17 Places Sports Took Me

Sports have taken me all over the world. These seventeen places are on so many people's bucket lists, and I got to see them for free!

You can blame it on my sports-coaching and P.E.-teaching parents. From the moment I was born on a basketball game day in January, I lived in the gym. The legend is that I had been to sixty basketball games by the time I was three months old.

I associate sports - and maybe, more specifically, a gym - with home and familiarity. I even wrote my best university essay (according to my very particular and not-prone-to-liking-anything writing professor) on why the idea of the gym was more associated with the concept of home for me than any house ever was. You can read that piece about "Getting Stuck in the Right Place" here.

We were always traveling for sports as a family. I was a sports camp apprentice to my dad, being the ever-ready demonstrator of techniques and activities, and eventually becoming his right-hand gal for every camp he ran.

Almost anywhere I've ever traveled to has been because of sports. Even if I were to consider my European travels as non-sport adventures, I have to admit that the only reason I'm able to live in Europe is because of sports.

Two of my really awesome sport vacations have not been included in this list because I had to raise the money and pay for the trips out of my own pocket. It was my very first trip to Europe with my family on a volleyball tour in 2001, and another volleyball tour with my university to the Dominican Republic in 2007. But, yes, that means the rest of the trips in this list were: free.

My sporty adventure is really more of a definition for my life, and, as such, this post is going to highlight seventeen - because it is my jersey number this year, after all - of the coolest places I've been that were made possible because of sports.

1. Arizona: between playing university volleyball tournaments in the fall and coaching youth tournaments in the summer, I learned that Arizona is always hot. But we had nice hotel rooms and survived on air conditioning and smoothies.

2. Florida: my university team played our level's national championship tournament in December - when it was still warm and definitely still very humid.

3. Minnesota: in an opposite destination to Florida, we went to another national championship tournament year with more snow than I've ever seen. Welcome to Minnesota in December!

Driving through Alberta, Canada.

4. Alberta: we tied our honeymoon into a sports camp work trip, spending a week in Banff before heading down to Edmonton and Calgary for coaching. We literally got paid to go on our honeymoon, and met a ton of wonderful Canadians in the process!

5. Colorado: I partnered with a Denver-based camp coach and spent a week in Colorado three summers in a row. It's a beautiful state that I probably would have never gone to if I hadn't been handed free plane tickets.

6. Wyoming: my coworkers (more like best friends) and I road tripped through Wyoming, not once, but twice, on our way from Denver to Billings. We went through Cheyenne during Frontier Days, Chugwater for the most epic photo, Yellowstone for Old Faithful, and stopped anywhere else along the way that sounded interesting or like a location from the Oregon Trail computer game.

7. Montana: has been a destination four times, and I've grown familiar with Billings, and even ventured as far as Sidney (basically North Dakota). Billings' best ice cream? Softies. And the downtown brewery has the coolest selection of macaroni and cheese!

8. Czech Republic: trying out for a volleyball team really launched me into the European scene. This Californian had to immediately buy a real coat and wear three (or four) layers everywhere I went. I spent three glorious days in winter Prague before being sent to...

9. Belgium: where I lived with a Czech teammate and officially began my first sports contract abroad. I quickly learned that the next three months would be more like a vacation with a bit of sports sprinkled in each week! The club handed me paychecks for volleyball, and I "invested" it in the following places, while still managing to return home with enough saved up to start again the next year!

10. Italy: was my first solo trip in Europe, and I went to the cheapest and warmest place I could fly to, Trieste. This was also the place I had my steepest learning curve of how to travel alone properly: plan transportation in advance, know opening and closing times of sites, I don't have to climb every mountain, I hate caves, and 50 degrees Fahrenheit/10 degrees Celsius weather still needs a coat and scarf.

11. France: Paris was really the only city I truly cared about visiting, and it was my first destination on my Eurail pass on Valentine's Day, 2011. I was lost most of the time I was there, but I'll never forget turning around in the Tuileries Gardens and seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time. Paris will always have my heart.

12. Germany: I included Germany and the Benelux (Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg) on my Eurail Select Pass with France so I could see as much of Europe as possible. I was still very concerned that these three months could be the entirety of my time in Europe, and I had to take advantage of it! I spent the whole day on trains along the gorgeous Rhine River.

