Virginia Beth, it sounds like your entire trip was fantastic! What are we all going to do with ourselves now that we don't have your "aventures" to read about? I've loved reading every entry. Have a great Christmas and New Year's and good luck with going back to school...so boring, school in the USA. Love, Aunt Virginia

sue Great pictures! Erin and I just watched The Sound of Music two days ago....a coincidence. Glad you made it home after all of the travel hurdles. I hope Anne makes it out of Walla Walla tonight.

Grandpa Ruf It was very nice of you to finish the last chapter fo us. We will miss hearing of your adventures. Keep us posted and have a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year

sue Yes, you'll have to take another trip so we can read more blogs. This was fun. You certainly made the most of your time and saw so many things. I wish I was in Seattle to hear more stories and see more pictures. Now you can read all of those French books that you shipped back home. Is it a culture shock being back in the USA? Merry Christmas!

Kevin Hi Beth, I can't believe your finally about to get on a jetplane and come home! I'm ridiculously excited to see you tomorrow, even though I totally failed at calling your mom tonight to coordinate, so I'll do that tomorrow morning. Love, Kevin P.S. I still need to think of catagories.

Dad Your last night is Paris (for now); I wanted to make a final comment because once you are home it won't seem appropriate to write here. What a trip! While I doubt it will be your only trip to Europe, it is certainly one you will never forget. Your thirst for adventure and your appreciation of all you've experienced has been inspirational. What an incredible experience, I wish I had done something similar in college. Can't wait to hug you at home, see more photos and hear more stories. What's next? Love, Dad

Dad About that pretzel at the Vienna Christmas market...Was it your lunch? (inside joke for those who wonder what I'm talking about)

Mom Lindsay thought of some great categories, so I don't know if I can think of any more, but how about. - Best Museum - Place with the most natural beauty - Best architecture (either a city or choose one specific building) - City with the overall best or most "tourist" attractions - Friendliest/most-helpful locals That's all I can think of; sorry! It SNOWED last night!!! Not much, but the grass is covered! So it looks very Christmasy for your return! Today I am cleaning your room since Maddie has taken it over since your departure....can't wait for Tuesday! Love, Mom xxoo

Lindsay It is funny, because the first thing I thought of was "Best Bathroom" based on a certain experience I had in Chile. But you already know the power of that, I guess. - Best/Worst value for your money (City)- Best/Worst Cityscape- Most convenient city/country/region (Meaning you can walk to and from anywhere)- Least (Meaning you have to practically take trains between museums. IE, Disneyland)- Best/Worst overall weather- Best/Worst walkways- Most/Least crowded with locals- Most/Least crowded with tourists- Most/Least in your face historical- Most/Least exciting gift shops/souvenirs- Best/Worst meal- Most attractive locals- Least attractive locals- Most manners-ly offensive locals/Least (So, least would be a city which has locals who don't cover their mouths when they cough, in example)- Most exciting outfit spotted- Most "Green" (The Europeans are spose to be all over that, aren't they?)- Most exotic animal spotted- Most Christmasy I'll stop. I could think of more if you'd like though.

Kevin Yay for tourist languages! I'll get thinking about catagories. I can't wait to seee you!!!

Grandpa Ruf I think we are getting to the end of your travels and I am going to miss the Blogs very much. Perhaps you can continue them after you get back to Seattle. I do not know what you mean by voting for catagories. I would be glad to do so if you fill us in on what that means. Hope my last message did not discourage Kevin for communicating via the message board. If it did I apologize. Have a pleasant trip back. It sure was a great adventure.

Your lame friend Hannah That wasn't in bold....

Your friend Hannah You grandma made her message bold, and I got jealous. So here's another message for Beth! And it's in bold! I can't wait to see you- soon, soon! I hope you have safe travels, and I recommend that when you get home, restrict yourself to 45 minutes to tell your family stories and then GO TO BED! :-) Then tell them everything in the morning and then come tell me stories! Haha ok bye!

Your friend Hannah Beth, you've been everywhere and done everything. I am very impressed.

Dad I just realized...the blog map doesn't have a dot for Berlin. How can we get a dot on Berlin? Because the map is otherwise impressive. It seems like not knowing the language isn't that big of a problem. That is good because I don't know all that many languages.