Train Rides, 4th of July Celebrations and such.

Hello everyone!
John and I made it safely to Bonn, Germany! Finally. As I previously wrote, we had a nine hour train ride, with 4 or 5 transfers along the way, to get from Regensburg to Bonn. At about our 2nd transfer, we started getting the hang of riding on the train for an hour, and then getting off and hurrying to another train. BUT, I think we got a little TOO comfortable, because, when we came up on the main station at Frankfurt, we got off one stop too soon...oops. We were freaking out, because we had a short lay over time to our next train, and so we had just messed up the second half of our journey!! Not only that, we got off at a station that was in the ghetto. There were no workers, just a small terminal with German graffiti, in the middle of a small town. But luckily, John had the idea to flag down a taxi, so we made our way to where we should have been...it was only a 10 minute drive in a taxi. We felt SO dumb. But once we got to the help desk at Frankfurt, they set up another train schedule for us with ease. We also had time to get some lunch! So it worked out great. The last of our journey was spent riding through the Rhein Valley...BEAUTIFUL! We rode alongside a river, in between gorgeous, green hills, with castles on top of them. That made the second half of our journey go by really fast. Once we arrived to the main station in Bonn, Justin told us to meet him at a cafe accross the street from his university. John was so excited the whole time, he kept his eyes peeled for his brother the entire time (even though Justin couldn't meet us for another hour). We made our way through the crowd (there was a festival going on) and got some tea and coffee at the cafe while we waited for Justin. It was so good to see brothers reunited again! I got to meet Justin for the first time, and we've been having such a good time together! He is so kind, and easy to get along with. A good man. That night we made our way to Cologne, which is a big city near by, so we could join in some good ol' American fourth of July celebrations!! Just what me and John had been craving! Justin was on the grill with some of his friends from school, and Sean Staley brought his guitar, so we could take part in some American classic sing-alongs. It was so fun! Towards the end of the night, Justin, Sean, Andre, and some other guy, performed for us a four-part "Star Spanggled Banner," which they had been practicing. It was awesome!
Since then, we've been running all around Bonn with Sean and Justin. They've shown us their phenomenal cooking skills, their church, and a beautiful hike that they discovered up to an old castle. It's been a blast getting to hang out with these boys, and get to know Justin, and relax in a beautiful city...before we go back to school. John is having such a good time catching up with his brother, it's so good to see them together!
I have LOTS of pictures to post, as you know...I'm planning on doing that today in a cafe that has wifi, while Justin's in class. So, be expecting to see some pics of the Rhein Valley, 4th of July Celebrations, and other fun things!
Hope all is well,

j