Tales of Germany
Family have departed, the holiday leftovers have dwindled, and the New Year has begun.
There’s just something about the first couple weeks of January that make me feel like I’ve fallen off of a cliff. Things are quiet again and I go back to my old routines..but I feel a little stiff and slow after the madness that was December.
So I made myself a list of things I’d like to accomplish before I officially get back to studio work on Monday, just to get me rolling again - and the item at the tippy-top was to finish sorting through the photos from our Czechia-Germany trip.
Did we really only get back two weeks ago? The calendar says a week and two days…which means a week and two days ago, we were still in Germany. Time sure is flyin’.
While we were there, we stayed in Munich. It was a city that had a vastly different feel than Prague - a little grayer, a little heavier. Though, I will admit, perhaps that was just the weather! Initially it also didn’t seem quite as friendly but I think that was largely due to the fact that we took the subway most of the places we needed to go, so a sense of familiarity with the city didn’t quite come together…I’m thinking we needed another couple of days for that piece to fall into place.
So much of Munich was also just…newer. While Prague managed to avoid mass destruction in either of the World Wars, Munich was less lucky. There were, of course, areas that had been restored to their historical splendor, but overall I wasn’t struck with a feeling of overwhelming “oldness” there. It was just so interesting to get to spend time in both cities, one after the other, and see how their very different histories had written themselves into the streets and buildings themselves.
On one of our Germany days, we took a train up to Nuremberg.
Eric gets credit for this photo!!
During the day we wandered the streets and meandered through the many museums. And as night fell? We took ourselves down to the Christkindlesmarkt, which is, according to my internet searches, one of the best Christmas markets in Europe.
Despite the fact that they didn’t have trdelnik, all of the Christmas markets we visited in Germany were wonderful. And maybe that makes me ridiculously touristy, but I’m ok with that - because walking around in the cold, buying little snacks and ogling the insane amount of Christmas goodies made for a fabulous time.
The market in Nuremberg, though, really was over the top.
The crush of people was insane. The amount of food was insane. The number of pictures I took was insane.
Highlights for me included the marzipan potatoes (literally giant clumps of delicious almond-y goodness rolled in cocoa powder to look like a certain root vegetable) and the spiced wine. Well, not really the wine (which neither Eric nor I liked, in the end) but rather the cups.
See, when you buy the wine, you pay a deposit on the cup. If you bring it back when you’re done with the drink, your deposit is returned and you can go on your merry way. But, alternatively, you can forgo the deposit and KEEP your cup as a souvenir. Any guesses as to what we did with ours?? On a later day, back in Munich, we found a stall selling hot chocolate - and that time around we both enjoyed our drinks and got to keep the cups (win-win!).
We also got to spend a little time in the mountains.
Our last day of the trip, Eric’s birthday, we took another train from Munich (this time heading south) to the Alps. Though I enjoyed all of our train travel, this ride was my favorite.
Our bellies were full of sweet waffles, bought at the station and savored as we rolled away from the city. The people riding with us, with their trekking poles and ski gear and hiking boots and down jackets, felt like kindred spirits and you could feel the excitement building as all of us nature-loving souls got closer and closer to the mountains. And the views out the window? Absolutely break-your-heart breathtaking.
Walking around beneath those snowy peaks, I realized something about the way I was taking pictures. I found that I was working extra hard to frame my shots in a way that cropped out other stray tourists. I began to notice that I was holding my body at funny angles in order to shoot around buildings and railings and minimize the number of power lines in my shots.
And in looking at the pictures I took on that day, and all the others on this trip, I realized how hard I’d worked to make it look like Eric and I were the only ones in these places we’d visited. Even the busy places look pretty quiet. And when I look at these “quiet” pictures, even knowing that we were surrounded by other people most of the time, all I remember is hearing the sound of the wind and feeling the warm, winter sun on my face and thinking about the discussions Eric and were having as we wandered. Does it make any sense to say that, for the first time, I see how I see the world? Fixing on a single point of calm to get me through the chaos - I’m an introvert, through and through.
This is the last picture I took before we headed on home…our bags, packed and ready to go. These three backpacks and the clothes on our bodies were all we brought with us on our travels - and frankly? It’s changed the way I’ll travel for the rest of my life.
I’ve realized that a not inconsequential portion of my travel anxiety has stemmed from trying to keep track of all of my STUFF…so only bringing a couple pairs of clothes (and a little laundry detergent to wash them with)? It makes everything so easy. No suitcase shuffling, no taking up wide swaths of space on public transit. We were light and mobile and ready to go at any moment.
At this moment I can only think of three things I’d change about our packing situation. The first is that I’m not going to bring my heavy, insulated water bottle again. I’m not trying to keep any liquids hot or cold, so a lightweight bottle will do. I also don’t think that I’ll bring my big camera on a trip like this again. It was, again, just so heavy. And hard to get out of my pack. And I DID worry about it getting broken or stolen etc. So I’ve got to save my pennies and get a little side-kick camera for trips and hiking - my back will be grateful.
And lastly, I realized that I need to bring something to do with my hands. A pencil and small sketchbook. A little knitting project. Remember that introvert thing? I need a way to recharge after a day amongst the crowds and art has ALWAYS been my way.
These few changes and the only thing I’ll have to worry about is how many people will laugh/look skeptical when they realize this is all of our luggage. Which actually is just amusing - not a worry at all.
So with that, I’ll surprise even myself and say that I’m looking forward to future travel adventures. I guess stepping outside my little world is just as interesting as staying in.