Home in Iowa! Over a week behind on the blog...but it has been a busy one. Hope you've got a few minutes...

Last week I loved up on Cesky Krumlov. The original idea was to go to Prague after two days in Cesky. However, I decided that two days wouldn't be enough in either city, so it would be best just to stay where I was. Unfortunately, it was rather rainy and chilly most of the time, BUT, I was able to go rafting on Tuesday with some fun folks. James, Alex, Lacey, and I rented a raft and floated down the river around town and beyond for about 5 hours drinking wine and beer and having a great time. There were places set up on the bank every so often to buy food and more drinks. A good time was had by all.

That night I did dinner again with the rest of the hostel folks. (This hostel was unlike the others like that...we did so much with our own hostel mates.) The night before I ate at a BBQ place and had what was called the "mixed grill." A gigantic platter of steak, chicken, pork, potatoes, and veggies, for two people. We split it between 3 people and still got way too full. Also...cheap! With the beer, it was less then 10 US dollars for me. Tuesday night after rafting we went to a restaurant where I had water to drink (I was ready for a break at that point,) and ate some vegetarian mix with awesome potato patties. I was all ready to turn in for the night, but alas, I was forced out to the bars. There were several in town that we hit that night, and I may or may not have swiped 3 Budvar mugs from a bar. I was supposed to have cover from the guys, but my new friend Lacey was a little slow in getting out of the booth (don't know why...we didn't drink THAT much...) and drew attention to herself and my stuffed clinking bag. But we got out of there quick and nobody was caught. Not that I'm admitting anything...

Wednesday I believe I did some shopping and walking around town. Can't remember the details. I saw the Museum of Torture at some point. That was interesting. And half price because the lady working thought I was a student and I wasn't going to deny it. At this age...closer to 30 than 20, it would be almost a crime to not take that as a compliment. The museum was complete with wax figures and sound effects detailing the various forms of medieval torture devices. The chair of nails had to be my favorite. I also went to the castle and walked around one of those days. There was a modern art museum in the basement caverns that I explored. I believe Wednesday was my shopping day. And shopping I did. Yes, with Lacey from Montana. I bought a new purse, and shoes, and a necklace, and a cookbook for mom. Again, I went out Wednesday night with the crew, hit some of the same bars, refused to drink anymore absynth, and had a good time dodging the raindrops. The sunset pictures you will see eventually are from this last night in Cesky.

Thursday morning I tried to leave the town. I really did. I slept just past the first bus out though, and then when the second was to leave, Lacey and I couldn't find the flipping station. That was terrible. So I missed that bus, and instead walked around town with my now superheavy backpack. It had started this leg of the trip fairly light, but now had more books, a shotglass (again, I won't say which bar I "bought" it at,) the Budvar mug, new shoes, the old purse, and a bottle of liquor from Vienna, all weighing it down a bit. But, good new buddy she is, Lacey stuck with me for the few hours it took to find that b****** place and I was on my way to Prague on the 2:20.

I found Praha and got on the metro to the correct train station in time to get on the train to Berlin. I sat with a couple fun guys who live in Berlin. One was from Florida, and reminded me much of things that are on fire and are happy. (A flaming gay, if you will.) It was also a very pretty ride. Unfortunately, I didn't get to Berlin until it was too late to catch a train to my next destination. There were too few hours to spend the money on a cab and a hotel, so I slept in the bar/cafe in the train station. Wasn't too bad, just uncomfortable.

I caught the 4:45am train to Magdeburg, and the next to Kroppenstadt, where CPU exchange student Christian lives. I met his family and he gave me a tour of his super old town. I also got to see the highschool and an English class, where we answered students' questions about America. I said to myself, "Please don't ask about politics, don't ask about politics, don't ask..." And then they did. I did my best impression of politicians as s*** just rolled out of my mouth. The best part was that it was graduation day, so I got to see highschool seniors carrying in crates of beer and liquor in preparation for the afternoon festivities. Christian went and watched the ceremony while I took a much needed nap. Later we went to a soccer game, dinner where I had some amazing food, and then to the home of one of his previous teachers. It was so nice seeing a non-touristy community. It was about the size of Center Point I'd say. People all said hi on the street, and Christian seemed to know everybody. His family was so kind. His mom even did my laundry!