13. Austria: after Paris, Salzburg was my next obsession because of the Sound of Music. I still frolic about and sing out loud when I trace the steps of Julie Andrews in the movie. I also learned that Salzburg is indeed a wonderful city on its own, and now I only live an hour and a half away from it!

14. Switzerland: Geneva was my first experience spending time with American expats in their adopted country. My college friend, John, and his family made it look so natural and effortless to me, and I could tell that this was actually their home. They weren't feeling like they were missing out on things back in the USA; their life was here. I began to realize that this picture could be Marc and me twenty years down the road.

15. Hawaii: I returned to America that summer after my Eurail adventures, and my camp company needed another player/coach to send with a Canadian university volleyball team to...Hawaii. Oahu, Maui, Pearl Harbor, volcanoes, beaches, snow cones, dolphins, and more! I still tell the story like I won a contest, and made even more amazing Canadian friends - one of whom also came abroad to play in France and is now married to her French husband!!

Kaila and I before we knew she'd someday become French!

16. Netherlands: I could have included Holland in that chunk of three months above, but now I go back every August to help coach the volleyball camp at the American school. I've been twice to Keukenhof in the spring as well, but now I have the chance to keep pace with the locals (and expats) for a week every summer.

17. Alaska: while Hawaii might be the most popular destination I've ever been flown to for free, Alaska is actually the most expensive. And I've gone for free...five times!!! These volleyball camp trips have been tons of wild fun, from finding bears and moose on the loose to exploring waterfalls and glaciers, from fishing for rainbow trout to trying all the delicious restaurants. I have lifelong friends from Anchorage, Wasilla, and Kenai, and I would have never made it to Alaska if it hadn't been for volleyball.

Gly, one of my favorite Alaskans ever.

I didn't even bother including all the places in California I've experienced for free through volleyball, like Yosemite, San Francisco, Santa Monica, San Juan Capistrano, Los Angeles, Hollywood, San Diego, Manhattan Beach - I could go on forever. But California was my home for twenty-three years, so it always felt local.

I'm not an Olympian or the record holder for wins as a coach. I'm an average-sized volleyball player at 5'9"/175 cm, and my husband, Marc, is a 5'6"/168 cm shorter-than-average basketball coach. I could keep on counting the places I've been to just since moving to Europe in 2011. But this list should suffice as evidence that sports - whether you are an athlete or a coach - can really serve as a vehicle to see the world.

Maybe a good attitude of happy/crazy helps, too.

The only thing that probably makes us different from the gym teachers down the street at your local high school is that we take the time to ask about and explore creative opportunities. And this concept, my friends, is something that can be applied universally in every field.

I have just one favor to ask of you. Send this post to that young athlete you know who could use some motivation and a dose of hopeful reality. We may not all become gold medalists or NBA stars or millionaires, but we really can make an incredible life out of sports. I wish I had been able to read a post like this when I was seventeen years old - when I was actually considering dropping volleyball forever.

Thanks for joining me on my sporty adventures. I hope you are inspired to start your own or help someone else begin theirs!

*     *     *     *     *

Our favorite posts from last week were...
Telc & Its Beautiful Square by Cynthia at Adventurings
The Pools and the Ponds, Krabi, Thailand by Joanna at Me and My Itchy Feet
Sheep in the Big City by Simply Sara Travel
Surfing in San Juan del Sur by Mishfish13
Skydive Interlaken by Courtney at Adelante Blog

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Back in Time to Those Days in Belgium

I know you can't trap time in a bottle.

I hate it.

I never did write my promised recap of my first magical season in Belgium. Probably because of time. And if you've even been reading this blog since 2011, in time, you probably forgot I was going to write it, anyway.

We were the champions!

I think I was really hoping Marc and I were going to be able to move to Farciennes together, and the blog would have become a sort of "happily ever after" story. But in my first days back to America, the club and I decided it wasn't going to work out between us because of the housing situation. The club was totally fine with Marc coming to Belgium with me. The problem was that all of the foreign players were going to have to live in one house together. I know other couples have been able to pull it off, but it just wasn't going to work for us.

It was the first week of May, and there I was on another volleyball trip in Hawaii, unemployed, and quite a bit freaked out. I didn't have news of another job until two months later, and, by that time, I was into the full swing of NBC Camps all over the Western United States.

The recap didn't get written. It was the fairy tale ending that never got told - because I wanted the happy ending to be much later than it actually was.

We were Belgian, Slovakian, American, Czech, Russian, and Italian: we were Farciennes.

But we all moved on, and we devoted ourselves and this blog to France instead.

Do you have a series of moments you wish you could keep on "repeat" forever?

An epic door handle.

It could be that time in your childhood you remember as worry-free. It could be your first romance. It could be when your children were young. It could be that once-in-a-lifetime vacation. It could be when you were working with your best friends.

Or you could still be looking for this time.

I have four.

1. The house on Clover Court with my family.

From 3rd to 7th grade, we lived on a half acre with 35 oak trees, an awesome jungle gym, a backyard drinking fountain, a front yard for baseball, and a cul-de-sac for bikes. It was a simple life before city sidewalks, one where I knew every neighbor's home, and the community was our family.

2. Coaching at NBC Camps with my dad and best friends.

From ages 17 to 21 - before I took over directing the volleyball camps - I was a happy-go-lucky coach and master teacher, always with the youngest girls for basketball and volleyball. I loved it. The very best days of my life were at camp, and all thanks to my dad for taking me. NBC was full of hilarious laughter and deep tears. Lives were won at camp, and mine was one of them. It was also where I met Marc, and best friends Stacia, Jes, and Kia.

3. Volleyball at The Master's College with my coach and even more best friends.

From sophomore to senior years, volleyball was at the insane level I always dreamed it could be. We didn't win very much, but I wouldn't trade those hours of sweat, tears, and injuries with my very best friends (Amanda, Jenn, and Tanya) in the world for anything. Coach pushed us to places we'd never been before, and we'll never be there again.

4. My 3 months in Belgium with the people of Farciennes.

From January to April, I jumped alone into a completely different life in another language, country, and culture. I took advantage of my last year as a "youth" (age 25, according to Europeans), and let my Eurail pass open up Europe in the most extraordinary ways. My volleyball team won every single match to claim the championship, and every day only got better and better. This club also ended up becoming the connection to another best friend, Tanya Schmidt.

Visiting Mons.

All this to say: yesterday, we time-traveled.

We climbed into the clunky team van (essentially the volleyball version of a DeLorean), and headed due north. We stopped to take in the adorable charms of Mons, the 2015 European Capital of Culture.

The clock tower.

The main square, Grand Place.

Then we headed east to Farciennes.

The flag of Wallonie, the French-speaking south of Belgium.

It was another perfect set-up: France has a rather amusing system of vacations, and right now, we have no matches for 4 weekends. This Sunday, Farciennes played against Barbar-Ixelles, where we know the coach through some work we did with international school volleyball tournaments.

Those Belgian waffles.

The gym was completely remodeled. The team is entirely new, four years later in the top division. But the people who hold the club together - the people who made my experience in Belgium so deep and meaningful - were still there, and still incredibly generous with their time and love.

It was Marc's first time seeing into those 3 months he's only ever heard about. I say we time-traveled because honestly, it felt like I had never left - it even felt like Marc had been there the whole time with me, too.

Monique's trip to California, 2013.

I don't quite understand the deep bonds that I've developed with my French tutors, but they are always the people I love and miss the most. Maybe they are the ones who gave the most love back? All I know is that Alfred & Stella, and then Monique, will always be why my experiences in Europe have been so wonderful. They will always be my favorite stories, and they are far and away the best and most giving people in our Europe saga.

For four hours, we were back in my beautiful Belgian world of enthusiastic "ça va's," clanking Leffe glasses, and connecting smiles and laughs.

Coach Olivier, his mom, Stella, me, and his dad, Alfred (my first French tutors).

The people of Farciennes convinced me beyond a doubt to move to Europe, and they changed my life forever.

There's your long overdue recap.

Whatever it is to you, I hope you have your "those were the days" memories somewhere - or with someone.

I hope even more that you have chance to go back to them.
  

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Eurail vs. Eur-crazy

When I first began thinking about Iberian Insanity 2014, I was dead set on the Eurail Pass. I was leaning on my previous super-positive experiences with the Eurail Select Pass in 2011 for Benelux, France, and Germany. There was no other way to travel throughout a large period of time and a large region of awesomeness.

I will not be buying a train pass. I am going to figure it out as I go with planes, trains, buses, and carpooling (organized hitchhiking).


