Home again...

Well, I'm back on American soil, safely at home. However, since my waking "day" has been more than twenty-four hours long at this point, I'm going to sleep for a while. A more extensive update--and pictures--will come soon. But I thought I'd let you all know that I (and my Mum) survived the trip back.

Brussels, Bruges, London and Edinburgh

Well, after various adventures (including yet another unexpected train rerouting...completely not my fault this time), we are here enjoying the ruggedness, accents and ale in Edinburgh (well, that last one really just applies to me, actually, I suppose). But, of course, Belgium and London were in there, as well, since I last updated this thing.
Yeah, pretty much it just seems like there's too much in there to write about any of it well, so it's sort of demotivating to try. Condensing takes such effort...
Okay, the really really condensed version:
Brussels: Mneh.
Bruges: Much better. (Mum wants me to mention that, while it's not The Netherlands, being Flemish it does in fact have windmills. No clogs, though.)
London: Two shows. And one of them was Les Mis. Really, need I say more? Oh, and I ordered my first pint. A landmark life experience. (Of course, it was with my mother. But hey. She also came when I got my first nose-piercing. Apparently it's a thing we have.)
Glasgow: Unexpected stop on the way to Edinburgh. A train derailed between London and Edinburgh (not the one we were on, thankfully, and no, I don't know what kind of train it was or if everyone was okay, but I certainly hope everyone is), closing the tracks, so we had to go the roundabout way. But we got here just fine.
Edinburgh: Castle-y. And full of plaid. Quite lovely, in fact. And tonight we're off on a literary tour celebrating the Scottish triumvirate: Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, and good ol' Robbie Burns. Hopefully there will be some haggis in there, too. Vegetarian haggis.
Of course, there's much more to share: pictures to show and humorous anecdotes to relate. But I don't have time for that now. So I guess we'll just have to hang out when I get back.
Okay, I'm off. Later.

Phase 2 begins...

Well, I survived my solitary rambling around Frankfurt, Mum has arrived safely, and now we're off to Brussels. Oh, and I have a new favorite thing: apfelwein. Apple wine. Very tasty. Here's to the Frankfurt people who came up with that.

Not much else to report. I'll check in and update here when I can. Otherwise, I'm saving up great stories to tell when I get back. You know, to accompany the two thousand or so pictures I've taken. So far. Yay for sales on memory cards.

Frankfurt

Ay, Prague feels like it was a really long time ago. So does Vienna. Probably because I've been to Venice, Padova, Foggia, Rome, Vernazza and Paris since then. And I'm only halfway done! (Bwa ha ha.)

Well, I'm off to bum around in Frankfurt while I wait for my mum to arrive tonight. I'm growing rather fond of it here. Perhaps because it reminds me a bit of Portland: lots of trees and green spaces, random events along the waterfront, people on bicycles everywhere... The public transit is way better here, though. I'm going to miss that when I come home. Oh, and Paris just installed bike rental racks all around the city: you buy a card that lets you unlock them and ride them wherever, and I think you drop them at any of the racks (similar to the ZipCar system, for those familiar with that). I think Portland should look into that.

Okay, I'm off. Later.

Vienna waits for me...

We're off to Vienna today. I'm excited to go someplace new, but I must say I've grown to like Prague. It has a simple sense to it; much of our time has been spent just relaxing along the river or strolling through the different sections of town, and yet even at that slower pace I don't feel that I've "missed" much (or, at least, if I have missed things, they would be no better than what I experienced, just different).
Since we're moving on, I obviously don't know what internet-access will be like on the other end, but I'll try to keep in touch. We'll be there for two nights.