, as World Cup fever keeps growing.

I´m happy to have about a week now to rest without any major distance train trips, although I must say the night trains and marathon travel days do help keep costs down on accommodations and save time too. If you are traveling by train in Europe this summer, just be prepared for the unexpected too -- this morning our night train from Paris, France to Irun, Spain decided to discontinue service at the second to last stop. The train crew announced that we would have to get off and take a bus to the scheduled final destination, Irun, where many of us had connecting trains to catch. What a way to wake up after a night scrunched in a train seat! Thankfully there was a short and cheap regional train we could easily take, and a nice multi-lingual passenger who helped tell us all about it (since the French train crew did nothing except wake us up and tell us to get off the train!)

It's all part of the fun of summer train travel in Europe...I´m sure there will be more unexpected bumps to come, but plenty more fun and laughs too...oh, and good football to watch, of course! I´m off to watch the Spain vs. Tunisia match here in Madrid, should be a good time.

Tomorrow my friends and I will travel to Kaiserslauten for the big US vs. Italy game. (We´ve already got our reservations for the train and tickets for the game, of course!) To say that I am excited is quite an understatement. My home country versus the home of all my ancestors...Regardless of the score, I have a feeling the energy of the crowd should be entertainment enough. And for me, a win for either team will be an amazing thing to witness...

Yesterday we tried to get reservations at the last minute for our trip from Essen to Berlin, and were told we couldn't get any. We probably could have boarded the train anyway, and just took our chances on finding unreserved seats, but they would not be together or would only be in the smoking car. If those things don't bother you, chances are you will always be able to find something without a reservation, especially if you are one person traveling alone.

I've also tried to book some reservations online about a week or so in advance but often get a message like this from DB or another train booking website: "Unfortunately there is no online booking possible for the requested connection. This is due to one of the following reasons. Neither an OnlineTicket nor a seat reservation can be offered. The deadline for booking the requested journey has passed." But nine times out of ten if you show up at a ticket counter, you should be able to book a reservation, even up to several minutes before the departure time.

When I arrived there around lunchtime the place was jumping with World Cup fans. It was a bit chaotic, but even still, a DB customer service guy was very nice and helpful when I inquired about changing my connecting train to an earlier time. He quickly printed out two alternative options on how I could get to Essen quicker...and I jumped back on yet another train. Easy breezy...and I met lots of cool US football fans on the way to keep me company.

I´ve been really lucky with how smooth all the train travel has been going. Budapest to Essen, then Essen to Berlin...so far so good. Getting to and from the World Cup game at Gelsenkirchen was the most tedious part of my travels the last few days. National and regional transportation services in Germany seem to be operating well, but the city service before and after the big game was not as good as I thought it could be for a World Cup game. The buses were packed (and unfortunately stuffy and hot) and there just didn´t seem to be enough of them. But no major complaints -- at least I made it on time and got to see my first World Cup game.

The Split to Zagreb train was one of these newer high-tech tilting trains, I think it was the first of my entire European trip. I was nervous that this would make me sick but my stomach and I survived just fine. Maybe it was because I slept most of the way.

On the train to Budapest I chatted with a Croatian woman on her way to visit a friend. Maria was making her very first trip to Budapest and, I discovered, has never been to Italy either. She has lived in or near Zagreb most of her life, yet has never visited countires closest to her own. It remined me of things close to where I have grown up in NY that I have never been to -- Cooperstown, Niagra Falls, the state of Maine! Funny how that happens.

I'll spend a few days in Budapest with my friend Eszter, before heading to Germany for World Cup action! I'm really getting excited for football now!

At the Split train station I bought my ticket to Zagreb (124 kunas) and my ticket from Zagreb to the Croatian/Hungarian border (49 kunas). After that, I will use my Eurail Pass for the remainder of the trip to Budapest. I'll start at 7:40 AM and finish at 9:30 PM. Long day, but I plan on sleeping most of the way :)