Home bound and smuggling goods...

13 hour train ride: check. 

9 hour flight back onto US soil: in progress. 

4 hour flight to my life: coming soon...

Can I just say, I really enjoy flying Lufthansa. Two meals per flight, wonderful flight attendants who let me practice mein Deutsch, plenty of water, orangeschorles, wine, and cocktails. Anne and I have achieved our goal of getting smashed on the long flight home. 

No, not really. But then again, I don't think that story would have been believe-able, of you now a thing or two about these two travelers. We keep it classy and stick to water and orange juice with sparkling water. My drink of choice is due the inevitable cold that I was bound to catch a few days before coming home. It hits me every semester or quarter, right about the third to last day of finals. It seems my body knows that the end is near, but it never can quite hold on until the end. 

Also, and sorry about the tangents here, I've been sitting on my plane seat for the last eight hours and cannot bear to watch a another movie! I've watched three already and am mixing them up as I try to describe what they are, so I have decided to do something productive. Ok, where was I? Ah yes, Anne and I walked onto the Lufthansa plane with a banana, a good sized container of diced pineapple, and a market basket containing about eight ripe peaches. We, as always, are being thrifty and figured we would save us the trouble of buying snacks at airports (i.e., while waiting to board our Germany-Chicago flight, while waiting in Chicago during the 3.5 hour layover, during our Chicago-Los Angeles flight where they feed you...hmm...that's right, they feed you nothing). I really didn't need parentheses there, that was a whole paragraph sentence. I think I'm going to miss making my professors cringe as they grade my exams just slightly over the page limit...

Woah. Tangents. Yes, fruit. There we are on our Germany-Chicago flight, and we are handed our customs declaration slip, where we read that we are kindly but strictly forbidden to bring various items into the US, and that includes fruit. Oh yes, that's right, but please keep in mind this was after a long train ride! So Anne and I consumed all of that fruit, along with lunch, along with dinner, along with tea, along with dessert, along with snacks, etc. I don't even want to speculate what the passengers seated near us were thinking as they glanced over at us periodically to find us with some type of fruit in our hands and/or mouths constantly. Keeping it classy, like I said. 

Also, we have great seats on this Lufthansa flight! I will have to remember to thank Anne's grandmother for giving us a two-seat reservation; Anne and I say next to each other with either the window or the aisle to our sides. It really comes in handy when you both decide to use the restroom, stretch, or turn reading lamps on and off. Perhaps it is also beneficial that Anne and I are so alike. We looked at each other a couple of times on the dough and just knew we were ready for one of our many bathroom breaks. So much food, so much water and drinks (maybe alcoholic, I'll leave you hanging on that one detail).

I guess there really isn't a valid reason to post this entry. It's not describing anything remotely interesting, other than trying to fill my time on this plane, other than just realizing I spent a month a) away from home, b) meeting so many new people and gaining friends as well, and c) speaking at least two different languages every single day, on average three. Oh, and learning and discovering that the world is amazingly grand, more than the many worlds of my imagination through history and books could have ever prepared me for, and that despite this very grand world, people are people wherever you are and I love them all. 

So as we are making our descent down into Chicago, I feel the need to thank the people I  encountered during my journey through Europe. 

Thank you to the Best Western concierge for letting us use the computer in the bar to let our families know we were safe albeit stranded. 

Thank you to the very kind policeman in Düsseldorf who finally got us a taxi headed out of that city, just hours after we first landed in Germany. 

Thank you to my friends from Mexico, Miguel and Elena who gave me my first tips as a European backpacker. 

Thank you to Nele and her roommates for being such nice first hosts and consoling me as I watched Spain lose hopelessly and embarrassingly! 

Thank you to the Pakou tailor, Aigou, to whom I am forever in debt. He fixed my backpack and reminded me that there really still are good people in this world. 

Thank you to Leonor and Sofía from Argentina who made me laugh and made the time pass quickly as we waited to tour a cathedral in Paris. 

Thank you to my friend Henri, who taught me that you can still be an amazing fisherman if you let some of the fish back into the lake. 

Thank you to Jean Lamile, the painter in Avignon, who reminded me that all the many years of schooling one can receive will never equate the wisdom that comes with simply getting through life during so many years. 

