A bittersweet ending to an incredible journey

A Video on my AmeriCorps Journey

(I was asked to put together a collection of the work we what I completed with the Health Home project. Follow the link above to check it out!)

The staff of the Pomeroy Medical Clinic (minus Sonny and Lisa)

On the eve of my last day as the AmeriCorps Rural Health Promoter at Garfield County Hospital District, I find it best to reflect on the past near two years of what has been an incredibly life changing experience. Many of you who followed my blog during its initial stages lived through some of the more difficult parts of my sojourn. Uncertainty inundated my thoughts, but over time my writing became less and less as I became more comfortable in my new "home," but my struggles still remained internally.

Some of you may know that in May of last year I nearly rescinded the verbal commitment I provided a few months prior to serve a second year of AmeriCorps. Solitude overcame me and I just couldn't see myself continuing to stay in such a remote place. After a trip to San Francisco to visit my wonderful friend, mentor, and woman who inspired me to serve others, Hilary, I returned with a decision made: I needed to leave Pomeroy. I shared my concerns with Michele and we decided to talk with Andrew, our CEO, to determine the next steps for GCHDs AmeriCorps recruiting process. During a tearful discussion with Michele and Andrew, I was truly torn. Pomeroy was indeed a special place to me at that point, but not enough (I thought) to make me stay another year. As Andrew rushed to a meeting, I vividly remember him putting his hand on my shoulder and telling me, "Whatever you decide to do, we support you. Just do what's best for you, Kate." 

Shortly after our conversation, I was on the road again. This time to Portland to speak about my service at the NorthWest Service Symposium. Along the way, I called my closest friends seeking advice. Each agreed that I needed to move forward -- I clearly wasn't happy. While in Portland, I found myself making numerous pros and cons lists on places I'd potentially live and jobs I thought I'd want to apply to. I had never felt so torn. There was still one more person who needed to know... Susie. Most know that Susie quickly filled the Mom role after my arrival to Pomeroy, a position not included in the job description of "AmeriCorps Supervisor." I knew telling Susie would be incredibly difficult as we came to dependent on each other in both professional and personal settings. As my worries about staying a second year released through sniffles and tears, Susie expressed a similar sentiment as Andrew had earlier: "Do whatever makes you happy," she said, "As hard as it will be if you leave, I will support you either way." 

When I left Portland, I knew exactly what I needed to do and Pomeroy was not in the plan. I knew moving forward would be difficult, but the support I was being extended granted some comfort in my decision. As the hours passed, I finally reached the home stretch and as I saw the outline of the sign that first greeted me when I arrived on that warm August night less than a year before, something began to change. My emotions seemed to settle. I felt the warmth of a tear roll down my cheek. I thought, "I'm not done here." Not more than a few weeks later, I pushed the 'send' button on an email message to provide written commitment to Michele that I would serve another year as an AmeriCorps volunteer. I realized that I could neither leave the project that had become my passion nor the community that I soon learned was my family.

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect when I returned to Washington after Europe. Looking back, thought, extending my service for a second year will forever remain a decision I'll always know as right. he personal growth I've had in my second year excelled in ways I never knew possible. In truth, I would not be in the position I am today -- preparing to move to Seattle to commence the Masters of Public Health Community Oriented Public Health Practice program at the University of Washington -- had I not continued my service. In a way, I feel as though I proved my commitment to this community and gained the trust of a great majority of folks. Though there's no hesitation to poke fun at my vegetarian meals or recycling ways, I earned the respect of individuals who I now call family. I'm no longer just "that girl from Boston," but a respected community leader. 

This week has been an exceptionally bittersweet one at best. And as I prepare myself to make that trek one last time across the Alpowa, I can not help but think about how lucky and grateful I am to everyone, from Massachusetts to Washington, who supported me throughout this experience. Hardly did I imagine finding "home" nestled between wheat fields and long stretches of open land, but it seems life often offers opportunities in the most unlikely of places. So until the next adventure, enjoy!

Home sweet home!

So after 23 days of traveling, 8 countries, 10 cities, and 6 languages... I finally made it back to the states. My last day in London didn't involve too much sightseeing despite my later flight. I spent some time enjoying a cappuccino (which I'm now addicted to... thanks, Europe) while journaling in a cute cafe. Then ate my lunch in Picadilly Circus. I had flashbacks to my first day in London nearly a month ago when a swarm of pigeons came flying to me from all directions because the man sitting next to me thought it would be a good idea to start feeding them part of his sandwich. Bad idea. After awhile of people watching, it was time to get over to Heathrow. On the tube, An old man sat next to me, looked at my bag, and says, "Looks like you got your whole life with you!" I felt like quite the bag lady and was definitely ready to not have to live out of my backpack. The airport was ridiculously hot and filled with tons of people, of course. I found the last of my pounds and had enough to buy a cadbury carmel bar... it was delicious, even though it literally started melting when I ate it -- thats how warm the airport was! At last I boarded the plane and we began our 7 hour trip to Boston. I sat with this really nice couple who (small world) were from Beverly.. which for those of you who don't know is the town I went to college. We talked about the atomic cafe and the lady taught me some knitting tricks... she made a sock during our trip! I was very impressed. My legs started getting restless around hour 5 and I wanted off the plane! The time passed and when we finally were hovering over New England, the pilot came on to inform us there was bad weather south of Boston which meant we were going to be delayed at least 15 minutes. Of course! When we finally landed, we ended up having to wait another 15 minutes because all the customs gates were unavailable. Didn't they know I simply wanted to be home? At last I made it through customs  without having my bags checked and reunited with my family.

Now that I have been home for a few days and the events of the last month have begun to sink in, I feel I'm still in a bit of a surreal state. One of those, "Wait, did that REALLY just happen?" feelings. There were so many moments I honestly never thought I'd make it home and others when I genuinely didn't want to come back to the states. Overall, though, I'm so glad I had this opportunity to experience so many different cultures, meet and spend some time with awesome people, and explore some amazing sights.

Nothing like ending a trip in a city erupting in riots.

My ferry ride to London quickly created growing concern over going into London as the BBC showed images of escalating violence spreading across London. I spent much of my journey with my eyes glued to the television with fear about the unpredictable nature of the youths who have taken over the streets in so many parts of London. To be honest, i was more than scared and really felt uncomfortable going to my hotel in Maryleborne, between Camden and Ealing where violence was present. I didn't know what to do but had few options so i prepared myself to become hyper-alert and ready to run at any point. On a more positive note, I'm so glad i took the ferry! It was a beautiful and smooth journey. The ferry was really like a cruise ship and I wasn't exactly expecting that. When i booked the ferry I thought it would be more like the ferries to Marthas Vineyard and didn't expect much. After the nearly 6 hour trip to Harwich, I got off the boat, went through customs, and got on the train to London. Luckily, my hotel was only about 1/4 mile from the tube station and i made it there safely with no problems. When I finally got to the hotel room, i immediately turned on the BBC to see what had happened since i last watched. More violence had spread with fires erupting and shameless looting occurring everywhere. The images were disgusting and frustrating. These youngsters acting like animals with no concern for their community or each other. As an activist for peace and nonviolence, it's hard to understand how an originally peaceful protest to the death of a young man could turn into such horrible and disgusting disorder. And being here in london, i learned in the morning that i wasn't the only person in the city who felt the same. After i finally fell asleep to the sounds of sirens echoing throughout the neighborhood, i woke early in the morning, watched more of the news, and decided to walk around a little bit before my personal curfew of 4:00 p.m. I went to breakfast and the radio dj's spoke of the "idiots" who were running the streets looting and setting things on fire. As I walked down the streets, I overheard several conversations about the disgust of what has been going on, the confusion over why this was even happening, and again those "idiots" needing to stop. The police presence was definitely visible in several areas I walked through which provided some comfort, but not that much. I managed to do some touristy things and didn't come across any issues. I definitely freaked myself out when i saw a big crowd of people a little ways down the road... Then i realized it was a line to get into Madame Toussaud's and my heart stopped pounding so much. I made my way to a kind of nerdy stop: 221b Baker Street, aka Sherlock Holmes! I feel like it was a walk down memory lane because i remember reading Sherlock Holmes with my mom when I was younger.  It was really cool, but it was even more awesome because there was a beetles store RIGHT next door! After i checked that out, i went to Trafalgar Square so i could spend some time at the National Portrait Gallery. The Square was so beautiful and you could see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey down the road. I really enjoyed the portrait gallery, especially because admission was free, but the art ranged from the Victorian period to current, even some Andy Warhol. They had an exhibition called the BP Portrait Awards and there were definitely some interesting paintings, but some of the oils and acrylics of peoples faces looked more like a photograph. The detail just "brilliant" as the British would say. The most interesting was a self portrait sculpture (I guess you would call it) that actually was made partially from the artists own blood. It was in a refrigerated case -- definitely weird. After the museum i walked down to the river, checked out the London Eye, Westminster  Abbey, Big Ben, St James Park, Buckingham Palace, Green Park, and Piccadilly Circus. I decided to grab lunch at the Dover Castle, a pub my friend Michele worked at when she spent some time in London. I had a nice pint of  nut brown ale and fish and chips. More talk about the riots could be overheard in conversations throughout the pub. It was near time to head back to my hotel so i stopped by the grocery store then headed to my room. Aside from being a little panicked about walking into a riot, i had a really good day walking around and seeing some of the sights. Now, I'll have a well deserved night off and relax in my hotel room. After 3 weeks of traveling, I think i need this. Tomorrow is the big day where i finally board the plane to go home. There's been plenty of ups and downs right to the bitter end (thank you, London youths for helping me end my trip with a bang), but its been an amazing experience. 

