Germany, Italy, Switzerland - July/Aug 2024

After we left Sweden, we went to Germany for six nights.  We originally planned on staying another two nights but decided to do a detour to Italy for two nights to see Rakesh and Ria as Simran had recently passed away.  When we originally planned this summer trip, we knew we would be in the Munich area late July/early August as Shawna wanted to meet up with one of her Georgetown University friends, Stefanie, who lives in Frankfurt.  We got a call from the Snarrs at the beginning of the year asking where we would be at this time as they knew we would be in Europe.  We told them Germany but at the time had no specific plans.  Well, funny enough, they planned on coming to Germany to see Taylor Swift (Eras Tour) and to make a family trip out of it.  And since we also wanted to see T Swift in Europe, we bought tickets as well!

Munich, Germany

We arrived into Munich and after getting our rental car, we immediately drove out to Augsburg, an hour outside of Munich, to see the town where Shawna's mom grew up.  Shawna had previously written down a few places we needed to see and so we ventured out to track these places down:

• Lauterlech 18 - the apartment building where Shawna's mom lived as a child until she was fourteen years old.
• St Ursula Catholic School - where she went to school - it is located on a very cute cobble stoned street. 
• St Ulrich Church - where she says she got married to Shawna's dad (Jim). There are two churches on the site - one small Episcopalian and another large Catholic Church.  However, when we went inside, neither one looked like the picture that Shawna had of her mom's wedding.  So, we are not sure if this is the place where she got married. 
• Rathaus - while nothing significant to Shawna's mom, we walked around the main square to see the town hall and the beautiful colorful buildings around the area.  It was quite busy with tourists and a wine festival that was underway.
• Staatstheater - where she went to operas with Shawna's grandfather.  Unfortunately, the building was under massive renovation so we could not go inside.
• Konigsplatz - a square with a park where she went to dances with her friends. We walked around this area a bit.

Augsburg

St Ursula Catholic School

We drove back to Munich and checked into our hotel, Adagio Aparthotel, which is located north of Olympiapark where the T Swift concert was to be held.  It was the cheapest option we could find close by.  Our room was small but clean and functional with two twin beds, a table with two chairs and a small kitchenette and bathroom.  We were a bit tired so we just walked around the corner to Yasoroku86, an Asian fusion restaurant, where we had chicken curry and beef udon noodles - both tasty.  

Olympiapark

The next day, we met up with the Snarrs who had arrived a couple of days before. We toured the BMW Museum with them - although, we really just walked through and looked at some of the cars - didn't really learn much as we didn't read any of the exhibits!  We then grabbed lunch - brats and beer at one of the beer gardens in Olympia Park. Not the best beer garden but it was quick and easy! We all went back to our hotels and got ready for the T Swift concert.  

BMW Museum

Kim and the girls got floor tickets so they had to stand in line a bit longer to get into the arena.  We got seats since Shawna would not be able to see much on the floor - our seats were great - just a few rows up on the left side of the stage and under the canopy.  We got there early, not knowing how hard it would be to get into the arena so we got a beer, took photos and sent love notes to a few people (e.g. Ruby) to let them know we were there.   Ruby had made us friendship bracelets that we could trade but we liked them so much, we did not give them away - one woman did each give us one of her bracelets! 

Taylor Swift Concert

The opening act was Paramour - they were pretty good but we only knew a couple of the songs.  So we grabbed a slice of pizza and one more beer before Taylor came on.  The bathroom lines were super long so we never got to go to the bathroom which then limited our beer drinking!  Taylor started on time and went for over 3.5 hours - we stood up for most of it and sang along with 70K other attendees.  Turns out there were another 40-50K people outside the arena in the park on a huge hill listening along as well! The concert was truly amazing - the best we had been to.  We got back to our hotel around midnight.

