Europe 1994	The summer of 1994, I got to take a trip to Europe as a graduation present from my wonderful parents. I flew from Denver to Virginia first, where I spent a week for my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. From there I flew into Oslo, Norway to meet my friend, Mari Svendsen. I stayed with Mari's family for about a week in KlØfta, a small town outside of Oslo. Mari and I started our three-week whirlwind tour of Europe with a visit to Germany.
	Germany	Yeah....we went to Pizza Hut while we were in NÜrnberg. BUT, there is a good explanation for it! We visited my friend, Darla, who was then living in Erlangen just outside of NÜrnberg - she didn't realize that there was a Pizza Hut nearby and she had been away from the states for a year and craved some pizza. The rest of the story is history. We stayed 3 days with Darla in her teeny tiny little dorm room before we moved on to Vienna, Austria.
	Austria I don't have any photos of Austria scanned in yet, but it was my favorite city in Europe! It was beautiful and the people were friendly and I want to go back. We spent 2 days walking around the old parts of the city, visiting museums, etc. We stayed in a youth hostel not too far from the city center (we had our own private balcony...ok....so it was the only fire escape for the building; we kept imagining that there was no way we wouldn't know if there was a fire because all the people in the hostel would be coming through our room). From Austria, we went to Italy.
	Italy	Our first stop in Italy was Venice. We didn't stay long (only a day-long stop along the way) but we managed to get very lost (if you have ever been to Venice, then you know that all those darn canals look the same)! The photo to the left is of me in the Piazza San Marco. You can buy little packages of food for the pigeons from street vendors. Mari was mobbed by them - it was almost like a scene from The Birds - she had them on her head, her hands, arms and any other available surface.
	After we left Venice, we went to stay with a friend of Mari's named Nicola. They had met when they were 13 and both their families were on vacation at the same place. Nicola lived in Bologna, where he was going to school, with three other guys: Pier Paolo (PP for short) and two guys from Brazil who we didn't really get to know. Nicola is an amazing cook; I think Mari and I both gained about 10 pounds just while we stayed with him (he is in chef school now in London, England). From Bologna, we took a day trip to Rome -- believe me when I tell you that you cannot see Rome in a day!! Rome is an amazing and beautiful city. We left Bologna early in the morning - the train ride was about 3 hours long. As soon as we got to Rome, we felt like we had to rush around just so that we could see everything -- the Coliseum, the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, everything. Let me tell you, it just isn't possible.
	L-R: Mari, P.P. and Yours Truly	Nicola and I in front of the Trevi Fountain

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