Holland!

After a good nights sleep, we took our morning shower, ate breakfast, grabbed cappuccinos at the campground center, and decided to go exploring Wageningen by bike. We packed a picnic lunch and headed out. The sky was clear at the moment and it was perfect biking weather. We headed towards the woods and followed the bike trail in. Fun fact about Holland (and reason 623 why I need to move there) is that the entire country is connected by bike trails. Meaning, you could go ANYWHERE by bike! And for the most part, it's a fairly flat ride. Um, amazing? I think so! Anyway, so we had a pleasant ride with LOTS of stops, because nature is really distracting! One stop was this rather large, and toxic, mushroom on the side of the road. It was nearly as big as my face and pretty cool. But not as cool as the next mushroom we found. Once we got onto the train in the woods, it began to rain (again... Apparently it rains more in holland than Seattle) but it was worth finding the edible cauliflower mushroom! It was seriously cool and we took it with us for dinner after we got a positive identification. We kept riding along and the sky cleared up a bit. We came across a field of wildflowers along a corn field that had sugar snap peas nestled amongst the sunflowers! We picked a whole bunch for dinner and our trip was quickly turning into the best bike ride ever! Dark skies were looming so we decided to stop at this pancake house we passed right when we got out of the woods... Because in holland it's also normal to have rather random placement of stores, restaurants, art galleries, you name it. We previously passed a lumbar shop into the middle of this really woody area in this rather remote area. Anyways, the pancakes! Since it started pouring when we sat on a bench outside to eat the lunch we backed, that's when we decided to just get pancakes instead. So firstly, let me attempt to describe the pancake house. Imagine this typical dutch house, situated in the woods with lots of really random knic-knacks all over the walls and hanging from the ceiling, then fill it with lots of families, conversation, and laughter... Then you'll have a slight idea of this place. It was so wonderful! Arno and Blair insisted i tried chocomel... Which is ten times better than chocolate milk or a frappe, so tasty! Then we got these mini pancakes (I forget the name) which were phenomenal and Blair and i shared a tomato, oregano, onion, mushroom, and i think something else pancake... I can't even describe it in words! The Dutch pancakes aren't what we think of in the states where it's fluffy and you drown it in maple syrup. These pancakes are more crepe-like but thicker and just damn good. I tried a bite of Arno's apple and raisin pancakes which was also on the same level of delightfulness. After we were more than full, and the rain finally stopped, we continued on our bike ride. From there we found this very weird trailer park (the Dutch version... Which is pretty fancy and definitely not the trailer parks we think of in the states) and Blair and i were rather intrigued by the window displays. Another fun fact about the Dutch, they want people to look into their windows and actually decorate them so people walking by can admire. I mean sure, why not! We passed more mushrooms including one called a fairies bench that if you knock on it, it's like knocking on a wooden door! We came across more fields of flowers, corn, and farm animals; a weird field that looked as if a UFO may have landed; and a really cool Zimbabwe art gallery. This gallery was also situated in the middle of the woods and had tons of rock carved sculptures. You could even take a class if you wanted, which i thought was pretty cool and wish i could take. Maybe one day. Then, Arno showed us this really cool remains of an abandoned industrial complex. It was a little creepy, but still really cool to walk around... Because there's no trespassing laws like in the states so we didn't get arrested! I guess a lot of these old industrial parks are being torn down and turned into green spaces so it can go back to a more natural landscape. HOW COOL!? All we do in America is take AWAY all the trees and last remnants of green to build houses and buildings that just sit there unoccupied for years! We have a lot of catching up and learning to do... Oh and! Fun Eco fact, they use glass bottle for most things (soda, juice, water) so they can be reused. You can actually see the markings from the machine they go through that cleans and disinfects the bottles for reuse. I swear, this place is just perfect! Okay, so our last stop was at this pick-your-own fruit and flower garden (do you understand why i love this place?!) where we just strolled around and snuck some blueberries which weren't quite ripe but still good! But when we made our way home, we got distracted again and made a detour to this community garden some folks told arno about when we were admiring the cauliflower mushroom in the woods earlier. Arno and blair are on the hunt for a community garden to join and this one is perfectly located right behind this house. The best part, besides the awesome apple tree and lots of vegetables, was the blackberry patch on the other side! There were so many and they were so delicious! We got our fill and headed back (seriously this time) to the house. When we got back, we did some kitchen work and put together part of the countertop. Then, we cooked our "harvest from the wild" dinner and the mushroom was so good! It tasted like buttery pasta -- wicked good! And the snap peas were also delicious! By that time the rain started coming down like a monsoon again so we watched some more Dexter before going to bed. In the morning, we woke to more pouring rain which posed an obstacle for our bike commute to the train station. After breakfast and watery cappuccino (it wasn't as good compared to the day before), the rain didn't appear to be letting up so i wrapped up my bags in plastic and arno and I took on the rain! The ride wasn't too terrible even with the rain, probably because it's so gorgeous even when it's raining. We got to the train station soaking wet but made our trains. When we go to the next station, Arno and i said our goodbyes as he headed to Leiden and i to Hoek van Holland to catch my ferry to England. I must say, the train station was beautiful and so clean! I made all my connections with no problem and made it to the ferry to say goodbye to Holland. I wish i could've explored the Hoek van Holland because the view i got from the boat reminded me of cape cod. The beach went on for what seemed like miles as we departed and i couldn't believe the beauty of it. With a smile on my face and on the last leg of my journey, i now am making my way back to London where i will fly out on Wednesday evening to head back home to Boston. I can't believe the trip is over and that I made it all this way. Its been an incredible journey and one I'm glad i pushed through the bad times to get to the good. Will write more when i get to London. Send over your good karma and peaceful thoughts as i enter a city currently filled with violence and unrest. Until next time, enjoy! 

