Physically in Arkansas, Mentally Reliving Europe

15 Wein...14 Euro...Bacharach, Germany

So...Here I am. 2 months older and a whole lot wiser than I was before I left. On May 4th, I took off for five weeks of amazing culture, food, wine, art and...People. Oh my Goodness, I met some amazing People. From Beer Drinking Contests in Mainz...to sneaking around Rome in a rainstorm... this was definitely NOT a "sterile tour guide" based trip. Not that I didn't have Guides...but instead of Megaphones and clipboards, they made Carbonara for me in their Milan flat or taught me to drunkenly pronounce the German Counties...they introduced me to highly addictive Breakfast Chocolate Bread Spreads...or took me to a backyard cookout and water fight in Aarau, Switzerland. But...before I give away all the good stuff, I will start from the very beginning...a very good place to...well, you know. I will be drawing almost verbatim from the journal I kept on the trip, but will be adding in with some "post trip reflection." However, most is typed exactly as it was written, even when heavily influenced by wine.

And if you want to play along at home...here is a drinking game for my faithful readers:
1. Any mention of Wine, drink
2. Any mention of Beer, drink
3. Any mention of Regional Liquor, drink
4. Any time I did something that could be considered "questionable" "dangerous" or "illegal"...drink. Drink Twice if I was drinking while committing said transgressions.If you are my parents, drink a toast to the fact that I made it back alive, despite trying my best to ignore the common sense you so carefully tried to instill in me.
5. Any picture where I am drinking alone, take one drink
6. Any picture where I am drinking with one other, drink twice
7. Any picture where I am drinking with a crowd, finish your drink.

Cheers! St. Michelangelo Piazza, Florence

8. Anytime you can't understand what I am writing about, drink to the point of complete wine happiness and reread. I am sure it will make way more sense. 
9. If I sprinkle in a German word, shotgun a beer. If I sprinkle in French or Italian, enjoy a glass of wine. If you are a native speaker in these languages...and I slaughter the phrases...I will buy you a beer or glass of wine so you can teach me properly!
10. Any phrase you stumble upon that you just KNOW is randomly inserted due to large amount of brewed or aged substances....you know what to do.
11. Any mention/visualization of frolicking. (There was a lot of frolicking.)

PROST!

May 4th, 2011          Location: Philly Airport
I am in love with life. Getting here was a journey, but I am about as close to self actualization as it gets. The bottle of wine and Veal Scallopine "warm up for Europe" meal in front of me does not hurt my happy mood. I Have my "Eurohistory & Art" book in front of me and I stopped studying briefly to jot down some notes. The last few days, I have had some pretty intense anxiety that started around 4 or 5 AM...Poor Jess...She was trying to sleep and I was fussy. Belly was a mess, Mind was going millions of miles a minute...but I came in to today with a sense of calm. I am packed. I am planned. I AM READY. Naturally, I wish I was 15 pounds lighter and $20K richer...but this is pretty great.
God granted me a blessing in the way of hail damage that provided me an extra $600 the day before my trip. I am drinking this bottle of wine in his honor. "
Thank you, Lord, for those golf ball sized blessings. Well played, Sir, Well Played."

Journaling on the Train to Venice

I sketched the trip out by hand...and typed it later, like I did with all my pre-trip Blogs.  So here I am doing the same for my most precious souvenir. My thoughts, fears, hopes, reactions..to all aspects of this trip. The same pen I used to write my itinerary will record its fruition in my little purple Journal. I find this very fitting. (Side note: Serious doubts I can/should finish this whole bottle...but it was cheaper than to buy it by the glass...so.....Perseverance. AND warming up. yeah.) Plus, I have to put myself to bed at 6:10 PM since I will be waking up at 2:00 AM Central time...8:00 AM Zurich Time. I will be hitting the ground running...immediately catching the train to Munich for a day of sightseeing and a night of Opera. (Yay, TOSCA!)
So, other than grabbing some last minute supplies, I am set and good. I shared some of the wine with a very European guy across the restaurant. He was out and I figured Three Glasses should set me up nicely. I figured correctly. And the veal? DELICIOUS!
I love people at airports.Especially people from other countries. I just met the sweetest newlywed couple heading to Greece. Makes me miss my boo.
(Author's note: At this point in the journal, there is a smear across the page with an arrow and the caption "vealsmears." Classy, Christene)
I loved our goodbye kisses. I was not happy to leave her behind. I miss her already.
I have almost dispatched the bottle...with the assistance of my foreign friend, of course.

I have traveled extensively domestically. I always used to envy those waiting to board planes going to foreign places. Now? I am FINALLY one of them. IN a few hours...I will be on the Plane to Zurich and then setting off to Munich. This time tomorrow, I will be sleeping sweetly after taking in TOSCA in Munich.
OMG OMG OMG OMG. I am going to get Lost. I am going to lose my Things. I am going to lose my MIND...I am SO Excited.

I met so many people already. The guy I shared wine with was from Belfast. I met a super nice fellow backpacker from the states, and a SUPER cute Swiss soccer player. My seat mate is an adorable 13 year old half Japanese/ half Swiss boy who is being checked out and harassed by the tweens in the seat next to us.

Wine...kicking in. Sleep pills...kicking in. See you in Zurich!