About six weeks after when I originally expected it, Apple has updated their MacBook Pro lineup. The new stock MBP is updated with the new Intel Core 2 Duo Penryn processors, a larger hard drive, more memory on the graphics card, and the new Multi-Touch trackpad technology first introduced on the iPhone and MacBook Air. I, for one, am a happy camper because this update means I can finally go ahead and order my very first Mac (which I’ve actually already done). It’s been a long-time coming, but come March, I will finally be a Mac user. I’m too excited to even put it into words so I’ll just let you stare in awe at the glory that is soon to become my new computer:

Courtesy of Apple.

I am exhausted! Italy has been crazy! Rome was great fun but once we hit Florence and Venice, things just went haywire.

When we got to Florence, we hadn’t booked a hostel yet. After seeking out an internet cafe, we booked a place nearby and went there. When we got there, no one was at reception but luckily, other people staying at that hostel let us in (one point for the security measures in place). We hung around for about 30 minutes before someone showed up. We ddin’t feel that great about the place but it was a place to sleep so that was all we really cared about. We went out for dinner and all the streets were deserted! It was Saturday night! It was also freezing out, like Vancouver cold. We decided to go to bed early and get an early start the next day.

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Wednesday was probably the longest day I’ve had since going on this trip. When we checked out of the hostel, we had to get on the metro to the bus station to catch a 75-minute bus to Girona airport. After about 90 minutes waiting at the terminal, we got on our 90-minute flight to Rome, Italy. We actually flew in to Ciampino and a train from there to Rome should have been relatively easy. But the bus driver was stupid and what should have been a 30-minute trip turned into almost three hours. Eventually, though, we arrived and checked into our hostel. Dinner followed (pizza in Italy!) and then we went to the bar downstairs from where we were staying.

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Arrived in Madrid Friday morning and spent a little while trying to find a hostel to stay at. Finally, we found a pretty cheap hostel and the person working there when we arrived was really cool. Madrid as a city could be anywhere in the world, not specifically Spain. We didn’t see anything really to make us feel we were in Spain. Before going there, I didn’t really know much about the country except they had bull-fights. However, when we got there, they didn’t have any going on (although I probably wouldn’t have went since personally I think it’s cruel). The first day there, we checked out the big park in the city. Not too interesting. Later in the day, we continued to do some wandering. I ended it with an early night.

Puerta de Alcalá.

Parque del Buen Retiro.

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Boy, am I tired. Today, we went to the Louvre Museum and is that place ever huge. There were three areas spread over four floors and I’m pretty sure I didn’t see everything (although certainly not from a lack of trying). We were there for four hours and had it not been closing time, we would have definitely stayed longer. I can now add the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo to the pieces of art I’ve seen in real life.

Louvre Museum.

Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

Venus de Milo.

 
I. M. Pei’s glass pyramid, from inside the Louvre.

After the extensive exploration of the Louvre, we had dinner before looking for souvenirs. Most of the tourist shops where close by that time so we didn’t have much luck. The last thing we decided to do before leaving Paris the next morning was go ice skating! There was an outdoor ice rink in the city center, to my surprise, so we enjoyed it. I had a fun time and I’ll probably try to go skating more often once I’m back home.

Mmm, dinner!

Ice skating in Paris.

Our flight to Madrid is tomorrow morning and I’m already dreading having to wake up extremely early (4.15a, anyone?). I wish I had more time in Paris. I really wanted to see the Moulin Rouge, among other things. I’ll definitely have to plan for a longer trip to Paris in the future.