Things that have/have not changed in Boston since June 23rd:

1. Victoria Seafood has changed their lunch special from $3.95 to $4.75. And they got a new banner. Why they didn't bother to jack it up a full dollar, I don't really know...
2. The crosswalk sign when I cross from Starbucks towards my building has ceased to function.
3. My bottle of Charles Shaw wine was replaced with a way nicer bottle with a note on it that read, "I'm sorry about the bottle of wine, here's a replacement." But hey, I got a nice bottle of wine out of it. The odd part, is that I don't know if it was dropped and broken, or "accidentally" drunk?
4. The lock on our mailbox is busted off. Things that are not good.
5. Our toilet paper holder has been wrestled out of the wall. There is now a gaping hole where it should be.
6. Sunset still smells like the Coors Light brewery.
7. ...and still has amazing quesadillas.
8. The *entire* layout of Shaw's has changed. And by changed, I mean not only a few things - the entire store has been flip flopped.
9. My roommate still doesn't know how to lock the top lock.
10. Seemingly all the trees coming up my street have been taken down. It's odd.

EST.

Contrary to popular opinion, I have returned from the other side of the world safe and sound. All in all, trip was a total success and we didn't have any problems with anything (besides getting on the "wrong" train at one point, but even that was only a slight detour, ok, maybe an extra 3 1/2 hours is a little more than slight), so it was awesome. Taking off 3 weeks was definitely worth it, even though probably something I'll never do again.

I also don't think I'm as jet lagged coming home as I was going. No, let me restate, I'm DEFinitely not as jet lagged coming home as I was in Madrid. That staying up for 36+ hour thing really messed with me, and when we got home, I passed out at 830pm, and woke up about 45 minutes ago, totally rested and ready to go. I might crash tonight, but let's try and avoid that...

Highlights of the trip?
1. Dude in Gdansk open 3 bottles of beer with a swipe of a lighter. Ridiculous.
2. Auschwitz. Enough said.
3. Being in Spain when they won the EuroCup. And I don't even care about soccer. Or futbol. Or whatever it is, but it was amazing.
4. Epic grocery store meals. Because they're cheap, and the possibilities are endless, and fun.
5. Amstel (not imported) in Budapest = amazing.
6. Hostels with Happy Hours, and free breakfast, and boys from London, who love listening to us "banter" as much as we loved listening to them.
7. Red roofs in Prague, and pizza places that were underground caves.
8. Tyskie.
9. City bikes and epic bike tours.


...Photo documentation will be coming soon...