Belgium beer, while obviously not as good as its chocolate or waffles (though some would disagree, I'm sure), is definitely....prevalent. I had to break the pact I made with myself two weeks ago to stay away from beer forever more because it seems like all you could do in Brussels was eat chocolate or waffles or drink beer. They definitely take their beer seriously there. There was a bar we visited called Delerium that had 2,650 different types of beer. They're all listed in this huge dictionary size book. My personal favorite (actually, the only one I could say I even liked) was this chocolate beer I had. It tasted exactly like a yoo-hoo!

I am in London for the rest of the evening before heading to Heathrow to spend the night in the airport for my early flight tomorrow morning. Arriving in England was a bit of a relief. For the first time in six weeks I can speak to someone at a grocery store without feeling like a burden because i don't speak their language. It's really nice, actually.

I suppose this will be the last post of my blog, and I'm not quite sure how to end it. I have, however, been making a list of more things I've learned in Europe, so I'll write a few of those:
*The U.S. really, REALLY needs to convert to the metric system.
*Cell phones are overrated
*Clean clothes are not overrated
*The word 'queue' is much cooler than 'line.' I can't say the same for 'lift' instead of 'elevator,' but 'trolley' beat 'shopping cart' any day
*The world worships the obsequious Golden Arches
*I really must become fluent in at least one other language
*Pay bathrooms are the worst idea ever
*Public urinals are quite a good idea (though us ladies lose out on the brilliance of them)
*Spray deodorant is just weird
*Hershey's chocolate needs to die
*As the number of McDonald's, Burger Kings, Starbucks, and English speakers goes up in Europe, the power of the dollar goes down, down, down...
*I do believe I could subsist solely on bread, cheese, apples, carrots, and chocolate. For the rest of my life. Perhaps I shall.

I'm bad a goodbyes...or endings...or whatever you want to call this...so I'll just end this awkwardly and call it a day. I'm sad to leave Europe, but excited to see all you wonderful people when I get back VERY SOON!

We have left Amsterdam, where the general tourist population was about 18 and male, to come to Brussels, where this average is much older and more varied in gender. Actually quite old. Apparently old people like chocolate.

BELGIAN WAFFLES. Mmmmm.....Belgian waffles are not nearly the same at IHOP as here. They are so yummmmmmmy. You can get them anywhere on the street with any topping you want: whip cream, ice cream, chocolate sauce, strawberries, custard...the possibilities are endless.

And the CHOCOLATE. There is a handmade Belgian chocolate shop every five feet here (in the tourist center that is, which is all we ever visit). Truffles, chocolate fountains, pralines, chocolate seashells, cordial cherries, and caramel abounds. If heaven has a smell this is IT. You go in and all the people who work there are just perfectly skinny! If I worked in a Belgian chocolate shop I would get very, very fat. And be so happy about it.

We've not seen much of the sights in Belgium beyond chocolate and waffles (and who would want more?), but we did go see the (in)famous "manequin de pis." It's this tiny, tiny bronze of this little cherub peeing. Very famous for some reason, but about as impressive as the Mona Lisa.

Oh, and we had amazing all you can eat spareribs at this restaurant that included a bucket to throw the bones when you were done and played 20's jazz. It was hilarious. Surprisingly enough, Belgium can do BBQ, really well....

We leave on the chunnel tomorrow morning; I can't believe this trip is at an end!!

It started off innocently enough walking around Amsterdam one morning. We passed a clothing shops shops here. A few cathedrals there. Anne Frank's house and the like. And then we were in the red light district. There's no boundaries or signs. During the day it doesn't even look that different, as the glowing red lights aren't too visible upon a cursory glance. But the girls in the windows are definitely there, as well as the prevailing aroma of a certain herb...

After our tour of the red light district (all informational, no worries), it honestly sounds like the rest of the world could really learn a thing or two about how prostitution, or sex working as it's properly called here. It's really a very well-run machine and I was (dare I say this in a blog my grandparents read) quite impressed. I think the best part is that the oldest church in the city is also in the red light district. The Catholic sailors would go and pay to have a slip of paper saying that they had confessed and repented their sins. Then they could go home to their wives and family without a care in the world.

The beauty of Amsterdam is that, along with scantily clad girls in windows, it also houses some of the worlds greatest art. We went to the Van Gogh museum where we saw all of his greats along with some of his not so greats. I was willing to brave yet another museum for Van Gogh.

Dutch people are very trendy indeed. You can always pick out a tourist because they're not wearing skinny jeans, a scarf, and some adorable jacket and boots. Yes, one can wear jackets here because it's actually pretty cold. It was raining this miserable, drizzly, grey rain yesterday that made me oh so homesick for Oregon (not). But how the fashionable people make me want to go shopping!!! I loathe every single article of clothing in my backback right now. Every single one. Also, when I say they bike a lot, I really mean that they bike a lot. Corvallis is put to shame. I've been nearly run over by a bicycle numerous times, and may just be put in the hospital before I make it to Brussels.

Amsterdam has lots of ethnic food, people who speak English, and "cafes." And people who ride bikes. I tried to pronounce one word in Dutch and failed miserably so I will not attempt to do the same again. I miss Berlin. Sharon is tired of cheese and bread, but I don't think I ever will be. I am tired of attempting to write coherent sentences, though, so apologies for that.

