What's up
Peter Fenelon
No rush on this next response but I am just checking in to see how everything is going. Enjoy being in Africa and I look forward to hearing all about it
Peter Fenelon
Chad Hutchison
We are sitting on top of our riad in Marrakech enjoying a cup of coffee and breakfast as we write this email. We think the last time we updated you was Munich...so we have some catching up to do.
We left Munich a day early for bologna. That train ride as amazing through the Austrian alps...scenery was incredible. Bologna was an interesting city. I is the young college communist capital of Italy, there was anarchy and graffiti everywhere. Cool old city to walk around. We climbed a tall tower that had great views of the city and country side. Pizza and other food was good, but not fantastic. Mark jones struggled with the accent and nobody could understand him.
Florence was next. That city was amazing. The duomo was the most beautiful building we've seen on this trip. The food and gelato again was amazing. The art was amazing in that city. We watched the sunset from up on the piazza de Michelangelo which overlooks the whole city. It was amazing. Really romantic city and it was funny that It was just 4 guys. The next day we went to the ufizzi museum, waited in line for 2.5 hours.
We then cruise up to Vicenza to see nick. We only had about 4 hours there, but we were able to see the small city and have dinner with him. He has an awesome set up. That night we headed out to Milan. The next day in Milan we saw an amazing cathedral and had some amazing pizza and lasagna.
France was next. Nice was very Rainey the first day, and we didn't do much but go out at night. Clearly a big exchange student town and the bar scene was too expensive and packed. Thomas got a kiss from a beautiful french girl in the rain (very romantic). then jim got one too (less so). The beaches were nice and the views stunning. Everything was expensive, however. We got drunk during the day the second day and booked flights to morocco...turns out at was a good choice. Mark was scared.
The train the next day to Avignon was amazing. We saw the whole south of France! Mark accidentally bought first class tickets for this ride, so it was especially nice. Avignon was a neat small city with multiple castles and walls. Nice to walk around.
Barcelona! We got there and saw las ramblas. We took it easy that night, just beer and tapas. The next day we did las ramblas and gaudi park. We got duped into getting very shitty paella and were very upset. That night we wen to the stock exchange bar and enjoyed it thoroughly. Next day we went to the beach, and planned on going out big that night at the club. We all had a great time and stayed up until 5:30. We had to catch a train to Valencia the next day early so it sucked. Valencia had a small town feel...great paella and a cool science museum. Sevilla sucked when we were there, but served as a springboard for morocco. We are hoping to get a better impression in the other end.
Morocco has been amazing. The food is excellent. The shopping is great! So many great gifts to buy. We will try to keep you better updated!
Send us an update on you. Also maybe a picture of your new foot?
Hope the recovery is going well.
Chad B. Hutchison
_______________
The University of Texas at Austin
Cockrell School of Engineering
Chemical Engineering
915.449.7233 (c)
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Peter Fenelon
The whole description of what you did in Italy sounds wonderful. The food, museums, train rides, culture/atmosphere, everything sounds just fantastic. Thanks for the description.
I love the drunken flight booking and the romantic kisses Jim and Tom got. Way to go guys, really cute. Mark hope you enjoyed your first class ticket on that train.
Sounds like Spain has been a little hit or miss. I hope you can turn it around when you get back. I did not expect to get such great reviews from morocco, sounds like it is and has been awesome. So cool that you guys were able to tack on Africa to the trip. Can't wait to see pictures of all these places once they get uploaded.
Sorry we couldn't connect on the phone today. I am doing well; the surgery went as good as it could and now I am just waiting for the wound to heal. Hopefully by my next doctors visit, 4/11, the doctor will take out my stitches and clear me to walk in a boot. We will just have to wait and see. Basically I am getting stir crazy by not being able to do anything.
I am so jealous of what you guys have been able to do. For some reason, I woke up this morning with the thought that I will not be able to go on a backpacking European trip. The next time I would be able to go for an extended period of time would be when I am an old ass 65 year old. Fucking sucks, I have always wanted to do a euro trip. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now.
Here is a picture of my foot, it's still wrapped in a bandage but you can easily see that something 'big' is missing
Chad Hutchison
Pete,
We have some time to send you another trip update. We are currently in Doolin, Ireland enjoying the beautiful Cliffs of Moher and the Guinness is amazing. Toms family has been incredibly hospitable. We will attempt to get you caught up on where we have been since Morocco.
Morocco: As you know, we visited both Marrakesh and Rabat. Marrakech was an amazing place with a crazy medina where everything from leather goods to bathtubs and cannons were sold. The people who sold you stuff were very pushy and annoying, but that goes without saying. We stayed in a Riad very close to the Jmaar el Fna, which is a bustling plaza with snake charmers and all sorts of crazy people. At night, this plaza converted into food stands. The stands were numbered and all had different specialties. One of our favorite nights is when we went 'stall-hopping' and enjoyed Moroccan soup and figs, sausages and bread and olives, and lamb/brain tajin. This is the night tom ordered the brain. It was an amazing experience and we were the only white people at these stalls so we felt cool. Rabat was an interesting beach city with cool fortifications. It had a more colonial feel and was a different experience.
Spain take 2:We spent a night in Tarifa, spain, and got to see the kite surfing capital of Europe. The beach was VERY windy, but we enjoyed our time there. We had great tapas and went to a flamenco bar. Great fun. Sevilla was excellent the next time we were there. There were great palaces and cathedrals and it was all very romantic. We then moved up to Madrid to meet old bmitch. We went to a 7 story club the first night, sang Backstreet Boys and all had great times.
Paris was Paris...beautiful city. Naturally we ended up hanging out in a Irish pub as our meeting spot. Unfortunately, the Louvre was closed because the workers were on strike due to too much pick pocketing so we missed out on that. Brian took us out to a great meal one night which was awesome.
London: We met Brendan (Toms cousin) in London and went to the local pub in Stratford. He really took care of us..even put us up in a bed and breakfast right down the street from Toms aunt. We saw everything in London mostly...its impossible to see everything. One night we went to the same pub and had a 'lock-in'. This is where the bar owners let a select few continue to drink far past when they are required to close. That was great. We got to see Olympic park as well.
How is the foot??
And this one is a fuck you to snow picture
Peter Fenelon
On Apr 2, 2013, at 5:24, Chad Hutchison <chad.b.h...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Pete,
Peter Fenelon
Peter Fenelon