Thank you to Lorenzo, who reminded me that despite his "non-good people are not allowed in the basilica" front, everyone can benefit from a little lovin' every now and then. 

Thank you to the Scheuber family and Brigitte especially for providing us with a roof over our heads, warm food in our stomachs, lots of laughs and a lesson in how hard work and family is really all you need. 

Thank you to the Barmettler family for being great hosts as well, special "Merci" for treating us to an amazing dinner and sharing food at the table, just as if I were part of their family! Thank you for the many many laughs we had that evening. Thank you to Miryam for being our tour guide, giving up her off work days to hang out with us, and for going paragliding with us!!

Thank you to Eliane for showing us around Luzern and for letting me singlehandedly deplete her family's cherry orchard. 

Thank you to Kuno for taking us to the chocolate factory and not minding (and even joining) in our shameless chocolate-eating spree. Thank you for encouraging me to be silly and taking that photo with the chocolate costume on! Thank you for joining us on our trip to Zermatt and for our lovely discussion about everything really and growing up multicultural. 

Thank you to Amelie and Uli for hosting us in Munich and Austria. Thank you to Amelie's parents for letting us stay at their Austrian cottage as well! I hope Germany takes the win at the World Cup, and I hope they enjoyed themselves on their Brazil trip! Oh, and Amelie, if I had to make a list of "ten things" for you, it would be something silly like, "ten things Amelie and I can think of to make us take breaks in the shade during a hike" :)

Thank you to the shopkeeper at the Munich fair for reminding me that love for yourself does not necessarily mean selfishness, rather, preparing yourself to love on others. 

Lastly, thank you to Anne, for being such a wonderful partner in crime and travels. So many things have crossed our minds, filled our conversations, made us laugh to the point of tears, I could go on and on. As I sit here, hoping we finish our peaches in time to avoid becoming unintentional fruit smugglers, I can't think of anyone else I would have had a better experience with. 

We are landing in Chicago, so I guess two legs are complete. California here we come!! 

Praha, Česká Republika

On the train headed back to the airport in Düsseldorf, Germany, that's where I found myself as this entry was written. All major cities had been covered, all but one stop remained. Before we arrived at the airport, however, we decided to stop at Köln. If you remember all the way back to my first entry, our original plan of heading straight to Belgium was thwarted due to inclement weather, and we unintentionally ended up stopping in Köln on our way to Heidelberg. Köln was the first city we braved together--granted, we had walked around Düsseldorf for a few hours and even found wireless internet to let our families know we were safe. We didn't really consider that our first foray into our trip, so going back to Köln really brought our trip back full circle, but first: Praha!

We arrived in Prague Sunday evening, after spending a lovely day in Salzburg with Amelie and her boyfriend, Uli. By this time, we had mastered the Euro and Swiss Franc currencies, had become experts at reading train schedules, and were quite adept at getting right into the train as the doors slid open. Arriving in Prague, however, we realized there really was no way for either Anne or me to decipher anything in this very unfamiliar language. It all looked so beautiful, written letters with diacritical markers above, and sounds coming from people joining us on the train headed for Prague.  It made Czech seem like such an interesting language, and I was excited to find out more about the language patterns. 

We managed to purchase tickets to the metro but didn't end up using them, as the stalls requiring tickets to enter the station were wide open. We didn't know if after a certain hour a ticket was no longer required, or if our Eurail passes covered the metro and we didn't actually need to purchase a metro stub. We got off at our destination station and managed to climb stairs to be at street level. We had taken a screen shot of the directions to the hotel but walked up the wrong way down the street and we ended up taking a little longer than we had anticipated. 

Our two days in Prague were packed with activities for us to do. On the first day, we took a free walking tour that led us through the old city and learned a lot of the history behind the buildings and the mixed architecture styles. Afterwards, and for the most part of the second day, we wandered the streets under the hot sun and/or the thunderstorms. It was a lot of fun seeing the force with which the rain drops smacked the pavement, often bouncing back up part of the way; at least, that's how it seemed to me. 

Prague for me was a lesson in flexibility and spontaneity. While we didn't have set places to go eat, for example, just by walking around and exploring the city we were able to find great local places to have for lunch and dinner! We found great places to explore and even found a dessert we loved at a cheaper price. Sometimes, despite anyone's best intentions, it really is nice to just let loose and see where your walking steps take you. 

For now, it's time to explore the city that first welcomed us as bonafide backpackers, time to enjoy our last breakfast as European travelers, and time to get off this electronic device and enjoy the last few hours in the city of Köln. 

I bid you adieu with the words of a Swiss traveler I once knew before ever becoming international, "on se verra sur l'autre côté!

The central square in Prague! See the numbers near the bottom left corner? Those are dates commemorating when 27 men were beheaded in the square. Oh European history, you never cease to amaze me. 

The juxtaposition of varying architectural styles are evident all around Prague. 

Kafka was pointing fingers at me, so here I am ready to argue. He didn't take the bait...

Czech money! Isn't it pretty?

The library we spent a few minutes in, so many books and so many great finds:

Syntactic theory. Masters or no masters, this made my heart flutter!! A true linguist never dies, just ask Chomsky. 

Um, yes please.   

Speaking of home calling, this is a picture sent by an "ami" of a really really yummy-looking cheeseburger and French fries. Quand je l'ai vu, j'étais un peu jalouse. Maintenant, quelques jours après, je reste encore jalouse et j'espère que tu en profites de tout ce que ce beau pays t'offre! 

Österreich

It just occurred to me that this is technically our second-to-last stop before heading back to our departing city. Where has the time gone? I sat down to write this entry about half an hour ago, but I've spent the last thirty minutes thinking about all I've experienced in these last twenty-something days. I'm sitting here in a country home of Austria, watching the clouds obstruct my view of the beautiful mountains and then be on their merry way just seconds later. It occurred to me that the rivers I've seen in Germany and Austria seem to move at a faster pace than the others in Europe--that I have seen. I smile as I write all of this, because now I'll be one of those people who make comments that begin with, "When I was in Switzerland," or "Back in Stans..." There really are no words to describe the feeling of gratitude and awe I feel as I think about how fortunate I am to be experiencing this right about now.

Oh, Happy (belated) 4th of July! These two girls from California celebrated the day with a five hour hike to one of the mountains here in Annaberg, Austria. Amelie and Uli, her boyfriend, led the way as we trekked over dry dusty paths that turned into narrow muddy wegs before becoming rocky mountainside that we had to climb on. We made our way to the top under sunny skies and then I spent the next fifteen minutes contemplating the quiet solitude of being among nature's creations from a long time ago. Back in Zermatt, the sound of the wind had been quite strong, but here in Austria the wind was more of a gliding whisper. Other hikers had reached the top alongside our group of four, and the members of my group were busy snacking and taking pictures. Me? I slowly and safely made my way to a flat rock near the edge of the mountainside (don't worry, I was being very careful!) and I sat, and nothing else. I had the same sense of overwhelming calm as I did back in Venice, the only movement being my diaphragm as it took in the crisp mountain air and traded it for that which I'd inhaled seconds before. I noticed coulds in the distance looking like cotton balls that I split in two when wiping off lipstick from Adriana's face, after whispering that she should put her mama's makeup back in place. The different colors of green on the mountainside reminded me of Monet and the pictures I saw back in Paris, laughing softly as I realized that blending and fuzzy details becoming a beautiful picture is only an idea that he borrowed from nature. 

After hiking, we walked down to a local restaurant nestled in the mountainside and feasted on tasty Austrian dishes. We were careful not to have too much, as a barbecue courtesy of Uli awaited us that evening. Back at the house, we watched the two quarter-final games, enjoyed some good ol' country music as the four of us pitched in to make dinner, and then finally enjoyed a scrumptious spread, part of which I'll post below. Today, I find myself enjoying the simple fact that for the next few days, the worries of my life when I get bsck home are put on hold. I'm not as concerned to write all the details of my day on here, trying to document it with pictures or details about the names of dishes or places relative to each other; I'm content with making sure I enjoy every moment and not spend it trying to keep a record of how it was spent. It really does become quite circular, doesn't it? I'm breaking that cycle right now! Whatever the plan, whatever the changes, these last few days in Europe will be well spent so that I have no regrets as I get back on my fancy airplane and head home. 

Servus!

Even broken edges paint a pretty picture sometimes...

The paths are marked by these painted signs

On our way to the top

Flowers Europe, tonight's edition: Austrian flowers!

Part of the view from the top

Kaiserschmarren mit Preiselbeeren! 

Don't mind if I do...

Don't mind if I do (shortly thereafter)...

This is only half of our dinner, like I promised an "ami" of mine, there was much more meat, wurst, and käse involved. 

That's more like it! My favorite reaction to this was: un grand peu jalouse!

The fire that helped illuminate our candlelit dinner 

Oh Little Town of Oberammergau

A hunting we will go; a hunting we will go; to find nutcracker, to Bavaria we will go!

Anne had been looking for one to add to her nutcracker collection at home, and we decided today was the best day to go in search of her new friend. Not that in barging or anything, but Anne and I have become quite adept at maneuvering train systems in Germany and France! We didn't have much practice in Italy, and we had hosts during our stay in Switzerland, but she and I can pretty much figure out where we want to go and how to get there very quickly. 

Such was the case as we made our way to Garmish, a small Bavarian town in southern Germany. We had been told we might find nutcrackers there and when we arrived we headed to the tourist information center to ask about the best place to purchase them. We were told that Oberammergau would likely have them, but it was a town about 45 minutes away by bus. Since we are now becoming very well at managing spontaneous changes to our trip, we walked around Garmish for a few minutes before getting on a bus headed to Oberammergau. 

We walked around this small town and enjoyed the sounds of coockoo clocks going off at random "on-the-hour" times (i.e., the clocks were off but reached their top of the hour marks anyway). We also enjoyed some very delicious gelato, courtesy of an Italian man who appeared to be very cautious of his customers. My flavor of the day was Hazelnut, just because I don't think I had it since Heidelberg, which now seems like an eternity ago. 

Anne finally found her nutcracker in a small shop away from the tourist section, and with it it hand, we boarded a train back to Munich. Once there, we headed over to a cultural fair that was happening in a big open area reserved for Oktoberfest. It reminded of the Del Mar Fair minis the rides -- yes, I know it isn't called the Del Mar Fair anymore, but I have not kept up with its name so it will be the Del Mar Fair for me until I die (or learn the actual name). There was food from all over the world, and we got to taste a lot of it! We had some marzipan jam at one stand, tried to soothe our stress with calming Moroccan stones, and then we also tried some type of spread. My favorite was the Sicilian spread, and no, it was not a biased decision. 

We walked around looking at the many creations, and as I walked around the shops I quickly thought about different item I could get for my loved ones back home. Throughout this trip, I've been searching for the ideal toll gifts to being back home as a token of my appreciation and to show my friends and family that I've missed them as much as I have. I wish they could all come with me in this adventure and this is just a small way to let them know they were always on my mind. 

At one point on our walk, I had found a perfect little gift to bring to one of my friends from university, when Anne mentioned that I should also purchase one for myself. I was quick to shoot that idea down, explaining to her that I really wanted most of my spending money to go to what I would take back home to my peeps. As I walked away from that shop, I thought about how my hard earned money would be better spent selflessly, rather than on things for me. Then walked to another shop and found the perfect gift--for my friend. I walked up to the store owner and asked to pay. "Those will be perfect for you," he smiled in what I assumed was his best please-buy-at-my-shop smile. "They're for a friend," I said. I thought he would suggest me purchasing a second item, as any good salesman would do, as I had experienced while buying items in our other visited cities. I remembered the man in Venice, telling me to buy another item for my boyfriend, or the woman in Lyon asking me if I wanted to get my mother-in-law a knitted handkerchief as well as one for me, or the little boy selling shot glasses in Nice telling me my husband would enjoy a "French a Riviera" vodka shot. (Side note: why do all my salespeople experiences revolve around significant others?) Anyway...

What happened next I really can't explain, but it was as if he looked right at me and knew my inner dilemma. "The window to the heart of others must first be opened through the key that holds acceptance for the love they have for you," he said, as he quoted one of my favorite Chilean poets. "Go," he said, handing me the single purchase, "and don't let your heart keep hardening towards yourself." This I had not expected. I was ready to answer with, oh I will get myself something at another place, oh I've already bought too much for myself, anything to shoot down his offer. 

