"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." -St. Augustine

I was recently asked if I had a timeline for my goals on my bucket list. To be honest, I don't yet. For the most part, it's simply because I don't have the financial means to accomplish some of the more extravagant things (travel the world) or I don't have the time to dedicate to achieving my goals (Ironman triathlon). Yes, I know that they're just excuses, and that if I realllly wanted to do them, I could. But I also realize I have priorities that simply trump my lifelong wishes (school, loans).

In the meantime, I suppose there's no harm in reflecting on some of the bucket list tasks that I had already checked off prior to putting together my official list. After all, I would have wanted to do it all before I die anyways!

First off, backpacking Europe. My half-assed blog details as much as I could while having infrequent access to a computer in the latter weeks of summer '09. I visited 6 cities in 5 countries in just under 3 weeks: Paris, France; Barcelona, Spain; Rome, Italy; Venice, Italy; Prague, Czech Republic; Vienna, Austria. It was a wonderful trip, albeit stressful. Here are some of my favourite pictures.

Eiffel Tower right before it lit up.

The last leg of the Tour de France. It was INSANE. I had to sit on Nam's shoulders to even see anything! Most people just watched the screen.

Bullfighting ring in Barcelona, Spain. Had to adjust the lighting in the pic because we were standing in the shadows of the arena. The bulls were huge!

Sitting on the steps of the Colosseum in Rome. The picture at the very top of this blog is from the Colosseum as well. I would go back in a heartbeat. Definitely need to go again. I absolutely love the history there.

Watching the sun rise of the canal in Venice. The story of why I was standing there is much less glamorous -- after an unbelievably crappy overnight train ride from Rome, our train arrived in Venice at 5 am. I am not exaggerating when I tell you it was THE most uncomfortable night of my life. When we arrived, nothing was open, including our hostel. So what else to do but to watch the sun come up and sleep on creepy church benches next to pigeons?

Prague Castle in the Czech Republic. We didn't actually get to go because we didn't allot enough time while we were there =( Next time!

Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria