Prague

I suspect that when most tourists think back to their time spent in Prague they recall the beauty of this unique, quaint town in Central Europe. However, when I think of Prague, I envision jelly donuts, giant tv screens, and deranged bums. The constant debate that often ended in hostile disagreements on this trip was always concerning where we would eat. I love food but Trent loves penny-pinching. Prague was the second of our 11 cities and was the first time I lost my cool with my button-pushing brother. The famous quote from this leg of the trip was, "Trent, we are in beautiful Prague. I refuse to eat at the train station again." He laughed in my face and even though I was fuming, I had to laugh at his imitation of me.

Our first morning brought a very pleasant surprise at our hostel: free jelly donuts. This obviously pleased both the oinker in me and the tight-wad in Trent. I was 26 and had never had a jelly donut in my life. Sprinkled donuts were always my first choice and I was never excited about a donut "surprising" me with what was inside. However, I bit down into the powdered sugar-covered pastry and, with apricot filling spilling down my chin, my eyes widened and I knew I had discovered a new love. We toured inside the famous castle and walked the famous Charles bridge but my memory of these jelly donuts is much more vivid.

When we headed out for our first day on the town, I quickly realized a major packing mistake. Assuming summer weather would be similar to that of Southern California, I had only brought one flimsy zip-up and one pair of pants. Our first stop was at a shop to get me a jacket and to get us both Nederland scarves. If we were going to jump on this bandwagon, we wanted to do it properly. We tried to be sophisticated and learn about the history of the city by joining a free tour. However, we both got super bored and I recalled my awkward encounter trying to tip the tour guide in Berlin so I was more than happy to follow Trent as we covertly skipped out and went on our own "educational tour." Here's what we learned on our self-guided tour of Prague:

Old cities have cool, bizarre statues that are fun to imitate.

Trent's head is the size of a giant tunnel leading to the Charles Bridge.

The architecture in Prague is incredible.

Jesus sometimes posed like the Fonz.

Trent's "skunk" enjoys snacking on apple strudels too.

Old Town Prague is beautiful but not so "quaint" when it is swarming with tourists.

Trent has an abnormal amount of neck skin.

When we tired of "touring", we sat on the Charles Bridge and played "spot the American." We returned to Old Town that night for our first experience watching soccer with thousands of other die-hard/bandwagon soccer fans. I wish I had written more details in my journal about what happened this night. I wrote random and pointless facts like what time the sun set but only wrote, "sat next to crazy homeless woman. Man danced to Ricky Martin." Apparently, I assumed this would jog my memory but it didn't. I don't know how on earth I can't remember a stranger dancing to "She bangs" but I did. Despite the Ricky Martin dancer, or possibly BECAUSE OF the Ricky Martin dancer, this was our favorite setting to watch the Eurocup. We were struck by the bizarre juxtaposition of a beautiful old castle set as the backdrop for a giant, modern television .

That stupid skunk made several appearances in Prague. I'm not sure what sparked these facial expressions but I'm guessing it was either due to the biting cold or psychotic homeless people dancing around us.

After the games most tourists found bars but Trent and I wondered around to see the city at night. Our jaws dropped when we stumbled upon this view of the castle and bridge:

Now I understood why people raved about Prague. Prior to this moment, I was honestly feeling a bit like we were in a giant Disneyland- we were surrounded by obnoxious tourists clad in fanny packs and Jesus sandals so it was hard to feel the "magic" of this city. However, there were several moments like this one when we were away from drunken, ignorant tourists and could appreciate the beauty of this magical city.

We also tried to take a picture of ourselves with the Charles Bridge in the background. However, for the lighting on my camera to work, I had to hold my hand perfectly still for 10 seconds which meant we also had to hold our faces perfectly still for 10 seconds. It wasn't easy and we looked pretty ridiculous and all I have to show for our efforts is this blurry picture.

On day two we ventured to a different hostel outside of the city so we could see some greenery, avoid some of the tourists, and get a "local flavor."

We went for a run along this river where our hostel was located. My only memory of this hostel was being in our room and Trent making me do planks for 60 seconds but he kept messing up the counting and I was getting genuinely frustrated with him.

While in the "local area" we learned that the "local Czechs" are quite fond of graffiti.

Hopefully the graffiti doesn't say something terribly crude. Even though I'm a bit annoyed that the lady ruined our perfect timer shot, I love that she is looking at us, clearly confused about why we were staring straight across the train tracks.

This very full day began with a free tour of the famous castle. "Free" only because Trent found a way for us to sneak in. I don't recall how he did it but I remember feeling very nervous that guards were going to stop us at any moment but they never did. The only castles we had experienced were either in the sand or at Disneyland and it quickly became apparent that Disneyland is a cheap imitation of the real deal. So although there were throngs of tourists like at Disneyland, the inside of this legit castle was quite different. It was musty and majestic and whispered wonders and awe that Disneyland can never imitate. Here are our reverent faces:

The stained glass was like none we had ever seen. Simply amazing. After soaking in the beauty of the windows and the castle, we began our hike back down to the city. In the following picture you'll see us standing on a bridge with the castle in the background. For all the running and walking we did, it is rather surprising we didn't lose any weight. Well, maybe those jelly donuts played a small roll.

Trent had told me about the game "ditch em" so on our walk back, I decided to play with just two of us. While we were trudging across the Charles Bridge, weaving in and out of the sea of people, I stopped. I slipped behind some large men and then hid behind a statue and watched Trent walk for a few yards and then notice and turn around laughing. It was then I realized why the game is only fun if you have more than 2 people. I was alone, crouching behind a statue doing a shoulder-shaking laugh with no one else to enjoy the moment and strangers glancing at me like I was crazy.

Our next destination was a tower we climbed to get a bird's eye view of the city. I know I said I wouldn't post pictures of random buildings but the city looked even more incredible from up here.

This church with the turquoise roof was our next destination. I dragged Trent to what I thought would be a symphony but turned out to be an organ/trumpet concert. We both fell asleep.

So much for our attempt to be "cultured." Luckily our power naps geared us up for a lively night of soccer.

This time I got the brats and let Trent pick our seats. He didn't find pot-smokers but he did end up in bum central. The irony of this is that Travis, Trent's twin, has always called Trent "bum." I laughed pretty hard as I carried our brats and found Trent here:

There were about 7-10 homeless people surrounding us the whole game. We left after the first game because one particular bum had grown eerily fascinated with Trent. He was convinced that Trent was Jesus. So we went and found some hot chocolate and laughed a lot in this coffee shop but I can't remember why.

And then we returned for the second soccer match. However, Trent's new disciple hadn't disappeared. We saw him dancing like a mad man in the crowd getting very strange looks and and then ducked our heads when he stormed towards us looking like he was ready to bash heads in.

However, he immediately softened when he saw Trent and came right over to us. When Trent finished his hot chocolate, his disciple asked for the cup and then licked the entire inside of the cup. Trent and I sat agog, hoping this crazed man would not pull out a knife. He sat beside us and watched Trent as we watched our team beat France.

We had to ask a stranger to take this picture and it was a bit awkward. He kept looking up at us like he thought we weren't ready for the picture.

Our last day in Prague was an unexpected adventure. Long story short, we didn't get the bus we needed to for the 3 hour ride to our next city so we needed the internet to find another bus and buy tickets. As we wondered the streets, we saw a hostel advertising "free internet." We slipped inside and there was no one to be found. So we wandered the halls and found a computer in the stairwell. We whispered back and forth as we tried to figure out how to navigate a website that had no English. A janitor busted us after about a half hour but we both have mastered the "clueless American" act and confused the poor man so he left us alone and we slipped out of there with bus tickets and a feeling of accomplishment. Our three hour bus ride brought us to our next stop: Czesky Krumlov, a city which turned out to be one of our favorites on the trip.

Berlin

Berlin. The meeting spot and beginning of our journey. Due to its tragic history, I had expected a dark and dreary city full of dark and dreary people. Wrong. We chose to start here because it made geographic sense, it was cheap to fly into to, and the history teacher in me wouldn't let me pass up an opportunity to pass by such earth-shattering history but I certainly didn't expect to have so much fun here.

Our first experience with public transportation was a semi-success. We got where we were heading but it took much deliberation and we didn't realize we had to pay BEFORE we went aboard. Oops. Free ride on Germany. If I had known we were scamming the subway system, I would have been terrified. Ignorance is bliss. After arriving in the vicinity of our hostel, we stepped out into the open air, looked around, had no idea how to read the map I had printed out and laughed. This was the beginning of our adventure. On this trip just getting to our destination became a challenge and adventure. We walked with the crowd for a bit and then paused to try to get our bearings. Our first encounter with a Berliner was a very friendly young gal who saw Trent's furrowed brow and offered her assistance- luckily in English. Thank Jesus I have an attractive brother who looks really confused when he's lost.

In hindsite, the hostel in Berlin was probably the worst of all the ones we stayed at. Our cozy basement was shared by no less than 50 other loud, drunk American back packers. I sadly can see why we have a reputation for being obnoxious. There is just something rather odd about waking up and seeing a bunch of strange men sleeping in their boxers in the bunk beds surrounding you. Luckily, our schedules didn't coincide with most backpackers. We were usually the first in bed (trying desperately to fall into a deep sleep before the drunkards would stumble in and wake us up with their incoherent ranting and raving) and were the first up going for a morning run.

The first evening we arrived we had a few hours of sunlight to wander around and find dinner. After strolling through the streets, we ended up at a brat vender who had set up a huge tv to watch soccer. Even though we're not huge soccer fans, watching the Eurocup throughout Europe was incredibly fun; certainly a highlight. With our Dutch roots, we immediately jumped on the Nederlands bandwagon and rooted for them our first night in Berlin while experiencing our first scoops of the heavenly gelato we would sniff out in every country.We turned in fairly early and were up with the sun to enjoy a famous German pretzel for breakfast and a morning run. No destination in mind, we just ran and suddenly were here:

I probably should have known what this was, or at least recognized it, but I didn't. We turned the corner, saw it, looked at each other and said, "Cool. I wonder what that is." Then we ran past some other major, important, historical buildings which were received by us with raised eyebrows and deep, insightful observations like, "neat."

We took a free tour of the city and if I didn't have the pictures, all I would remember for the tour is this: Trent made me tip our "free tour guide" and it was a super awkward exchange of money since I didn't know how much to give and we were ditching out early and I got the hand-exchange all wrong. I am not very smooth. Here are some pictures from our "free" tour:

Holocaust Memorial

Site of Hitler's bunker where he committed suicide. We went for "excited faces" since we were excited that he is dead and excited that this spot was just an ugly dirt lot.

Berlin Wall. A stranger offered to take our picture. Hence the normal smiles.

East Berlin Propaganda Mural. I was very amused and made Trent join the propaganda scene. It was must funnier at the time. To me at least.

Three ladies with ridiculously large hats painting some famous building. Let's be honest, buildings are cool but people are way more interesting and these ladies are awesome.

After the tour, we headed to a famous work camp. Sobering. What I remember is feeling lost as we wondered through a quaint, suburban neighborhood and suddenly were at the gates of the camp. For the next two hours, our brains struggled to wrap around what had happened here. It didn't feel real. Pictures here aren't very fun or entertaining. They're just sad. This one is cool though because although Trent accidentally took it while setting up a timer shot, it captures the mood of the outing- we were quiet and disturbed.

We rode the subway back to downtown with heavy hearts and little conversation. What's odd is I remember being starving and so thankful for the peanut MnM's Trent had purchased. I have a clearer memory of eating that bag of candy than I do of actually touring the camp. I suppose my brain didn't want to hold on to those painful memories. Perhaps this is similar to how Berliners feel.

That night was a stark contrast to our somber afternoon at the camp. Trent is incurably cheap. Thus, we returned to our brat stand for our second dinner in Berlin. This time there was a larger crowd vying for seats by the big screen so Trent stood in line and gave me the task of finding us seats. Big mistake. I searched the tables and they were all occupied. Awkward me searched for the table with the most room and least intimidating looking stranger. I sat by two young guys at a large table with plenty of room and made small talk. Comical in itself but then it got awkward. Because then three of their friends joined us and the table was suddenly quite full. There I was, sitting at a now crowded table with five young guys when Trent appeared with our brats and raised his eye brows at me then squeezed in. It got worse. While we were enjoying our brats, I discovered that they can be especially juicy. I squirted brat juice into the face of a stranger. Now the kicker. Our new friends were quite friendly and then got even more friendly as they rolled joints and offered us some. If you know me, you know how red my face turned. People don't offer me drugs. People know that I am a Christ-following, rule-following "goody goody" who payed very close attention during the D.A.R.E. presentations. After I picked my jaw up off the table, we declined their offer and I avoided eye contact with Trent who was loving this moment.

Our last day in Berlin involved another morning run. I was sick of concrete so we found the Tiergarden and lush greenery. I think my favorite way to see a city is while running. Here are some pictures from our run:

Stretching outside some famous building. Reich something or other. Yes, that is Trent's "perfect push-up" gear. Who brings those to Europe? Only my brother.

Running through the gardens. There's another timer shot of both of us but I have a huge wedgie and butt sweat so I'm not posting it.

I was mean and tricked Trent into smiling. He was pissed.

Honestly, I'm not sure what possessed me to jump into their group shot.

We managed to cram quite a bit into our time in Berlin and were pretty exhausted by the time we got on the train for our four hour ride to Prague. Trent watched my bags as I searched for one last German pretzel in the train station.

We were pretty stoaked on the train ride. Not only was it a beautiful ride along wide, winding rivers and giant, jutting cliffs but our trip was off to a grand start. We had both had pretty low expectations for Berlin so it had greatly surpassed them all and we couldn't wait to see what the Czech Republic had in store.

Cross-dressing Back Packers

Trent is brutally honest with me. He is the first person to tell me if I'm being lame and has zero regard for my self-esteem. Here was a recent conversation:

my phone rings

Me: looks at screen, "Who do you think is calling?"

Trent: "Heidi."

Me: "Nope. Guess again."

Trent: "It's your alarm."

Me: dejected, "Seriously Trent? That's your second guess for who would be calling me?"

Trent: "Well, was I right?"

My point is this: Trent tells me when I'm lame. So I asked him if it would be lame to blog about our Europe Adventure even though it happened in 2008. He said, no, but it was lame that I didn't do it in the first place like I said I would. However, when I asked Heidi if it was silly, she laughed and said, "No, no. But hey, can you start a blog about our trip to the Philippines? The one we took in 1991?" So I realized that I was going to need something pretty spectacular to promise readers. Something extremely enticing to get their attention and lure them into reading this blog about something that happened 2.5 years ago. But what could I promise?

Pictures of us with Prince William?

If only.

Pictures of us with animals dressed as humans?

Yeah right, I wish.

Pictures of us cross-dressing?

That, that we can do.

The conversation behind these pictures is as follows:

Me: talking to Trent and our mom I need your help to come up with a costume for Spirit Day. It has to be anything starting with the letter "S."

Trent and mom: suggest a slew of "S" words like surfer, swimmer, snorkler, scuba diver.

Me: I am NOT wearing a wet suit to school. What else you got?

Trent: You should be Snoop.

Me: Yeah right. Good one.

Trent: No really. I have a jacket that looks like something he'd wear.

Mom: You CANNOT be Snoop Dogg.

Me: Actually, that could be really funny. Can I borrow your earrings?

Mom: No. I won't be part of this.

Me: Not you, mom. Trent, can I borrow some of your bling bling earrings?

Trent: Sure, come see what I have.

Mom: Wait, Katie. You can't be serious. Can't you be someone from the bible?

And thus, with some help from Trent, his closet, and the 99 cent store for a du-rag, I became Snoop Dogg for Spirit week. It was a half awesome, half traumatizing experience because my students literally thought I was the male sub. Feeling self-conscious about what a convincing guy I made, I convinced Trent to let me dress him up with my accessories. I thought, "If I can make him look like a girl then I've proven that it's not just that I have a manly face. Trent and I just look very similar." This was most evident when I was a brunette and making Trent's "stern-looking" face.

However, I quickly realized that there is no disguising Trent's broad shoulders or masculine jawline and nose. I managed to cover his 5 o'clock shadow with pounds of foundation and we strategically hid his giant butt-chin and adam's apple. However, despite my best efforts, I fear that he makes one ugly tranny. Oh well, at least he let me try.

That's one of the things I love about Trent- despite his tough, cop exterior, he can be super silly. This is why Europe was so fun. Sure, I nearly strangled him several times but for the most part, we laughed our way through 8 different countries and I don't want to forget about it.

So, with Trent's permission, here I go. For reals this time. I'm in the blogging groove and am feeling motivated to finally do this. Perhaps it's because I've picked up my old friend Mountain Dew or perhaps it's because my life isn't super adventurous right now and at times I'm stretching for material to write about. I mean, I did write THREE entries about a marathon. A bit much, I realize. I plan on posting an entry once a week. Every Monday. Because Mondays suck and hopefully these stories and pictures will make them less sucky. Also, this way I have a goal and some accountability so I won't post one entry a year like I did in 2009.

A few things happened to us between our Europe trip and today that you should probably know about. Here are the basics:

1) Trent and I coached the girls varsity basketball team at Valley Christian and we made it to the CIF semi-finals.

2) Trent found the love of his life and proposed to her. (wedding in June) He also found his career path and started carrying a gun.

3) I found a love for cereal dinners and starting sharing a bed with my cat Dotty.

Before continuing, here are a few warnings:

1) We took a ton of pictures of famous buildings and statues and sites but those pictures are boring. Plus, I don't remember what a lot of them are and I don't want to Google them to try to sound smarter than I am. If you want a history lesson, go to Google; this blog is about our adventures, not history.

2) We don't like to smile. You can only stand in front of so many famous sites and say "cheese" so we had to get a bit creative. We'd typically smile if a stranger took our picture but not always. Most of our pictures, however, are self-taken and a bit "different." Our mom was not happy.

3) Trent was given a stuffed ferret/skunk while in Latvia. He decided to bring it out to site-see with us on random days. That is what you'll see in his hands and draped over his shoulder. And you thought I was weird.

Buckle your seat belts, folks. This is the story of the summer of 2008 when brother and sister hiked, laughed, ran, ate, and stumbled across Europe.

The Journey Begins or Googly-eyed Man

We've been home for 10 months and now I finally have time and a personality to document the crazy adventure of June 2008. Joe Brooks, thank you for keeping the faith and continually checking this dormant blog when all others thought it died. My motivation in writing about our trip that happened nearly a year ago is as follows: a- I never want to forget how incredible it was. b- I stayed up late in many dirty hostels jotting down the events of the day and I don't want that to be time wasted. So here it goes. The long version. The no-details spared, say-it-all version from the very beginning.

My journey began in Maputo, Mozambique. I said my goodbyes and surprised myself when the tear ducts exploded saying farewell to Mada and Henrik. I imagine this made the man I was driving with quite awkward since we didn't know each other very well. A very kind couple offered to give me a lift to White River, South Africa and I later learned that the woman, Marcia, went into labor a few hours after they dropped me off.

My next leg of the trip involved dragging two GIANT (all caps for a reason- these bags were huge) suitcases, my computer backpack, my back-packing back pack, my over-sized purse and a normal sized purse up a hill from my hotel to the bus station. Needless to say, I was sweating and "hot mess" (new slang term my students taught me- click here for the urban dictionary definition) by the time I loaded my bags on the shuttle.

God knew I would need a bit of encouragement as I left Africa, this continent I had grown so fond of, so he arranged a meeting with a Canadian woman named Chris. Small world- she had just been in Maputo and I had met her sister the previous day and now was flying home. She turned what could have been a sad and painful 3 hour wait in the airport into a fun time of reminiscing. My favorite moment of this leg of the trip came, however, when I met googly-eyes. Standing awkwardly close behind us in line stood a massive, South African man with, you guessed it, googly eyes. They really seemed to pop right off his face. He heard my accent and immediately jumped into a conversation about politics. But not your typical conversation. Instead of asking my thoughts on Obama or abortion, he pegged me with questions like, "Who do you think is more attractive: Jenna Bush or Chelsea Clinton?" Seriously. I didn't know what to say and how to not laugh because clearly he was serious and followed up with, "because I think Chelsea has really grown into her own. I think she's had some work done too." Can you say CREEPER?????

He then asked me my thoughts on the presidency of William Harrison. Luckily I had just taught my US History students about all the president and at least knew that he was indeed a president but did pretty much nothing of significance. In fact, a quick google searched revealed that he died on his 32ND day as president. I'm pretty sure googly-eyes was just trying to impress upon me his vast knowledge of American politics and it was quite entertaining. Oh but it gets even stranger.

Later, Chris was using the little girls room when googly-eyes snuck up on me and plopped himself down, again very awkwardly close. Don't ask how the topic was broached and there most likely was no transition into his next statement: "I have really large varicose veins." How on earth does one respond to that????

"Do you?" I politely asked.

"Oh yes, want to see them?"

"Ummmmm, that's OK."

"No, you really should," and he began to roll his pants up....and up...and up until they are past his knees.

And there they were. GIANT varicose veins. Googly-eyes was not messing around.

"Oh wow. Those are quite large," said I, genuinely interested while also sincerely disgusted.

"Would you like to touch one?"

"No, I'm OK."

"No, really. I don't mind. Touch one." And googlies scooted even closer. I could see no way out so I did it. I reached out my hand and touched a giant varicose vein on the pale white thigh of the strangest South African man I'd ever met and it was at this moment that Chris reappeared.

"Hey guys. What's going on?"

"Well Chris, Googlies here (i forget his real name) was just showing me his varicose veins. " I don't know how I responded with a straight face but Chris has no poker face at all and let loose laughing.

I knew that if this moment was indicative at all of the randomness that lay ahead, I was in good shape. I love moments like this.

On the flight to London I did the usual and fell asleep with my head on the shoulder of a stranger. I awoke and did my normal, "I'm so sorry" speech and luckily the man next to me was Marco, a very attractive, young Italian man, who didn't seem to mind that I had just used him as a pillow. He gave me some tips on Italy but honestly, I didn't understand much of what he said since his accent was so thick. If encounters with handsome strangers would be indicative of this trip, that was also a great sign. (this turned out to be thee only encounter with a handsome European man)

The most difficult part of the journey happened next. Maneuvering through the underground of London is challenge enough but doing so while lugging 6 bags left me in another very "hot mess." Luckily, chivalry is not dead. I pride myself on being independent and I hate asking for help but I was so desperate and that I played the damsel in distress card numerous times while trekking to my friend Jenny's flat. Too proud to actually ask for help, I just let my face express my frustrations and people were quick to help me lug my bags on and off tube after tube. A homeless man even carried one bag up a flight of stairs for me.

I arrived on Jenny's doorstep sweating, exhausted and overwhelmed by the fast-pace whirlwind they call London. Jenny had been my tour-guide when I first flew to Mozambique and was incredibly hospitable; she let me leave my bags at her place for the month while we traveled. I had my first experience with major reverse culture shock while in London. Jenny warned me that the church she and her fiance attended was a bit charismatic and different from what we were used to. Indeed, when we sat in the theater, neon lights flashed throughout the crowd and then the worship leaders galloped onto stage beginning a worship session like none I had experienced before. My British friend Tom had told me about these "happy clappy" churches in England but I never comprehended what this meant. The jumping and the clapping was incredibly intense and frankly, too much for me to handle. I had to sit after a bit so as not to fall over and Jenny gave me an apologetic look of understanding. Sorry for the lack of pictures in this entry but I promise to make up for the lack of pictures and will inundate you with pictures in the following entries. The picture below is of Jenny and I when she visited the States at her bachelorette party.
The next morning I took a 3 hour train ride to the airport and saw a bit of the English countryside which was beautiful. I flew to Berlin where Trent and I were supposed to meet. Heidi had freaked me out with logical questions like, 'what if one of you gets delayed? How will you communicate? What is your back-up plan if someone doesn't show?" Her questions rang in my ears as I walked off the plane but luckily, literally 30 seconds of walking and I heard, "Katie!" And there was my newly bearded little brother walking right behind me, having just landed himself.

