Heidelberg & Home

Saturday, May 24, 2008

After enjoying the rare chance to sleep in, we packed for the final time, making sure that all of our items fit into two suitcases of the appropriate weight and two carry-ons. We boarded the bus at 10:30am, leaving Monika behind so she could continue her tour of Europe. From there, we headed back to the picturesque town of Heidelberg for sightseeing and gift buying.

Located in a valley surrounded by green, forested mountains, the town was very old world, but with very modern stores. We bought our final souvenirs and some bottles of water for the trip home, took our last pictures of Europe, and after grabbing some lunch, we headed back to the bus. Thanks to a strict warning from Mr. Vogen, we were all on the bus at least 15 minutes before we had to be, and we got an early start, leaving no one behind.

After taking the time to load all of our pictures (over a thousand in total) onto Jen’s computer, we recalled the fun times from the trip and rested up on the bus.

At around 3:15pm we arrived at the Frankfurt airport. After a shouting match and some exciting moments between our driver, Hugo, and some belligerent Frankfurt bus drivers, we departed the “Party Bus” for the last time. We were very sad to not hear his catchphrases of “Wakey, Wakey” and “It’s Party Time,” anymore, but Hugo promised to keep in touch via email. Of course Jen got his contact information so she could get a copy of “Hugo’s Party Mix” CD.

While walking through the airport we said goodbye to Meredith, Randy, Joe, Mike, Soo, Jill, Masha, Muff, and Kirby, as they were staying in Europe to go their separate ways and continue the fun. We boarded the plane and experienced a very enjoyable flight with excellent food on our Lufthansa airbus. Finally, after a nine hour flight, we arrived at the airport in Chicago and sadly said goodbye to each other after two fun-filled weeks we will never forget.

By Blake Giles

Posted by Meredith Blumthal