Instead of something from his shop, he offered words of wisdom and a quote that is not widely known. I take quote rendez-vous very seriously, as I once met a sailor who had my favorite quote as his signature--blew my mind. Needless to say, I walked away from that shop reminded that in all the chaos of trying to get something for family, I need to remember to love on myself a little. That does not come naturally or easily to me, as I have for very long struggled with making my well-being, both emotionally and physically, a priority. That being said, I'm excited to enjoy the last few days of our European adventure by taking with me the advice of this Chilean author and the shopkeeper to heart. In the words of Donna Meagle, the spunky parks and recreation employee, I'm giving myself the following advice: Nich, it's time to treat yo' self!

Going to a Biergarten tonight, and I'm definitely going to enjoy myself!

Breakfast at Amelie's. Some müstli with flakes and almonds. 

Mountains are back in view! This is on our way to Garmish. 

Once in Garmish, we found this chocolaterie and inside...

...were really tasty-looking chocolate confections. 

On our way to the bus headed for Oberammergau. We roll with the cultured and experienced crowd, Anne and I. I think we were one of the only young tourists in these small towns. 

The church at Oberammergau! I don't know why but the rings of this church bell were very lovely to hear. The pitch varied with each ring which makes me think there were several bells involved. 

Behind one of the shops in Oberammergau was someone's house. I think one day I will end up like this, with a home in a small town, but I hope there's a bakery and not a shop by my house!

The park at Oberammergau! I wish we would have had time to stay there for a whole, but we had to get back to Munich in time to meet Amelie. 

Stones at the fair we went to. Think calm...be calm...

For SC

On the train ride back home. This is for Elisa! Candy crush is still strong friend, even in Deutschland!

The Biergarten in Munich. Probably one of the best places I have had dinner in Europe as of yet. 

Anne double fisting!

Our dinner tonight. Mostly beer, mostly I love this. "Avec une bière et une bonne amie" someone once wrote to me...

 

Cuisine Und Bier

And so the food gets better, and so the beer gets delicious, Anne and I find ourselves in the beautiful city of Munich, Germany. Is it funny that I miss the way Swiss German permeated my thoughts and this Deutschland German seems awkward now? When talking to a train station employee, I went to say "genau" and produced something of a "ai" for the last syllable. He looked at me funny, and when we got around to talking about where I'm from, he said he was really confused because I had a Swiss accent to my German but I in no way resembled a Swiss lady. Oh great, now my fourth language is also a mix of different regional accents. I'm a one-woman melting pot!

Amelie had to work today, so after breakfast Anne and I headed over to the old city of München to explore. We went to a farmer's market and walked around tasting all the fruits and veggies that we could get our hands on. Today was definitely a food day. After taste-testing, we headed over to lunch, meeting Amelie by her work. Anne and I ordered two different types of dishes so that we could share, and even though we ordered a small portion of each item, there was food left over once we had eaten to our heart's content. 

After lunch, we headed over to the Deutsches Museum, the world's largest museum of science and technology. We were there for quite a while, and we saw exhibits from all kinds of fields. There were even researchers actively engaging in their studies that were located in the museum itself. I thought it was pretty neat to see them in action while also being able to look at their works of art--works of science? "They're doing science in there," I told Anne. Chalk it up to lexical retrieval difficulties on account of my multilingualism; sometimes I'm not very fancy with my words. Here's a few that sum up our experience at the museum: coal mines, violins, nanotechnology, osteoporosis, aerospace technology, coal mines (this second mention is included by Anne's request, "we've been here for almost an hour!"), war uniforms, nautical technology, and Leonardo da Vinci. 

On our way to the museum, we stumbled upon a gelato place that had amazing prices for scoops: 1,10! We decided to wait until after the museum to get our treat. "Wir kommen gleich zurück," I told the kind man behind the counter. He responded in what Anne and I decided wasnitalian, and from what I understood, he let us know he didn't speak German but his son did because he is from Venice and his name is Gianni but his sons finance his gelato place and how old are we because we look like very lovely girls and he would love to have his son meet us because he is very nice and would take us out dancing but he isn't here right now so could we please come back on our way back from wherever we are going because this lovely girl with dark hair just needs to meet him. Like I mentioned previously, it is quote an advantage to be multilingual at times. When you know one Romance language, you can get by with other sister languages (except when ordering octopus!).

Anyhow, the man, Gianni as he told us his name, then proceeded to let us taste seven of the twelve flavors he had for sale, and at that point I just couldn't resist the urge to buy a scoop of gelato. We both took a scoop of the Brazil flavor:  mango and lime. We walked back by the store on our way back indeed, but seeing no sign of Gianni and what we presumed to be his son at the counter, we told his son to say goodbye to his dad for us and quickly left. I had been told by SC that Italian guys were going to come onto me during my trip, but I never imagined that included really nice elderly men trying to get their sons a date! I thought I had left the flirting men back in Venice, but it seems Venice follows me wherever I go. Also, the mosquito bites I received while there have also stayed with me. 

Tomorrow is our last day in Munich before we leave for Austria! 

The tower of the church in the main square. Ar predetermined times, the clock bells run on the hour and dancing figurines rotate for our enjoyment!

So...this is happening pretty soon. I will be in Austria, with German friends, for a German-France game. I'm choosing to avoid thinking about this until it actually happens. 

I saw this souvenir and had to share with a friend who is going through exams right now. Although, given the subject, a more appropriate line would have been "bonne chance". Then I thought twice about it and realized my friend is pretty good at the subject so luck need not be wished. 

Our salad for lunch. Oh so yummy, oh so very large!

Gianni and me! Oh yes, he was quick to give me the ol' European embrace. He was so friendly, he reminded me a little bit of Gertrude, except Gertrude didn't want to set me up with a young lad related to her. 

Let's just say I stopped counting these after a while... 

History and Heartache

The morning of our train ride to we lazily made our way to the station as we had a pretty late night. Our train ride from Switzerland to Munich was about six hours in duration, and I got the chance to sleep a little bit during the train. Anne and I pretty much slept along the train rides, waking up in time to make our connections and made our way like pebbles skipping on water. 

Once in Munich, we had a few hours before Anne's friend and ex-roommate, Amelie, would meet us after work. We decided to visit Dachau, the first concentration camp in Germany. It was originally intended to keep political prisoners, but it ended up becoming a final resting point for German and Austrian criminals, foreign nationals that Germany captured, and many individuals of the Jewish population in these countries. 

It was quite humbling to be in the midst of such history, to sit in the rooms where individuals behaved as has been described in history books and from first-hand accounts. It saddened my heart to walk through the buildings and read about the events that transpired during the camp's operational years. Walking outside, I looked up at the sky and the beautiful white clouds dotting the calming blue,and I thought what it must have been like to be a part of history at that time. What would it have been like  to look up at those skies during that time? I took a minute to sit by the bunker memorial and put myself in the shoes of a guard, believing with all my heart that I was working toward a common goal under a man I had come to admire and respect. I then wondered if there had been workers who feared for their lives and debated whether to keep working for something they were strongly against or risk everything for something they knew in their heart was right. 

Most of all, I thought about each person who was brought their against their will, and it took me a lot of self-control to hold my tears back as I walked through the semi-restored rooms where people ate, slept, slaved their lives away, and were tortured and killed. My feelings were limited in their scope as I was only a passerby, an observer of the remnants that make up our historical accounts. As I sat and pondered in the middle of the courtyard where the prisoners were made to stand for hours on end during "roll call", I thought about the nameless, those who for some reason or other didn't become a part of the museum displays, whose name cards were damaged somehow, whose families do not have a concrete account of what loved ones went through. I thought about them and wished some way, in their later hours, something would have shone to each of them to bring them peace in their time of suffering, for those on both ends of the prison walls.

