I'm back in the United States after travelling in Austria, the Czech Republic, and Poland. I saw a Fin punch an Aussie in the face, witnessed dozens of Czech high-school marching bands play contemporary music while dressed in outlandish period costumes, and drank lots of Coca-Cola from glass bottles. But none of this made my trip's top-five list. Here are the five coolest things that I did on my vacation:

5. Celebrated Mozart's birthday in his birthplace during the 250th anniversary week of his birth.

4. Survived the Survival Pub Crawl (with the help of blood-warming Zywiec beer) through Krakow with the mercury at two-degrees fahrenheit.

3. Visited four castles in four cities.

2. Imbibed the delicious contents of giant clay steins of Augustiner Brau, a beer brewed in Salzburg by Benedictine monks since 1621. It's the official beer of God.

1. Stayed in a Czechoslovakian secret-police jail cell that once housed Vaclav Havel, whose writings, as well as The Communist Manifesto, I read--with great appreciation for the history of my location--from the Communist-prison-turned-capitalist-hostel.

"...and so, I arrived home, tired but happy."

The end.

Did you actually do any work?

Sounds like you were mostly cold, drunk and tired.

Working vaca my eye!

Hey, as long as some thought when into your blog, we should all be happy. And it evidently did.

Welcome back.

This from a guy who once said he would never travel outside the U.S.

Dan what about you naked-ass in the full moon walks down the beaches in Praque you confided in me about???!!!