Bike lovers paradise, aka the Netherlands!

My train ride to the Netherlands to visit with Arno and Blaire (friends i met in moscow -- as in Idaho. Arno and i met on a little skiing trip with some mutual friends, he's originally from holland and his wife Blaire was studying at the University of Idaho) started off quite uneventful, and then quickly turned for what was an interesting ride. I had a few connections to make and only minutes to make them. When i arrived over the border into Venlo, i sprinted to catch my next train in 4 minutes... And of course the platform was a few away. Somewhere i caught it and the person i sat next to was a little, well, a pyro? He was a little younger with some hip haircut and was burning some plastic part of his shoe which i assumed was causing some sort of discomfort. It was weird and i just tried not to stare with a confused look on my face. When we got to boxmeer (not my connecting point) someone came on the speaker and started speaking Dutch about something. I saw some confused looks on the passengers faces and then pyro boy asked me in German something. I just said, uh i don't know. Luckily, the guy next to me knew how to respond and also helped translate for me in English that apparently a train ahead of us hit a car which was causing a delay and everyone had to get off the train at the next station. That's good to know information i thought! They said there would be a bus that would take us to the station after where we could catch our train. I decided to make friends with this guy (Nick, I later learned) so i wouldn't be stranded in this quite small, countryside town that seemed rather uninhabited. We ended up waiting a long time for the bus, and when it finally came the driver said the accident was cleared and we could either take the train that might come or the bus. If we chose the train and it didn't come, we'd be stranded because his shift was over and apparently there were no more buses. Nick and i decided to trust the train and luckily, we made it. Although, we initially were on the wrong platform but thankfully there were only 2. I then made it Wageningan station where i reunited with Arno! We had a lovely bike ride back to their new place which is in this really awesome campground/not-your-typical-American-trailer-park and settled in. Biking proved to be a little challenging with my hiking bag and getting used to the backwards peddling, but i managed to survive without falling over. Impressive i think. Wageningan is in the countryside and is so incredibly beautiful. Community gardens, bikes, fresh air, farm animals, and adorable houses are everywhere and I instantly fell in love. It's a place i could absolutely see myself finding any excuse to get a job at and live -- it's THAT amazing and so KFo. After some talking, we biked into the town center and passed by lots more fields and even a really big patch of black raspberries along the road that you can just pick, which we did, and they were SO good! (reason #153 why i could live there) we tried going for Dutch pancakes but the place was closed (apparently everything closes at 6 -- very Pomeroy-like) so instead went to this rather fancier restaurant at a hotel where Arno is holding a conference at. The food was incredible and i started to realize just how local, fresh, organic, and  health conscious the Dutch are. The whole town smells like the Moscow Co-op, which is like a mini Whole Foods. Do you see why i like it here? We had a beautiful night and sunset. On Saturday, Blaire and i headed to Amsterdam for the day to go to the Noordesmarket (basically a Saturday farmers market) and explore the city. It was incredibly busy with so many people and bikes everywhere! I mean, they have bike parking garages that are about 4 stories. It's incredible. We brought our bikes and i got to experience Amsterdam on bike which was kind of crazy. Actually, it was down right ridiculous. It was so overstimulated especially when we realized that the city was extra crowded because it was gay pride. Boy are the dutch proud! I learned its the gay capital of the world and is so accepted and apart of normal life. There's no stigma and people can be free to be themselves. We ended up watching some of the parade, which was on boats in the canal, and the energy was just so contagious. It was really a lot of fun despite being really overwhelming. The market had the best fruit and veggies I've ever seen and i had some really awesome fresh apple/pear juice and blaire and I split this to die for raw lemon square. Mouth watering. We stopped in a lot of cute shops, smelt a lot of pot coming out of the coffee shops, wandered around the red light district (but there were none on), and met a nice couple at a cafe. when the sky starting turning really dark and the wind picked up, oh and we were just so overwhelmed and wanted to get back to the countryside, we headed home. The ride went by really quickly and we biked our way back to the house. Along the way we stopped to adore some miniature horses and when we got back arno had supper ready for us. We had a nice relaxing night of watching Dexter. It poured rain SO much! I mean, monsoon! We ended up going for a little walk in the rain which was pretty refreshing. So far, I'm in love with Holland. Everything about it is just wonderful and perfect... Maybe one day! Until my next (and last) stop, will write again soon.

