Germany Part 1

August has ended and what an August it was for me. 

I went on a trip to Germany on August 8th to visit a friend I made when I was in grade ten (many moons ago). I took my baby who turned one at the end of August. I have not left the country since 2006 so this was quite an epic happening in my life. I felt totally out of any sort of comfort zone. As I walked through customs and left my family behind I felt like running back. My five year old had been crying for half an hour and my ten year old was furious. I felt like I was making such an unwise choice.

Then I went into a ten hour flight through the night with my almost one year old baby. I also chose an airline with notoriously cramped seating. I did not know this. The flight was very challenging. However there were angels in human form on that flight that had compassion on me as my baby could not sleep, screamed long and loud, and we had nowhere we could stretch our legs or really move. 

One girl, Rosie, actually held my baby and shoved through the cramped aisles so my arms could have a break. Holding a baby for eleven hours straight, who is twenty three pounds, is challenging, and add that to a night flight where everyone is trying to sleep...it wasn't my favourite life moment! However, lesson learned and thank you Rosie for being so sweet and kind. May you be rewarded somehow someway!

After the plane ride I landed in Frankfurt, Germany and wrestled my bags and baby through customs realizing I had not written down my friends home town or phone number. This was fine in the end but could have been a disaster.

Finally, there she was! My friend Juliane who I had not seen in fourteen years with her daughter I had never met!  I was so happy and thankful. Juliane had thought of everything. She had gluten free snacks, a stroller, a car seat, water, and it was so so kind. The baby fell asleep immediately and to Juliane's home we headed. I was so glad to have a body break from the baby and food to enjoy. 

I landed in a heat wave and had left a heat wave in Canada. While flying into the country I had already been struck by the beauty from the air! It was stunning. Acres of beautiful green farm land that had red roofed villages nestled amongst rolling hills. I was enchanted. Then as we drove home I was struck by the speed at which we drove and the narrowness of the country roads. 

When we arrived at our first village that was when the absolute beauty and history of Germany overcame me and never left. I eagerly stared at every building I could trying to take it all in. I also was fighting exhaustion and was so deeply tired. 

This was my first hour in Germany and already I felt like a different person. I felt like someone who had done something so different and so big. I had left my family on another continent and that was something I had never fathomed doing. It felt so monumental and so freeing as well. 

So here I was. I had no idea what was in store... no known plans but I was here and it was so beautiful my soul already knew that I had made such a good choice.