After the visit to Dachau, we met up with Amelie who will be our host for the next few days. She, like Nele, also studied for a few months in San Diego and was excited to meet us both! We took a train and bus to her home and helped with dinner. As we were tired from such a late night and a long train ride, we didn't really have plans for the evening. We also watched the match between Switzerland and Argentina. Having come from Switzerland, my heart was set on seeing the red and white advance, but sadly, their time in the World Cup ended, and I witnessed yet again another team seeing their dreams of winning being abruptly taken from them. As much as I like the World Cup and am excited to watch as one team makes it all the way, I can't help but wish there was some way to just play for fun. Sad faces on the field have always tugged at my heart, whether it is my team who had lost or not. I guess this is the nurturer in me, just wanting everybody to be or have been alright in the end. I'm thankful to have such a relaxing night, and I'm headed off to bed to enjoy French dreams of crêpes as I'm missing speaking my language right about now. 

The opening to the camp at Dachau. "Work brings freedom"

Propaganda for the camp. 

Trees lining this path...see the blue skies? I sat down with my back against one of those trees and just let my thoughts wander invisibly through the halls of the dilapidated buildings. 

The view that prisoners had from their sleeping quarters. 

The walkways where history was made are now paths for people like me to take time to ponder and remember. 

"Puisse l'exemple de ceux qui furent exterminés ici de 1933-1945 dans la lutte  contre le Nazisme faire aie les vivants s'unissent pour défendre la paix, la liberté, et le respect de la personne humaine"

Vogelperspektive

My ipad is marking the following word as an error, but I am taking the liberty to create this past tense verb, because I just spent the last half hour up in the crisp air right next to the Matterhorn. We came, we saw, we paraglided!

 Anne had mentioned wanting to paraglide somewhere in Switzerland, but we weren't sure we would have the opportunity to do so. We had made plans yesterday at the chocolate factory for Kuno to meet Miryam, Anne, and I at the train station to head down to Zermatt.  Upon arriving to the touristy town, however, we looked up information from various places and quickly settled on one. We were told to return in 45 minutes, so we walked around, trying to mask our hunger and promising each other not to be nervous. When it was finally time to go back, we were quickly ushered by our pilots into the tram leading the way to one of the higher peaks close to the Matterhorn.  Anne was excited but nervous; Miryam was excited and nervous, and me? I was nothing. I wasn't letting myself think anything regarding what I was about to do. I had thought about it objectively when I made my decision, tons of people have done this, there are safety concerns but you cannot choose not to do this. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and you have to remember what your friends told you back in Köln: take every adventure you can! Once I made my decision, I told myself there no going back. And so I didn't think about it, didn't think how nervous I was, didn't let myself ask myself how I was. 

Suddenly, there I was, standing at the edge of a mountain, with gear strapped all over my torso and limbs, with my instructor and co-pilot, Phil, giving me instructions about take-off. "We're going to do some walking steps, then some jogging, and then we'll just jog off the mountain." Easy enough I thought, imagining us taking a great leap off the sturdy ground and into the air. "Take no leaps. Don't think about jumping, because we'll be in trouble then," Phil cautioned. So no jumping then, got it. 

In less than two minutes, we were strapped in and checking the gusts. At one point, Phil gave the ropes a small tug and managed to get the glider up in the air. I was pulled back as the glider caught a wind gusts drifting us backwards, and for a second I thought about what it would feel like to be in the air, unprepared. Then, that thought was stripped from my mind as Phil yelled, "Now!"

We walked a couple of feet, and then I followed his instructions to run. For a second I thought about how Anne and Miryam were still on the ground sitting, listening to instructions being repeated multiple times, talking about take offs and landings, talking about what each of the ropes managed to do. The. I realized I was about to run off a cliff straight into mountain air, and I figured I best pay attention. As we covered those last few feet running, I took a look at the scenery before me and was just floored. The mountains stretched out before me in beautiful and strong hues: blinding whites, sea blues, the green of the trees as they rose up from the side of the mountain, and the jagged edges of the mountain cliffs offering up dark browns, grays, and even blacks. "I'm running into that," I thought. "I'm running into the air," I quickly corrected myself. 

Before I knew what was happening, my feet were no longer hitting the ground as they ran, they were simply pedaling the air. I had now become just like a bird, working with my co-pilot to use the gusts of wind to propel us up into higher altitudes. I suddenly felt as if I weighed very little, but the force of the the wind left me speechless, and I simply took in the sounds of the rushing air as it collided with our glider and moved us up and forward. Phil was great at explaining the different gusts and how we were using them to keep us moving upward and moving forward in general. We circled our mountain and I saw that we were the only gliding pair. 

