The Return

I am home from Europe and readjusting to life without trains, passports, multi-linguists, and American portions. All in all it was a good trip. We ended up visiting:

Budapest, Hungary
Vienna, Austria
Prague, Czech Republic
Belgrade, Serbia
Rubik, Albania
Dubrovnik, Croatia

As expected, the trip was not without its mix ups and shenanigans but those are all forgivable and make for interesting stories. The only inexcusable event was the white knuckle cab ride from Rubik to Dubrovnik. Our Montenegrin "buddy" named Merlin gave us a ride in his cab from Montenegro to Albania. It was an hour and a half ride filled with loud techno music and excessive speeds on roads barely suitable for the livestock that occupied them. He cut us a "deal" and offered us a ride from Rubik to Dubrovnik, a five and a half hour journey. We accepted and hopped into his cab a few days later. Somewhere in the coastal cliffs of Croatia Merlin proceeded to give me what I hope to be my last near-death experience. Only a miracle of God prevented us from slamming into 4 oncoming vehicles, falling into the Adriatic Sea, or both. John and Cary were fortunate enough to sleep through everything but the screeching tires. I've never had a drinking problem but I'm still considering developing one because the memories of that event still haunt me.

Despite the death-defying cab rides, Albania was an incredible experience. My friend, Stephanie, is a Peace Corps volunteer in the small town of Rubik. I believe that it is the smallest city in the country that has a volunteer in it. The town has only one road in it and most people travel it as a means to get to Kosovo. Rubik is by no means a wasteland, but it is very simple and self sufficient. The people of the town could not have been more welcoming and warm. However, that is what the Albanian people are supposedly known for (that, and killing those who do you wrong). I'm not sure as to the validity of the statement, but we were supposedly that most Americans that have ever been in the city at one time.

Other highlights of the trip include visiting with my brother, Trevor, and seeing old and new friends in Vienna, wandering the streets of my favorite large European city (Prague), seeing the marble constructed tourist destination that is Dubrovnik, and getting a 500 billion dinar note in Belgrade. (I could scan the 50 billion dinar note, but c'mon, who wants to see that worthless piece of crap?)

While the trip was good, it's always nice to come home. I mean what's not to love about coming home to a fearful economy, a jittery stock market, and the Chicago Cubs being the Chicago Cubs and getting swept out of the first round of the playoffs?

(See Jimmy, that’s the New York Stock Exchange. That’s where people traded incredibly convoluted financial instruments that no one really understood until one day the whole thing went BOOM!) *taken from sadguysontradingfloors.tumblr.com

(Yes, there were pictures taken on our trip. However, none of them were taken by me. As soon as I get some I'll post them.)