Well. it was fun while it lasted....

Jean and Tom finally got to take a trip to Europe, thanks to Jean's role as a Local Coordinator with CIEE, the exchange student program.  Jean spent a weekend at their conference in Munich, while Tom went to Kitzbuhel, Austria for some well deserved skiing.  We then headed off to Vienna, Olomouc CZ, Prague, and Berlin.  Highlights included:

• Meeting up with Paul and his business partners who are trying to get the solar technology funded and started in Munich and/or Dresden
• Skiing - in the Alps!
• Many old churches
• Stepping off the train in Olomouc to see Ludvik standing right there
• Warm hospitality of the Hajeks
• Tours of Olomouc and Prague that you simply couldn't buy
• Meeting Malte's parents
• The Reichstag at night
• Real snow

Lessons learned:

• Skiing can sometimes lead to wrist fractures
• 10 minutes with the phone triage nurse beats going to a hospital in a foreign country
• You can still ski with a broken wrist!
• We packed way too much suff.
• OK, a little snow is great, but 12 straight days of cold weather gets a little annoying during a vacation.
• The Czech word for both "winter" and "cold" is "zima"
• While it sucks to get a 4:30 AM phone call that your son has been in an accident, learning everyone's OK kinda cancels that out.

See the pix in the Gallery .

Thanks to CIEE, the Hajek's, the Voelkoi's, and especially the Meme!

Consistency isn't a skill of mine -- nor of Tom's. Apparently, if you add two mildly slacker attitudes and an inferior blog interface then this is what you get. Still, it was worth a try.

Look us up on Facebook! The whole family has jumped in - though who knows how long it will hold our attention. I guess it depends on when the next new, shiny thing comes down the pike. For now you can search for us on Facebook by email (tom, ian, or ellen at periodic-tabloid.com; find Jean with luckyjean at gmail.com).

The photo album still gets updated from time to time, so from time to time you might want to check that out.

                                                                                        -- Jean