"T" is for Travel.

 21 May, 2011

Travel has been my only constant lately (yes, I know, not so unusual for me).  It has been great to see so much of Europe in the past few months!  So now for the most recent adventures....My last three weeks have been kept busy with two flights to Belgium (with one extended detour through the Amsterdam airport), a train trip west and one train trip south.  I have now visited Gent, Antwerp, a couple of spots in Tirol and Graz.  My first trip to Belgium was to Gent.  I loved it there and walked around for over an hour after I arrived.  I got some fantastic pictures as both my exhausted feet and the weather cooperated.  On my way home, I picked up some Belgian Truffles to share with my colleagues and everyone seemed to enjoy them at the office the next day!

My next trip was west by train from Wien Westbanhof to Kufstein.  It was about 4.5 hours on the train and the time passed quickly as I was very excited to get there.  My trip was prompted by an invite to a barbecue from a great guy who I met at a happy hour in Vienna.  It was so beautiful there…I truly did not want to leave to come back for work on Monday.

Then it was back to Belgium to visit a site in Antwerp.  I had an extended layover in Amsterdam and got to see what the airport had to offer.  It turns out it had a great bottle opener keychain to offer me which I took home with me (both because I needed a keychain bottle opener…and because I found it hilarious to have a souvenir from my “visit” to Amsterdam).  Promptly upon my return, I headed to a party thrown by two of my colleagues - I was tired after the travel home, but the party was worth it!

The last trip was to Graz.  It was another train trip, but this time through a different beautiful area in Austria: Styria.  The ride was gorgeous and even though my time in Graz was short, I got to take in the sights at the university campus.  The campus was full of lush trees and great old buildings.  I would have been happy to take a break from travel after returning from Graz…but that break will be delayed.  I leave for Berlin in the morning.

Today, however, Vienna left me much time for contemplation.  The plan was always to be in and out of here – a quick 6 months.  Now I am already looking at an additional 8 months and trying to figure out what another 8 months in limbo means.  Every place so far in my life has been only a stop along the river with no permanent camp in sight...I might have come to the point where I am done drifting.  Maybe I am tired of finding great friends only to separate from them?  Years ago, change was what I needed; now I feel like it is all I know.  When really, all I know is something has got to be enough.  I learned when I was only a child that chasing a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow only makes the end of the rainbow seem to move farther and farther away…trying to reach that ambiguous treasure gets old after a while. 

For the last several years, it has been unpack to repack, end to renew.  How about a real goal marked by motivation to make my dreams come true?  It is time for a real destination without ambiguity and a place to call home, at least for this portion of the journey.  It is my new change.  I want to change so I can be the same and actually sit still for a minute.  No more looking over the next hill (or plane ticket, or move, or train, or…).  I am going to sit still for a while…ya know, after this next trip. J



Part of the City Center in Gent



Tirol - Amazing views everywhere!



A statue in Antwerp



Easter in Romania

 08 May 2011

A couple of weeks ago, I traveled to Romania for the first time.  It was amazing!

I have been to the land through the trees and discovered a place where it is so easy to breathe.  Transylvania welcomed me calmly with a friendly offer to “just sit where ever you like” from the driver hired to pick me up in Sibiu and drive me to Brasov.  I am happy I chose Brasov as the place where I would spend my first night in Romania.  The people were so friendly, the views so diverse and everything was so affordable.  Casa Wagner was my home in Brasov.  Raluca, at the front desk, was very helpful and made sure I was secure in the directions she gave me as I explored the town.  She also arranged a driver to take me to Bran Castle (aka Dracula’s Castle) on my second day as well as drive me back to Sibiu. 

To explain more thoroughly why I felt the region of Transylvania is a place where it is so easy to breathe… Perhaps it was all the trees (either the extra oxygen...or the serene forests created by uncluttered ground and further than average spaced trees)?  Perhaps it was the comforting tone of voice offered by the locals?  In the end, I am convinced there is something special and blessed about the land.    Transylvania is not flashy, fun-filled or exotic, but it was soothing.  Maybe it has more to do with my state of mind than the place itself, but it is a special place that gave me time to relax and refocus. 

The Romanian language sounds very similar to Italian and is very pleasant to hear.  When I was not listening to locals talk or taking in the views, I was in the car.  On my rides between Sibiu and Brasov, I was intrigued to see so many hitchhikers ranging from business men to women with small children.  The driver was the same all weekend and on the way from Bran Castle back to Sibiu on Saturday afternoon, I explained to him how similar the landscape was to N. Michigan (minus the mountains).  He thought it was great that there was somewhere in America that looked like Romania and decided to drive me back on country roads so I could see more of it.  The drive back was amazing and I got to see shepards moving flocks of sheep along the road which also curved by a gypsy camp.  It was a great trip for the long Easter weekend.







The square in Brasov





One of the views from the top of Bran Castle



Bran Castle



Sheep!