It’s been over a year since I’ve used this blog site and I believe it should be revived because I have more thoughts than I feel necessary for social networking such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat. I’m a man with too much to say and today I have to thank everyone who has helped me in my recently completed Euro Trip.
The Public
To be modest, every single one of you who knew I was going to Italy, Greece, Croatia, Belgium and Holland tried your best to give suggestions. This ranged from really awesome to really odd, whether it was typical tourist things or unique travel experiences. Many people back at home and those whom I’ve had the pleasure to encounter abroad have done nothing less but help me make my trip better by offering options.
Thank you all for anything and everything, regardless whether it was something or nothing.
Travelers we picked up
Aussies
I’m sure nobody in the world who travels would ever expect to meet an Australian……….
All jokes aside stop taking over the world, you’re everywhere.
The two groups of Australians, Perth and Brisbane, managed to liven up our group to the crude humor of the land down under. You’re all great guys, despite having very little time with both groups, our journeys will not be forgotten and I look forward to the day that we can organize crossing paths once again. Godspeed to the red gazelle
Americans
Our story is unmatched by any other travelers I’ve encountered since my travel addiction began. You’re some crazy guys with hearts of gold, you managed to make me laugh to tears a minimum of 5 times a day and even more. Somehow we’ve had some of the deepest conversations limited to anything we could imagine such as spirituality, religion, personality types, time, philosophy and the list goes on. You, you, him, me, he. Y’all, them, and Me stands alone. Thanks for the experience.
Enablers/Hosts
Annika
Berlin was a short last minute stop in our trip that was one of the sporadic decisions that makes me love traveling. The short lived life span of that decision would not have been lived at all if Harjas and I didn’t have a place to stay. You allowed us to try curry wurst, German beers and to experience a unique club in Berlin. Subsequently our experience in Germany would not have lead me to race my first car on any racetrack; much less the deadliest one in the world. Thanks.
Marzia
I’ve missed picking your brain as you’re one of the most intelligent and work driven girls I’ve ever met in my life. I’m ecstatic for you that you’ve managed to do what you love and love what you do, not that I ever had doubts that you would. I’m really happy we managed to meet up twice before I left that hectic city you call home. Thanks for showing up making it seem like no time had passed since our last encounter. I’ll never forget my first pizza and bruschette in Italy. If you head back to North America I’ll make sure to culture you more than when you were here last time. Grazie
Baptiste
Despite wanting to write it in French, or rather Quebecois for the humor I’ll keep it legible for the sake of any others who may read it. Thanks for meeting up in Amsterdam for the last weekend of my trip. I’ve missed you and your clown humor, I feel like we’re twins in different countries and seeing you lifted me up. Keep on pranking everyone in your life and you know that I’m jumping on that job offer in France. I’ll be one TGV away soon and we’ll be able to ride the alps together. Merci le gros connard
Silvia, Aurelie, Laetitia
Once again, sorry for the English. After having been studying in Montreal and not having showed you enough of my own city (snowboarding keeps me on my feet during winter) I was honored to have been your guest for a short and sweet 12 hours in Liege. I was cultured to the history of the city, saw the main districts, tried new Belgian beer and the list goes on. I will never eat mussels in any other way than the Belgian method. The bottle of Peket that you bought me moments before I left will remain a statue of your generosity and we can drink it when you come to Montreal. It was an experience I won’t forget. Merci infiniment les filles, je mangerais le chocolat bientot 🙂
Laurent
You. Are. Awesome. I don’t even know where to start.. I think you’re the person I need to thank the most in this trip. You gave us a place to stay (multiple times!), you went through so much to help us accomplish our goals and you gave us lots of love during our low moments. You’re an angel sent down from the gods. The beer we tried together, the memories we managed to pull back up, the weekend in Amsterdam – I wouldn’t have it any other way. You gave us so much and refused to take as much as a free beer when I tried to give you one. You cultured us to your very unique city, drove us to Liege, went so out of your way that I’m sure I owe you some sort of car by the time I get to the end of the list. I’m so glad we managed to meet up and have such crazy adventures together. I say this for Mike, Harjas, and Luisa – Merci infiniment pour tout ce que tu as fait pous nous, t’es vraiment trop fin – on sais pas comment te remercier.
Family
Claudia
You know you’re the best cousin when you take off work for the Canadian who opened with: Hey! I’ll be in Rome tomorrow! Grazie, I can’t express how amazing it was that we were able to become awesome friends after 20 years of not seeing or speaking to each other. I know your business is going to kick off because you have the talent and love for what you’re doing. It’s impossible to thank you enough as you brought us to your father who subsequently helped us get down south to some spots I would never have imagined seeing in my life. Thanks to you I was the first of the Coppola grandchildren to meet zio Silvio and see the house my father was born in. I owe you an entire trip worth of experiences as Italy would never have been the same without you. Thank your parents for everything, it went so much more appreciated than they know. Molto grazie!!!!!
Luisa
You’re family now, just as you should be. You managed to put up with three knuckleheads for two weeks without losing it. I thank you for being the person who could go to bed late and wake up early to explore with me. I thank you for putting up with the boys through thick and thin. I want to thank you for coming on this trip with us and being a Lady, a mother and a closer friend. After all is said and done we may not be the best of friends but I have a lot of respect for you and couldn’t have managed to stay grounded if you hadn’t showed up. Negative events aside I had a great time connecting with you. I wish my phone hadn’t been lost solely to email your mom some more action shots of you eating and having a good time. You were an angel on the trip and managed to take some really awesome photos of me even before I had lost my phone. You’re going to help me remember things I couldn’t have without you. Thanks for being a mother and tough as a rock at the same time. Your next drink in my presence is on me.
Harjas
You’re family now too, aside from the abandonment I’m about to face. Thanks for coming, I know it was tough at times trying to keep up with me popping blood vessels left and right about being early for transit and seeing sights. I can’t control the travel bug in me just as you can’t control that skinny gut you’ve got. All jokes aside man I’m glad I managed to be there to experience your first time being a traveler not a tourist and subsequently your first Europe trip partner in crime. I’m glad we went to the Nurburgring to make you happier than ever and to culture me. Thanks for the laughs, the endless generosity and for getting the full experience. You’ve made my trip entertaining in so many ways – enjoy Toronto with those dreads!
Mike
What are we now? Brothers? When I set out to travel with you I had a fear that your quirkiness or crazy humor might get to me at times but we stayed strong. We had a few small bumps in the road but at the end of the day I think you started off as a good friend and now you’re up there among my best. We had no many unique experiences that neither of us planned or would have expected. I’m sorry to your legs and feet for abusing them with walking and hiking but when it’s all said and dome I know you’ve acknowledged it was for our own good. I really can’t wait to get into the depth of our stories over beers with friends and laugh at the crazy sights we saw, it feels like a big haze or a dream despite that not even 24 hours ago we were chilling in our last hotel room of the trip. You helped me out in so many ways this trip words cant express my sentiments. I want to thank you for taking pics of me and helping me out after the phone incident as my memories may have been harder to retrieve without them. You’ve been a brother to me this trip and I think our bromance leveled up more than a few times. I’d like to hug you across the internet. Vuoi sposarmi?
Thank you all for everything, I will be blogging more often and will definitely post about my Euro-trip shortly!
JCoppola 