Photo Gallery: Euro And Back 2

Though we felt as if we were seasoned verterans after Prague, our training was only about to begin. Our first mistake was taking first-class seats with second-class tickets. The kind conductor waived us onto what became one of my favorite train rides.



The contrast between the Czech Republic and German economies became readily apparent at the train depot. I loved my time in the Republic, but I could understand why people there might begin to look elsewhere.	We faced our own "yellow fever." Without the frequency of restrooms and water fountains that we find in the states, we began to "look out for number one," if you catch my drift.
Our trip pleasantly coincided with the Euro 2004 soccer tournament. Even the McDonald's Big Mac went wild.

An ignorant English-speaking tourist hearing this might catch two "explitives."	Mercedes are like water in Germany.

"Hm...perhaps if I just looked at this from another angle..."	Church-square market takes place as usual in old-town Nuremberg.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm a big Lord of the Rings fan. With fantastical roots that simultaneously precede the English language and speak to the hearts of modern day, the trilogy sounded even better in German, the present development of the mother tongue of the English language.	Though the journey was taxing, we kept to training.
It's best to travel in pairs.

We took our San Francisco Gold Rush roots with us to Swizterland: Chinese laundromat!	Even if Europe isn't hot on Country music, it's got some great country.

King Arthur would have never liked this table.	The roof peers at us through its black, thick-rimmed glasses.

At the Caillier chocolate factory, I experienced my first-ever all-you-can-eat chocolate.	We bit this off a postcard.

A Zurich bookstore boasting an English book floor sold another copy of our faithful companion, Lonely Planet: Europe on a Shoestring.	Bern residents and tourists burned the night away in bars and other entertainment. We had our share of unforeseen excitement, including introductions to a pastor who was formerly a Berkeley political science graduate student and a pair of parishioners from UCSF medical school during our visit to the only English-speaking church in town .