Taylor Swift Concert

Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany

The next morning, we drove down to Garmisch, where we stayed for two nights with the Snarrs.  Garmisch is a very cute town near the Austria border and close to the mountains.  Kim rode with us as their van was a little cramped! When we got to Garmisch, we went to the Partnachklamm Canyon which is a really cool canyon that you can walk along with rushing water below.  The line to get in was long but it went by pretty quickly.  After walking the canyon, we did the loop hike up Eckbauer mountain and back to town.  At the top, we had a few beers and snacks at the snack bar near the gondola.  

Partnachklamm Canyon

Hike to top of Eckbauer Mountain

We then checked into our AirBnB which was really nice - four bedrooms with a large living room and kitchen and a nice balcony with great views of the mountains.  The only downside is that there was no A/C and while convenient to restaurants and shops, it was a bit noisy at night when we had our window open to let in fresh air.  That said, we enjoyed our stay there.  That evening, we had dinner at Fischers Mohrenplatz where we sat outside and had gulasch and knodel (potato dumplings) - food was tasty.  We had a few more drinks after dinner at Louis Cafe.

View from our AirBnB

The next day was a tour of castles.  We drove an hour to Neuschwanstein Castle (the Disney fairy tale castle) where we took the horse and buggy up to the castle and did the tour.  Since the castle was not finished nor lived in before King Ludwig II died, it had very little furniture inside and was not ornate.  However, the setting is just beautiful - located on the top of a hill overlooking the valley.  After the tour, we walked over to the bridge to get a front view of the castle and then walked back down to the car.  

Neuschwanstein Castle

We drove about 50 minutes to Oberammergau and had lunch at Dorfstuberl - we sat outside and shared some sausages and spaetzle.  We ran out of time to walk around but were able to get a glimpse of the cute town - this is the town where the Passion Play is performed so we will be back in 2030 to see that.  We then drove another 15 minutes to Linderhoff Palace, the smaller but very ornate home of King Ludwig II.  We toured the castle and then walked around the beautiful grounds.  Unfortunately, the grotto cave was closed. That evening, we had dinner at Bungalow 7 which was about a 10 minute walk from our apartment.  The kids were a bit tired of German food so we opted for burgers which were very good. 

Linderhoff Palace

Lecce, Italy

We got up super early and drove to Munich airport (where we left our large suitcases at left luggage) to fly to Brandisi Italy. Rakesh picked us up and drove us 30 minutes to Lecce where we stayed for two nights at the La Fiermontina Luxury Home which is a small boutique hotel in the old part of town.  Our room was very nice and there was a wonderful breakfast included which we enjoyed both mornings. 

La Fiermontina Luxury Home

We quickly checked in and then did a food tour in Lecce for a couple of hours which allowed us to also see some of the sights in town.  Our first stop was at South East Cafe where we had a pastry filled with creme.  We then went to Golosita dal 1942, a small Italian grocery store where we tried olive oil with some cheese and prosciutto.  We also got a glass of rose.  The owner was very interesting and funny! We went back to this store after the tour to buy a bottle of wine which we later enjoyed at the hotel.  Our next stop was Tentazioni which is a gelato place but we had a savory pastry with cheese and tomatoes.  Our last stop was at Messapia where we had a pasta with chickpeas and a few fried dough balls with a glass of wine.  Overall, the tour was not the best - food was just OK and the guide was not very chatty or informative - we had to ask a lot of questions to get information from him.

Lecce Colosseum

After the food tour, we stopped at the sister hotel to our place, Palazzo Bozzi Corso, where we got a tour by the manager and then had a cocktail at their rooftop bar.  The place is beautiful and we learned about the owners parents who were friends with Yoko Ono.  We made one more stop for another cocktail at Cocktail Bar Saloon Keeper 1933 where we sat outside and did some people watching.  Back at the hotel, Ria went to bed and the three of us sat outside to drink the bottle of wine we had purchased earlier.  

