I'm horrible at doing things I don't feel like doing...

which is why I never updated my blog after Prague. Overall, I had a great trip and am glad I went. Next time I go to Europe I plan on having more money and not stay so long so I don't have to eat bread 3 meals in a row (it was good bread though) or have to sleep outside (I slept next to Lake Como, so it wasn't so bad).

Praha

So after Berlin, we made it here to Prague, or Praha as the locals call it. Prague is a contradition of sorts, the busy downtown streets bustle with tourists and locals heading to work, shopping, or just out for a walk, while just a half-mile away, there is a amazing park full of trees and open spaces that only locals usually enjoy. I got to enjoy this park a couple of nights ago with the people of the home church of my host here in Prague, and I got to meet some pretty cool people from the states, mainly from Virginia. However, the phrase "it's a small world" defintely rang true as I met someone who had actually attended my high school and graduated 1 year after me; we had many mutually friends and talked about our hometown Garland. Anyways, Prague has been interesting, with a rich cultural heritage and many buildings still in use being over 500 years old. I have to say, that most places I've been to in Europe have been like that though...buildings that would have been turned into historical landmarks in the US are turned into bookstores or restaurants in Europe. I guess the saying is true, "200 miles is a long way in Europe, and 200 years a long time in the US." After Prague we are heading to Munich, so I'll update some more later!

Star-Struck

So after Köln, we traveled to Berlin. Berlin is pretty awesome, I got to see the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate (which has a long and interesting history including Napoleon, WWII and the Coldwar. We also got to see a good stretch of the infamous Berlin Wall. It's graffitied up by various artists and random people who signed their names. Ha, we went behind it where there is a beach, and I tried (and failed) to jump over it with the help of some old crates left. We also got to see the Blue Man Group, which was the best show I've ever seen. While waiting for the show to start, we randomly walked up to the opening premier of Shrek the 3rd, where I got within 5 feet of Cameron Diaz (and yes, she is beautiful up close), Mike Myers, Antonio Banderas, and Justin Timberlake. I got some pretty good shots of them too, as did my fellow traveler Marcus, who was perched up on the top of some bleachers. Overall, yesterday was an amazing day.

I'm in Germany!

Hi guys,
I know it's been a while since I last updated, but I haven't been by a computer in a while. Well, while I was in Aberdeen, I got to see a pretty cool castle and Loch Ness in between trying to recover from my illness. I have to thank our amazing hosts Sander and Whitney for letting us stay at their place and cooking some authentic Scottish food (including haggis!) We flew out of Scotland into Amsterdam on the 31 and we stayed there a few days. We got to see the Ann Frank house, the Van Gogh museum and even got to bike around town like the locals. After Amsterdam, we hopped on a train for Brugge. I have to say that Brugge is probably óne of my favorite cities so far. It had an amazing town square with a huge belfry that we got to climb, and other churches and museums we got to visit. Overall, the best part was that it was pretty laid back and the weather wasn't cold, rainy, or humid. We ended up staying in Brugge for 3 days, with one of those days being a free day of sorts where everyone split up and did what they wanted. I was able to catch up on some reading then and even get a haircut. After Brugge, we traveled to Köln, stopping for a few hours in Brussels. There we got to see some huge Palaces and a statue of a peeing boy (yes, and I got video to prove it.) Köln has been fun so far, we are staying at a hostel right on the Rhine and there is a catherdral called the Dom that is the oldest church in Germany. We arrived in Köln last night, and today we got to tour the Dom and a cool musuem that had some Picasso artwork among others. There is also an evangelical conference going on here outside the Dom, and we got to hear some worship songs.
On a side note, I have discovered that supermarkets are the cheapest source of food and as such I have made it a habit to buy almost all of my food there...they are pretty easy to spot, they have been the same brand or store ever since Brugge. Anyways, right now I'm watching a football game (soocer) and someone just scored, so I gotta go!

London

First of all, jet lag sucks. I didn't get a wink of sleep on the plane and even though my body thought it was 4 am when I stepped off the plane, my watch said it was 10. Even though we were exhausted, we decided to stay awake and get used to the new time zone. Thankfully, we didn't have to worry about finding a place to stay that night thanks to Matt and Bree Josefy! Their flat was nice and not too far away from the action of the city. London was amazing. The first day we were there the weather was great and we got to see Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. The second day however, I mistakenly went out with a jacket and was without one all day as I had checked my luggage at the bus station. The weather soon got cold and wet and even though we were inside a lot of the time, I grew sick by the end of the day. Sadly, this illness was to plague me for days to come, but more on that later. We got to see the British Museum and I took lots of pictures of various monuments and such. (I will try to upload some pictures if I can in the next few days). That night I went on my own on a bus from London to Aberdeen (it was the only way to get a cheap bus ticket). So shivering from flu like chills and such, I made it alive somehow to Aberdeen. Getting off the bus, I wondered the streets, hitting up a few of the museums and even watching Pirates of the Caribbean, but mainly killing time until Marcus and Nate showed up. When they did, I was glad and so began the next part of my trip...

The Best-Laid Plans...

Some of you may know this, but it was a big hassle trying to make it to Europe as planned. Although I applied for my passport 14 weeks in advance, I had to make an appointment at the Houston passport agency the day before my flight left. Even though my mom was panicking, I was confident it would work out. After waiting in line for over 6 hours, I was finally told that I could pick up my passport the next day AFTER 10:30 AM. This made me a little worried as my flight from Dallas to London was at 2:35 PM. No problem, I just booked a flight from Houston to Dallas. Fortunately, I was able to stay at my old friend Stacy’s apt. (thanks again!) I did manage to get my passport at 10:45 and sped away to the airport. Unfortunately, I missed my flight. So I decided to call my mom. And then my phone died. And I started to pray hard. A ray of hope strengthened me as I was able to change my flight to a direct Houston departure. I bought a phone card and called home. My mom was supposed to meet my travel buddies Marcus and Nate at the airport but she couldn’t find them. And their phones were off. So we paged them a million times (more like 10, but yeah). No luck. The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and my mom’s anxiety started to chip away at my resolve. I was about to just drive home when my mom miraculously finds them (she didn’t know how they looked other than the description I gave her). With a “thank you Jesus!”, I drove to Stacy’s apt where I left my car for my parents to pick up. I got a ride back to the airport, found my gate, took my seat, and let out a big sigh of relief. Hard part over…or so I thought.