Dusseldorf, Germany

I arrived to Germany and finally saw a familiar face. Kathy (she was a foreign exchange student when I was in high school. We did track together) greeted me when i got off the train and i felt so relieved. She currently attends university to become a doctor and she helps other foreign students who are in this program adjust during a short summer program (in a nutshell). Anyway, with her was Giovanni, who is from Milano and very italian! He's a very nice guy and wants to be a neurosurgeon. He had just arrived to dusseldorf the day before me, so Kathy had been spending the day helping him do errands and adjust. We dropped him off at the dormitory and then made way for home, which is in Wuppental about 15 minutes off the Autobahn (!) from dusseldorf. When we arrived at kathy's apartment, which her and her boyfriend Cristian just moved into a few weeks ago, he had made a wonderful traditional German meal, vegetarian style! It was potato pancakes with homemade apple sauce and some delicious mushrooms in a sort of cream sauce... And it paired perfected with a wonderful German beer! We caught up and before long it was far past bedtime. We made plans for the next day then headed for bed. In the morning, the weather looked like it could either way, and eventually it did start to drizzle. Of course. Regardless, we headed towards this castle, which name is literally translated as "castle castle." I got to experience the true Autobahn that has no speed limit. We pushed about 180 km/h which translated to wicked fast, but it didn't last too long since it's only for part of the road and then they actually have a speed limit... Which is still quite fast. The drive to the castle was so beautiful! It reminded me a lot of western Washington because it was very green, forested, and mossy... Oh and by this point it was raining a bit. It felt so good to finally be around people and not traveling alone. It was especially good because Kathy and Christian were able to give me what felt like a private tour of the history of the area and the castle. The castle was from the medieval era and very, very cool. I'm almost sure this was the first castle I had ever been to and it was definitely an awesome experience. Apparently there are people who actually still live there and there were a lot of neat restaurants and shops inside. We walked around for a bit and inside they had a lot of artifacts from the site. In many of the rooms on the first level, the walls had these amazing paintings which, in one room for example, told the history of the family who built the castle. The room before that had paintings of all the lords and kings who presided over the castle. These paintings were done in the 19th century and were in immaculate condition... I mean, it was literally painting on the wall! Very cool! After awhile of walking, we worked up an appetite and so we stopped into this restaurant on the castle grounds so i could experience some waffles. It was probably the best waffle i have ever ate. I ordered it with warm cherries, whipped cream, and sugar (a traditional way I'm told) and i could've licked the plate! Yum! After we stuffed ourselves, we walked outside to take in the beautiful view of the mountains and came across this really cool tree that you could actually live in! The trunk almost makes a bowl the way the branches come up and they had what looked like the frame for a tent inside. I could definitely live there! My own treehouse near a castle with a beautiful view and incredible waffles?! Sold! Anyways, from there went to another medieval town called Zoms. It's literally a town that is surrounded by one of those walls you see surrounding a castle! It was so cool, and yes, another place i could definitely live! The area around the town was very rural and peaceful... And definitely brought me a lot of comfort! I'm so used to the quiet and not the bustling cities that this break in Germany has been very enjoyable! It was just so quiet, the air fresh, and the colors just very natural. It could not have made me feel more at ease. We walked around the town for quite a bit, checking out the herb gardens, windmill, castle wall, goats, and also found a really cute shop with lots of tea and very good hard candy! We also came across a bakery and bought 3 different types of streusel for breakfast the next day! When we 
left, we went back to dusseldorf to pick up Giovanni to check out another castle and grab dinner. The castle we went to was actually more like a mansion and was pink. Seriously! The grounds, however, were beautiful and there was this long pond thats similar to the one in Washington DC. There were some beautiful swans wading in the water and a bunch of geese on the grass. I got to climb a tree too! When we asked someone to take a photo for us, it was quite funny. We apparently asked the absolute best person because he was actually a professional photographer and even had the little things to help with lighting! We were all starved, so we ended up heading for dinner. We went to this really great German restaurant, had some delicious food (not so much traditional as, like Prague, it's all meat!), and very good beer! When I went to the restroom (aka WC as in water closet) I had to come back to the table to ask Kathy if i go in the one with a D or H... It's a good thing i wasnt by myself! I probably would have walked in the mens room (the H door). Stuffed (again), we headed for the airport to pick up another student Kathy was helping from turkey. As I thought about it, i realized that a week from today I will be heading to the airport to head back from boston and conclude my quite epic European adventure! I cant believe it's near the end and i finally feel like I'm in a good place emotionally to enjoy and finish my trip! It's taken long enough. I feel like the more i think about the places I have gone, I start to remember more and more about all the really amazing things I have seen in my travels. Anyways, while we waited for Kathy to help the new student settle in, Giovanni, Christian, and i went to a bar around the corner for a drink. Its funny because at the places we went to the small beer comes in this really adorable 0.2L glass. I guess it helps the beer taste better than having it in a really enormous 0.5L mug like the one i had in Vienna. but what i really want to tell you about is the bar we went to called Lott Jonn. It was so... I actually don't think i have a word to describe it, so let me just tell you about the decorations. There was a shark hanging from the ceiling, this HUGE wizard like statue (I mean HUUUGGGEEEE!!), Lara Croft (from tomb raider) was just hanging out on the bar in the smoking section, then (I saved the best for last) a skeleton riding a horse with a cigar in it's mouth, a cowboy hat, sunglasses, and silver high heels! I couldn't help but laugh every time I looked at or thought about it. When Kathy finished, she met up with us and we headed for home and bed. We were all pretty beat from the long day and tons of food we ate. 