However, there are a lot of ways to do this, and the Eurail Pass is not a bad idea! Depending on your time and budget, you can choose to stay for a shorter or longer journey, and include more or less places. Most of the passes have the option of 3-10 "travel days" in the duration of 2 months.

*These passes cannot be purchased more than 6 months before first date of travel! That puts a good purchase time starting in January, 2014.

Go to Rail Europe to find the pass that works best for you! If you have questions, comment below.

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My Parisian Valentine

This will always be my favorite Valentine's Day.

My very first day ever in Paris in 2011.

It never gets old...

Reminisce all the good times (updated!) on the Adventure Reel!

And for those of you "celebrating" V-Day...be conscience of the fact that you should celebrate your loved ones every day of the year, not just when red decorations remind you!

(Chocolate should be eaten every day also.)

Have a thankful heart for love in your life tomorrow, but love today and the days after like every day is Valentine's Day.


Linking up with Phoebe at #AllAboutFrance! Congrats on 1 full year of awesome link-ups!

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La Belle Vie, S'il Vous Plaît

It is as my French tutor, Monique, told me today, "You are living the beautiful life!" Every session with her makes me wonder how far away my first completely French blog posting will be....

This year I definitely focused my adventures in France, especially in Paris. I only went out of the country five times: twice to visit friends in Belgium, on our Mediterranean Christmas cruise, a solo weekend in Munich, and the repeat tulip weekend in the Netherlands.

Last year it definitely helped having the Eurail pass for those two months - the freedom to explore was incredible! But without it this year, my trips had to be much more calculated and significant in purpose. My schedule also changed tremendously with the addition of coaching two teams, which crammed nearly every weekend of the year with volleyball. This is not a sad story, but just a difference between my few months in Belgium and this year in France. (Adding volleyball to life can never be a sad story.)

I have happily run-a-muck in Paris instead. If I had to be city-locked, this is the one place I would choose anyway. As we progress toward mastering the metro and bus systems, we continue to find even more of the treasures that the City of Light holds for us. Plus, France is such a huge country, we are not even close to having visited each region, let alone the cities!

On the priority tourism docket for next year are the following locations:

1. Chateau de Chantilly
This is just a day trip north of Paris, so it will be the easiest adventure to pull off after we return in August. There is always room in my life for more chateaux!

2. Mont Saint-Michel
I believe that next to the Eiffel Tower, MSM is the second most visited sight in France. It is an incredible island village built around a massive monastery. This place deserves its own weekend next year for sure.

3. Normandy Beaches
We got close this year in Caen, but this is a very time-consuming endeavor that requires well-planned transport - or your own car. There are several beaches and cemeteries that are not friendly to the walking. Both our American and French friends have all told us that "every American should see the D-Day beaches." It's relatively near Mont Saint-Michel, so we could technically combine these trips, but it will all depend on calendar availability.

Outside of France, I would really like to make it to Prague to visit my old roommate from my Belgian team. Marc and I also really want to do more of either Italy or Greece. We would also be ready for any last-minute deals hailing from Berlin, London, Zurich, Vienna, Dublin, etc. It's all a matter of matching up time and money, then jumping in and going for it!

The first week after I return, I am going straight to Den Haag, Netherlands, to work an American volleyball camp. Coaching in English never sounded so good.

I am not ignoring Spain. Rather, I am insanely anticipating my Spain excursion, which is currently planned for the summer of 2014. There is just so much I want to see and do in Spain, there was no way I could pull it off in successive weekends. So instead, I am dedicating an entire month of my future life to Spain and Portugal. A trip like this is worth waiting for and doing right.

The very distant future (2015 and beyond) tells tales of Scandinavia, Russia, and Northern Africa. We are also very interested in the potential lifestyle Australia presents to us. But this is all way down the road. For now, we'll gladly stick to our Old World ways with the castles and fabulous food.

As far as your chance to experience any of this with us, we are going to be much more organized in our calendar next year. Now we better understand French holidays and our own hosting strengths and weaknesses, thanks to our willing "test visitors" this year (Jes, Kia, Tanya, and the 8 Simpson men!). I will be posting a calendar sometimes this summer on the blog that shows "open dates" for possible travel times.

We will be stateside in less than a week! It's going to be a very different kind of summer...

À bientôt!

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Escape to the North Sea

I will do this trip every spring. Keukenhof is only open the last week of March through the third week of May every year. If you want to come to the Bollenstreek (bulb region) with me next year, we can start planning now. Next spring I plan to spend at least 4 days in mid-to-late April, biking, exploring, beachcombing, and flying kites. 

