Met Sean without a problem Monday morning. We went back to the hotel, and then visited the (free) natural history museum and the (free) science museum. Sean went back to sleep, and I wandered slowly over to Chinatown where Queen's Theatre is.

Was distracted by Harrod's on the way - my new favorite store. They have everything there. The place is simply huge, and as an avid window shopper there was a ton for me to see. Especially nice were the models of Dubai mansions for sale, the crystal, glass, and silver rooms and the collection of high quality poker and chess sets.

Then walked around chinatown, and got my tickets. Had some money problems, but they all worked out in the end. Found a cheap dinner, and went and sat down for Les Mis.

which was, of course, incredible. Every note (except for Javert's) was perfect - and, in some cases, better than the other shows I've seen or heard. They had added a fair number of short scenes or moments that worked perfectly, and the stage work was masterful - always great to watch. Every actor or actress (except Javert) did an amazing job, especially Valjean. The highlight of the night was not One Day More but Bring Him Home, a testament to just how powerful his voice was. I think we applauded twice as long for that song as any other. He wasn't alone, though... everyone (except Javert) did superb. Gavroche and Eponine were perfect, and Marius and Enroljas sang a stunning Red and Black.

As you may have picked up on, Javert was disappointing. I have yet to hear a Javert who can capture the role perfectly - many pick up on parts of his character, but fail during others. In this case the final song, during his suicide, was great but others, such as Stars, were disappointing. Only other problem I had was the ensemble was on the small side, and so songs like Do You Hear the People Sing? were lacking about 10 extra voices that would have made it sound far stronger. Still, small complaints for an amazing, amazing, show.

Sean and I are about to go get lunch, then buy tickets for Lord of the Rings (for tonight) and Spamalot (for tomorrow), the two shows I could convince him we should see. After that we're going to visit the (free) London Museum and the (free) Tate Art Gallery, before coming back to Drury lane to see LOTR at 7:30.

...I come home in less than two weeks. It seems so soon.

Have the time (and the english keyboard) to make a decent update for now.

I loved Paris, to start. The city is a wonderful place to walk around in - beautiful buildings, fun statues, great atomsphere. The first night there I walked up the the quite new area La Defense, where they have built an incredibly modern business and entertainment center. Picture the region between the capital and the museum in Albany, only about 10 times bigger and more impressive. First time I ever saw escalators outside, for one. It was the first time I really felt like I was in an important city, as European cities, as a rule, don't build very tall buildings. The Corning Tower was taller than almost any I'd seen until Paris. Anyway, I watched a beautiful sunset from the new huge Arch they have, then took the metro back to my hostel.

Next day I went to the Louvre, and was there at 9:05. Good timing, as it only took me 5 minutes to go through security and get my tickets. Helped that I brought nothing - not even a camera. Didn't think they'd let us take pictures there, but they were far more lax about it than anywhere else. While in Rome or Athens all you hear staff shouting is ''NO FLASH! NO POSING!!'' every 30 seconds, here they didn't care. Anyway, spent about six hours in the Louvre, most of it speed walking through everything. The place is huge - 3 corridors, each a kilometer long, with five stories. It would take days to see everything properly. And yes, I saw the Mona Lisa.

After that I went back to La Defense, and watched Harry Potter and explored a french mall. Amazing how similar it is to American ones... it felt just like Crossgates, minus the signs saying 'NO ONE UNDER 16 AFTER 9:00'

Next day I met my Parisan friend and guide, Chris, at noon; after I walked to the arc and under the eiffel tower. Chris and I visited bookstores (I got yet another Neil Gaiman novel) and had lunch and then went to the science museum. It was rather boring, but the 3D film was great as ever. Best parts were the full size MC Escheresque rooms; the light and optical allusion exhibition and the sciencefiction monsters room. (two movie posters next to each other: 'I married a monster from outspace', 'I married a communist'. three earth animals with similarities to aliens: bug-eyed jellyfish, stick lobster, kitten)

Chris and I then went back to his car and moved it to free parking, then walked another several KM back to the tower. We were planning on going up but it costs too much - 11€. Turns out that it was also the French equivalent of the 4th of July that night, as the next day was Bastille Day and they have their fireworks the 13th. If we didn't have so much to do we would have stayed, but I had a train to catch the next day and he had to drive home. Also, he says that the french get very... boisterious on the 13th, and suggested I get to my hostel. From the sounds as I fell asleep, it was probably a good idea.

The 14th was a travel and relax day; after getting to London I walked down the Thames towards my hostel (which I only knew was east of the tower). Got sidetracked by a hilarious comedy duo The Maniax outside of the national theater, then a few hours later walked the remaining 5 km to the hostel. Found it eventually, had a good dinner and read myself to sleep.

