Munich, Salzburg, and Garmisch.

August 18th-20th 2012

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." 

In the days leading up to August 17th I saw as much friends and family as I could and said my goodbyes. I was, of course, heartbroken to be leaving again after a wonderful summer with the ones I love the most - but I was also excited to get back to my second home in Germany. It is a catch 22 really. When I am in GA my heart hurts for Germany, and when I am in Germany my heart hurts for GA. This is standard procedure, I hear, when one has two homes. Last August when I made the trek from Georgia to Germany for the first time it was a tearful goodbye. This year, I was just happy. Happy to have been in Georgia and happy to be returning to Germany. I am thankful for my time at home with my incredible family and family of friends and I am confident in enjoying my years away knowing that when I return I will still have a strong home spot with a huge support group of amazing people who shower me in love. I said goodbye with a smile not because I am happy to be leaving, but because I am happy to have been with you all. 

August 18th 2012

I arrived in Munich from ATL Early in the morning. I didn't get much sleep at all on the plane- I do not understand how people expect you to rest in such an uncomfortable and cramped position - but anyway, I got into Munich and spent the day walking around the market and doing some shopping for a new dirndl. I went to bed quite early and woke up in the middle of the night wide awake. Jet lag - yay! 

August 19th I woke up early and went to the hoptbahnhof to catch a train to Salzburg, Austria. It was just about a two hour train ride. I only took a backpack with some clothes for the night and carried it with me throughout the day. When i first arrived I saw the beautiful castle up on a huge hill and started walking towards it. It's 11 euro to ride the tram up the hill or you can walk it. Of course I walked up the mountain in 89 degree weather with a backpack and flip flops to avoid spending money. The view from the top was incredible though. After that I walked around the town some more. Salzburg is beautiful! I loved it. The next day I dropped by Garmisch. I think I did Garmisch wrong. Everything was kind of closed. I will have to go back during the winter or something maybe. The alps were gorgeous though. 

New York

August 4th-9th 2012

So one night me and my awesome friend Macy were at a party and she mentioned that she was heading back to school in NY soon and asked if i wanted to ride with her... and of course I did! We left the next morning and did a sort of road trip on the way. We stopped in Roanoak, Virginia and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and quite a few other places. While in NY we had a picnic in Central park with salads and Laudre, shopped around Brooklyn, went to Coney Island, The MET, ground zero, barcade, and a lot of awesome places to sit and see the skyline. It was awesome! Macy Rocks!

Beachin.

In July I went to Florida with my parents on our annual trip to Ormond beach. While we were there we wanted to try something new- and a friend of mine suggested we rent a kayak and take it out. So my dad and I did. We started off smooth and just went about a mile and we were just talking and cruising slowly along when my dad saw something towards the horizon... was it a shark? a dolphin? a bird? we decided to go check it out. We paddled as quickly as we could out towards the disturbance and realized about halfway there that it was dolphins and a lot of them. We paddled as hard as we could to get close to them and ended up right in the middle of a huge pod. Approximately 40-50 dolphins within 3 feet of our kayak. They gave us an awesome show- so much better than sea world. My dad and I laughed and sat amazed at the sight. We followed them for a good 15 minutes but they were heading away from shore and we couldn't get too far. We could have chased them all day. I am so thankful for the experience and for sharing it with my dad. 

The Walker family also makes an annual trip to Florida one town over from Ormond in Daytona. For the past 5 years or more our weeks at the beach have overlapped and I have had the privilege of spending some wonderful times with my best friend Ashten at the beach. When we were in high school we went to church camp at the beach in the summers and that week always fell on my birthday. At some point during high school- the summer of 05' I think - we started going out on the beach to watch the sunrise on my birthday. Now, we never make it to the beach for my actual birthday but we have continued to carry the tradition and watch the sunrise on the beach together when our vacations collide. Ashten and I hardly get to see each other now that I live in Germany and she is a busy student in Tennessee - but we have one of those rare friendships that is unaffected by time or space apart. I am so blessed by Ashten and our friendship and I look forward to at least 70 more years of sunrises.