The Flying Pig Beach Hostel in Noordwijk is a classic beach shack right next to the shoreline, shopping, bus stop, and four ice cream stands. If you like colorful flowers, stroop waffles, sandy shores with seashells, and beach bumming with the locals, then mark Noordwijk down as your next spring break. 

The video highlights are on my YouTube: Escape to the North Sea.

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Swiss Trip Play-By-Play

1. Facebook = Clutch/Spojka/L'embrayage
"People You May Know" and The Master's College FINALLY come in handy. I click on a friend from college, and find out he lives close to Geneva, Switzerland. Next thing we know, I'm on a train and in Switzerland for 3 days.

2. Swiss Entertainment
-A man spits out his gum and drop kicks it all in one motion.
-A bicyclist and motorcyclist tangle in an intersection. Bicyclist kicks motorcycle while holding up oncoming traffic.
-A woman crosses the street too early and a car honks at her. Car and woman both pause, then car and woman both proceed. Woman's nose and toes get roughed up by said car. Woman keeps walking, only to pause again in front of the next car and dramatically stomp her foot.
-A Colombian man explains every group of men on a corner in Geneva is a drug deal.

3. Lake Geneva
It has a lighthouse, a playground slide, an unnatural geyser, a flower clock, boats, birds, gardens/parks with swings, sunsets, and sidewalks. I add chocolate, and I create paradise.

4. Multiculturalism
-My friend's dad is a pastor, so I go to Swiss church and sing Michael W. Smith songs...in French.
-I eat American (Mississippi mud cake), Belgian (waffles), French (crepes), Italian (gelato), Swiss (chocolate), and Turkish (kebabs) food, as well as a Coca-Cola at an Irish pub.
-My dreams are affected; I now start sentences in French and fill in words I don't know with Spanish and English. For instance, "Où est [Where is - French] la otra [the other - Spanish] shopping area [mall - English]?"

5. Milestones
-Why use a regular camera when you can VIDEO and capture EVERYTHING?
-Watch the video: Autour de la France et Genève.
-New way to solve people's problems (obesity, depression, anxiety, fear of heights, whatever): give them a stick of bubble gum and put them on a swing.
-First hostel experience? I like hotels.

6. USA Flight in 11 Days
I pack 2 bags and a box and give them to my Brussels friends to store over the summer. Back to hobo mode.

7. All Swag Tours Include

 

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Frolicking in Flanders

Oostende - Brugge - Gent

What up!

This day was actually a repeat vacation.

I felt like I "had to" go to Brugge again, just because it is The Tourist Attraction in Belgium. But as I wandered the streets, I realized the only thing I really remember about Brugge is that I have pictures of it in a Europe album from when I was 15. Everything else was a fuzzy blank. What I do remember is being in Belgium and Northern France and having a bad attitude because we were "only 4 hours from Paris by bus" and our bus driver refused to take us.

My new theory on tourism: eat dessert first. I need to do what I'm most looking forward as soon as I can, and only then can I really appreciate what happens next. It's the same reason I always ate cookies in the cafeteria while waiting in the lunch line.

Brugge was great; I found windmills, strolled through neighborhoods, and went on a boat ride (see video below). Brugge also had excellent shopping, and of course, the token H&M store.

I hopped the train to Gent next, and exited the station to the most bicycles I have ever seen in one spot. I didn't really know where I was going, so I just moved toward a large crowd on the other side of the square...and ended up in a movie. It was all in French, and I stood there, staring at these actors and extras who kept walking in circular patterns around each other. I think they were trying to create the allusion of a busy sidewalk?

My reverie was interrupted by a woman who said something in Dutch, which she eventually translated to: "Don't look so closely, you're in the shot." Thanks for the advice, I'll work on appearing more natural next time I stumble onto a movie set in public.

When I hear English, I must eavesdrop, and this is what I overhead a teenager say in Gent:
"I don't know why people think Brugge is better than Gent. Gent is so much cooler. Brugge is for old people."

I have three main questions after spending a lovely sunny day in the Flemish region of Belgium:

1. What is with Dutch people and bicycles?
(I almost got hit by at least 3 bicyclists. They are like racing ninjas that zip from out of nowhere, and you are trapped on their ninja speedway. They go on roads, sidewalks, dirt - and they do not stop. Good luck.)