The next day, Rak had arranged for a private tour to take us down the coast.  The woman who arranged excursions for our hotel was our guide and we also had a driver.  We first stopped in Otranto, a cute down on the coast - we walked around and saw the castle and went inside one of the churches. We made a few very quick stops along the coast to take pictures and then went to Lo Scalo, a great restaurant overlooking the water.  We swam for about 10 minutes in the Adriatic and had a wonderful lunch of salad and grilled fish - the food was fresh and amazing.  We drove down to Santa Maria di Leuca where we walked around the main church and drove back to Lecce.  The scenery along the coast was beautiful.

Otranto

Santa Maria di Leuca

That evening, we had dinner at our hotel at Zephyr Restaurant. We had a few cocktails on the patio and then sat outside by the pool. We shared a tuna tartare appetizer, a pasta for our next course and scallops for our main - everything was delicious.

Dinner at Zephyr Restaurant

The next morning we took it easy - had a later breakfast and then sat by the pool for two hours with Rak.  He then drove us back to Brandisi to catch our flight back to Munich.

Munich, Germany

We got into Munich around 8:30 pm so took a cab to our hotel, Aloft, where we stayed for two nights. The hotel was great - very clean, modern with decent sized rooms. The hotel was across from the train station and very convenient to walking to the old town.

The next morning, we walked around the old town for a couple of hours to get some exercise and to see some of the sights like the Frauenkirche, Rathause (Town Hall), St Peter's Church, and the outdoor market. We also walked around the Englischer Garden.  

Munich Rathaus

We met up with Stefanie, Shawna's friend from Georgetown, around noon and went to lunch at Restaurant Laurin Sudtirol, a cute place near the outdoor market.  We shared a very delicious salad and ragout pasta.  We then went to a cafe for a coffee.  

Lunch with Stefanie at Laurin Sudtirol

That evening, we went to the Adele concert at a pop up arena outside of town that they built for her to do a 10 night concert. Shawna had seen on Facebook that Adele was going to be in Munich while we were there so she messaged Stefanie to see if she would be interested in joining. She got tickets during the pre-sale by setting her alarm at 3am in the States! The concert was amazing - we had floor seats nine rows back from the right stage so while we could not see her up close when she was on the main part of the stage, we did see her when she walked down the right wing of the stage.  There were very large (700x100 feet) screens where we could see her as well.  The show went on for two hours - her voice is amazing and she is quite funny.  Truly another exceptional concert!! And we totally lucked out that it did not rain (it had rained earlier) since all seating was outside.

Adele Concert

The next morning, we met up for a quick breakfast at Coffee Fellows, a cafe just a couple of blocks from our hotel - it was like a German version of a Starbucks.  We chatted a bit more and then did a video that we sent to Kelly as we had tried to call her the day before but she was not available.  We said our goodbyes and then we went to the train station to get a train to Zurich.

Zurich, Switzerland

We took the train from Munich to Zurich which took 3.5 hours.  We were in the first class car so that we had more room and a table.  We did some computer work and read the entire way! In Zurich, we walked about 15 minutes to the rental car place and then drove to a nearby park to call our parents.  Since we had not eaten, we grabbed some cheese and bread at a grocery store at the train station and had that at the park as well.  We then drove to Uster, a town about 30 minutes from Zurich, where Mike and Connie live and where we stayed for one night. The town is in a cute valley around a nice lake.

Brunch with Mike and Connie at their house

We sat outside for a bit to catch up with them and then went for a walk to the lake. Connie made a great dinner of salad and pasta which we had outside at their house - their son and girlfriend joined us.  We stayed up until 1:30 in the morning talking and laughing! The next morning, we had a nice long brunch of bread, cheese and meats out on their patio - and did a video call with Wendy, Dave and Jan! We drove away around 1pm to Lake Como.

Namibia - August 2008

Sossusvlei - Dune 45

Namibia is definitely on our list of top trips we have ever done - just incredible.  We had originally planned to go to Vietnam/Cambodia with Charlie and Melissa, but Charlie's work and exams got in the way.  So this was the make-up trip.  We did spend more than usual on accommodations/activities (much to Melissa's influence) but with only a week there, we also needed to optimize our time so we treated ourselves to an organized trip through Scott Dunn, a travel company based in London that Melissa discovered.

