belgium: brussels

I love the way various members of my extended family have lived in different countries. For this visit, my cousin Bryn was my host in Brussels, Belgium.

My flight left kyiv early in the morning, so there was no traffic to interfere with me getting to the airport on time. Yay! The line to checkin was long and slow, argh. Why doesn't Ukrainian Airlines do online checkin? The flight departed late, I never figured out why.

Upon arrival it was easy enough to take the train to the central train station (Gare Centrale) where cousin Bryn met me. We walked to his flat and caught up for a while before heading out again. 

We walked toward the city center, stopping in a church or two, and heaps of chocolate shops. Belgium is known for chocolate, for good reason. Pieces of chocolate, not bars of chocolate, though they were available as well. By the time the day was over if bought about 10 different pieces of chocolate. And this was just the first day :) I decided my goal was to find the best couer framboise.  Some stores were more expensive than others, sometimes that corresponded to taste, sometimes not.

The city centre is full of tourists, as well as small places to buy waffles and frites (French fries.) 

When we turned the corner into the Grande Place I was well and truly impressed. It's basically a giant platz. The buildings surrounding the platz are almost all big, and beautiful. I loved it. Definitely a good place for people watching. Photos didn't turn out as well as I thought the whole area looked, i hope that's because the sky was flat and grey.

After going through the Grande Place we followed another street or two, finding ourselves in front of Mannekin Pis. It's a lot smaller than I expected. Mannekin Pis is a statue of a little boy peeing, with water coming out of that part of his body. I don't get it, why is it famous? During this visit the statue had a costume covering most of him. How often does that happen? 

At that point both of us were hungry, we decided to be tourists sortof. We each ordered frites at a random place. I chose mustard as my sauce, you could have ketchup and mayonnaise and a few others as well. Mayonnaise is the typical sauce, I'm so not a fan. 

After that, I decided I wanted a waffle too. (Obviously, a healthy diet was not going to happen.) I chose one covered in whip cream and strawberries, Bryn had Nutella. By the time I finished eating I was stuffed, I had no room for 'real' food! Oops! As often as I talk about eating healthy, this was an epic fail, but so worth it!

The next morning the first thing Bryn did was show me how to get to a nearby large supermarket. (This was useful the next day when Bryn had to go to work, but I had a few more hours to explore.)

From there we continued walking. We crossed another platz, this one set up with a farmers market of some kind. I found the stalls with baked goods of course :) I didn't buy any of those items, but I did buy when I found the hot chocolate stall. Yum. They had three different types: milk, white, and dark. Why don't all places that sell hot chocolate have these choices? 

Eventually we made it to a BIG park. I think the name of the park is Cinquantenaire. There is a giant 'gate' in the middle of the park. On this particular day the park was the start and end point for a running festival. The main race was a 20km. (Why not a half marathon distance of 21.1km?) there were people everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Bryn and I have both run multiple marathons, though he takes running and training in general a whole lot more seriously than I do. I'm just happy to finish any race I run, he has actual goals. Seeing all these people made me think I should run the event next year.

We walked out another exit of the park, making our way to the area of town where the EU commission buildings are located. All I have to say about them is that they're not architecturally appealing. At all. 

Those buildings were yucky, so we decided to walk through the gardens close to the royal palace. The gardens are pretty. A few statues, walking paths, old trees, etc... We got to the palace itself, and due to the crappy weather there weren't many people out in front. Yay for photos without people. I wonder if it's ever possible to go inside the palace. It's big, but not super impressive outside; is the interior the same?

From there we walked to a monument which I think was an eternal flame. I'm not sure though. As we got there the wind picked up, as did the rain. YUCK. I know I've mentioned previously how I feel about rain. YUCK. Wind and rain make picture taking more difficult as well. 

The main Cathedral was close. It was big, and the front facade was quite nice. The interior wasn't nearly as impressive. Or maybe I'm just churched out. 

It continued being windy, and raining from time to time. To get out of the crappy weather we stepped into a cafe with a lovely display in the window. It ended up being a great choice. I had a slice of a raspberry tart, YUM. 

More time in the city center, including another church. This one was much more appealing to me. Smaller, much more friendly. 

I got another waffle, saw flavors as before. Again, YUM. At this point I realized it's a good thing I don't live in Brussels, I'd be HUGE! Between the chocolates and waffles, eeek.  When I ordered this waffle I had an entertaining conversation with the guy who worked there, in French. I love being able to speak a little of another language. 

