leaving deutschland.

while i was dreading it's arrival, all things must come to an end, and i eventually had to say "tschuss" to deutschland. i woke up early (by my standards) on saturday morning and got ready and ate breakfast. around 9am, johannes and i ventured out to take care of my last-minute shopping, which included buying two loaves of rye bread (one for me and one for richard), as much kölsch as my suitcase could fit, and about 20 euros worth of candy for my friends. then it was back to pack up my belongings (which took some negotiation between my suitcase and myself) and johannes the hero carried my excessively-heavy suitcase down the winding flights of stairs to the ground level. and before long, we were off!

we caught a train to the central station, and then had to find our platform to catch another train to head out to the airport. we made record time, and johannes was quite impressed with his planning, as he made all the connections with more than enough time. and then suddenly we found ourselves at the köln/bonn airport. once at the ticket counter, the kind lady working upgraded my flights, giving me window seats and (unbeknownst to me) putting me in business class for my united flight from boston to san francisco. seriously, how rad. for the record, i love lufthansa (excepting the temporarily-missing suitcase incident). once checked in, we met up with björn, who has been my last.fm friend for quite some time and lives in düsseldorf. previous attempts to hang out during my stay were unsuccessful, so he drove all the way to the airport to meet me - how sweet! at this point, johannes and i said our goodbyes, as he was heading off to the suburbs to take care of things. i still had nearly two hours before my flight left, so björn bought me coffee and we sat and chatted for awhile, until the time came when he had to walk me to the security checkpoint. we said our goodbyes, and i was on my own for a long journey home.

my flight to munich was quick and painless, but i did find myself crying a bit as we landed at the airport. i had such a great time in germany, but i was also emotionally exhausted because of all it took for me to get there and what it meant for me - the years of friendship building up to it, the courage i had to muster to instigate such a trip, the fantastic time i had, the accomplishment of doing the whole thing on my own and for myself, and the sadness of leaving behind such a good friend, as well as a country that i kind of fell in love with. and not only that, but i had most of my trip back ahead of me - a nearly-nine-hour-flight to boston, a 12-hour layover, and a six-hour-flight back to california, followed by a whole day of activities and bbqs once i arrived. but that part of the journey is a story all unto itself...

last full day in germany.

my last complete day in germany was relatively low-key, but it turned out to be exactly perfect. after enjoying breakfast together, i got around to some reading and journaling while johannes took care of some stuff of his own. we reconvened for lunch, after which i had tentative plans to check out neighboring düsseldorf. however, johannes decided to join me for the afternoon, and instead of venturing to the rival city, we headed out to a part of köln that we hadn't yet explored.

first off, we made yet another trip to the post office so i could mail my remaining postcards (the ones i'd picked up in holland), and then continued on. the weather was gorgeous and it was super nice to just be able to leisurely walk around and talk, and not have to deal with the mess of trains and people in a hurry. johannes took me to yet another park - this one being the one where he most often goes on his runs. we ventured through and continued down more quiet streets until we reached a war memorial in the southern part of the city, which was near to the rhine.

the memorial was atop an old fort, which appears to have been taken over by teenagers in the area and serves as a hangout, a la the stomping grounds of rufio and the lost boys. for awhile we just sat and looked around, enjoying the clear blue sky and amazing temperature. then we walked a short distance to a local cafe for afternoon coffee and cake (which is one of johannes' favourite things to do) as well as people-watching (which is one of my favourite things to do).

when we finished, we continued our walk through a bizarre area of town with a whole (unexplained) system of overhead pipes. while talking, we somehow got onto the topic of video games. johannes shared his favourite adventure games with me, and once we found ourselves back at his place, he showed me videos of some of them. highlights include the freelance police and one that a friend of his created for school. but before we arrived, we happened upon the most appropriate building: johanneshaus! well...not really all that appropriate, as further research reveals that it's kind of like a halfway house. but hell, i thought it was kind of cool, at least for a photo op.

once back, the next item on the agenda was making a mixtape. seeing as how it was via a mixtape forum of sorts that the two of us initially met some six years ago, it made sense that we make a mixtape together. after throwing thematic ideas around, johannes eventually dug up a tape cover and declared that we were going to choose songs that the artwork made us think of. after a couple of false starts and a few hours, we had our tape. so the two of us did a "test run" together while johannes prepared a delicious dinner for us, which we enjoyed alongside a bottle of bogle.

for my last night, the agenda was left open for whatever i wanted to do, but the idea of wine and a movie - in this case, "grindhouse: planet terror" - sounded better than a night on the town, so that's just what we did. all in all, a near-perfect day, tainted only by the fact that the trip was almost over.

side trip to holland.

while my original plan didn't include going outside of germany, i jumped at the opportunity to spend an afternoon in holland, the land of my people. not only did my maternal ancestors emigrate from the netherlands to canada years and years ago, but we still have family in and around leiden and amsterdam, and while my parents have visited the country, i still hadn't.

so at 8am on thursday, we were up and getting ready to take the train to the suburbs to meet with johannes' mother. our original plan was to visit his younger brother, kaspar, in maastritcht (where he attends university), but it was a holiday so kaspar was back in town for a friend's birthday. still, doris wanted to do some potential shopping, so it was off to holland we went!

we piled into the golf and johannes (resident doctor) set about to fixing the tape deck (and was successful, which meant we got to listen to mixtapes and not the radio)! in about an hour's time we crossed the border and arrived in the city. we parked in front of kaspar's flat so we could see where he lives, and then headed through town toward the river to cross to the side with the central area, which i suppose can be classified as the downtown. the whole city features very modern, light, architecture but with a lot of brick and stone, which gave it an ancient, white-washed sort of feel.

we crossed the maas river and walked through town, until we came upon an outdoor restaurant, where we sat and enjoyed the beautiful weather and ate lunch. once done, we continued and walked all over, passing a mill, some cafes, university buildings, and three churches (two catholic and one protestant, i believe). the city streets themselves were cobblestone-like and reminded me of "oliver twist" or something of the sort.

after we had worn ourselves out by window shopping and checking out a flea market in the town square, we stopped at the grand theater cafe and had afternoon coffee and some cake, which was both pleasant and relaxing. then we slowly made our way back to the car. on the way, i snapped a picture of a congregation of bicycles. i can't imagine how to even beginning finding one's bike!

continuing on, we crossed back over to the other side of town via a different bridge, and doris demanded we use the time for a photo opportunity. so at johannes' suggestion, we flashed our west side (best side) signs, cause in case you didn't know, johannes is straight-up nwacore, no joke.

then it was back to germany. we were dropped off at the train station and headed back into town, where johannes made banana pancakes for dinner!! delicious! we rounded out the night with some white bavarian beer and watched "choke" together, and then it was off to bed.