Time Enough To Be Happy.

A few weeks ago two of the little boys that lived on my street attached a sign to the tree standing in the middle of the court that looked like this:

Translation: we are looking for the sun.

It worked for about a week and then the rain returned in all of it's unwelcome glory. I dream of the day I'll finally be able to bury my winter clothes for good. May they not rest in peace.

Who ever thought I would be saying that in July??

Truly though I was quite lucky. I escaped with my host family to Spain for two weeks during the worst of the storms in Germany and just experienced the last few days of non-stop rain. And by some miracle the weather held up quite spectacularly for my mother's visit, especially whilst we were in Prague and Regensburg. She never really got to see Munich underneath a warm, beautiful blue sky, but I'll take what I can get. 

And now some highlights from my madre's European adventure:

My mom's flight was roughly twenty hours long and by the time she landed in Munich she really just wanted to fall down and never wake up. But after one of the best night's of sleep I believe she's ever gotten we made the most of our three days in Munich, seeing beautiful churches and buildings clouded in history. I've been truly terrible about visiting museums for the past ten months and it was really great to go to some of them for the first time with my mom. We toured two of the palaces in Munich, full of incredible antique furniture and incredible stories of the men and women who'd lived there, and then one in Regensburg as well. 

 Crazy King Ludwig's beautiful castle, and my beautiful mother.

I jammed Balla Benni's ice cream down her throat at every opportunity (and this is not an exaggeration), and filled her stomach with German pastries:
I've given up trying to avoid them; they're are too freaking delicious.

Seriously though, if someone can find a legitimate German bakery anywhere in California you may be my best friend for life. I will, no doubt, be going through withdrawals.

In Salzburg we climbed to the top of a medieval fortress (SYKE! we cheated and took the tram), and saw the most beautiful catacombs I've ever seen. I happen to find cemeteries quite interesting so for me to choose an absolute favorite is kind of a big deal. This one was truly incredible. Every single grave sight either had an intricate iron cross, each one unique from the one beside it, or was headed by a slab of marble wonderfully aged by years of exposure to the elements. The cemetery itself wasn't particularly large, but it was clinging to the hill beneath the fortress of Salzburg, and situated right across from St. Peter's church. The walkways were narrow and meandered carelessly through plots holding generations of families. Many of the graves were covered in beds of flowers and candles. It was relatively small and we almost walked right by it, but it was one of the most peaceful places I've ever seen.

Simply stunning.

 

And because I am obsessed, you get two pictures :)

 In the Mirabell gardens I found this old couple sitting on a park bench.

The flowerbeds around me were stunning and I loved seeing the famous archways and steps from The Sound of Music but this turned out to be my favorite part. And then to top it all of we ate at a restaurant with ridiculously delicious Italian food. Just one more reason to go back. As if I needed anymore.

From there it was on to Prague where I fell a little bit in love. At least until I went to Spain and to Palma de Mallorca. My European love affairs tend to only last a few weeks at the most.
 I'm obviously having huge commitment issues.

We took a bus from Munich to the central station in Prague and didn't arrive until early in the evening and after we checked into our hotel we decided to take a quick trip into the heart of the city for dinner. The food was amazing, but by this point nobody should be surprised, and it can probably go without saying. I've officially decided that one of the best parts of traveling is experiencing as much of another culture's culinary achievements as one possibly can. Certainly not a new revelation, but one that is particularly awesome to discover regardless. The restaurant was right on the river and we had a spectacular view of the sunset as it lit up the bridges connecting the districts of Prague.

Our first day out the rain tried to conquer our spirits but we soldiered on regardless and took a three hour walking tour of the city, half of which we spent huddled under an umbrella.

 But once the sun did come out, it was stunning.

We discovered a creepy rock wall and albino peacocks, and if all of that weren't enough, the next day we took a boat tour and watched as a car literally flew off of the street and onto the docks below. It was terrible for about five seconds, and then the man jumped out faster then anything I've ever seen and ran back up to all of the gawking tourists above him. Which leads me to believe that he ate a healthy serving of Lucky Charms that day, or whatever the European equivalent is.

We had a celebratory lunch and Pilsner for my beautiful madre's birthday as well as Mother's Day and just narrowly avoided missing our train back to Germany.
Though I loved you Prague, spending the night in your train station would have been awful.

And if anyone is racking their brains trying to figure out a gift for my not so long ago birthday, I will graciously accept this peacock.