The next day, our breakfast was extremely sweet and filling! We ate the streusels we bought the previous day and talk about sugar overload! All 3 flavors were delicious in their our sweet way, but my favorite was the apple. Since Kathy had to work, Christian and I spent the day exploring. Our first stop was to Essen to visit the Krupp mansion. Instead of taking the Autobahn, Christian took me through the countryside which was so beautiful and very much like home -- except more green and houses. We passed through some very old towns and saw some traditional German houses. Believe it or not, in some parts of Germany they do have enforced speed limits and poor Christian got caught! It was weird because you can pay for your ticket right there when they stop you. He also told me that sometimes they take a picture of you and your license plate if you're speeding and send you a ticket, but if you have a passenger in the car, they block them out. Why you ask? Because apparently some wives were questioning their husbands if it was really just a colleague they were driving with. That's pretty bad! Anyways, we got to the mansion the grounds were so beautiful... As well as the house. The rooms were huge and they had a lot of photos of the family. The Krupp family was very famous in the steel industry and seriously rich. After we walked around for a bit, we headed back home to drop off the car, change because it was actually feeling like summer outside, and head into Dusseldorf. While we walked to the train station, we decided to grab lunch. We passed by this marketplace and decided to get some fried fish. Growing up with fish and chips on Fridays, i have had my fair share of fried fish, however, this was amazing! It was so crunchy and the fish very tasty. Feeling like we could never eat again, we headed to the train and arrived in dusseldorf. We met Tusqa, the Turkish medical student we picked up at the airport, and christian showed us the waterfront. Here there were a lot of rather interesting buildings including one with these colorful frog like creatures crawling up the side. Kind of strange, but in a cool sort of way. On our walk we stopped into this art gallery that had some very, um, interesting artwork. There were photomontages of all kind of random sights in odd places and mirror that had frames that had all sort of knick-knacks glued onto it. There were canvas with barbies and legos... Just really different. Moving on, we stopped into a bar to grab a common dusseldorf beer. Not being much of a dark beer drinker previously, Germany has certainly turned me on to them. It was wonderful! We headed towards the area where we would be meeting for dinner and walked down this super fancy shopping district street. All those high-end stores... Too classy for me! We met up with Kathy and went on a hunt for German chocolates. We found some and Kathy also bought fruit and raspberry bark. The raspberry bark was seriously the best bark I've ever tasted! I mean, i couldn't even think about anything else but what i was eating, it was so delicious. We then met up with Giovanni and headed to dinner at a brewery in dusseldorf. It was quite the experience. There were really no appetizing vegetarian options so i had to suck it up and "do the cultural experience" thing. I tried this traditional dish translated as "liver cheese" -- they assured me it was not actually liver. It was quite a hefty portion with potatoes (obviously) onions, and an egg. I'm sure its insulting, but it tasted like a hot dog... Which I'm still not sure how i feel about it. And between our meals and a few beers, we were all in food comas. We made our way towards Lott Jonn, the bar we went to the night before, so all the exchange students could meet each other. It was a fun night and i brought back my table soccer skills and played a game with Giovanni and 2 of the Turkish students, we won. By the time we left, it was raining. We had a little bit of a walk to kathy's car and it was getting to be quite chilly. It's so hard to believe its summer because vie hd anything but summer weather. 

