Case of the Curious Mustache

Only a week into writing this blog & I've already taken 5 days off from working on it...while being unemployed & sitting on my couch mostly. This does not bode well for the blog while traveling.

After I came back from 3 days of camping in Yosemite this weekend, I told myself it was OK to take a day or 2 to recover & get some sleep, and then I woke up in a panic this morning when I realized I pretty much only have 3 days between now & September 1st to pack up my room and possessions so the subletter can move in. Due to a music festival this weekend in SF, I'm pretty much losing those 3 days. Since it's 9:30PM, I now have 2 days to move out. I hadn't done a thing towards this goal as of this morning & still didn't do enough today; had a fantasy football draft to study up for instead (priorities).

The only real progress I've made on the trip in the last few days is just getting more advice on places to go/avoid from random people.

In fact, if I had to make a list of "most recommended places to visit" in Europe, the list would go something like this (starting with most frequently recommended):

1). Barcelona - Absolutely running away with the votes. People have guaranteed me it'll be the most fun I have & that's where I'll stay longest.

2). Amsterdam - No explanation needed.

3). Cinque Terre, Italy - This one surprised me because when I first read about it in a travel book, I felt like I had just stumbled on to a secret place that no one else had ever heard of. Took me like 5 different people recommending Cinque Terre for me to realize that millions of people other than me have read travel books. Oh well, still thinking it'll be a great place.

4). Munich - Both during Oktoberfest & post-Oktoberfest have been recommended. I've been watching & re-watching Beerfest hoping it's exactly like that.

5). Switzerland - Some have said to get there before the snow hits the Alps; some have said the most fun they had was enjoying the snow in Switzerland.

And for the 5 least recommended places:

5). Frankfurt - Boring, least interesting city in Germany?

4). Venice - Surprisingly not interesting for how much it's talked about?

3). Eastern Europe - Recommended to check out a few major cities (Prague, Budapest, Vienna) but nothing more in this area.

2). Madrid - I don't think it's that Madrid isn't OK, but more likely people just telling me that I'll want to spend much more time in Barcelona than Madrid.

1). London - Shocking to me. Almost unanimously people have said it's just like being in the US, London is the most Americanized city. Others said everyone gets to England eventually for some reason so don't waste my time on this particular trip.

And for those of you who mindlessly read through those useless words above, I now reward you with my latest project. Yes, after 26 years of life, I finally put in my first true effort to grow facial hair. And here are the ghastly results of my Little Wispy Bitch Mustache: