Prague...

This is the museum near the center of the city. I didn't actually tour the building I used it more as a guide when I became lost. If your standing on the steps in the front looking down you are looking at the town center and tourist grand central.

Here is the clock tower which is pretty cool. On the hour all those gadgets start to move and grind. Myself I was more impressed with the center dials.

You know you are a metropolitan European city when you have a Sex Machine Museum right next to one of the oldest churches in Europe. Oh, those Czechs do it right!

And for fun, here are bunch of other pictures that I took. I didn't have time to do any editing or cropping, but at this pace I won't have that much time until I'm back in the states sometime next year.

Germany...

I remember when I was planning this Euro trip a good friend mentioned that if I stayed in Germany more than one day then it was too long - well I disagree. So far I have been to Chemnitz, Dresden, Germany, Munich and tomorrow I'll headed to Frankfurt for a few days and I have been nothing short of amazed by this country. It is beautiful!

Berlin...

After a bit of arm twisting Sophie and Anne convinced me to put off Prague for a few days and make a trip up to Berlin before heading to the Czech Republic. I am so glad that she did, it was one of the most amazing cities that I have been too. What was most impressive was that they did not hide from their past; Nazi or Cold War. Instead they put it right out there for everyone to see, discuss, and learn from. I took several pictures, about 200 total, but the ones below are my favorite. I hope you enjoy.

Nothing to this picture really, I just like how it turned out.

What's your sign? As you can see I'm in the bottom right hand corner; can you figure out where your hate symbol is?

I'm guessing this is some sort of German house alarm system. I'm not sure if the cat has something going on with the dog, but the thing looks suspect.

This is "Checkpoint Charlie" where allied forces and diplomatic personnel were allowed to move freely between East and West Berlin. The link is pretty interesting if your into cold war history.

Budapest Destiny (Besheret)...

I met a pretty cool guy here in Budapest over this past weekend and even though I'm old enough and wise enough to know that it was just a vacation boy crush I did enjoy the "what if?" feelings such as: what if we lived closer; what if we met sooner; what if we both wanted kids (that's for you E). And even though I know the answer to all the questions it was fun have those feelings and the nervousness and jitters that come along with hoping that someone thinks your as cool as you think they are.

Putting the school kid crush aside, it was a affirmation that I am growing through a pretty difficult time in my life. When asked rather bluntly whether I seriously thought that M and I would get back together when I return from Iraq I could honestly say no. I'd like to say it was a sobering reality, but it wasn't; it was something I knew back in December but just hid from.

So, here is to E who I am pretty sure is sitting in Frankfurt reading this thinking "what the fuck did I step into?".

Gay Pride, Hungarian Style...

By complete coincidence I stumbled across Budapest's gay pride parade this past weekend. I have been to several city-wide marches in my day as well as the national events in Washington DC, but nothing prepared me for this one.

The night before I met a group of fellow Americans at a local drinking hole and we discussed meeting up and enjoying the celebration the next day. There was some talk about it not being all that welcome here in Budapest but being from the States we were no stranger to a few protesters - we were in for a big surprise.

As you are leafing through the slide show pay close attention the the number of police officers protecting the marchers as well as the number of protesters - for quick reference; all the people you see dressed in non-police attire are protesters.