I bought more chocolates. I think I ended up buying chocolates from all the main brands in Brussels. Except Godiva, I've had that brand plenty of times in other countries.

I wasn't hungry, but I realized I needed 'real' food, as I hadn't had any in a couple days. Bryn knew of a nearby street with several good choices, I ended up choosing a pita. Protein and veggies, I needed those. Since I wasn't full I didn't enjoy it as much as I could've, but I'm still glad I ate. Of course by the time I was done I wasn't feeling so good, I had way too much food in me.

The next morning I packed up, and walked Bryn to work. It was still a holiday for me, but not for Bryn. Then I made my way to the supermarket. I wanted to bring back chocolates for everyone at work, I figured I could find a box or several for cheaper than the stores in the city centre. I think I ended up buying three boxes :) 

Then I made my way to a metro stop, and figured out how to get to the atomium. It's a big, um, thing. Several of the molecules are part of a science oriented museum. That didn't interest me, I just enjoyed looking at the exterior. The atomium is in the middle of a park, I enjoyed strolling around and watching people.

At some point I realized I needed to hop back on the metro and get back to the airport. So I did. I got there later than I wanted, but being late meant there was almost no queue left at checkin. Thank goodness for not having to  check a bag! 

germany: hamburg

since one of my cousins had visited me in kyiv in january i felt it was only fair to visit her...so i booked flights to hamburg over a long weekend...one advantage to an early morning flight is the total lack of traffic on the way to the airport...the taxi ride was fast :)...on the way i could see the remains of roadblocks that had gone up during the madness of Maidan...
my cousin picked me up at the airport in hamburg, then we rode a couple different s-bahn trains, and walked a little to get to where she has been living...she told me the home was once a rowing club, but was purchased and renovated by the family into a private home...it's fantastic!!

after dropping my bag, we went to the supermarket to get lunch: warm pretzel rolls, salami, butter, frischkase, cheese, etc...i love these kinds of lunches
after lunch we started walking...tyra has had a few visitors, and has worked out one and two day tours of hamburg, hee hee...we crossed a canal or two on the way to one end of the big lake...she pointed out some of the huge houses along the canals, wow...these homes stay in families for generations, and often have multiple generations living in them at the same time...

hamburg is the 2nd largest city in the country, and does not have enough housing...
since we were out walking earlier on a friday than tyra normally would've been able to do so, we came across a fleamarket she doesn't normally get to see...stands with yummy food, yahoo...of course i bought too much, i figured we could have snacks a few times through the day :)
walking around the lake we stopped a couple times to eat the snacks, and enjoy the view...something about relaxing in or near water always makes me a happy camper; if only i could do it more often...

we weren't the only people out by the lake, it must be one of the most popular places in the city...plenty of people out running along the path...as we passed one gelato stall i bought some, even though tyra said it was too cold...(i live in ukraine, it's never too cold for ice cream!)
after walking most of the way around the lake, we made our way over to a main shopping street...postcards are crazy expensive in hamburg, argh...lots of people out strolling, window shopping, enjoying each other's company...

we saw the rathaus, a very complicated building...there is no place to get a good photo, it obviously wasn't built with photographers in mind, hee hee...maybe someday i will get to go to the top :) ...the roof is green, and was obviously not always that colour...
it rained a bit as we made our way home, stopping at a supermarket again...i bought cereal and ritter sport bars to take with me back to ukraine...(ukraine is sorely lacking in the cereal department)...even though we'd already been in one supermarket earlier in the day, i was still happy to wander all around this one...

dinner was a family affair...tyra and another girl living with the family made risotto, and did a fine job considering they hadn't made it previously...i added hot sauce...it was nice to chat with the mom and the roommate...
when i took my socks off that evening i noticed splotches of red on the insides of each ankle...i have no idea where it came from, or what it was...it didn't itch, or feel anything at all...i fell asleep as we were watching inglorious basterds...(i fell asleep in the middle of the movie again the next night...is it that bad, or was i that tired?)

the next morning i was the first awake in the house, which didn't suprise me at all...(i'm a morning person, and i normally live an hour ahead of germany)...when tyra got up we had tea and yogurt for breakfast, then got on our way...
i got a haircut! the first time since argentina the previous july...i needed it...i know i could get it done in kyiv, but i'm always worried about translation...
we walked a lot again this day...after the haircut we walked to a justice looking building, with an exhibition in front...i think it was an art exhibition?