My last day in Germany, we spent the morning at the japanese garden. The grounds were quite beautiful and when we left the sun was starting to come out. We had lunch at the fish house, had one last ride on the autobahn, and ate some great chocolate cake. When Kathy and Christian dropped me at the train station i thought my bad karma was coming back. We got to the platform and the screen said my train was cancelled. Uh-oh! Though there was another one in an hour, it was one of those unexpected things I've gotten used to on my trip. Christian asked at the service desk and they told him at the train was in fact running, and amazingly it was. When we looked at the screen again, the message about it being cancelled was gone. Talk about a just kidding! I boarded the train for the last time to the netherlands. Amazingly, i have less than a week left in my journey and I've finally been able to enjoy myself. 

I'm so glad i CZECHED out Prague!

Alright! So i woke up and got myself ready for an adventure to Prague! With some time to spare before my train, i decided to grab some breakfast at one of the few markets that was actually open because it was Sunday and head for the parliament, really pretty gardens, insanely large and old museum area so i could take some photos. Of course it was raining so i ended up taking the metro which was probably a better idea than walking. Luckily, the metro in Vienna is quite small (only 3 lines) so getting around wasn't too difficult. I soaked in the sights, literally because it was raining (ah! Kfo joke!), and was really impressed by the rose garden. They probably had at least 100 different varieties of roses and it was nice to see them as an actual plant, rather than some man on the street trying to sell you them while you are trying to eat dinner. Anyway, i made it to my train and I actually had a really enjoyable ride. It was another of one those compartment type deals, but the lady and younger girl i sat with were so incredibly nice. They were from Norway and had been traveling for a little over a week. We talked a lot about scandanavia and they definitely convinced me i have to go. I mean, when i went to Denmark with my soccer team almost 10 years ago (wow, that made me cringe) I absolutely loved it. The landscape was just my type and it was definitely a place for the nature lover like myself. They also filled me in on what happened in Oslo a few weeks ago. I had only heard that something happened, but hadn't had the time to really read about it. It was devastating to hear about the tragedy and they kept saying, "things like that just don't happen in Norway. We are peaceful and nonviolent people. It is horrible." hearing their perspectives was definitely eye opening and I'm glad that i had that opportunity to do so. On the other hand, the scenery we passed was again beautiful. Despite the long hours I spend on trains i would never be able to see such remote and beautiful parts of the countries i visit on an airplane. So I guess it makes it worthwhile... Especially because we passed by TONS of fields of sunflowers! My favorite, of course! After about a 5 hours trek, we finally got to Praha! I did my routine of getting my train ticket to the next place, money, and then figuring out how to get to the hostel. By this point, I have it all mastered. I will say, the metro in prague was a little tricky. The ticket machine was so terribly confusing and i frankly just guessed at what i needed and didn't even end up using it because you can just kind of walk through... Which is probably NOT what you are supposed to do, but hey I don't know! I even made it seem like i knew exactly what i was doing because this chinese couple asked how to buy a ticket and I honestly admitted I had no idea and guessed. Oh well. I managed to figure it out enough, though, and got to the hostel. I'm SO glad this is my last hostel. I stayed at chili hostel and its, well, not very clean. They give you towels and sheets that have probably been used over and over for the past 2 years, and i also didn't find their staff overly enthusiastic. When i got to my room, it wasn't much better. The pillow was pretty nasty and looked like it had years of drool stains piled on it and it just had an interesting odor. I told myself, "it's okay. Only 2 nights and that's it for hostels!" and proceeded to go find dinner. My indecisiveness was at it's worst, and as many of you know, this happens quite often. Trying to find dinner took probably an hour because i just couldn't decide what restaurant to choose. I did however come to the conclusion. Despite my "I need to try the local food" rule i soon realized that wasn't going to happen in Prague because every traditional Czech dish seems to compete with the other to see which can put the most types of meat on one plate and I just wasn't up for that. I can blame part of my indecision on the fact that prague is absolutely beautiful, though. I honestly felt like i was in this movie set like place because all the buildings have so much detail to them as well as great color. Each building is a piece of art and none of them really look the same. Since I was in the old town area, I also came across the square where the anatomical clock is and a few churches... And a lot of people and shops. Eventually, I did fid a restaurant and i decided to treat myself to a good meal for making it this far. They weren't kidding when they said Prague was cheap. I got a beer, water, onion rings (craving, I guess), a delicious smoked trout salad, a crepe-like dessert, and espresso for the equivalent of $20! I was shocked! And, even better, everything was super good! With a full stomach, I managed to find my way home (in the rain, of course) and when i got back I met 2 of my roommates, who i cant remember their names! But heres the important part: one of them is from stow, massachusetts! It was such an awesome moment. We all