The End...and The Beginning

When Ben and I landed in Louisville, as promised, Ben kissed the ground in joy of returning to America.

We had quite the time trying to take all of our luggage by tram to the airport in Düsseldorf, then rearranging everything in our luggage when we found out one bag was too heavy to check, then having to throw away our beach umbrella because of having too many bags and the umbrella would have cost 130 euro to check. But, we still made it home with all the important stuff.

Farewell, Europe, we had a lovely time. Thanks to all those who followed our journey this summer!

So, back to everyday life...and the beginning of my new blog! Since I really enjoyed keeping this blog all summer, I decided to start my own blog going forward. To see more about my everyday life in the states, check out http://everydaymegan.blogspot.com/.

Back to the Future

Well, this is it...our final night in Düsseldorf!! Living here has been surreal, almost like our lives are just on hold, waiting to get past this phase until we can start living our real lives again. Tomorrow morning, we head back to Louisville, back to our family and friends, back to the future of our lives. So, what better thing to do for our last night in Düsseldorf than watch "Back to the Future"? And we're not talking about the 3 DVDs of it we brought (which we already watched several times this summer, by the way). We're talking, on the big screen, at the theaters, popcorn and a soda! We took it as a sign from God that we were meant to go watch it since all 3 of those movies are in our list of favorite movies of all time, and it was playing on our last night here, and in English. What a great decision! We walk in, and right there in the lobby was a Delorean!

Sadly, no flux capacitor was inside. So before the movie started, a guy spoke to the audience, thanking the people who got the Dolorean there and thanking the fans for finally making this happen. He made the comment that maybe they can one day get parts 2 and 3 of the movie to play, too. Suprisingly, when the movie started, it wasn't part 1, but actually part 3! Someone yelled out, "This is a surprise!" I was so excited, though, since the 3rd one is my favorite! It was everything I hoped it would be and more. So much fun to see it on the big screen - so funny, so exciting, even though I've seen it a million times and could quote all the lines. What a geat note to end on. In the words of Doc at the very end, "Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one - both of ya!" Will do, Doc, will do.

Bittersweet Ending

As I count down the days until we go home, I can't help but feel a litte bit sad. This summer has been so amazing, so surreal…but at the same time, I long to be home. I can hardly believe we've lived in Europe 18 weeks! I never would have imagined we would get an opportunity like this…ever! What an experience!

When I think back on this summer, I will remember it as the summer that I traveled all over Europe and had the time of my life; that I had no real responsibilities outside of work; that I felt like I was living someone else's life, seeing and doing things I'll probably never get a chance to do again; that I spent every penny I earned on just enjoying life here; that I gained a new sense of independence and self-confidence…

...but also, this is the summer that I put my real life on hold; that nothing was normal; that I missed out on my first summer in my new house; that I missed my aunt's funeral and my brother's wedding; that I didn't get to see my grandma in her last days; that I wasn't there for my family in their grief and in their joy; that I've missed out on all the planning and events of my best friend's wedding.

I've taken advantage of every opportunity; but in another sense, I've missed out on so much. I guess all I should do now is remember the good, be thankful for getting this opportunity of a lifetime, and celebrate the moment I step off that plane in Louisville!!

Reflection

I started thinking today about how excited I am to go home, and then I started thinking about all the random things I've noticed about living among Germans. So I wrote them down, in case anyone cares.

Things I miss, in no particular order (most of these are really shallow, I know, so don't judge):

Family; friends; our bed; our deck; my car; my favorite restaurants; English; small talk with strangers I meet; small talk during the work day; eating lunch slowly; going out for lunch; American keyboard at work; American movies; tv; our Wii; my Chi hair straightener; our shower; our bathtub; our bath towels; having a scale to weigh myself; the water purifier; dry sheets (it's always damp here); using my cell phone; text messaging; having parties; buying in bulk at Costco; Southeast; Southeast; Southeast; did I mention Southeast?; free public bathrooms; American outlets; kitchen counter space; a huge refrigerator; ice cubes; free refills; iced tea; dollars; our washer and dryer; free gym at, where else, Southeast; people who don't think I'm crazy for not loving Obama.

Things I've noticed about Germans:

They do not give free refills; water is not free, in fact it is more expensive than ordering beer; they love beer; they never cross the street until the walk sign is green, even if nothing is coming, and they look offended if we cross on red; everyone says bye ("tschüss") in the exact same high-pitched voice; they seem to all use the same phrases, such as "alles klar" (all is clear) and "genau" (exactly); they eat really healthy; they snack on things like fruit at work, not vending machine items; they are skinny; celebrating something at work with champagne in the middle of the work day is perfectly acceptable; pork is their meat of choice; sometimes when they are calmly discussing something in German, it sounds like arguing to me.

Barcelona: the last excursion!

Last weekend we went to Barcelona, Spain - our last weekend excursion while living in Europe. I was paranoid about getting pick-pocketed the whole time since we heard and read that it is the worst city in Europe for that, but we managed to keep our wallets the whole trip. It was a great, relaxing weekend, and also a little sad knowing it was the end of our travels! Ben might say otherwise...I think he's traveled out...but I could keep on traveling if only we weren't so far from home. That we do agree on - we can't wait to get home this weekend!!

