Now that the trip details are written, I’d like to write some of my
thoughts about the trip. Overall, it was a blast. The only
thing that I’d change would be to bring medicine with me… it’s a
bitch to figure out where to buy medicine and what exactly is medicine
in countries where I’m not fluent with the language.
People ask me which place I liked the most… that’s a hard question to
answer cause each place has it’s good points. I do know that I’ll
visit Hungary and Germany again. I didn’t feel that I had enough
time in each place to really get a good feeling for the culture,
people, and sights/sounds. I’m not sure when I’ll go back to
Prague, but I’m sure it’ll happen at some point. It is such a
beautiful city and there are so many other things I want to see around
Prague that we didn’t have a chance to see. I’d like to see Kostnice,
a church in Kutna Hora, built out of bones from the plague in the 14th
century. Also, I’d like to go to Pilsner to checkout the Pilsner
Urquel brewery. At this point, I’d probably only go back to
Amsterdam in the spring. I’ve heard that the spring bloom is
magnificent to see.
Other than that, everyone that we ran into were really friendly and
didn’t really seem to mind that we were Americans. On the other
hand, EVERYONE that we talked to HATED Bush. They don’t agree
with his plans and generally seemed to have a better understanding of
the situation than Americans do. Even watching the news (CNN
world news) made me feel as though Americans are sheltered with the
news that we receive.
Another question I’ve gotten a couple times is whether or not I’m happy
to be home. Again, it’s hard for me to answer that. I
really enjoy seeing new places, meeting new people, and living through
the day without worrying about work (and money). On the other
hand, I was sick for the last 5 or so days of the trip, so getting back
to familiar medicine is nice. Having my own shower, bed, and
clean clothes are nice amenities that I generally take for granted.
As far as the drinking/partying goes… I think I’d go out for a couple
beers at a pub or two, but I’d leave the drunkeness and discoteks for
the weekends…
Other than that, I wouldn’t have traded this experience for anything. I look forward to many more….