talked about our travels and where we came from, all that, it was quite nice. Then it was late so i decided to go to bed, despite theses 2 italian boys who were also staying in our room making a ton of noise because they were giggling like school girls... Seriously. In the morning, i woke up to more rain and started thinking i must have made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in seattle. Regardless, I made my way out to start on my walking adventure. I had a few places in mind i wanted to check out, but first priority was breakfast at Bohemian Bagels. Best suggestions for food.... EVER! Now, my friend Lindsey (aka beaver) always brings me to get what i thought were the best bagels in the world in new jersey. You know, the classic New York bagel. Right, the bagel i had here brought amazing to a whole new level. I couldn't have been more happy, especially because i also had my first cup of "american" coffee since i left the states. I forgot how much I missed it. After i indulged and took in the coffee shop atmosphere (one of my favorite pastimes is to spend hours at a coffee shops...), i headed for my first stop: the Charles bridge. Along the way, i walked through Old Town Square and there was a mass of people standing near the anatomical clock. Thinking something important was about to happen, i figurerd id stick around and see what the big deal was. It was about a minute later i put the pieces together and looked at the time. It was near 11 which meant that bells would start going off, things would move, and a guy on the top of the tower would start playing a trumpet. It was definitely worth the wait! Anyways, I eventually got to the bridge and it offered an incredible glimpse of the city. You could really put together the architecture and just how truly beautiful prague is. Except at this point, the tourists and tour groups had emerged and my level of grumpiness began to soar. Tired of listening to them and being tossed like a salad from one oblivious person to another, i put on my headphones and made for my next (and most important) stop: the John Lennon Peace Wall. Except, since the rain finally ceased, i shed some of my layers and in the process lost my map! I panicked and retraced my steps for a good 5 minutes. I thought, "okay, I know prague is a relatively clean city, but that's pretty quick for trash pick up! And really, who would steal my map? It was free at the hostel!" of course the last place i was, as in the place i realized i lost my map, turned out to be where my map was lying helpless on the ground. I picked it up, and hustled along. When i got to the wall, I was shocked, but please to see that there were NO people there... Well, okay, there were maybe 10, but compared to what I've been used to... Thats nothing! I stayed there for a long time reading the notes people had written on the wall, all sorts of words of peace and love. I took some time trying to think of what I was going to add to the wall and finally it came to me. I traced my hand, drew a peace sign, and wrote: "We can (tracing of my hand) -le (peace sign). Hahaha! I was sure to sign it kfo and was very pleased with my punny message of peace. Pictures will come when i get back so you can get the full effect! I moved on from the wall and i felt relaxed enough to dive into the crowds and made my way up to the mini-Eiffel tower at Petrin Park. It was a nice hike to the top and gave an absolutely amazing panorama of the city. All the red roofs and church steeples...  It was fantastic! I also climbed up that little Eiffel tower (I don't know if it has an actual name) which was slightly frightening. Unless I'm in my climbing harness and hooked to a rope with a trustworthy belayer, I'm not too found of heights. So i took my pictures, got my full of the view, and headed down to safety! The view was really beautiful and it was worth faking i still attended Endicott College so i could get a discounted ticket. But at this point I was sweating! The sun had finally showed up and after that uphill hike and anxiety inducing stair climb, i decided to change clothes then embark on some more walking. In much cooler attire, I decided to grab some lunch at another recommended restaurant called Le Casa Blu. It was a Mexican restaurant and the nachos were incredible! I think all the walking I've been doing in the past few weeks finally caught up to me because my legs were beat. I found a nice bench and people watched for a little bit, then grabbed a late supper and beer then headed for bed. Honestly, I wasn't too fond of the beer here. Sure it was cheap which was fantastic, but it was only alright for me. I guess the microbrews of the northwest have spoiled me. I didn't sleep that well due to my bed situation. It literally formed to my body and the there was a dent in the mattress where i laid... And I'm pretty sure it wasn't a temperapedic mattress! I woke up pretty early so i made one last trip to Bohemia Bagels which was an excellent life decision! Since it was early, there were no tourists milling about and the town was fairly empty besides the locals. Now, not to get ahead of myself because i still have a few more stops on my journey, but I have to say Prague is my favorite city of the trip and a place i would love to visit again. I really didn't see too much of it, but i liked what I did see. After i checked out i made my way to the train station to begin my trek to Dusseldorf, Germany to visit with my friend Kathy from high school. So far, the journey has been uneventful which seems kind of odd for me! Things have gone rather smoothly ever since I got out of Italy so I'm hoping it's smooth sailing until the end... Which is near! I'm officially done with hostels, only have one more train ride (except the metro), and 2 more countries with language barriers! I almost feel like just getting to London is a feat in-and-of itself!  Write more soon. Enjoy!