Favorite Pictures from the Trip (Part 2, and more comprehensive)

A picture of the whole group on our last night of the trip, in Barcelona, Spain.



This is an incredibly accurate photo someone snapped of Andi and me in Florence.


Monte Carlo -- Claire.


All of the girls, outside of Monte Carlo.



Couples dancing in a square in Nice, France, at midnight.


Jill and me, in the Catacombes in Paris. I can tell you that whatever faces we are making in this were completely unintentional, as this was an accidental shot. Turned out kind of cool.



Jill and Meagan, outside of the Louvre, in Paris, France.


Meagan and me, in the Louvre.


Me, with the Mona Lisa, in the Louvre.


A view from a window in the Louvre.


Me, inside the Louvre.


Meagan and Jill, near the gardens at Versailles. One of my favorite photos.



Me, at Versailles.


Spiros and me -- Paris.


Andi, Jacqui, Meagan, me, and Jill, outside of Versailles.


Andi and me, in Paris.


This is Claire and me being our typical selves during a walk to grab dinner in Brussels, Belgium. Can't imagine why no one else wanted to join us...


Me, prancing about in Brussels, Belgium.


The Lake of Love, in Brugge, Belgium.



Cute dog in Brugge.


Inside a church in Brugge, Belgium.



Jill, during an evening river cruise of the Seine in Paris.


Jacqui and I -- Eiffel Tower.


Architecture in Heidelberg, Germany.


This is me, running about some town in Germany. Germany, as you may know, is pretty large; ergo, we visited more cities there than in any other country, and I have trouble keeping track of which city I was in throughout my Germany photos. This, however, I believe was in Heidelberg. (Don't quote me.)


This was most definitely in Heidelberg. This is Claire and me, being precious at the castle in Heidelberg, Germany.


A rather blurry view from our penthouse suite in Hotel Tautermann (Innsbruck, Austria).


A cute little local girl in the Tyrol Region of Austria.


Jill, me, Andi, and Meagan upon arrival in Austria.


A photo like this may never be captured again, ever. This is Jill and some random man from Moscow (who, quite obviously, took a liking to Jill) at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Germany. Fast friends.


Andi and me, celebrating her birthday at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Germany.

Barcelona, Spain

All of these pictures were taken in Gaudi Park in Barcelona, Spain.

Paris, France

My Favorite Trip Pictures

St. Nicholas Cathedral in Prague, Czech Republic: During our last day in Prague, Andi, Jill, and I went to a classical music concert in this cathedral. It was the most spiritually uplifting experience. Wine was also involved.


Dachau Concentration Camp: The sky in this photo. It goes without words. It's hard for me to look at this.



Claire, in Heidelberg (Castle): Claire has been a great trooper with all of my "photo moment!" impulses. She's a great model!



Me, in Amsterdam: I really like this picture, mainly because, if you look in my right hand, you can see that I'm holding my little beige Moleskine journal, which has been my greatest companion abroad. I would honestly be more devastated if someone stole my journal (or my pictures), than if someone stole my suitcase.


The heaviest and, yet, most beautiful photograph I've ever seen: Otto Frank, Anne Frank's father (and the only surviving member out of the eight who were in hiding in the Secret Annex in Amsterdam, Holland, before their arrests on August 4, 1944 -- Otto Frank survived Auschwitz). I obviously did not take this photograph, but it is quite possibly the most inexplicably touching moment captured on film. This photo was taken in 1960, when Otto Frank returned to the Secret Annex, with the knowledge that all of the loved ones with whom he once shared it would never do the same.

Belated Reflections

It’s hard to believe we’re already 23 days into our 35-day trip. Everyday has been its own whirlwind of new environments, new people, new (and often arguable) beauty. While it’s difficult now for me to mentally grasp that – holy cow – I’m in EUROPE on the trip of a lifetime, I have no trouble grasping the fact that my days with all of these amazing people I’ve grown to love so much are numbered. It’s difficult to emotionally fathom, so I try not to.

Three weeks ago, I did not know any of the others on my trip. They were complete strangers, living their own lives, some rather parallel to mine, all across the world. What, specifically, brought us together? What stroke of fate determined that this precise combination of individuals would spend 35 days together, visiting some of the most spectacular sites in the world? It's now hard to imagine that there was a time when we didn’t know each other, and that such a time was not that long ago.

At a certain point, “home” and “family” are not definitive. I have found home in multiple places, and family in multiple people. What is mildly scary is that this trip has wrought a stark hybrid of both. There is uncertainty in who will be brought into our lives, and even more uncertainty in who will stay. Home and family fluctuate accordingly, and we grow to be okay with this. But I can only hope that what I'm experiencing now is more than transient.

I could write all the minutia of everything I've done here. But that would be of little use to you, and of even less use to me, since this trip has been not merely what I've done during it, but rather what I will walk away with after it.

What was my life before this? I will never be the same.