I’m Coming Home, I’m Coming Home

Today was a long day as you might expect, but it was a nice long day. I woke up at around 6am and packed up the last of my things. I’m bringing home a lot more than I thought and I’m surprised I was able to fit everything.

All My Bags are Packed, I'm Ready to Go

Once I was done Deb and I walked around Strasbourg to run a few errands. We stopped in a outdoor café and enjoyed a cup of coffee together. It was very nice! Then, sadly, when our time was up….I had to leave. Deb walked me down to the train station and we said, “Au Revoir”.

Deb

Deb and I

Au Revoir

I had a quick train ride to Offenburg and then my last hurrah on a German ICE train. So, I actually left an hour an a half earlier to the airport just so I could ride the ICE train one last time. The train ride was 2-hours and it was immensely enjoyable! Once I stowed my bags it was off to the bar car for one last Franziskaner. I sat there in my comfy first-class seat and admired the scenery out the window. I must comment that the scenery out of the window on all my train rides since Spring came around has been beautiful; very green and with a giant array of wild flowers. Well, a couple of times in the journey the train attendants came around with little treats. The Germans sure know how to do train travel right!!!

I arrived at the airport and got checked in. I arrived at 1:30pm to find out that my plane was delayed and wouldn’t leave until after 6pm. I made the best use of my time. When they started allowing passengers to board the plane I was standing in line and the lady behind me kept bumping into me, on accident of course. At one point I turned around, laughed, and said “It’s okay, I’m excited to get home too” and she replied, “Oh, not me”. I thought that was an odd comment. Well, the flight was interesting and it was the most disorganized that I have ever seen United Airlines. They were really trying to rush everyone onto the plane. I was inside the plane and still waiting in line to stow my bag and get to my seat (as were many other people) when the captain made the announcement that everyone now needed to be buckled in their seat because he was going to “push back”. Anyway, I slept most of the flight, but the best part of the flight was when we were landing and a old man got out of his seat to use the bathroom. Anyway, I got through Customs without any problems. I walked down the hallway to a sign that read, “Welcome to San Francisco”. The doors swung open and there was most of my family holding a sign that said, “Milde” and cheering for me. My niece Lily kept saying, “Don’t ever go away for that long again!” It was good to be home to see everyone and surprisingly I wasn’t too travel fatigued.

On the ride home I talked to my cousin Jody on the phone. She said, “Have they told you?” and I knew right away, but I looked up at my mom make sure and when I saw her griming it was all confirmed. I said, “Congratulations!” and I think Jody was a little surprised that I figured it out before she could tell me. However, we all knew it was just a matter of time. Coincidently, not long after I got off the phone with Jody her and her new fiancé Brad were driving home from dinner. Jody waved and proudly showed off the new addition to her left hand as they passed by us on the freeway. I couldn’t be more excited for them!

When I got home there was one more exciting part to the evening. PupPup the Wonder Mutt hasn’t seen me in 3-months. Before, even going out to the store and back she would get so excited when I got home. I was excited to see how she would react. Well, she was overjoyed! When I sat on the couch she pounced on me and wouldn’t stop licking my face. I jokingly thought, “I hope my best friend Jimmy doesn’t have the same reaction when I see him”.

Well, there you have it! I had a very successful trip! I want to thank you all for reading and bearing my with unique and random sense of humor. I’ve shared many stories and I’m sure you can pick up on my exaggerations from time to time. I do this to compensate for the stories that I still have yet to share……

To close out my last blog I thought it would be fun to share a few little tidbits about the trip:

Place I'd Live: Edinbourgh, Scotland

Place I'd Retire: Dingle, Ireland

Favorite Small Town: Lucca, Italy

Place I'd go back to see more: Budapest, Hungary and all of Slovenia

Places I really wanted to see, but wasn’t able: Berlin, Germany; Bergen, Norway; and Istanbul, Turkey.

Place I'll never go back: Zagreb, Croatia

Thing I missed the most: Good Sushi

Times when I ordered a drink and ice was put in the glass: 6 (5 of which where in Spain…..the other was in Budapest)

Beers Drank: You don't want to know

Best Meal: Every meal in Innsbruck, Austria

Best Restaurant Meal: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Best Strudel: Mittenwald, Germany

Prettiest Train Ride: Mittenwald, Germany to Innsbruck, Austria

Prettiest Bus Ride: Tralee, Ireland to Dingle, Ireland

Coolest Hostel: The Stahleck Castle in Bacharach, Germany

Dirtiest Hostel: Tie between Copenhagen, Denmark & Florence, Italy

Worst Nights Sleep in a Hostel: Edinburgh, Scotland

Best Hotel: "Julian" in Prague, Czech

Best B&B: "La Mimosa" in Lucca, Italy

Worst Ambulance Siren: Italy

Most Pleasant Police Siren: Luxembourg

Worst "bell" noise before a train announcement: Beligum

Most annoying “bell” noise before a train announcement: France

Country with the most displays of public urination: Luxembourg (x2)

Most Photos Taken in a Single Day: Day 72 at Disneyland Paris - 387 Photos Taken

Most Read Blog: “My Name is Charlie” on 01/30/2011 at 542 views

Number of photos featured on the Travelers Point website: 26

What was going through my head when I got in a fight with Vincent over the internet passcode in Brussles: "I just want to get on the internet to figure out my travel schedule so I can go see the tulips in bloom tomorrow!"

Best Video of the Trip: Go Here: http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y143/mrmatt2282/?action=view¤t=Apr_21_2011.mp4