the weather was awesome, i was thrilled...this was really close to brahms platz...another side of the platz had a theatre, and yet a third side had the building in which tyra works...one of the entrances has an elephant on the side of the building...
we visited st michaels church next...a big church, with a great open, airy feeling...lots of light pouring in through the windows...not far from the church was an apartment residence building, it looked a bit like a ship...given that hamburg is on a lot of water, it made sense...i love the feel of the variety in architecture in the city...traditional, but modern at the same time...

we visited an alleyway that used to be where wives and children of sailors would live when the men were out at sea...it's a tight alley, and was the sight of a disease outbreak at one point because of the close quarters...now it's a touristy area, with cafes and tourist shops...i bought a coffee mug...
we walked to a waterway which was actually pretty big...along the way we passed 4 scandinavian churches! one of my family members is obsessed with the swedish side of the family, so of course the scandinavian churches were a point of interest...

i bought my first (and so far, only) fisch pushkin...basically a fish sandwich...there are fried and 'raw' options available...apparently it's a very hamburgian food...i didn't love it, i didn't hate it...
walking along the waterway, tyra pointing out that some of the boats are public transport, how awesome is that? just like a trolley or bus, but on the water...we walked down a lot of stairs at one point, and walked through a tunnel all the way under the water, and up the stairs on the other side...(i was breathing hard when we came up)...a nice view over to the side on which we started...after soaking up the view for a bit, we went back down and under...

tyra then walked us over to the speicher stadt...it's her favourite area of the city...the old warehouse district...i can't describe it, but there is definitely a feeling to it...picturesque in a way...it was neat to see how everything used to work in terms of shipping and delivery in the city...some of the old warehouses have been renovated into modern apartment buildings, i didn't like any of those i saw...not really my style...
we briefly walked into another church, neither of us thought much of it...so we walked into one of many branches of balzac coffee shop...several hot chocolate options, yay!!

dinner that night was another family affair, with ellie and tyra cooking again :)...the next morning was sunday, and apparently brunch is extensive in this house...everyone gathered around the table again, including a couple more living in the house...lively conversation, and i got to tell what i thought of the events in ukraine...
then i flew back to kyiv...

the cuz comes to visit

Since one of my cousins lives where I used to live in germany, it made sense that we see each other while we’re on the same continent…in his own blog, he says that Kyiv/Ukraine wasn’t originally on his list of places to travel…but then I moved here, and he was able to find a cheap flight, so he figured, why not?

His flight arrived really really late one Friday night…and by late, I mean after midnight…it was supposed to land just before midnight, but was a few minutes late…I tried taking public transport to get to the airport to pick him  up, but didn’t make it the whole way…I found the spot where a bus is supposed to pick up to take people to this particular airport (this is the same airport into which I flew when I landed here, Kyiv’s Zhulyany airport) but after waiting for 20 minutes, I never saw the bus…I did howeva see plenty of other buses…I don’t know how often this bus is supposed to come, it could be only once an hour, for all I know…anywho, I started to worry about making it to the airport in time to meet the flight…so I called a taxi…I could’ve taken one of the taxis sitting by the train station, but I knew they’d be more expensive, partly because I don’t speak any Russian or Ukrainian…one of my coworkers had given me a number to call for taxis, and I knew that that night at least there would be an English speaker working, so it was easy enough to get a taxi…phew!!

I got to the airport and had to wait for a little while, I entertained myself by walking in circles…I also found giant scales, so I was able to weigh myself…or at least try to do so…I don’t know how much my clothes, and shoes weigh, so I don’t know how much to subtract from the weight I could see…

Since I’d already flown into this airport, I knew what my cousin would be going through upon arrival, I’d warned him the airport was “primitive.”…the tough thing about waiting is that you don’t hear a plane come in, so you don’t know for sure when to expect anyone to come walking through the door…there is a sign on the outside of the door saying do not enter, but that didn’t stop a heck of a lot of people from constantly opening it up, trying to see if their loved ones were in the customs line yet…finally, he walked through the door…I called another taxi, and for less than $10 we arrived back at my flat in around 20 minutes!

