My life is a whirlwind. I have no idea what's going to happen next. I was bored with Madrid and missing Moab, so I decided to call it quits early and head home. I scheduled a flight to Milan, so that I could visit my buddy Eric for a few days, then another flight from Milan back to the states. I went for one last walk around Madrid to see a few of the sights that I'd missed. The highlight was the Templo de Debod, which is an actual Egyptian temple that was saved, along with many others, from being flooded when they built the Aswan High Dam on the Nile. It was taken apart piece by piece, shipped across the Mediterranean, and reassembled in downtown Madrid. Crazy.

Due to a conflict with my 6am flight time and the fact that the Metro shuts down from 2-6am, I was forced to leave my apartment at midnight, then try to catch some sleep in the airport before my flight. Suck. I then arrived in Bergamo (Ryanair's airport "near" Milan) at about 8:30, took various busses to Switzerland, and finally met Eric in the mid-afternoon. I arrived to sunny skies, but a dire weather forecast, so we went for a quick hike to see one of the canyons here before the rains came. The combination of white granite and turquoise water is perfect and the access doesn't get much easier.

Unfortunately the weather forecasts came true. The skies opened up and the water levels rose accordingly. Canyoning was definitely off the menu.

Finally the sun came back out, and there was much rejoicing.

And climbing.

And changes of plan. I was offered work with a canyoning company that had a guide drop out at the last minute. Let's see, stay around this beautiful place AND make decent money...OK. They even hooked me up with a place to stay while I'm here. The view from the back deck:

The house:

So I'll be here for six weeks or so. Looking forward to exploring more of this area. More photos will be taken. I promise. As a parting shot, my attempt at a self portrait. Feel free to criticize.