WE'RE BACK AGAIN. Eurotrip: the Victory Lap

   Everybody knows that if you are wildly successful with an initial endeavor, you should make sure to follow it up with a sequel. The sequel will always be better.  Dumb and Dumber To, The NEXT Karate Kid, Mean Girls 2 (haven't seen it I swear..), Grease 2, Jaws: the Revenge, to name a few...all smash hits...and by smash hits I mean the worst movies ever created, but whatever, they had fun making them. That's the goal, particularly on this second edition of the EuroRomp (see previous blog posts for endless entertainment).

How could this sequel POSSIBLY have gone wrong?

Some background:
This blog was founded for your entertainment, but has transformed into a cascade of memories. Four years ago today I was typing up my first blog posts from Madrid while sitting next to high school buddy Augusto Alonso, who was more than likely obliterating a baker's dozen of churros washed down with a pitcher of sangria at the time. About a month before that I had arrived home following my college graduation. I remember sitting in my room the next day, staring at the walls pasted with photos from the Red Sox 2004 World Series title and senior prom, as if I had never left. I was wearing an orange suit in that prom photo, speaking of Dumb and Dumber, and I felt just as dumb four years later, not entirely sure where life was taking me other than Europe a few weeks later. A few couples down in that picture was a cute little blonde I had been particularly fond of back in the day. So, naturally, in a state of pure delirium I decided to throw up a complete Hail Mary and text her after not talking to her for a few years. She said I could come help her move out of her house the next weekend. For some reason, this seemed like a huge success. As I was profusely sweating and smelling and demolishing walls with uncoordinated box spring carrying skills, I began to have second thoughts. But it got me a date. And another. And then another Hail Mary: I asked if I could kidnap her against her will and bring her to Europe  would be willing to join Augusto, myself, and five other college buddies in Europe. We were leaving in three weeks. Talk about a bulletproof plan. Nothing could possibly go wrong with that. 

 I have had a lot of horrible plans gone which have gone even more horribly wrong in my life. One time in high school my friend Ryan Waring and I thought if we hid behind an electrical box while throwing water balloons at cars they just somehow wouldn't see us. That was a bad plan. That one ended with Ryan being tackled into a construction site and thrown into the trunk of a car as somewhat of a civilian arrest.

This Europe trip that I convinced this little blonde to join me and my savage friends on after hanging out for two weeks...was basically just as sketchy of a plan. But this one, well, this one worked. She joined us, survived, and now, four years later, I will be returning to Europe WITH MY FIANCE, BECCA SWANSON. 

Thus, this trip, will now be known as The Victory Lap. And yes, I believe in miracles.

The Plan:
This Christmas, the Swanson family purchased me a book of "the most incredible sites on earth." I basically took that as a challenge. So by the end of looking through that book I decided I was going to scrap together the carcasses of my student loans and use them on a Eurotrip. Becca saw a picture of Neuchwanstein Castle, and that became the goal. Over the next few months, I slowly crawled into the fetal position in a dark and lonely corner of Creighton while studying for my Step 1 boards exam, and let Bec go to town on plans for our two-week excursion as I was repetitively punched in the face by science. She's been trained well.

The final plan:
- June 15th: Omaha --> Munich
- June 16th: Arrive Munich 8:30 a.m. Get Becca 800 mg of Ibuprofen and a Vente Starbucks coffee ASAP. Meet up with Billy Bennett, at Haufbrau Haus at 9 a.m.
- June 18th: Depart Haufbrau Haus -> Fussen Germany. See this:

Fun Fact: Neuchwanstein was built as a "getaway home." Seems sufficient.

 - June 19th: Fussen -> Lucerne, Switzerland. 6 a.m. Affix Becca's 250 mL espresso IV drip.
- June 21st: Lucerne -> Interlaken, Switzerland.



- June 23rd: Interlaken -> Paris, France*. Meet up with friends Aaron Fried and Katie Pappas.
* Denotes that we are not entirely sure if the city was transformed into a Spongebob-esque underwater metropolis by the recent flooding. Banking on no.
-  June 26th: Paris -> Dublin .
- June 29th: Dublin -> Home.
- June 30th: 8 a.m. Andrew starts M3 year orientation. Again, my planning skills: on point (insert emoji 'dead face' here).

The Cast:
Becca Swanson: Fiance, Financer (yes I know I still owe you), photographer of all things remotely exciting including Internet Point, a cafe in Rome that friend Tom Holt convinced her was a national landmark, full-time nurse, full-time nutrition enthusiast but not like the 'Gluten Sensitivity' weirdos, master planner. She made this trip possible. I imagine you'll be hearing more about her soon..

Aaron Fried: We all have those friends who crush medical school while serving as the president of regional biomedical research forums and simultaneously leading service trips around the globe and establishing community health fairs around the city for the disenfranchised, followed by getting an MBA on top of their MD, right? Totally. That's Aaron, too. Aaron will, by far, be my favorite half-Asian half-Hawaiian Boston College alum on the trip. Aaron was my study buddy for every day for a month of Step 1 studying. We had approximately 1.3 total conversations in that time period. So we felt we needed a Europe trip to reconcile the hard times.

Katie Pappas: Part-time middle school teacher, full-time babysitter of Aaron, part-time Bachelorrette enthusiast and part-time baker of stress food for desperate med students. Katie and Aaron are experienced travelers, experienced marriage planners (currently planning their own!), with experienced palettes for fine wines. So they can help me when asking what flavors of boxed Franzia the French steakhouses have to offer.

Billy Bennet a.k.a. 'America': By God's will, my good college friend decided to just embark on a month-long journey alone to Europe before starting medical school himself. This is why we are friends. Our paths will cross in Munich, and if history is any indication, we'll probably have a decent time.

Absent: Goose. My travel planner extraordinaire. Although, he will be in London/Iceland at the time...so I like our chances to have him hot route to meet us. 40% chance. 

Predictions: 
Best food: Paris
Best site: Neuchwanstein, Cliffs of Dover, Swiss Alps, Eiffel-- ok now just naming everything
Bratwurst Devoured: Andrew 12, Becca .75, Billy 8
Yodelers: 2
Croissants/day: Andrew 4.5, Aaron 5, Becca .5 (will 'just try' half of one of mine per day), Katie .5 (too small to finish whole thing)
Pictures taken: Andrew 500, Becca 7 billion, Aaron 300, Katie 7.5 billion, Billy 12. Just don't take him to really be a 'picture guy'.
Times Becca says she's "staying here and not coming home": At least 12

So that's that, for now, and I should probably go start packing. We are refusing to fly United (see blog posts on Brazil experience and/or fly United one time in your life to understand why), so we plan on getting everywhere on time. Looking forward to keeping my fans in the loop and hopefully making you laugh once or twice along the way. See you soon, Munich.