Last Full Day

So today began our last full day. We got up and got our stuff together, cleaned the sheets we had used, and got the gifts for our hosts laid out for giving after breakfast. We had one last great breakfast with them and before the first of them had to leave we get them the gifts we had gotten for them. These consisted of the deck of cards we had for all of our hosts along with the Oregon post card thank you, and some other things we got from the store early this morning. Martin and Maryna were great hosts and staying with them and having them let us blend into their daily lives was a great experience and we had many great conversations exploring the similarities and differences between our cultures.

We then hopped on a train for a quick stop in the town we spent our first night in to pick up a couple fragile things we had eyed when there a month ago (wow! yeah, a month!), aka Heidelburg. We really can’t say it enough it’s a great little town and is more worth a visit than Frankfurt or Munich. After getting lunch at another kebab shop we got back onto the train to head up to Frankfurt, so that we could check into the hotel we reserved right next to the airport for easy travel in the morning.

So yeah, here we are nearly at the end of our trip, and while the experience has been really fun and exciting we are both kind of ready to be home again. The places we visited were great and the history we saw and the history we observed being uncovered still, really puts the really young nature of our own country into perspective. It also makes me wonder if there are places where Native American sites of wonder and importance were covered up, filled in, and built right over the top of in order to remove knowledge of them out of fear and spite.

Well it is about time for bed here, we have an early morning and a 20 hour journey in order to make it home. We look forward to seeing you all again soon!