My quest to travel to Germany began decades ago. I even wrote about it here, so feel free to grab all the details if you'd like. Near the end of that post, I write, "With half my life ahead, I could still make it to Germany. Maybe. Someday. If I do, it will surely be a dream come true, but if I don't, that will be okay too." That post was written in 2014, when I was in the throes of the major expenses that come with five growing kids. The thought of international travel felt far away, so very improbable.
Much has changed since then. All five of our kids are adults. They are either self-supporting or almost! And I can actually work! For years, I taught a class here or a class there in order to help Gerald sustain life. But only since Seth graduated from college and began to situate himself into adult life have I felt the time was right to pursue my career full time. Teaching at three different colleges is hard, really hard, and I'm way too busy and on serious overwhelm much of the time. But oh my goodness, the money is nice, and for me, money equals travel!
So guess what? Germany was suddenly no longer an elusive dream, somewhere far in the future, that may never come true. I didn't go there immediately, as one might expect. I went other amazing places in the past three years: Italy, France, Spain, Colombia, Israel, Jordan, Alaska. But not Germany. I think I was scared. Scared to plan that trip. What if once again it didn't work out?
About eight months ago, I decided it was time. After four decades, I would not let fear win. I gathered two of my favorite travel companions, Shulamith and Isaiah, and we began to plan. Isaiah created a shared document where we brainstormed ideas. It helps that at his young age, Isaiah's job at Cvent has made him a seasoned world traveler. When we crossed over the border into Austria last week, he added his 33rd country. (I have only 16, and I'm way older than him.)
Ten days ago, at 6:00 a.m., Eli kindly drove Shulamith and me to the airport, where we met up with Isaiah and boarded a flight to Detroit, to connect with another to Munich. It wasn't until I was in the air on that second flight that I truly believed I would go to Germany.
Tired but excited, we touched down at 6:30 a.m. at the Munich airport. We had lost eight hours while in the air, and our bodies surely felt it, but we pushed forward and found a yummy breakfast, then roamed the streets of lovely Munich, where I listened with joy to the beautiful German language all around me. Throughout the week, I would have opportunity to speak German several times, and it felt glorious! "If only I had more time," I kept thinking, "just a few months; I know I could master this language!" Why does that matter, you may be wondering. Me too? I can't explain it. I have zero need in my life to speak fluent German. It's not like Spanish, where all around there is opportunity to use it. My only answer is: "I just want to." I found myself resentful of the little children we encountered. They're like three years old, and they speak perfect German. Ugh! It's ridiculous.
Moving on.
The following day, we toured the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. I knew that would be hard. I didn't know how hard. When I looked up and saw tears in Shulamith's eyes, my heart hurt. The best definition that I know of for the word "sin" is anything that keeps us from feeling God's perfect love. It was hard to feel God's love at Dachau. And I think that's all I'll say about that.
We spent the next two days in Munich in the Bavarian Alps. Isaiah loves to hike up to beautiful views. We climbed and climbed up to three different castles, all the creation of Ludwig II of Bavaria, sometimes called the "mad king" because of his relentless obsession with throwing all his wealth, ultimately to the point of bankruptcy, into building gigantic fairytale palaces for himself. Just him. He was a mostly a recluse and didn't share these lavish edifices with anyone.
Midweek, we traveled by train across the border into Salzburg. Isaiah navigated all our journeys, making it possible to use public transportation the whole time. The infrastructure is amazing, and the trains are so fast and so fun! But the system for accessing them is not. First, they haven't updated to electronic tickets. You literally have to purchase these small, flimsy pieces of paper, then stamp them for validation at various required points. Every time you board a new train, scary, police-type people come over to check that you did everything right, and fine you if you didn't. There are zones, and colors, and numbers, and letters, and it's so, so complicated, especially in a foreign language, but Isaiah handled it like a boss. Shulamith helped him, while I remained blissfully unaware and just followed where they led.
Salzburg was adorable. Such a cute little city with Baroque-style architecture, narrow streets, yummy Schnitzel and Nockerl, and the best gelato I've ever eaten. We climbed up to a fortress, with incredible views all the way to the top. After that, we hoped to also do the Sound of Music tour, but we were too late as it required yet another steep climb and would close before we made it. I had planned to do the quintessential twirl on the mountainside while singing "The hills are alive," but for that, you will need to use your imagination.
"A man cannot step into the same river twice, because it is not the same river and he is not the same man." -Heraclitus. This was not the 9-month study abroad experience I missed out on four decades ago. But it was a 9-day experience with two of my amazing kids and best friends, and it was everything I hoped it would be. Thank you, Shulamith and Isaiah, for making it so.
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Isaiah dealing with the complex ticket purchasing
