Longing for Europe

I have been thinking about going back to Europe a lot lately. I am ready to go back. If I had the money, I would board a plane next week and set off on random unplanned adventure. I so long to do unplanned things...which is laughable because I am typically a type-a planner. Today I listened to the German Band "Tokio Hotel" on youtube.com...they are superb. They sing in English, and yet they are a German band with an asian inspired name...puzzling I know! And so the thoughts of my European adventures leapt to thought in my mind...fond memories. Except I did lose 15 pounds while there in Germany...I am NOT a big meat eater...and I missed my Momma...we'll leave it at that.

I have been thinking about the cobblestone streets, the bakeries, the array of various different looking people, the smells, boarding the train at the station, the castles overlooking the Rhine as you pass by on the railway train cars. The cold weather that changes so fast...you cannot plan on what to wear...so you must layer. The rich color of the ground...the fields in the distant...farmers harvesting their crops. I thought the 4 story apartment style houses colored cream and framed for wood were very interesting. Bubbly water to drink...they do not have water like we do here...unless you beg of course. the double decker Burger King...made of many glass windows that encompassed the view of the city. Eating at a banquet hall for about 3 hours for brunch...and then walking for about what felt like 6 hours to me...I do not know exactly how long we walked...but I have never ever walked that far since. Riding on the Autobahn...what an experience...felt like I was in a Nascar race or something...and my relatives...well let's just say that there is a reason why a few of them no longer have their driver's license's.

I remember the warmed tile floor in my relatives house. The weather was so cold when I was in Germany, near Hamburg, visiting my relatives Egorn and Angelica. I remember their big black sheep dog named Misha...who has now passed. Misha jumped in the car when we went somewhere and she knew that I was in her seat...so this 100 plus pound dog literally moved me all by herself since I was in HER SEAT! I remember slipping out from under the goose down feather comforter on the bed, placing my feet on the warmed tile floor (which was warmed with hot water pipes under the floor) that I found quite amazing. Then we went to a shoe store...it was two stories and there was a man in a leather vest...he was hanging off of an old type of ladder one might see in an old library, it had wheels aligned at the bottom of the end rung...and he swung that ladder around climbing back and forth between the two stories searching for shoes for the customers. The shoe-man would find the perfect style, color, and size shoes that the waiting customer longed for, and then he would gently remove it from it's wooden cubbies on the walls...it was quite a spectacle to behold. I was enamored! I love shoes. I ended up getting some "Elephantan" shoes...which are quite popular in Germany...I thought I was so cool! :)

I remember playing with my cousins. The first day I got there, after taking the train to Dusseldorf...my Tante Regina picked us up where we travelled to their home by car. I thought I was going home to meet Jesus that day...Tante Regina...wow what a crazy driver she is! While I was playing with Auri and Sandor I got my finger stuck in the rope of the swing they were twirling me around in...I screamed stop! although they could not speak English...then I just screamed louder...and well, that is a known action for one to stop what they are doing and get a parent in any language! haha I went to Lagos a German water park...I nearly drowned in the wave pool and I saw a bunch of people in their full glory...that I will never, again I say NEVER forget. German people are obviously more open to being "free." Not I, I say!!!

Ahhh...to go back. I will one day....I just know it! I want to travel...albeit not by my lonesome...I need a traveling companion. I could tell you so much more of my European travels...more about my kooky family members...whom I love and yet I do not know them very well...yet I love them all dearly. I could tell you about me thinking that my family was gonna get mad cow disease from eating raw hamburger meat on toast for breakfast...and about how the steak I ordered at a five star restaurant, needless to say, it was covered in and sitting in a pool of blood. Meat is not that appealing...hasn't been ever since. Oh, I could digress about the faces, smells, and merchandise of an outside German market...on a rooftop no less. I could drive on the autobahn next time I go...if I get an international license that is....hmmm sounds plausible to me?

I miss my Germany...I wonder if she misses me? Shall we meet again? For now I shall say "Ja" in the future....and adieu! I want to go back again "bitte!"

Auf Weidersehn!
-"Zara" as I am affectionately called in Germany!