As we circled the mountain and took several dips down, I suddenly became very aware of the fact that besides the glider, nothing was keeping me from colliding with the ground. I was completely dependent of the wind gusts and how we were planning on manipulating them to give us enough force to stay in the air. I was afraid for a minute, I will admit, as this realization came to me, but then I surprised myself yet again when I decided to concentrate on the fact that this vulnerability only made me even more like a bird, and I recalled one of my favorite words from my first semester of German a few years back: Vogelperspektive. This is exactly what I was experiencing just now, and the worry that had tried to creep into my mind was expelled with the rush of this feeling of freedom I suddenly felt. 

"Take the reigns!" Phil shouted. Reaching upward, I took hold of the handles that control the glider, and it was my turn to decide where we would go. Pulling downward in the right handle, we slowly began turning to the right. "It's coming up I can feel them; is this is yes or no?" Phil asked, and I knew exactly what he was talking about. We had mentioned no big dips on account of my getting dizzy easily, but I knew Phil was tempting me with some other form of thrilling adventure. 

"Let's do it," I whispered. Even with the strong gusts of wind we were lost in, Phil heard me and yelled, "Go, go!" I pulled with even greater force on the right handle, seeing how the gusts were coming from the left. In a matter of seconds we had pulled from a calm stream into the rush of circling gusts by the side of the mountain. Our glider slowly went from being above us to almost achieving a parallel horizontal plane with us, and off we went, into dizzying but quite thrilling spins right above the river that flows near the banks of the Matterhorn. The colors of the landscape had now become a blur; and all I could see was the bright color of our glider against colorful flurry of color. The feeling of being lightweight and being carried by the wind was just enough for me, while I knew that at any moment I could pull back on the left handle to get us out of the rushing winds. I laughed and shrieked in amazement at letting myself experience this rush of adrenaline. I was no longer controlling the glider against the wind, I was using it and taking up space within the gusts just like a bird would. The feeling was freeing on so many levels, and I found myself not thinking anything again, just feeling. 

"Yes!" Phil shouted as after I happily followed his instructions to pull back, "You are amazing! No one has held control for that long in a flurry for that long!" Phil seemed quite pleased with his student, and I have to say I was quite surprised by the student. Never, ever, in a million years would I have thought I would be flying in the air on this last day of June. I told myself this month would be filled of me taking on new challenges and adventures, embracing any opportunity I had to experience something different. I had hoped it would be more along the lines of tasting new food (check, with the octopus), being calm and reasonable with plans abruptly changing (one word: Düsseldorf), dealing with my own fatigue and speaking up more for myself, all things I have done up to this point in our trip. Never would I have thought to simply nod my head and casually mutter an "ok" in response to Anne's, "Let's go paragliding!" Being kind and being brave doesn't come easily to me at times. Today, however, as I ran into the air with a glider on my back, I thought of my doubts and worries, those that I've carried with me for years, for months, and others that have become heavier within the last couple of days. I thought about them for a split second, left them up on that mountain cliff, and never once looked back. 

My friends from DF Mexico now relocated in Freiburg. Their move does not mean they felt yesterday's loss any less. As devastated as they were to have their country out of the running, they were all smiles to meet me and tell me we had picked the perfect day to come to Zermatt. 

One of my many horse sightings in Europe. 

Delicious pastries so nicely decorated. I don't know that I'd be guilt free if I tore into these--I mean, if I had the chance to nibble on them. They were so pretty to look at! 

The Matterhorn. 

Alpine Adventures Zermatt. Our before shot. Perhaps we wondered at this moment whether or not we'd all make it to an after shot? 

 

Our co-pilots! This is us attempting to make small talk while really looking for an excuse not to go up. 

Once on the tram up the mountain, Anne looking out into the vast nothingness we would jump into just a few minutes later. 

Right before takeoff, meine Herren und Damen, ich gebe ihnen das Matterhorn. 

Me up in the air! 

My view as I cruised the air with my new pal and co-pilot Phil. 

I saw an entire field of these flowers while up in the air, and I was very excited to find a small patch of them back down on solid ground. I bought a packet of seeds to plant in my garden and have them to remind me of being brave.