Well… I’m ready to dish tomorrow, I think. I just managed to unpack everything and start the laundry. I’m kind of tired and getting over the cold that hit me at the end of our epic trip to the Czech Republic. That was really the only bad thing that happened during our travels.

I guess maybe it was bad that we didn’t get to see the dentist, but we weren’t really in the mood for a cleaning, anyway. Maybe we’ll get in to see him in December. Both the dentist and Bill and I are booked for November. Bill has a conference in Bavaria and then we’re going to Armenia. After that, we have Thanksgiving, which isn’t a big deal for us over here. It would have been good if we’d gotten in to see Dr. Blair, just to get that chore over with, and to make staying in Tübingen for three nights more worthwhile. But we had a good time visiting there, anyway, and we got to see a new cave and a bunch of sheep… we even met new people.

As for the Czech Republic… wow! We had so much fun, and saw and did a lot more than I was expecting. And we had some very weird and unusual experiences, like meeting the unhoused lady who finished off our leftovers for us in Brno, and running into the same great banjo player in two different cities. I was thinking maybe we’d run into him in Prague, too, but it wasn’t to be. We found a great swing band instead, and bought one of their CDs.

We purchased four paintings, some toys for Bill’s grandchildren, and some other odds and ends… chocolates, beer shampoo and conditioner, and new stuff for the house. It’s crazy that we now have to find someone who can frame one of the paintings we bought, especially since my father was a professional picture framer for about 25 years. I watched him do it so many times! Too bad he never taught me the family business… but I don’t have the right equipment anyway. I am also not detail oriented enough for that kind of work.

I took so many pictures, and I have some videos that I’ll probably turn into something for YouTube. I even found some new inspirations for my own musical stylings. We ate good food, drank lots of beer and wine, saw everything from caves to castles to wildlife, and we walked and climbed for many miles. And the whole time it was happening, we kept talking about how amazing the whole experience was. We were only away for about eleven days, but it seems like we’ve been gone for a lot longer than that.

Tomorrow, I will start writing up the series about our Czech trip. I hope it will inspire a few people to go there themselves and enjoy all of the wonderful things that country has to offer. It blows my mind that when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the 1990s, the Czech Republic had a program. It’s hard to fathom it now. I think they’re on the upward swing! Tonight, I’m going to relax and try to get over the remnants of this pesky cold. It seems to be moving pretty fast, but I’ll probably be coughing and hacking for a week or two.