Accommodations:

Onguma Tree Top Camp

Onguma Tree Top Camp
This is the location of Shawna's favorite shower...ever.  The Tree Top Camp is a set of 8 huts on stilts, 4 extending each side of the common area.  The rooms are tents, but not in any traditional sense of the word. These are permanent huts, with huge king beds and nice appointments, some of which is certainly nicer than our bedroom at home.  The huts are in a straight row, and all overlook a pond behind the camp where all sorts of wildlife come in to drink: including giraffe, zebra, and lions.  The shower is outside (yet private), is attached to the bedroom, and also looks over the pond - so as you are showering, you get to watch all the wildlife (and they get to watch you).  During the day, the wall of the tent was opened so that we had amazing views of the wildlife. 

Sossusvlei Wilderness Lodge

Sossusvlei Wilderness (now called Mountain Homestead)
This is a beautiful lodge that overlooks a valley.  The place only has 9 guest rooms, each with a "plunge pool" - though these pools were so crazy cold and quite small that Shawna and I never went in.  We used this place as the gateway to the sand dunes. 

Skeleton Coast Safaris
Three nights of the trip were spent camping along the Skeleton Coast with this family-owned company.  The camp sites were quite rustic, but the location can't be beat.  In each tent, we had cots and a small table.  They did bring hot water for your shower which was attached to the side of the tent.

Mowani Mountain Lodge

Mowani Mountain Lodge
This was a great capstone to the trip, with our own huts.  The lodge is nestled among beautiful, red boulders, overlooking a valley.  There is an amazing rock ledge where everyone can gather for a drink - we ordered champagne service, watched the stars, and loudly tried to agree which star was Venus - much to the chagrin of the other guests looking for a romantic evening. 

Activities:
The routing from Raleigh to Namibia was brutal.  We first flew from RDU to Frankfurt overnight (via DC), arriving in the morning and with a 10 hour layover.  In order to try and quickly get over our jet lag, we put our luggage in storage and took a train into the city.  We first did a guided tour of the city, and then wandered around to blow some time.  We headed back to the airport to catch another overnight flight to Johannesburg, where we met Charlie and Melissa at a cafe in the airport.  From there, we all caught a flight from Joburg to Windhoek where we were met by someone who escorted us to a small 6-person Cessna that flew us to Onguma.

After checking in at Onguma Tree Top Camp, we headed out for a evening safari and saw some lions.  The following day, we went on a full day safari in Etosha National Park.  Etosha is mostly a massive salt pan that extends 75 miles.  It is generally dry, but has a huge congregation of wildlife.  In the park, among the animals we saw included lions, zebras, springbok, giraffes, peacocks, and birds of all kinds (including a Kingfisher).

Elephant in Etosha

Lion in Etosha

Our next destination was Sossusvlei, site of the massive Namibian sand dunes - and famous for Dune 45, reputed to be the famous dune shown on one of the Microsoft screen savers.  The first morning here, we got up early and drove to the entrance of the Namib-Naukluft National Park.  The dunes are best seen and photographed early in the morning as the light is best.  After walking around and taking a heap of photos, we jumped in the car and headed off to some of the larger sand dunes. 

Deadvlei

We drove up sand dune alley, a 60-mile surface road where you see massive dunes on each side.  We stopped at Big Daddy dune, with Shawna, Charlie, and Keith all hiking to the top while Melissa took a bit of a short cut.  The dune is about 1000 feet high which does not sound hard, but since it is one step up and two steps back, it takes quite a long time.  Once at the top we rested, admired the views, and then "skied' down the slope all the way to the bottom.  Well, at least Keith and Charlie did - Shawna was a bit more tentative in her decent!  At the bottom was Deadvlei, a salt pan with ancient dead Acacia trees - stark and stunning.  After a long day at the dunes, we retired back to the hotel for dinner. 