2. I liked Brugge much more than Gent - does this mean I'm an "old person?" (I hope so.)

3. How many European dogs die from secondhand smoke?
(This is not only an observation from Flanders. It just finally occurred to me on this day, so it goes in this blog. The dogs go everywhere with the owner, and the owner smokes everywhere they go, so it stands to reason that these Euro dogs would be most exposed to the secondhand smoke. Where is PETA when you actually need them?)

Can you place the voice? 

It reminds me of some movie character...

PSA: Seagulls

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Yo, Do-Re-Mi. Let's Kick It.

Someday I will have the full Vanilla Ice parody for you. That day is not today.

Did you know it takes at least 10 hours to get from Belgium to Austria by train?

So even though I had delightfully planned a 3-day experience in Salzburg, 2 of those days were spent chugging through Germany. But it's all good. The "good" is made possible by a lot of great food and a day with The Sound of Music that I will never forget.

My iPod battery died within an hour of leaving Charleroi, but I thought it had malfunctioned and I would be friendless my entire trip. My train connection was canceled in Frankfurt, so we (all of us who missed our train) all had to squeeze onto the next train. I literally stood, then sat on the floor between train cars in the "hallway" for two hours before a seat opened up. When I finally got on the Salzburg express train in Munich at 7pm, the overhead lights inside the train were so bright, I wore my sunglasses for the next two hours. At night. Inside a vehicle. Super cool.

The hotel ended up amazing, which is always a shock since I usually book the cheapest thing I can find. When I walked into the cheerful breakfast restaurant the next morning, I actually heard the "Hallelujah Chorus" ringing in my ears...and playing over the speakers. It was the first cereal I've eaten with milk in two months, and the food was so good, I sneaked a sandwich and fruit for lunch - both days.

As a solo traveler, I reserve the right to take every best seat. I sit by the windows, in the front, and with plenty of leg room every chance I get. My day in Salzburg was no exception.

At breakfast, I had a view of the main street. On The Sound of Music Tour, I got on the bus first and sat with the tour guide. At a cafe, I planted myself at the front window seat. For dinner, I claimed the entry way to watch everyone who came by.

And speaking of The Sound of Music Tour - perfection. Okay, maybe not totally perfect; we didn't get to go inside houses, meet Julie Andrews, or climb every mountain. But we did get to spend four hours in make-believe, singing along while the bus made its way through the lake country. I felt like I was chasing my favorite movie all over Austria. IT WAS AWESOME.

I had my first apple strudel, and definitely ate schnitzel. I wore my warm woolen mittens, and cream-colored ponies still take tourists in carriages around the city. And it being early March, the silver white winter was still in the process of melting into spring.

At the end of the tour, we were dropped off right next to Mirabell Gardens, which is where most of the Do-Re-Mi sequence was filmed - including the iconic Do-Re-Mi steps. I found everything okay (various fountains, statues, viewpoints, etc.), but you can only imagine my dismay when I found the DRMS, and they were blocked off from the public! Are you kidding me?!

I did not come all the way to Austria to just look at the DRMS. No way. I came to hop those steps, so that's exactly what I did. Watch the video. The arched hedge was also blocked off; you can go ahead and guess how I responded. All the signs were in German, so it is rather fortunate I did not fall into a large hole, meet a nest of hornets, or trip any real alarms.

It was a fabulous holiday!

(Kindly, I recommend you do not try this at home.) 

(Please at least wait until you go on vacation.)

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Repatriation to the Rhineland

(Highlight video HERE.)

With a Eurail pass comes a certain level of insanity. I have a Select Pass with only X amount of travel days. These "travel days" - I MUST make them count. This brings the departure times to unholy hours like 5:00AM, and serves to create the longest of days. But it's the commitment I've made to the Eurail pass, and I refuse to break my vows.

I have finally accepted the fact that real mochas do not exist in Europe. All they do is brew you coffee, then either hand you the chocolate bar or put it in themselves. Okay, fine.

It also was one of the colder days since I've been here, hovering around a lovely 30 degrees most of the day. The random German snow on the countryside added to the proof of cold, but I was able to enjoy the beauty of the snow from the comfort of my own warm train car.

