Thank you, Mrs. Altman, for keeping me on my toes and reminding me that I haven't written in the Smith Family journal for a while! We've been so very busy lately, and yes, I know that is EVERYONE'S excuse-du-jour. But for me, it's also the honest truth. My parents came to visit us three weeks ago and spent 14 whole days with us! Troy had a baseball tournament that weekend, so we gave them a little time to rest before we started dragging them all over Europe. My Dad brought us all a special gift from the States: a cold, which he gladly passed along to everyone except Troy. Within two days of their arrival, Blake, Grace and I were coughing and sneezing and drinking NyQuil like it was water. But we still had a pretty good time. Here's the low-down of our adventures:

Friday, Saturday, Sunday: baseball, baseball, baseball. Troy played a total of 7 games in 3 days. We had baseball coming out our ears.

Monday: rest and recover from baseball.

Tuesday: took a drive along the Mosel River, up towards Trier and Cochem. Our goal was Cochem and the Cochem castle, as I have been there 3 times and have YET to see the dang castle. But alas, we never made it. We did stop at a beautiful town called Bernkastle. It was breathtaking. Dad bought a "coffee mug" for his collection; we kept telling him it was a beer stein, but he didn't believe us. Hope he doesn't walk around the church drinking out of it---he won't keep his new job very long! Mom bought a few postcards and souvenirs as well. Blake was sick--very sick--so we left Bernkastle and headed home. But the drive was great.

Wednesday: rest and recover and eat great Chinese food for dinner. Believe it or not, Mom and Dad actually flew across the Atlantic Ocean to see Germany, and I took them to eat at a Chinese place. Run by German Chinese people. Huh?

Thurdsay: it was off to Strasbourg, France, which was NOTHING like I imagined it to be. I was picturing this quaint little French village, full of quiet locals, delicious cafes, and lots of history. What I got was a booming metropolis that challenged my driving skills and tested my patience. It was incredibly nerve-racking, especially with Mom in the back of the van screaming at every turn. I finally just said to Dad, "I think I'll make myself at home," and I began driving like the other idiots in Strasbourg. That made it much easier. We found a central parking garage, made our way to the incredibly huge cathedral that makes Strasbourg so famous, took a minitram tour of Strasbourg and "La Petit France," and enjoyed a wonderful French lunch, complete with French fries, French dressing, and French bread. It was great.

Friday: rest and recover (are you beginning to see a pattern?)

Saturday: Troy left on Friday for a Boy Scout campout near Nurnberg, so we loaded up the van on Saturday morning and headed his way, not only to visit him, but also to see a part of the Bavarian country that we had never seen. We toured around Nurenberg, and although we didn't get to see any major museums, we did get to (finally!) enjoy some of the mini-bratwursts that traditionally are only found in Nurenberg. Mmmmm, good! We stayed at a hotel about an hour away, in the middle of nowhere, where no one spoke English and a group of rowdy Germans celebrated at a wedding party half the night. Mom and Dad didn't hear a thing in their room, but my room was RIGHT OVER the dance floor, and I heard every stupid song the band played. It wasn't so bad until they started karaoke at 1 a.m. There's nothing more aggravating than listening to a drunk German trying to sing "Sweet Home Alabama" when you're trying to get some sleep. I went downstairs in my pajamas to chew someone out, but alas---all the staff had gone to bed. So I grabbed a pint and joined the party......just kidding.

We decided on Sunday morning to drive over into the Czech Republich, since we were only about 45 kilometers away from the border. That's an entirely different blog.

Monday: left at 11 p.m. for a flight to London. We arrived in London at 11:15, stood in line at customs for 30 minutes, waited 45 minutes for a taxi, finally checked in to our hotel at about 2:30 in the morning. Our hotel was only a 10-minute walk from the "tube," which is the London subway system, so Tuesday morning we set out for Westminster. Mom kept referring to it as "WestMINISTER," and she was quite offended when I asked her to pronounce it right. Oh no, we didn't stand out as tourists or anything. Nooooooooo. Anyway, London was NOTHING of what I expected. Stay tuned......