On Top of Big Daddy

Hot Air Balloon Ride
Over the Dunes

The next day the four of us decided to do an "extra" - a balloon flight over the dunes.  Keith and Shawna had done two other balloon trips (Turkey and New Zealand) and this far surpassed those amazing trips.  We started off in the cold of the morning, shivering in our fleece.  The only thing that warmed us was the hot blast of the fuel warming the air in the two balloons.  After about half an hour of the balloons filling up, a large group piled into the two crafts and we took off.  The scene was magical - we followed wildlife running across the earth, with the massive dunes in the distance.  An hour or so later, we landed, where the balloon company had set up a huge, beautiful breakfast buffet, complete with a champagne welcome.  This is definitely the life.  The rest of the day was a bit more relaxing - we went for a walk around the hotel. 

Skeleton Coast

After a couple of nights at Wilderness Lodge, we were ready to start the "roughing it" part of the trip - a four day flying safari up the Skeleton Coast with Skeleton Coast Safaris (Safari A).  We waited at the small dirt/stone landing strip about 3 miles from the lodge, and amazingly on time, a small Cessna landed piloted by Andrew, our guide for the next few days.  It was quick work to pack our gear in the six-seater plane - then we were off.  We first flew over the dunes we had visited the day before.  We then traveled to the coast where we saw our first wreck, the Eduard Bohlen, wrecked in 1909.  The entire cost is littered with the remains of ships that landed there over the last hundred years.  We headed north up the coast over Conception Bay, Walvis Bay, and into Swakopmund.  Our flight up the coast was done at 200 feet above the water, so we had amazing views of all the wildlife: birds, massive seal colonies, and some stunning whale sightings (mother with calf). 

We landed in Swakopmund, where the claim to fame is that baby Shiloh (of Brad and Angelina fame) was born.  Brad had taken flying lessons here while they were waiting for the baby to be born, so our (distant) brush with fame was that we hung out at the same airport!  After re-fueling we headed north again over Cape Cross seal colony, past the wreck of the Winston, and then landed for a lunch on the beach.  Yes, that's right - we just landed the little plane on the beach and grabbed a sandwich lunch!  We continued on and landed in a valley surrounded by really old rocks and went for a short hike.  It is here that Charlie and Keith tested their manlihood in an Oryx poop spitting contest - you can see why the ladies sat this one out!  We then flew to our accommodation, Kuidas camp in the Huab River Valley.  

Roaring Sand Dunes

The next day, we explored the area via Land Rover, seeing colorful red lava and yellow sandstone.  Following lunch at the camp, we flew over Terrace Bay along the coast where we say more shipwrecks.  Keith and Charlie got to take turns flying which was great fun for them and nerve wrecking for Shawna and Melissa.  From the coast, we drove to the roaring sand dunes which was really cool!  You slide down the dunes on your butt and it makes a deep, roaring sound that echoes through the area.  What we did not know is that what goes down must come up - we had to hike back up to get to the top of the dune.  It was so much fun going down that we had to do it twice!  That night we stayed at the Leylandsdrift camp in the Hoarusib Valley in the Kunene Region.

Himba Tribe Woman

The following day, we took a scenic drive in the Hoarusib Valley where we saw more wildlife - mainly monkeys and cows.  We visited a settlement of the nomadic Himba tribe which was really interesting - the woman care for the huts and children all day while the men are out hunting.  They live in mud huts and paint their skin with a paste made from the clay dirt in order to protect their skin from the elements.  Charlie got to prove that he really is a doctor as he cleaned and cared for a really awful burn that was on one of the kid's feet.  After this stop, we flew to our next camp Kunene River camp which is on the Kunene River that borders Angola.  In the afternoon, we took a scenic drive through the mountains and dunes in the area.