My flattie and I had already pulled out the sofa bed in the lounge, so my cousin and I arranged the sheets, chatted a bit, and each went to bed…I woke up earlier than he did the next morning, probably b/c I’m used to waking up early every morning…he was also coming from germany, which is an hour behind, so he was still on that time…that morning we chatted, and eventually had breakfast…the internet guy came to the flat and set up wireless internet, so my flattie and I weren’t dependent on a single cable for both of us…not too long after he left, my cousin and I left, and I started showing him “my” city…

We walked to the subway, which isn’t a difficult walk…it’s a 20 minute walk, but really easy…I showed him how to buy a few tokens, and off we went…go figure, it takes longer for me to walk to the subway stop every morning, than the actual time I spend on the train…(if we ever move flats, we want to be closer to a subway stop)…we got off the train at the same place I do every morning, the main square in town…translated to English, it’s Independence Square…I don’t know if that has always been the name, or just since the country declared independence from the former USSR in 1991…on one post in front of the central post office glass covers graffiti created during the riots/demonstrations of the orange revolution in 2004…when I read about that in the guidebook I was expecting great graffiti, but it wasn’t anything exciting…not at all…

We started by walking down the main street that splits the platz in two…krushchek street is basically the translated name…on weekends, the street becomes a pedestrian zone, its nice to walk down the middle of the street…it’s full length is about a kilometer, I don’t know how often people actually walk the whole thing…it’s a wide boulevard, with typical communist architecture on both sides…according to lonely planet, the square and this street are the places to see and be seen every weekend…there are definitely a lot of people hanging out…

When we first came out of the metro, we saw a giant stage set up…I had no idea what was going on, but it was clear it was some sort of rehearsal…I found out from my flattie a couple days later that various groups were rehearsing for a weekly dance contest tv show that is filmed every Saturday evening…the cousin and I watched for a few minutes, it made me laugh…then we walked all the way down and back up the street…at one end of the street is a covered market, I think its called the Arabian market…I don’t know how that name came, or even if its correct…lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as meat and fish…I bought raspberries, which are my favourite fruit, and one I wish I could have year round, and daily…sooooo good…right now, they seem to be cheaper here than in the states!

As we walked back toward the platz, we started following the walking tour lonely planet has for Kyiv in the guidebook…we found most of the stuff listed, though not all…we walked by government buildings (including the president’s office, where we took the required “family member is in the same city at the same time, we should prove it” photo) churches, parks and more…we wandered through a couple grocery stores,(he bought happy hippos at one of the stores…I had no idea the name was anything more than a game from my childhood!)  and down a street filled with souvenir vendors…we saw heaps of couples having wedding photos taken…apparently Saturday afternoon in late summer is the best time to get married/have photos taken…

The cousin got a new camera recently, and both of us love to take photos, so we spent plenty of time doing so…trying to get good angles, good focus, etc…fun…at least, I think it’s fun…

I think we finally returned to my flat around 1930…I took him to the grocery store that is conveniently close to the flat (it forces me to go outside, but distance-wise it’s probably the same distance as my closet grocery store was in seoul) and we figured out what to do for dinner…a very simple meal of pasta, veggies and chicken…

The next morning we were up really early…and by really early, I mean we were out of the flat at 0730…I’d decided to make Sunday our UNESCO day…we started by taking the subway to arselnalna station, which is really close to the dnipro river…we followed everyone exiting the station, down the street…a 15 minute walk later, we arrived at Kyevo-Pecherska Lavra…at some point i'll probably write solely about the lavra, as i took heaps of photos and there is plenty of history to bore you with...according to lonely planet, this is the holiest ground in all of the three east Slavic countries of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus…I’d read that entrance is free before 9am, and we arrived at 0845…not that the entrance fee is huge, it’s only about $3…arriving before 9 meant most of the people there were locals wanting to attend a service…arriving at 10 or later means that most of the people there are tourists, often with very noisy tourist groups…we were there early enough to get heaps of great photos, and really wander around the area w/out feeling smushed by others…

the lavra is divided into an upper and a lower section…the upper section has an entrance fee, the lower does not…the lower section is mainly known for the “caves”  (pecherska means caves)…a greek guy named st antoniy founded the lavra in 1051, after orthodoxy was adopted as the official religion of what was then called kyivan rus…he and his follower dug out a bunch of tunnels and cave like rooms, where they and other monks worshipped, studied and lived…the weather in Kyiv is such that when these guys died, their bodies were naturally preserved…so now, when you walk through the catacombs, there are glass caskets to be seen, presumably with bodies under the blankets…it’s rather dark down there, we didn’t pick up candles on the way…

These caves weren’t what we were expecting…reading the guidebooks, each of us thought we’d be seeing actual caves…we didn’t realize we were in the cave area until we walked into a tiny little room with the first casket…the walls are painted, and there is lighting in some areas…the hallways are tiny, you can only walk in one direction…if you have issues with claustrophobia, I’d highly suggest skipping this spot…since we were clearly not pilgrims, or believers in the faith, we didn’t get to see all the caves…there are a couple spots where additional tunnels branch off, but monks are sitting there, and the only way you get to walk into the “extra” tunnels is if you are a believer…

Also in the lower area are a couple more churches, and a graveyard…

Over the wall of the graveyard, you could see the area I wanted to go to next…rodina mat…the formal name is the “defence of the motherland monument”…a 62m tall statue of a female warrior…on our way to the statue, we walked through a flower exhibition…flowers arranged into sculptures, including a birthday cake to celebrate ukraine’s 20^th birthday as an independent nation…

From the flower exhibition, we headed toward the big lady…lonely planet says there are nicknames of iron lady and tin tits…the cousin and I found those names amusing…I’m not sure I would’ve come up with either of those on my own…there is a museum at the bottom of the statue, though we skipped that…also according to the guidebook, somewhere in the museum there is an entrance to an elevator that takes you to the top of the lady’s right hand…maybe I’ll do that before I leave the country…or maybe not…we ate lunch in front of the lady, it was a lovely view over the city on one side, and the river on the other…also near the feet of the statue are two tanks, and soviet sculptures…kids (and adults) climb all over the tanks, which are now painted blue and yellowish orange, with flowers on them…not very intimidating, as tanks normally are supposed to be…

From there we walked to another metro station, and took the train back into the center of town…our next stop was st Sophia, the other UNESCO sight in town…a large cathedral…after figuring out which entrance tickets we wanted (there are prices for several options: entrance to the grounds, entrance to the church, entrance to the bell tower, and tours) we entered…sadly, there is some construction/renovation happening around the church, it’s impossible to get the beautiful photo you see in books and on postcards…both of us wondered when the renovations and whatnot would be finished…walking into the church was impressive…the initial entry area is filled with a display of the history of the church…that is, a history since directors of it’s foundation have been named…there was a brief history in each director, and what they’ve accomplished, as well as a model to scale of the entire complex…in St Sophia we were able to go up stairs, and see the church from a higher level…definitely the coolest part of seeing that church…we both loved it…we wandered around the grounds, and ended the visit by going up the bell tower…there are several floors worth of stairs, it’s a workout…you’re able to look out over the city in all directions, the views are fantastic…with the clear weather, it was fantastic…I’m glad we did the climb, I don’t think as many people do that…

After St Sophia, we walked back toward maidan (the square) and passed my school along the way…I pointed it out…we took the metro back to my flat, and relaxed for a while…the cousin and I checked as many football scores as possible…my friend violetta called right about then, and we set up dinner…so the cousin and I walked back to the metro and met up with violetta…she took us to a cafeteria style restaurant…all sorts of traditional foods, you pay for what you take…dumplings, soup, salad, tons of main courses, etc…between the two of us, we had lots of food to try!! Eventually, we took the train back to my flat, and called it a night…the two days of walking all over the city was great, but my legs were pretty tired…I need to be doing that sort of walking a whole lot more…

The next morning we both woke up slowly…it was originally supposed to be the first day of classes, but the school decided to put that off for a day, as the school wasn’t completed…the extra day gave the contractors a bunch of extra hours to finish quite a bit, and clean a whole bunch more…plus, it also gave us the chance to do a lot of prep work for our lessons…my cousin came with me to school, just to kill his last couple hours before going to the airport…we called him a taxi, which picked him up directly at the school…super convenient…he and I had walked to maidan to try and get a taxi there, but the price of that taxi was 4x the price of the taxi we called!! I know prices are higher in the city center, but that taxi driver was ridiculous…he tried to say the airport was far away, but we knew it wasn’t nearly that far…anywho, early the next morning he emailed me to say he’d gotten home safely, despite the chaos he found when he arrived at the airport…

