After Germany

So I'm back home. I've been home for the past week but have been distracted by other things (school, cleaning, catching up with friends, laundry, etc.). Here's the final installment from my trip.

Wrote most of this on the plane from Europe back to North America. That part of the trip was uneventful other than the crazy amount of security check points we had to go through at the Brussels airport. I think there was a total of four checks from curbside to boarding. I’m all for good security, but surely there’s something to be said for secure areas and once you get in, you’re still OK.

The rest of our time in Germany was really, really good. I went home feeling relaxed and thankful for the time with my family. Laughing together is such a gift.

Here’s a quick run down of the week in Germany while we stayed with Karen and Jason.
• Monday – Tour of Jason’s work place, some grocery shopping, and driving through the countryside.
• Tuesday – A couple hours in Aachen, most importantly visited the dom (cathedral) in Aachen, which is where the kings used to be crowned. We also had a fabulous Italian meal. Then we spent the afternoon in Monschau, a quaint town with a lot of art, specifically glass, and a river running through it.
• Wednesday – Shopping at IKEA and dinner at an incredible Mediterranean place in Sittard, a village only a few minutes from Karen and Jason.
• Thursday – Slept in late, which meant skipping the morning market, but much needed. It was vacation, afterall. Then I spent the afternoon and evening in Aachen with Mia. Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous!
• Friday – Drove to the Rhineland, which was about 3 hours away. Started in St. Goar, where we took a ferry down the Rhine River, saw a bunch of castles, walked around Bacharach (which is known for its wine), and took a train back to St. Goar.
• Saturday – Dropped Kristen off at the Cologne (Koln) airport so she could fly to Munich where she was meeting friends for Oktoberfest. The highlight of the day was touring the Koln Cathedral, an incredible example of gothic style cathedral. It was so incredible, it made me want to cry in awe. Later that evening back at Karen and Jason’s, we watched Zoolander and ate Italian food. It was the best pizza I’ve had in a long time or maybe I was just really hungry!
• Sunday – Travel day. Brussels to New York City. We got stuck in NYC overnight and flew out Monday morning.

Visiting with Mia
One of the highlights of the trip for me was getting the opportunity to finally meet http://www.invisible-jet.net/outbound/ “>Mia in person. Mia and I have been reading each other’s blogs for the past two or three years. (She found me after my Greek cruise, when she was looking for information on Turkey.) It was so exciting to finally meet in person and fill in all the cracks of our knowledge of each other. Just like I suspected we would, Mia and I just clicked. It’s like we’ve known each other forever. We strolled around Aachen for a little while then sat in a café and talked for the rest of the afternoon. It was perfect.

Mia is an American (specifically an Italian from New York City). Ahh, I love Italians…it must be in my blood. About three years ago, Mia moved to Germany to be with Chris. This past year they got married. I learned a ton of other interesting things about Mia, but it’s her choice to what extent she shares her life on the Internet.

Mia is absolutely so sweet and a perfect friend for me. I wish she lived closer! (My life’s mantra.) The good news is Mia wants to come visit in March! She wants to attend South by Southwest Interactive with me. So only another six months before I get to see this wonderful woman.

Memorable Moments of the Germany Trip
• ”There’s been an accident.” phrase from the German phrasebook.
• The word ”slaapkamers” in the real estate ads in the Netherlands. (It means bedrooms.)
• Imagining the perfect little European house I could have if I bought everything in IKEA.
• I got to drive from the Rhineland back to Karen and Jason’s house, approximately two hours. I experienced the autobahn! Though I probably scared my family once or twice.
• Lots and lots of Italian ice cream! (Which is better than ice cream in the U.S.)
• We got a free bottle of wine when we ordered more than 30 Euro worth of Italian food at the place near Karen’s house.
• More eating! (Jason, I’ll get working on the map which shows everything/everywhere we ate.)

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