Next entry: Trent and I take on Berlin, Nazis Suck, Bandwagon Soccer Fans, or Rolling Joints at Dinner

We're baaaack

Trent and I are not your typical backpackers. During our month-long adventure through Europe, there were 2 misconceptions that just about everybody made about us. One, that we were partiers searching for pub crawls. Gelato crawls? Yes please. Pub crawls? No thank you. We were often the first to bed and the first to rise in our hostels and suffered through several nights of drunken, snoring roommates waking us. Misconception number two- we were a couple. Gross. I guess most guy/girl combos traveling through Europe together are couples but didn't they notice that (a) we look alike and (b) we are completely unaffectionate towards each other and are constantly making fun of the other? It made for some awkward moments although I wasn't complaining when one hostel gave us the "honeymoon room" with only 2 beds, a private balcony and incredible view:)

Since we've been home, we've told many of our Europe stories but not all. Here is the spot where we will relive the many awkward moments, amazing views, and awesome adventures. When asked, "How was Europe?" I have found myself often saying, "Great. I loved Italy the best and Trent loved Switzerland. Paris surpassed my expectations. We loved public transportation and my brother is very cheap and made us eat in train stations often. Hostels were fun though sometimes gross and some of our roommates were crazy. Watching the Eurocup in all different countries was definitely a highlight. Cinque Terre, Italy and Interlaken, Switzerland were two of our favorite spots and we LOVED couch-surfing in Vienna and Paris. Despite bickering in the Alps about Trent's "tone of voice," it was an amazing adventure we'll never forget."

That's the two minute version of our trip. This blog will be the 2 hour version:) I will try to keep my commentary to a minimum so it doesn't turn into a short novel but no promises. I also will twist Trent's arm and force him to write a bit. He may need to tell his version of certain stories since we already disagree about how certain things "went down."

Los Angeles

We arrive back at LAX today! Can't wait to see my nephew! I love flying and especially on international flights. I anticipate watching good movies, eating the airplane food I love, getting swollen feet, and perhaps accidentally snuggling with a stanger (it's happened twice now but I think it's more awkward for the poor person sitting next to me who I use as a pillow.) Can't wait to be back with my family and friends!

London

Happy anniversay Heidi and Dan!! Today we will fly from Dublin to London, tour around a bit, hopefully meet up with my friend Jenny and then hop on the transatlantic flight the the next morning. Ok, I keep falling asleep while typing so I'm going to keep this short and sweet. We'll be home very soon!

Dublin

To celebrate our independence day, Trent and I will fly from Paris to Dublin. I'm already excited about the accents. After touring Dublin (we'll hopefully go on a singing tour- I'm assuming that means the tour guides will sing, not us), we'll leave the city to get some fresh air. When I think of Ireland I think of Leprechans, Notre Dame, bad tempers, and rolling grassing hills and cliffs. Those who know me well, know that I get a little too excited by grassy hills and rolling down them whenever I can. Ever since I saw a commercial for "Irish Spring" soap, I've wanted to go to those amazing hills for myself and get a few grass stains.

Paris

We found remarkably inexpensive plane tickets from Rome to Paris so we'll be jetting from one incredible city to another. I confess that I'm a bit intimidated by Parisians. As previously mentioned, I get easily offended when strangers are rude and I keep hearing how awful the French can be if you try to speak English with them. Luckily, I met Kr's who has broken all my previously-held stereo-types about Parisians. Not only does he speak English and enjoy country music, he also is INCREDIBLY kind and hospitable. We are using couch-surfing again and that makes visiting Paris way less intimidating since we'll have a local to help us out. Like Rome, there is so much to see here that I suspect we will be running from one place to the next. A friend here also just told me that the best hot chocolate in the world is located in Paris so I made her give me directions. Whenever something is called the "best in the world," I am immediately intrigued. Go ahead and call me Buddy the Elf, but this girl was very convincing that there is no better hot chocolate to be found and I'm up to the challenge of finding a specific tiny cafe in Paris. Of course hot chocolate isn't on the top of my list for things to see and in Paris- there is just so much fun stuff there and I can't wait!