I trust you have all had a wonderful holiday seasons with your loved ones. I know I have!
I had an amazing time catching up with my mom and brother. We got to see lots of beautiful things and places from the Neuschwanstein castle to the Tower of London. I'm just so thankful that my family was able to come see my for the holidays and see where I live and my favorite places in Germany and England. I must say though, London is officially my favorite place that I have ever visited! Everyone needs to visit there someday, it's so amazing. I can't lie... I was a little sad to have to leave England to come back to Germany!
Castle on the inside of the Tower of London
I found out on my mom and brother's trip what kind of future-mother I will be on vacations. I have been deemed a nightmare/slave driver because when I'm on a vacation I am all like "NO SLEEP, ALL SIGHTSEEING AND YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE FUN WHILE DOING IT" and apparently not everyone is like that?! I just like to get as much in as humanly possible in a short period of time... is that such a crime? Anyway, we were compromising quite a bit to balance hotel relaxing time and sightseeing. Nevertheless, great trip and I'm beyond thankful that I was able to visit with my parents over the holidays.
So I now have about two more months here in Europe... I'll be happy to return to the comforts of the States, but also sad to leave this beautiful part of the world; although being here has made me see America the way Europeans do. They are fascinated with America and I never understood why until I got here and saw it from a new perspective. Now I see that everything in the States is cheaper, from food to clothing to electronics, so people love it for shopping reasons. They also like it because it is SO different from Europe culturally. People are different, especially depending on the region of the States, and the food is different (WAY different in the south! Biscuits & gravy with sweet tea, anyone?) and they love to see different cities, of course.
Like the Yeoman guide said at the Tower of London, "How long does it take to be an American history major, and hour and a half?" It's both funny and a little true... European history goes back for hundreds and hundreds of years. There are castles here that are older than America! There are so many good qualities about Europe that I will miss, such as my little town here in Germany, the amazing public transportation system and the way towns and cities are built that allow you to walk almost anywhere; but there are also qualities that I will not miss, like language barriers and how everything is more expensive than it is in the States. It's just impossible to spend more than a couple of days in place like Switzerland or Belgium, because the cost of food and a place to stay can be insane.
At the top of my list of countries to see before I leave are Sweden and/or Italy depending on how much each trip will cost. I would love to make just one more trip before I leave if possible! I also like the idea of not visiting some countries so that I can come back to Europe with my future family and won't have to see things I've already seen. I want to leave something to be enjoyed later in life, if that makes sense? It also makes me sad that it will be many, many years before I can come back to Europe. It just feels like home now. I swear I'm going to have reverse culture shock when I get back to the States!!
So on another note, I'm reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I have thoroughly enjoyed this book so far, and I'm about halfway through. I know that everyone says this, but I REALLY want to go on a backpacking trip now! There is so much that the States has to offer when it comes to hiking and camping. Hopefully in the next couple of years I can grab a group of buddies and take on a nice trail around Colorado.
So that's about all I've got! I hope you all have a wonderful week and start to this new year. :)
Thank you for reading!
Bethany
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