I went to Köln first on the Thalys (say "Tallis" like "talon"), a bogus high-speed train you have to pay extra for and it's not cleaner or record-shattering faster than the podunk local trains. Köln was nice because the enormous Köln Dom is literally AT the train station, so I could wander around the city for a while and always find the landmark to return to home base. The Dom wins the award for biggest church with lamest stained glass ever.

The bridge across the Rhine River near the Dom had "love locks" all over the side of it and that made for an interesting walk. There were padlocks of all shapes, sizes, colors, and languages, all committed to making their love last...on a German bridge.

The boats that sail up and down the Rhine do not run again until March - so I will come back. Most of the train ride to Koblenz was along the Rhine, and the most gorgeous German villages were around every bend. Every village has a beautiful church, and every 10 minutes or so a castle was on a cliff. The perfect teaser trailer for a future boat ride.

German travel was great because all the information was trilingual: German, English, and French (close to French border). The coolest part of the train rides were definitely the tunnels. Okay, maybe not the actual tunnels themselves, but the fact that, whoosh! Now we're in a tunnel! Then, wham! We are out of the tunnel - and there's SNOW! Very Narnia-like transformations into perfectly frosted trees and forests.

After a short stop in Koblenz, I headed to Luxembourg. I strolled about the center for about an hour. I had the most delicious sandwich for dinner and I would recommend it to everyone if I knew what it was. Apparently, Luxembourg has a fascination with lions? I do not believe they are indigenous to the area. Anybody up on their Luxembourgese history?

Train wild things on the day: 1) spilling my "mocha" everywhere when I stopped the automatic door; 2) the French teenage boy with the Dodgers hat listening to Backstreet Boys; and 3) thinking we were at my Namur stop (because the train had physically stopped) and opening the door to the vast nothingness of dark fields. All those train murder mysteries make so much more sense now.

I made this travel day count for at least 3 days. How? By hopping onto 7 trains. Take that, Travel Day #2.

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My 38th Day in Europe

The excitement of this entry is in the title. Europe was by far my biggest risk ever, and definitely continues to be an insanely awesome reward.

Last night we won our match, so that puts us at 5-0 on the spring season, with 6 matches to go.

Tomorrow I get to take a trip to the one city I have always wanted to go to - serious dream come true status, as every day tends to be even more exciting than the previous.

Thank you to everyone for supporting me, and continuing to keep in touch.

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Oh, The Places You Will Go!

I bought my Eurail pass today! Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and Germany. It doesn't quite seem real that I will be going to all of these places, but that's what February-April holds in store for me! The part I'm looking forward to the most? Hopping the German border into Salzburg, Austria, and going on The Sound of Music Tour. Dream come true, and I will definitely have pictures from that event, most specifically on the Do-Re-Mi steps, as my friends and I like to call them. If any of you would like to join me on any excursions, please let me know!

Thought I had bought a mocha mix at the store, turns out to be hot chocolate - score! Today I finished a movie I started last night on YouTube, called "Midnight Bayou." The only reason I even knew about it was because it was on in French at Alfred & Stella's house during our French lessons, and it looked creepy and maybe even good. My final review? It's a Lifetime movie. That's all you really need to know. It's freakin' weird when the key words are: murder, reincarnation, New Orleans, and Cajun housemaid.

Yesterday we practiced driving again. It went better. It had to, being that we never left the parking lot. But really, I think I only stalled 7-8 times (Martina, feel free to correct!). My biggest issue is going from being stopped to going forward; you know, first gear. So if I never have to stop, I will be totally fine.

But TONIGHT, we went all-in and I am not lying, I drove all the way from Farciennes to the Charleroi airport and back to home in Jumet. In a 20 minute drive, I only stalled two times, and missed only one green light on a hill. This means I survived 5-6 roundabouts, 5-6 actual stops, and made it all the way to the 5th gear IN THE DARK. All this goes to show is that Martina is a very good teacher, even if I did also have to learn Czech terms to make the magic happen.

I checked my Simpson email today for the first time in a month. Let's just say I went through and deleted the emails I knew I didn't have to check, and when I was finally done with that, I had 59 new messages still. It was a long day of corresponding and explaining and recruiting. Then when we finally went to training, my ultimate pump-up song was on the radio again: do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do--Barbra Streisand. I never expected the lady with the big nose to make such an impact on my game.

Tomorrow we have a home match, though, which means loud fans and good food! I will post game clips as soon as I find them again, and will be sure to describe the game as best I can.

Until next time!
 

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