The next day, I started my first day of teaching at my new school…

back to the fatherland part 2

as all of you know, (or should know) i lived in garmisch, germany for nearly three years after i graduated from uni..host of the 1936 winter olympics, garmisch is also part of the munich candidacy for the 2018 winter olympics..town residents have mixed feelings about possibly hosting the ski events of the 2018 olympics..my last visit in 2007 was only 2 nights, not nearly long enough..this time, i was grateful for more days..i took the train from the munich airport, arriving on a BEAUTIFUL clear night..the moon was bright, the snow on the surrounding mountains was glowing..nights like those make me wonder why i ever left..garmisch is an incredibly beautiful town, in the middle of the alps..
my friends jamie and helmut hosted me, they are fantastic people..jamie originally moved there about a month after i first moved there, helmut is originally from garmisch..i was thrilled to be able to spend some time with both of them, they're amazing..before arriving in garmisch i had hoped to do a couple hikes, but after seeing the snow on the mountains, i knew that wouldn't be happening..darnit..
i got to see my cousin bryn a couple times, he works there now..he even has one of the same bosses i did when i worked there! go figure that i end up seeing so many family members while not in the states!..i got to see friends like ron and rhue, who have lives so very different from when i lived there..their lives may be different, but they're clearly so happy, yay!! i got to see my friend bo, who has recently received his italian citizenship, something he's been working toward for years and years..he's a cook, totally awesome..i got to see jill, who recently left afrc, YAHOOOOOO!!!! the company never treated her nearly as well as they should have...not long after she left, her old boss started trying to make nice, as he realized how awesome she is..go figure..
i happened to be in germany during krumpus, my absolutely favorite fest..it takes place in berchtesgaden, 5 + 6 december each year..berchtesgaden is probably best known as being the home of the eagle's nest, hitler's safety spot in bayern..another gorgeous mountain town..the basic premise of the fest is that the krumpus are monsters who come out of the mountains to make the evil leave you..young men (ages 16-28, unmarried) from berchtesgaden dress up at monsters or haystacks with ginormous cowbells on their backs..they move around the town in packs the nights of krumpus..they carry whips, and when the mood strikes them, whip the evil out of anyone near..this isn't a well known fest, but anyone who has ever been has loved it..it's not even well known in germany, mostly only in bayern..
i went to the fest with jenn and donna and yvonne...i know jenn and donna from when i lived in garmisch previously, my recent trip through asia was with donna's sister layna..yvonne was a new friend, but we got along just fine..jenn and yvonne and donna (i think?) are training for the rome marathon, i'm excited for them..when we first arrived in berchtesgaden, we weren't able to get to our hotel because the krumpus parade was winding it's way through the town..howeva, a few minutes later the parade was over, and we were able to check in..while we were out walking through town after getting dinner we ran into other folks who live in garmisch, and i was identified as "bryn's cousin"..shouldn't he be my cousin? hee hee..back in the hotel we bundled up (it was COLD that night) and made our way out again..this year's fest wasn't as fun as in the past, but i still loved it..the packs of krumpus came through the town with their whips, we tried to avoid being whipped..those whips sting!!the girls were drinking gluhwein, i wish i had been able to join in..there were gluhwein stands in several places, they sold sausages and other stuff as well..that stuff sounds really good when you're freezing, even if you're not hungry..jenn and donna brought wine out with them, so they wouldn't have to spend so much during the evening..(this is a german fest, OF COURSE there is drinking involved:)..yvonne and i ended up calling it a night earlier than jenn and donna, and made our way back to the hotel..i know i was so sound asleep when jenn and donna came back that i was completely unaware when they came home..(yeah yeah yeah, i know that's nothing out of the norm)..the next morning we got up and got our fill of the breakfast that was included with our room..needless to say, we (at least me) ate too much, but isn't that the fun of a breakfast buffet? a fast drive, and we were back in garmisch...
my last night in town, i went to dinner with helmut and jamie at their every other monday stammtisch (sp?)..a local restaurant, totally bayerisch..jill, bo, and bo's flatmates cj and cj's wife..cj is originally from calgary, his accent totally reminds me of another calgary friend..eerie how identical they sound..anywho..
the next day i had lunch with cousin bryn and cousin tyra..tyra was making her way back to the states from a semester studying in athens..her way back to the states was as complicated as my way back to my hometown each time i return..not too long after lunch i hopped on the train and made my way back to the munich airport, saying goodbye to one of my favourite places on the planet..