There I was on a plane in Reykjavik airport waiting to take off as we left for our three week tour of Europe. Looking back it is hard to identify what was the highlight of my trip; it was all an epic adventure. We were going on a backpacking trip through Europe and I had never been to Europe. What happens if I get on the wrong train, or get on a different train from my family? But we all ended up on the same trains all the time and on the right trains.

During our trip we went to a friend’s wedding. That was one highlight that I bet most tourists can’t claim! My parents’ old landlords’ son Jens was getting married in Germany. He was eight when they lived in Germany but now he is 28. Since we were going on trains the whole time on our trip we didn’t have a car. Jens lent us his car while we were visiting his town. It was confusing! We couldn’t put it into reverse so when we parked anywhere we had to be sure we were facing on a downward slope so we could get out. When we went to the wedding we couldn’t understand a word anyone was saying. It was way shorter than an American wedding and it was also a baptism for Jens’ and his new wife’s son and it was still shorter!

In the back of the church there were pretzels, orange juice and champagne. The pretzels were really good and the champagne was better! When we went back to the hotel for the reception there was a very weird guy with a black wig, but his hair was gray and sticking out! I never did figure out who he was. There was a game being played where they had a rolling pin and they had to pass it off in between their arms, under their arms and between their legs. I did not play that; but my dad did, or course. It was funny, but after that it was pretty boring. Later my brother and I snuck away to go play cards in the back room. When we snuck back in everybody was doing toasts and Jens’ sister Silke translated all of them for us. That was very helpful. It was fun then, a little, but there were no other kids, plus we did not speak German. So then my brother and I snuck away to play hackysack. When we came back they were cutting the cake which had triple layers and each of their names on it including their son, Henry. Each layer was a different flavor; raspberry, chocolate and vanilla. It was excellent!

We had to go, but before we left we went to the little village where my parents used to live. It is called Kuhborncheshof. It is near Ramstein Air Force Base. The village had increased in size by 80%. It now had eight houses! Then we left to travel a bit more. When we got home it was a lot of fun to look back at all the pictures.