Next up was Regensburg, Germany: stunning and impossible to get lost in without eventually finding your way again. The streets all converge in on one another and wind throughout the city in narrow alleys and passageways.
We narrowly avoided being locked out of our hostel upon arrival but even that couldn't put a damper on our eagerness to explore the city.
P.S. Twenty-four hour check-ins are your friend.

And I found my new favorite church.

After touring a palace and taking the world's worst boat tour we went on a much-needed shopping spree for shoes that were devoid of any holes and didn't look as if they'd just been beaten and tortured (thanks Europe for being so cruel to my poor boots). One of the best parts was simply walking around with my mom, with no real plan, other then to stop every time we found something interesting or curious. Definitely one of the best ways to travel.
From there is was back to Munich, and then back to California for my mom.
But having her here was worth all of the tears at the airport when she had to leave. We always said we were going to see Europe together, and now we have :)

To my mother:
Cheers to the most selfless and loving woman I know. You taught me how to be strong and to believe in myself, and to never forget that the most important thing is to surround yourself with people who love and respect you, and to have fun. When I'm eighty four and splashing around in the waves on some beach somewhere, body surfing and diving underneath the water I'll have you to thank for showing me how beautiful life can be. You've always traveled the universe and back for me, figuratively speaking, and now you've done it physically as well. I'd never wish for anything more.

Now, as June comes to a close, I'm entering into my final months as an Au Pair in Germany. I have roughly ninety days left before I have to return home and leave the place that has irrevocably changed me. All along I've tried to pretend as if this were my home, albeit a temporary one, but the truth is I've always been a visitor, an outsider trying her best to absorb as much of this world into herself as possible, and maybe that's okay. I think that sometimes, when we're stuck in one place for too long, we forget to look around and take note of how truly intricate and stunning life, in all of it's capacities, really is. When you are a stranger in a foreign land even the tiniest, most 'insignificant' moments can be the most profound because your eyes are open so incredibly wide, the better to experience all of the wonders around you.

And even though this year hasn't always been easy, and the whole premise behind building a temporary home in a different world is fraught with complications: in just a few days I will be losing two of the most important people I have here in Germany, and in a few short months I will have to board a plane myself and leave behind the city I've come to love, I would never trade this experience for the world. 

And here's why:
I know exactly how a warm, German bakery smells on a snowy day, and can nearly taste the spiced wine steaming up from my Gluhwein mug at a Christmas market, surrounded by twinkling lights and ancient buildings covered in snow. I know every word to the most important songs from Oktoberfest and can tell you where to find the best Vietnamese food and ice-cream in Munich. I can recall the wonders of St. Paul's Cathedral and the powerful chimes of Big Ben. I've walked in the footsteps of great Kings and Queens and men and women who've changed the world with nothing more then a piece of paper and a pen, or through their courageous actions. I've strolled  over bridges nearly one thousand years old and down alleyways tucked away from the trodden path. I know what the winding, tiny streets of Palma de Mallorca feel like, with the warm cobblestones and the houses packed so tightly together that you see only slivers of the brilliant blue sky above the ancient wooden balconies and pots of bright flowers bursting forth over doors and underneath windows. I've heard incredible music in dilapidated Irish halls, in magnificent churches all over Europe, on Spanish beaches, on street sidewalks, and in world renown concert venues. I know how instant and profound the connection can be between two strangers passing through each others lives for only a moment, and I know how to build a family and a life from nothing more then promises and dreams. I understand fear and loneliness and that no matter how little time there is, there will always be enough to fall in love with the world around you, and with the people who you are lucky enough to share it with. I've fallen in love with four little boys and have even begun to love myself and the girl I have been, and always will be, and while a part of me wishes I could hold on to these moments forever, I also know that I'm meant to move forward, and that I'm ready for whatever else life has in store for me. And I understand now that the place I come from is just as extraordinary as the place I will be leaving behind, in different ways and for different reasons. I just have to remember to stop and look at it every once in awhile with eyes wide open.

 

"Because there's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away." -Sarah Kay

These last few weeks in Munich have been so incredibly perfect and bittersweet, filled with epic nights and days spent in bier gardens and lounging by the lakes and rivers. There have been rope swings and mountain hikes and spontaneous creek swims. Bike rides through thunderstorms with the smell of rain on the pavement and picnics on terraces underneath the sun. If I only have so much time left with these people, and in this place, I'm going to make the most of it.

 XO
Sarah