Hmmm (Musings of Roxy)...

Hi, Roxy here again. Seeing as to how we are traveling from place to place, i thought i might write down a few thoughts about our journeys. First of all, I noticed that some sort of misfortune, whether big or small, seems to befall us during our first moments in any given country. First is realizing that we have to adapt to a new language and culture (and view of Americans). Second is Vicky periodically yelling, "My skin is going crazy!!" when each new environment inflics some sort of multi-colored ailment on her epidermis. But most of all, each country gives us its own taste before we even set foot on paved ground.



In Germany, we began with leaving Vicky behind in the Munich airport, as mentioned before. Then we got stuck in the first class part of our train by mistake. Furthermore, we got caught in rain in Heidelberg.

In Holland, we had a minor incident when the door of our train refused to open for several minutes while impatient passengers began to get restless. Therefore, a cry of joy when it finally opened was inevitable.

In Prague, we took a taxi in the middle of the night from the train station to our hotel, and found out the next morning that it was rediculously expensive. I don't know if all taxis are like that there, but the price makes all of us shudder still.

And finally, France. We left the train station and began to look for the correct metro line that would take us to our hotel. We made about five full turns around the station, luggage and all, unitl we knew the station by heart, but had less success with the metro. In the end, we walked to our hotel using a map that didn't quite correspond to the station.

Even though we have all these minor scratches and scrapes, they add to the impressions we get from each country. And we realize that even though these countries are so close together, they are extrememly different in atmosphere and community, so misadventures are necessary and exciting. So when it comes to country-hopping in Europe, leaving a country culturally "unscathed" would perhaps be the worst scrape of all.