On our last morning of the Skeleton Coast, we took a boat trip on the Kunene River, seeing crocodiles along the way.  We stopped and hiked for a bit in Angola (no passport was needed for this entry).  The scenery was stunning with mountains surrounding the river.  After lunch, we flew to the landing strip near our last stay at the Mowani Mountain Lodge.  There we had to say our goodbyes to Andrew as we watched him fly over us.  Charlie got a little misty-eyed as he had developed a 'man crush' on Andrew!  When we arrived a the lodge, we took a short tour of the surrounding valley where we saw beautiful red boulders and cave carvings.  Later that night, we had a wonderful dinner at the lodge.

In Angola

Our last morning, we woke up early to fly back to Windhoek where we caught our flights back home.  We were quite sad to leave as it was truly an amazing trip!

Switzerland - July 2004

Oeschinensee in Kandersteg

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of getting engaged, we decided to go to Switzerland back to the romantic location where it all happened - Kandersteg.  This is also the place where Keith spent two summers when he was 19 and 21 years old - volunteering at the International Scout Center.  We were joined by Keith's parents which made it a truly romantic vacation!  During this trip, we spent time in Kandersteg as well as around Lake Constance (a lake that lies between Switzerland and Germany).

Accommodations:

Bernerhof Apartment (Kandersteg) - We rented a two bedroom apartment which was clean, roomy (had a dining area, kitchen and living room) and functional.

Gasthaus zum Hecht (Mammern) - A cute B&B located close to the lake.  The owner was very nice and hospitable.

Activities:

Shawna and Keith flew in from the States into Zurich and met up with Keith's parents who flew in from Scotland where they were visiting with friends and family.  We arrived in the evening, rented a car and drove straight to Kandersteg where we arrived at almost midnight.

Kandersteg

The next morning (Sunday), we walked up to Oeschinensee which is a beautiful lake nestled in the mountains.  It is the location where Keith proposed to Shawna 5 years earlier (in a row boat after drinking enough wine to drum up the courage).  We ate lunch at the restaurant located on the lake, then did a bit more of a hike to another hut above the lake. Dinner at the Doldenhorn was fantastic.

Doldenhornhutte

Monday morning, we first stopped by the Scout Center to try and check email - which was brutally slow.  We then started off on a hike to the Doldenhornhutte which looks over Oeschinensee.  It was a bit wet as we started, but mostly cleared up until the end when the clouds came in.

On the Tuesday, we met up with Peter and his son Henrik.  Keith was on staff with Peter in Kandersteg in '88 and it just worked out that Peter and his son were in Kandersteg.  We took the cable car with them up to Oeschinensee, took the trail to the right, and headed up to Frundenhutte.  The hike starts slowly as it hugs the lake, but then begins a zigzag through the rocks all the way up to the top - including some pretty steep ledges that Shawna was not totally wild about.  As we were walking, the snow and sleet came in, though we were dressed for the occasion.  A hot chocolate at the hut was much welcomed.

With Peter and Henrik

Gallihorn Hike

Wednesday was "romantic hike day" - meaning we stayed away from friends and parents.  We picked the Gällihorn hike, which is often done as a dawn hike (though not for us!).  It was yet another beautiful hike, with stunning views of the valley.  We also passed a few sheep friends along the way.

On Thursday, we left Kandersteg and headed north, through Interlaken.  We wandered around there a bit before driving up to Lake Constance (aka Bodensee).  We were so close to Liechtenstein that we stopped there for dinner before arriving at the guesthouse late that night.

Friday was spent sightseeing all day: Rhine Falls, the medieval town of Shaffhausen, and then up to Stein am Rhine - a stunning town with hundreds of murals on the facades of old buildings.  Lunch was at a restaurant on the banks of the Rhine, then off to the island of Mainau which is one big botanic garden.  Dinner was on the patio of the B&B in Mammern.