I met Teresa, Max, and Teresa's friend Derrick in Berlin in the morning. We saw some of the sites in Berlin, and then watched the afternoon performance of the Blue Man Group. It was so entertaining! Tons of fun and laughs. Very interactive, and definitely worth sobering up for. I recommend it to everybody. It even involved massive amounts of tissue paper being passed from the back of the theater to the front through the audience. Little did I know that I should have kept some of this for later...

I slept on the train ride home, and then just relaxed around Teresa's house all day Sunday while they all went to a motorcycle event in Hamburg. Max will have to blog about that. 50,000 bikes they saw I hear. A 40 minute parade at 20 mph he said. Again, I snoozed and relaxed all day, got some sun outside for a while. We went to a Chinese buffet for dinner. That night I started not feeling so hot. Something was not going well in my belly.

Monday we did a bit of shopping in the morning, but then I was very ready to get back. We packed and just took it easy Monday. My stomach was cramping pretty bad, so I'm glad we didn't do much more. Teresa got me drinking some herbal tea and some pills for the stomach, but they didn't help all the way, just a little bit. We had a nice dinner with the Seepolts, or at least everyone else did. A very painful day for me. We left the house in the middle of the night for the airport (Dieter Seepolt so kindly took us in his van so we could take Sammee's bike and our backpacks, extra piece of luggage, and gigantic carry-on bags,) and we stood in line for an hour to check the bags in. They ALMOST met the weight requirements, but Teresa's sweet talking and adorable dimples got them through. (Thanks Teresa!) I, fortunately, was given an aisle seat on all three planes. The day actually got better for me instestinally, so that was good. Max felt very fortunate that he wasn't seated next to me on the long flight. We sat on the plane in Munich for over an hour and a half before taking off. The trip actually went pretty quick for me. Must have been all the up and down to the back of the plane. Fun fun. Customs went well in Chicago, thank goodness, and we made it to our connecting flight with just 10 minutes to spare. After landing in Cedar Rapids, Max found girlfriend Bryna and I found new boyfriend Bathroom. Mom and Dad took me to a doctor and all is good now! The dogs were ecstatic to see me, and the feeling was reciprocated. I slept about 12 hours, and am ready to finally head to my Vinton home. I have tons of candy, so anybody who sees me in the next week and mentions this blog can have some! So come see me! I will try to get the pictures uploaded soon. Teresa and Derrick did a wonderful thing and put them all on cd for me.

Thank you to all who have been reading this. On the plane, I compiled a list of my favorite 5 days of the trip. I also have a list of my least favorite things...and although they are negative, they are still a part of the trip, and I will share them first. Here goes, in no particular order:

1. The smell of urine soaked streets in Greece and southern Italy. Curse my sensitive nose!

2. The 45 minute breakdown in the Florence train station. I'm a little surprised Max and I are still talking.

3. Hearing about the "new girlfriend." Ouch. But this is ok, because the next day I met somebody I could have fallen in love with. Good to know.

4. Friday in Vienna...just a bad bad lonely homesick day.

5. And who can forget that Virus of the Intestines? Have you ever had to provide a stool sample? Gross.

And now onto the good things...which are the rest of the trip, and the top five in chronological order:

1. Greece, day 3 I believe- Renting a car with Max and navigating around despite graffiti'd over signs and I swear incorrect maps. And...still enjoying each other's company. Good times.

2. Schutzenfest day 3- Meeting Teresa's friends and community, and dancing with her to that band with terrible accents. Good drinking times.

3. Vienna-Saturday- Wine tasting and biking tour in the countryside of the Wachau Valley. Hung out with the best (only?) 3 Californians I've ever met. Sweet sweet boys, and one who was especially hard to say goodbye to.

4. Cesky Krumlov- Stopping to relax in one small town for 4 nights, and meeting people I felt I'd known for years.

5. Coming home to my dogs, parents, friends, free water, english, my car, my bed, my wardrobe more than 4 outfits big, my piano, my phone, and Schwan's icecream bars(despite the doctor's orders.)

So there's my last blog. Thanks to all. Love you and I can't wait to see you all again!