Hello friends,
I’m writing to you from my apartment in Moscow, Idaho. I’ve been home for a few days now trying to recover from my epic adventure to Europe. The jet lag is killing me right now. But it should pass soon. I hope!
My last day in Germany (Friday) was a nice, relaxing one. I took the train from Amsterdam to Kaiserslautern, Germany where my Great Aunt Setona (my maternal grandmother’s sister) picked me up from the train station. We drove to her home in Weilerbach, about 20 minutes away. We caught up over coffee and Italian champagne. I popped the cork without breaking anything! Later that evening, we went out for dinner at a nice German restaurant in a nearby town.
As it was my last night in Germany, I figured there was nothing better to eat than the classic wiener schnitzel. And it was delicious. Paired with two glasses of tasty red wine and good company, the meal was excellent.
After dinner, Setona and I sat on her couch in our pajamas polishing off the champagne and starting in on a bottle of German wine. It was so nice reconnecting with my great aunt. I hadn’t seen her since my grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary when I was about 6 years old. That’s 17 years. Crazy, huh? She is an amazing lady, and she reminds me so much of my grandma. It was like being at home, even though I was in a foreign country.
Her house is also really cool. It’s chalk full of beautiful furniture, most of it antique and European. After living in Germany for more than 50 years, she’s built up quite the collection of furniture and old cars.
On Saturday, I woke up to my Great Aunt Setona playing the piano. I think perhaps it was a combination of her practicing, as well as being a hint that I should get out of bed 🙂 Either way, she played beautifully. We had breakfast together before my shuttle arrived to drive me the hour and a half to the Frankfurt airport.
I got on my first flight from Frankfurt to Reykjavik, Iceland at 2 p.m. local time/5 a.m. Pacific Time and nearly 22 hours later, I was finally home in Moscow. It was such a long day, complete with a missed flight and the beginnings of a cold (no, it’s not Ebola). But I made it! And I walked out of the Spokane airport to my boyfriend waiting for me with my last name typed on his phone like a limo driver. After the craziness of the day, it was a very sweet gesture that made me smile 🙂 For about two seconds… and then I was out like a light.
It feels good to sleep in my own bed again and come back to my routine, but I definitely miss Europe. Especially Germany. But don’t worry, friends. I’ll be back!
Gute nacht.
Meredith Metsker 