We flew to Barcelonal Friday afternoon after work...all day I was so excited I could hardly focus on working! By the time we got there, took a train from the airport to the city, took the subway to our hotel and dropped our stuff off, it was already pretty late. We were starving, so went out to dinner on the Ramblas (the main boulevard there where everything is going on). The place we went was recommended in the Rick Steves book - the ambiance was really nice, the food was presented really well, and the prices were really cheap...but the food tasted sort of cheap, too. But we were starving, like I said, so it was all good. We got some champagne (a local type), an appetizer (fried potatoes), 2 meals (gorgonzola ravioli was mine and grilled chicken with cheese sauce and rice was Ben's) and 2 desserts (profiteroles, which is like cream puffs smothered in chocolate, and something like ice cream with custard on top and chocolate all over that - we shared these) for 35 euro...not too shabby!

Needless to say, we were stuffed afterward, so walked around for only a short while then headed back to the hotel.

The next day we went to the beach, which was gorgeous! Golden sand, sail boats out in the ocean, palm trees lined up behind us, topless women everywhere...oh wait, that last part wasn't beautiful, just disgusting! Please, people, get some pride! Oh my. That's all I have to say about that. So Ben was pretty disappointed with the water because it was really rocky and hard to walk out into the ocean, but he braved it anyway. I decided not to even go in since it didn't sound very appealing. When we first got there and were setting up our umbrella, a Spanish lady walked by and said, "Massage for 5 euro". Well, we'd seen people doing that on the Cinque Terre beach and had sort of laughed at it, but for some reason, we thought this time it would be a good idea for me to get one. So I did. And it was amazing. She had me lay flat on my stomach and she used baby oil and gave me an amazing back and arm massage for 15 minutes! Then, after I was all content and relaxed, she suckered us in by saying, "Leg and feet massage? 5 more euro." So I did that too. And again, amazing, and another 15 minutes. Then she said, "Hand and face massage? 5 more euro." But, I drew the line there and said no, we'd spent enough already...although I was really curious what a face massage would entail. Man oh man, what a great start to my day. Totally worth the 10 euro!!

For breakfast and lunch that day, we just bought groceries at a supermarket there so we could eat on the beach. We stayed out until about 5, then decided to see some more of the town. Ben managed to not get burnt at all with his SPF 50, but sadly since SPF 50 was all we had (16 euro for one bottle!!!!!), I didn't even get a tan even though I only applied the sunscreen once in the morning.

After a short trip to the hotel to get ready, we headed out to Park Guell, a famous park there conveniently within walking distance of our hotel. It was created by this architect (Gaudi) who designed the whole thing, as well as most of the other famous structures of the town like the famous Sagrada Familia cathedral. The park was amazing! He originally envisioned it to be a gated community for the wealthy (according to the Rick Steves book), but apparently that didn't work out so well. The park has these really colorful, bizarrely shaped buildings in front.

Then there were these stairs leading up the middle, with mosaics and fountains and flowers...so colorful and imaginative.

There were neat columns, a huge area with erconomically designed, mosaic-covered seating, interesting pathways, gorgeous flower beds, a perfect view of the city from the top...simply stunning.

Of course, my camera battery died there, so I resorted to taking some with the camera on my cell phone...but then my cell phone died, too. Oh well, I got a few pictures at least. Check out the gallery for the rest of the pictures!

For dinner, we ventured off to a street behind the Ramblas, to a nice little place to get some tapas. We had some fried calamari, cod, potatoes, and something like a crab cake. Then we had paella, which is a traditional spanish dish with rice and veggies and chicken. We had sangria to drink, which was amazing - made with red wine, which is different than I've had in the past, and lemons and oranges - it tasted like fruit juice! It was all great, but I was so full afterward I felt sick. Then we walked up and down the Ramblas all night, where people were doing magic shows, painting pictures, selling stuff, etc. It was pretty entertaining, so we just walked until we got to the Columbus Monument at the end (where Ferdinand and Isabella welcomed Columbus back after discovering America - I said a "thank you" to Columbus there, ha), then headed back to the hotel. We really didn't see much else of the city except that touristy boulevard and the beautiful park, but we were mainly interested in the beach anyway.

So the next day, we went to the beach again, of course, and did the breakfast and lunch groceries again. We went to a different area of beach, which turned out to be perfect. The ocean floor wasn't rocky at all, only sandy, so Ben loved it and was so mad we didn't go there the day before. I got in with him that day since he bought an innertube and I just floated on that the whole time. The greatest thing about these beaches, too, was that they weren't crowded at all! I guess it is late enough in the summer that most people have already taken their vacations.

We went early to the airport straight from the beach in order to have time for checking in, to get through security, and to have a hot dinner there afterward without rushing. But no - the check-in line wasn't even open for another hour, so we ended up eating sandwiches again for dinner, which was highly disappointing, and then waiting in line forever for check-in to open. Then we wanted a snack once we got past security and to where we thought the "good food" would be, but there really wasn't anything hot there either. I mean, come on, where's the McDonald's? Where was the Cinnabon? I was ready for my fattening American food at that moment, and it made me a little grouchy. Ben bought me a bag of assorted candy bars, though, which appeased me. A flight, a train ride, and a 25 minute walk later, we were home at 1 AM and exhausted. Had a great last excursion...sad to see it end!