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Showing posts from September, 2012

Let the EU Adventure Begin! First Stop, Munich!

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We made it to the EU and more importantly, Munich! After a long flight and barely any sleep we made it to Zurich with very few bumps in the road. Such a relief.  After a second night of no sleep for both Alexis and I, despite utter exhaustion, we gave up and headed down for a fantastic German breakfast at 6:30am. It made me remember how much I miss German food. Good thing I have plenty of time to get my fill! After that we headed to the train station to move on to our first full adventure, Munich! During this process we had to talk to the tickets people to validate out EuRail passes. To my surprise (and my groups), apparently I can still speak German. Hopefully, this dormant skill will keep getting better here the longer I stay. Ready to conquer Europe again! Waiting for our train to München Tom and Alexis insisted that we buy these for the train when they found out I had never had them.  O.M.G. SO GOOD. French Macaroons from  Sprüngli We

And so it begins...

I'm flying Heading far out of sight Second star to the right Now the way is clear Never Land is near Follow all the air  Cause I'm about to disappear I'm flying! So long USA! Europe. Here. We. Come. Love you all!

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen and adieu

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Being that this was our last week in the States  until  Thanksgiving, there is a laundry lists of hugs and 'see you soon's that needed to happen on top of our usual  preparation (e.g., packing, cleaning, organizing, yard stuff...) .  Thursday was my "last day" at the office. A crucial funding  decision  will be made on October 1st which will determine whether or not I have a job when we come back from Europe (... insert moment of panic here). This prompted many farewells, hugs and loose ends that needed to be tied up. On Tuesday, my fantastic team threw me a going away/we-hope-come-back-after-your-trip lunch that comprised of oodles of  homemade gluten free treats. No matter what happens on October 1st, I feel so fortunate to have worked with such an  inspirational  group who work so hard to make a difference for our  elderly  Veterans and caregivers. I never imagined I would learn so much about life, health care and the world while working with them. In a time wher

1 Backpack and 1 Suitcase vs My Closet and 53 days

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Game on. Packing. I hate this part of long trips. I love autumn and all of the clothes that come with it. The unfortunate side to this is I have tons of clothing I love and want to wear, which leads me to my dilemma (poor me I know). Practicality/dual purpose vs. but I want it vs. the ultimate factor, space/weight limit. What is a girl to do? Weather is a HUGE factor for packing on this trip in the most polar opposite way in comparison to my previous trips. The first half of our trip (Sept - mid October) temps can range from 61F (15C) to 41F (8C), with daily averages running around 52F, so it’s clearly not balmy weather we’re talking about here. But towards the end of the trip, mid October - mid November, we are talking about ranges between 55F-32F with an average of 41F. This part will be a little different for me, neither Duane or I have lived somewhere "cold" for an extended period of time, leading me to probably over pack for the temp difference. Yes, poor California

I have a stowaway in my suitcase

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With 20 days to go, new developments have arisen! It has long been planned that our wonderful friends Alexis and Tom will be flying over to Zurich and exploring Oktoberfest with us, and they will be in Paris during the same time. In addition to this fantastic company, new events have occurred, plots have thickened and annoying emails may have been sent a few times to poke and prod nameless individuals. Nevertheless, as of last week my bestie-best friend from SF, Chrissy, and her lovely French boyfriend whom I adore, Maxime, will also be in Paris at the same time! I am so excited to share such a wonderful city and memories with some of my favorite people in the world!