Today I took the metro from the hostel to the city, found our hotel, walked through Hyde Park. Then met another friend, and we took a tour bus around the city for a few hours and then walked through Regent Park, after visiting 221b Baker Street.

Walked the 5 km back to the hotel, checked in, and am very glad to have 5 nights here. Nicest hotel I've ever stayed in, it's going to be great to have this place for our time here. Beds are comfortable, room is perfect, bathroom is a blessing after the rooms I've had at hostels. Dr Kelly, thank you.

I meet Sean tomorrow morning. I figure we'll come back to the hotel, walk around the city some, and then he's going to crash at night and I ordered a ticket to Les Miserables. I'm kinda excited. Only 35£, which is about $70, and it's actually a decent seat. Sean and I are going to see the Lord of the Rings stage performance some night, and depending on how things work out I might end up seeing something else - possible Othello at the Globe, or another musical. We'll see how the next few days go, we've got a lot of time in London - almost twice as long as I've spent anywhere since Athens.

I come home in two weeks - is everyone ready to hear me talk of nothing except Europe for another few months?

...I'm trying to decide if I can justify spending over $70 to see either Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera or The Lion King while in London. All would be the second time I've seen it... or I could see Wicked, or something different.

...Or I could go see Les Mis, again.

Had a near disaster on the French subway on the ay back from 7 hours in the Louvre today... very sudden, unexpected break between stations, cracked my jaw against one of the metal poles in the middle to hold on to. Hurt for about an hour, but feels fine now. I think the shock was the worst part. However, I think it may have knocked the two front teeth on the bottom slightly out of places - I can't see any difference, but it feels slightly strange there.
...fortunately I'm visiting an oral surgan as soon as I return anyway, so I can have it looked at then.

Paris is wonderful. Am enjoying the sunsets and the delicious French Italian restaurants. Am not enjoying French keyboards/

I'm in Paris now. Don't think I will update here until I am in London, as about a half dozen keys are in the wrong places on French keyboards; including 'a', 'm', 'y' and '.'.

Makes typing take far too long to updqte here... especially the a being out of place:

Switzerland would be far, far nicer if it wasn't so cloudy and rainy outside.

That said, while most people have been around when it's pitch dark outside, few people can say they were around in pitch light. Walking through/in the rainclouds around Mürrén today I could see about as far as my waist - visibility was about three feet. Needless to say, I didn't make it to the top of Slichthorn like Bond did, as I wasn't going to spend 89 CFR to see nothing. Still, I made it one mile above sealevel... just not two.

Would love to come back here with more time, more money, better planning. There's so much to see in do in this region (Jungfrou - The Top of Europe), and I only have time to visit one tourist attraction and walk around some old villages. Two weeks here would be enough to briefly see everything - one day isn't enough.

Visited the Tummelbach (I think) waterfall... it's a glacier drain that flows through a mountain, and you actually get to climb through passageways inside the mountain to look at it. Supposedly it's the only thing of its type, anywhere. It was very loud and very wet.

Outside has been similar, minus the loud. Switzerland a mile up is quiet, with no cars able to make it this high. Ran out of breath in the three kilometer hike I limited myself to (too far for my ankle, which had been better)... air is much thinner up here.

Still, would love to come back in the future... rent a chalet for two weeks, visit Jungfrou and Slichthorn and see the famous play of William Tell, kyack in the lake and do some white water rafting. Would also love to try the much more expensive canyoning, and possibly paragliding... they have pretty much every outdoor sport imaginable here. They also have the highest minigolf course in the world, which i would have done if it wasn't raining.

Now I need to go see if the other bookstore in town has anything in English before heading to the supermarket for my dinner, and I'm going to go back to the hostel and eat and crash from exhaustion. Bern & Geneva tomorrow, Paris the day after.

Ended up in Switzerland, not Vienna. Made it to Vienna, and found out that every hotel and hostel was book solid for three days. Walked around for several hours, saw the river, visited the museum I wanted to...

Now I'm in Switzerland, in Interlaken, the hub of major alpine excursions in the country. I don't plan on doing much hiking, but there are cable cars up to the tops of the mountains that I'll use to visit them. Don't know how long I'll be here - definitely the next two days, but I might end up heading to France if money is running low. It's expensive here, and I misplaced 90 francs (about 75 dollars) this morning due to exhaustion from not getting enough sleep.

My health is decreasing a little... I get tired more easily than I did at the start of the trip, and I don't sleep as well, and as of yesterday my throat started to act up from the copious amounts of cigarette smoke in the train and in Vienna. Swiss air should cure that quickly.

Money is also being spent a little fast than I would hope - have to spend less over the next thee weeks. Paris and London should make that difficult.

I think tomorrow I'm going to visit the alpine resort that James Bond visited in In Her Majesty's Service, which will be kinda cool.

Need to go now, need to get some food before crashing for the day.