In other news, the Germans failed me today. Our three trains to Amsterdam were 10 minutes late EACH. And Germans are supposed to be SO efficient and on time. Psh.....

We went on this awesome walking tour of Berlin today. I learned more about the Cold War than I'd thought I'd ever know! I was wrong--Berlin is not 60 years old...it's more like 18. Berlin is younger than me....this city is fascinating. Really, really fascinating. Sharon and I decided that a lot of people here look a little unhealthy. Must be either the pollution or the heroin. Or a combination of both.

We are in Berlin! This city is so very very different from all the rest we've been in. Everything was completely destroyed in WWII so most of the buildings are very modern (and many very utilitarian due to the Soviet influence, I assume). To me, though, it's quite the feat what the Berliners have accomplished in the last 60 years. Their transit system is one of the most efficient I've been on (there's the U-bahn, S-bahn, H-bahn, and M-bahn!) and everything seems very 'well organized.' These are the Germans we're talking about, though.

It's funny the difference between München and Berlin. München is so traditional, stereotypical Germany. Everyone drinks beer at all three meals of the day, the people in general are much more 'stocky ' (probably because the aforementioned vast quantities of beer consumed), and beer gardens and beer halls are more common than grocery stores. Not like that in Berlin. I think I've seen more ethnic restaurants than traditional german restaurants. There is quite a diversity in the people here....München definitely had more than its share of blonde haired blue eyed folk.

They both have lots of Starbucks, though, and that prevailing sense of efficiency, law abiding citizenship, and absolute cleanliness that I think is common throughout Germany. As well as the funky windows that open two ways.

Sharon and I are getting very jaded when it comes to sightseeing. Five weeks of visiting museum after museum, cathedral after cathedral, and various and sundry palaces has spoiled us against visiting any more of these aforementioned places. One can only see so many beautiful Monets, church spires, and gold laden wall molding.... But we will probably go anyway because I feel if we don't I'll regret it. So yes, you should feel bad that I'm forcing myself to go to another cathedral!

Today I ran into and knocked down a toy helicopter in the air on demonstration at the mall in Prague. One of the guys looked angry, one looked apologetic, and the third just smirked at me. I give Americans such a bad name.

We saw the Prague Castle and did all the rest of the touristy stuff about which I'm too tired to write.

Most importantly, I ate the best hot dog of my life. If I die of a heart attack before I return home, I know what to blame.

It's so cheap here, I don't want to leave!! Alas, we leave the Kopek and go back to Euro country tomorrow (though I hear Berlin is cheap, so let's hope so).

Very....tired

Goodbye musical Vienna....goodbye Mozartkugeln (although I resisted buying any as I knew I'd eat them all before I could get them home).

My German is no better than when coming to Switzerland about a week ago except I know how to say "entrance" and "exit." It goes like this: German people babble at me in German, I give them a blank stare, they give me a blank stare, I say uhhh....as I try to remember how to say "I don't speak German" in German, they start speaking perfect English. Yes Dad, I'm still mad at you for not teaching me German! Turns out knowing how to say "sweet dreams" and "hot chocolate" doesn't come in handy as often as I thought it would.

I get made fun of for eating the liverwurst at breakfast. But I don't care.

I witnessed socialized medicine at its finest as I accompanied Sharon to the hospital yesterday in Vienna. Because of all of her blisters she contracted some awful fungus that turned systemic as she ignored it. She'll be fine now that she's on medication and anti-fungal creme. The emergency room is structured very differently than those in the U.S. If you're not dying, you wait for a long time... Luckily there were lots of dreamy Austrian doctors for me to pine over.

We arrived in Prague a few house ago. The Czech language bewilders me! German amused me, but Czech is just plain scary. Prague is lovely so far, though!

We did a little more in Munich than see the Glockenspiel (but of course that was one of the best parts). The first thing I absolutely had to do was eat weißwurst. They were so, so good. I don't care who doesn't like my wonderful Bavarian white sausage, but I think they are pretty swell. The next day we visited Dachau, which was definitely an interesting experience, and the English Gardens, apparently the largest park in Europe (bigger than Hyde!). Our sightseeing was a bit hampered by our visit to some beerhalls the night before. But that is apparently the ultimate Munich expience (beer drinking, that is), so I suppose I can consider it sightseeing too, right?

After only a short visit we left Munich, where my Bavarian heritage lies, to go to Vienna, where my musical roots are. We toured the opera house, though unfortunately the season only runs through June, so we weren't able to see an opera. At the state opera house here there's seats for €2!! Of course, they are standing, and you aren't able to see that much, but imagine being able to see world class operas for the cost of a coffee! I would go every night!

We went to Haus der Musik, this museum that explains the physics of music and sound in really cool interactive ways (like OMSI for music), and I had to go visit all the graves of all the composers buried in Vienna. Handily, they're in their own little section in this massive graveyard on the edge of town: Beethoven, Schubert, Johann Strauss, Wolf, Brahms, Gluck....

Then I had a coffee at Starbucks (don't worry, this is the first time this has happened!) and I sat there wondering why I was having coffee at STARBUCKS in Vienna, the supposed coffee capital of the world. I sipped my expensive melange all the while being very angry with myself.

On this keyboard, the 'Y' and the 'Z' have switched places, making it much more convenient to spell my name. Yet another sign I should move to Europe....

I'm in Munich and of course (NATÜRLICH!) I went to see the Glockenspiel for the third time. It gets better every time!