[I wrote the following in the U.S. to sum up my trip.]

I finally arrived in Munich and quickly caught a train to Venice.  I met Christy in Venice early in the morning, and we wandered around all day.  She showed me her hostel, which was nice but expensive, and then the rest of the city.  I was surprised by how dirty Venice seemed.  I had imagined a romantic city, and although the canals were amazing, it did not feel especially clean.  Not Amsterdam dirty, but not exactly pristine.  I caught a train with Christy to Milan, where she ended up missing her plane, but that is another story.  While in Venice, I had discovered that there were no hostel beds available anywhere from Rome to Germany.  I needed to be in Zurich by 9:00 the next night, so I couldn’t stray too far.  I decided to return to Interlaken and sleep beside its beautiful lake.  Unfortunately, I took a wrong train and ended up in a town whose name I didn’t even know.  It was late, so I wandered into the hills, found a large field, and simply went to sleep.  It was one of the best nights of sleep I had on the trip. The field had soft grass and was wonderfully peaceful.  I woke the next morning and, although it was raining, wandered back to the train and made my way to Zurich.  I spent the day walking around and buying a few last things before eventually boarding my plane.

I arrived in London around 10:00 p.m. and really wanted to see Ana one last time; she was staying at a hostel downtown.  After being asked to leave the airport, I made my way into the city to find her.  I went to Compton Place, even though the hostel was on Compton Street, and walked around until 1:00 in the morning.  The hostel was nowhere to be seen, and my sleeping options were looking limited.  I examined a few bushes as possibilities.  I then spoke with a young woman who offered some advice. She eventually said, “If you need a place to stay, here is my number.”  At about 1:30 I called, and she welcomed me into her home.  I curled up on her couch and, once again, slept remarkably well.  The next morning she took me out to breakfast before I went to the airport.

I arrived fairly early and began checking in.  When I was asked, “Where did you stay last night?” the complications began.  I was selected for additional screening, thorough enough that it felt as though it would have stopped a pin from getting onto the aircraft.  The especially humorous moment came when staff saw a few of the books I had packed, whose titles I will not specify, and one of them gave me a few amused looks.  Everything was scanned, my bag was searched, and of course nothing was found.  None of this would have mattered except that Ana was also waiting for a flight, which we had arranged to depart just an hour before mine.  I ran to her gate, somehow moved through security quickly, and found that they were already boarding.  She was about to get on but said, “I knew you would come!” We waited until the final boarding call and had one of the most romantic goodbyes ever: kisses, hugs, tears, and declarations of love.  It was lovely.  She boarded her flight to Madrid, and I ran back to my gate for my flight to St. Louis and then Portland.  After a long journey, I arrived home, where Casey picked me up at the airport.  I finished another book on the plane, but I was home.

So, that was my trip to Europe.  Adventurous? Of course.  Entertaining? You bet.  Life-changing? Certainly.  I’ll return and spend more time there.  I am still in contact with several people from the trip, including Ana and my friends from Sweden.