Cleanliness

Good Afternoon!

I simply cannot believe how many awesome people there are reading this blog! Thank you so much for your interest in my little trip. Thanks also to you who are commenting!

As for what's going on over here- after the last post I talked again with Tom (the Canadian I mentioned before) and he was going to meet up with a friend of his who was here by coincidence and go watch the final game of the EuroCup. He graciously invited me and we headed out to an Irish pub to watch the epic match between Germany and Spain. Since we were a little early for the game we wandered around and ran into what can be called Marseilles Idol- a bunch of performers singing to appease the voting crowds. It was pretty entertaining and about half the musicians were worth a listen.

We then grabbed our seats at the Irish pub, got our happy-hour drinks, and prepared for a match of epic proportion. As the game began, the pub slowly began to fill with people, until it was almost entirely packed with mostly Spain-cheerers. Throughout the night, as I nursed my pint of Guinness, the crowd would break into chants of "Viva la Espana"!! Of course, there was a little group of German girls who would sporatically, if feebly, chant "Deutchland! Deutchland!" but in response they only got booed. As the game was nearing the last quarter, Spain scored the first, and last, goal of the night. It was a great game and I'm proud to have been present in a pub to experience such a sight. I would not have wanted to be in Germany, though. Nothing like a nationally-bruised ego...

I woke up early this morning and got on the train to Arles- a small town about an hour outside Marseilles. When I got there I saw many of the Roman ruins that have been left there. As a riverside town, Arles was a center of Roman activity and had an ancient theater, amphitheater, and forum built. To delve into this ancient history, I went to the town's Ancient History of Arles museum where I got inundated with Roman historical facts regarding Arles.

After seeing all I wanted in the town in less time than I expected, I utilized my Eurail pass and jumped on a train to Avignon, a 20 minute ride further on. As opposed to Arles, Avignon is much more urban, dispite a relatively small difference in population. The streets were wider, and the building more modern. Also, there were many more shops like H&M in Avignon.

The highlights of Avignon are the Papal palace and a half-existant bridge. The papal palace I found quite interesting, especially since I had no idea that Roman Catholocism had moved HQ at any point. They did, and they did for quite a while. When civil war ravaged Italy, the pope and his posse went a-roaming until it was over. They landed in Avignon and built a palace for themselves. I learned that to be Pope was to be treated like a king, if not better. He had a whole palace, tons of servants, and royal dignitaries wooing him up the wazoo!

The half-remaining bridge was somewhat interesting, since it is said to have been built on divine ground and yet has fallen apart over the years from flooding. I was glad I made the most of my day by going there. Now I'm back in Marseilles, waiting for my laundry (which is in the hostel itself- sweet!) to be done and digesting a nice and cheap chinese dinner. Its so hot and humid here, but I find that even Phoenix's dry heat has prepared me well for what I'm experiencing here.

As for the future- tomorrow I go to Nice- the heart of the French Riviera- then to Monaco, and Rome! It should be a fun week ahead of me, made all the more better with some clean clothes!

Thanks for reading!

(Once again due to irritating techinical difficulties, I can't upload pictures today. Sorry!)