Back home in the U.S. of A

As you probably guessed from the title of this post, we're back! I'm sitting in my parent's kitchen in good old Morton, Illinois enjoying my first morning back with my family.

Our flight home was, for the most part, uneventful. We made it through the 8 hour flight from Rome to Montreal, quickly cleared Canadien customs and then flew about 2 hours from Montreal to Chicago. We had a two and a half hour layover at O'Hare in Chicago before our final flight to Peoria, so we celebrated being back in America by eating at Chili's, an American classic!

We were met at the airport in Peoria by my dad, Dan, Joe, and Barb. After waiting a few minutes for our baggage to come in, we finally completed the last leg of our journey........the drive home.

As I reflect back on our month in Europe, I'm amazed at all of the places we've been, people we've met and things we've learned in such a short time. A quick list of the cities we were able to spend some time in: Warsaw, Bardejov, Zilina, Vienna, Salzburg, Munchen, Breidenbach, Paris, Strasbourg, Bern, Gimmelwald, Rome, and Ostia Antica.

I'm also struck by the incredible debt of thanks that we owe to so many people. The first two weeks of our trip that we were able to spend with Ed and Wendi in Bardejov we're so enjoyable, relaxing and fulfilling. I immensely enjoyed being around each and every member of their family and the memories I built during those two weeks are ones that I'll treasure forever. Honestly, I can't thank the Rumbold family enough. Can't wait to see you guys in the states next Summer!

In the two weeks since we left Bardejov we owe a big thank you to Brano for his hospitality towards us in Zilina, The Kovacs' family for hosting us in Breidenbach, and Laura and Phoebe for the kindness they showed us in Paris.

Personally, I would like to thank Grant and Phil for being great traveling companions and for putting up with me 24/7 for a month. On top of that, I owe Grant much thanks for all of planning and logistical work he did for us and Phil for all of the photographical documentation he provided.

Lastly I'd like to thank everyone who has been following this blog for the past month. Your thoughts and prayers were all greatly appreciated. I'm excited for the opportunity to catch up with many of you now that we're back in the states!

What a trip! Our travels are over, but the memories remain.

For the final time, this is Ben signing off from Morton.