Stein am Rhine

Saturday was our last day so we headed back to the lake and took the 20 minute ferry to Meersburgh on the north side of the lake.  We headed over to Freidrichshafen where we saw a museum dedicated to the Zepplin factory that was in the area - really cool.  We had an early dinner at the guesthouse, retired early, and went to bed so we could get up for a 4:15am start to head to the airport. 

Restaurants:

Hotel Doldenhorn (Kandersteg) - Keith and Shawna had celebrated their engagement here 5 years early and so we returned with Keith's parents to have a wonderful meal.

Crystal (Kandersteg) - A casual place that serves traditional Swiss food.  Keith knew the manager at the time so she treated us well.

European Trip - Post KISC - Summer '88

Continued From Previous Blog

Italy
Once the summer was over I had some extra time to travel around Europe.  Since Ermis and Claudia were heading to Italy, I caught a ride with them to Torino and looked around for a day.  I then headed to Rome and saw Angela (from staff), went to Piza, then Strega, then back to Kandersteg for a break.  While in Italy I really did not meet anyone which made it a bit boring.  The biggest bummer is that my camera was broken so I got absolutely no pictures of anything I saw.

Austria
After Italy I popped up to Vienna to see Nela and Sandra.  I toured around Vienna for a couple of days, including seeing the castle.

Nela and Sandra in Vienna

Germany / Denmark / Norway
For the next leg of the journey, my cousin Claire met me in Kandersteg (I returned to KISC after Austria, keeping it as a base for multiple legs.  We did a bit of hiking, around KISC first, meeting Wendy there as well.  We then headed to Germany, where we took the boat up the Rhine from Mainz to Koblenz.  From there we headed to Aarhus (Denmark), then the train up to Trondheim (Norway) to see Marianne for some hiking.  

Claire on the Rhine

Sweden / Finland

Heidi, Dave, Victoria,
Peter, and Hanna

I left Claire in Norway and headed to Stockholm, where I met up with Peter and Dave - and we also caught up with Viveca and Christel.  After a couple of days in Stockholm Dave, Peter, and I jumped on the ferry to Turku where we met up with Hanna, Heidi, and Victoria.

After staying with Hanna's parents in Turku, we then headed out to the summer island where the six of us spent several glorious days swimming, taking a sauna, walking, singing, and relaxing.

Hitching to England
Well, my Eurail pass had run out, and though I tried to use what was left over from Claire's that did not work.  So, I made it to Turku, where I caught the ferry to Stockholm.   While on the ferry I walked to the base of the boat where the cars were.  I spotted a truck with a Netherlands license plate and asked the driver for a lift to the Netherlands.  Imagine my shock when he said yes!  So I jumped in and traveled with the driver from Stockholm to Denmark to Germany to the Netherlands.  The driver paid for my food the whole way and I slept in the passenger seat almost the entire time.  Not only that, but he dropped off the truck in Rotterdam, picked up the company Mercedes, and drove me to the Hook of Holland for a boat to England!  That was a total of 1500 kilometers with a single ride! 

England / Scotland / Irish Reunion
I took the train from the terminal on the British side and headed first to Steve's parents' house where I caught up with Steve and Jan.

Peter, Me, Steve, and Jan

From there I went to Berwick to see my grandfather.  After a few days of getting fed there, I took the train to Glasgow to see Anne W.  After seeing around Glasgow and meeting Anne's parents, Peter G picked me up and we headed out in his car to Belfast for the Irish Reunion.

The reunion was actually at Dave's "summer cottage" in Analong in the Mourne Mountains.  There were a heap of people from the summer.  It was a week of fun and debauchery - and just wonderful to catch up with such close friends.

In front of Dave's cottage

Arriving Home
After picking me up from DFW, my parents took me out to breakfast at Bayley's and the next day I had lunch with my mother at St Emilion in Fort Worth   After regaling them with my trip, the next natural question was to ask "what is next".  I let them know I had two priorities: 1) go back to college and redeem myself and 2) save money so I could travel around the world for a year, starting in May of 1990.  Oddly, sheagreed to the plan - even the part with me staying at their house for free!