I've been there

Mo’ interestingness (if you can stand it)

The Europe years

While ‘stuck’ overseas for the better part of 9 years, I did my very best to see as much as possible of the surrounding countries. I couldn’t believe that my husband had never even been to Paris, it being a mere 9 hour train ride from us. My first backpacking trip took me to Belgium, Luxembourg and France, where he met up with me in the most romantic city in the world. I’ll never forget the pjs his mom made him pack (and promise to wear) so he wouldn’t catch a cold.

The next trips took me to Italy (Bozen,Venice, Florence and eventually Rome) and Austria (Salzburg, Innsbruck, Vienna), Budapest in Hungary, Prague in the Czech Republic, and a nudist beach in Porec, Croatia. The furthest south I went was Malta with my mom for a week, and I also spent two fateful weeks in Turkey touring around. One of the most fun (yet also most tiring) trips was to England, Ireland and Scotland with two college friends who had come to nanny for the summer in my town.

The country visited and revisited the most was Holland, as three New Years were rung in there (’99, 2000, 01), and I also dog sat for my cousin who was living in Voorburg near Den Haag for awhile (she’s in Australia now). Amsterdam would have to be my favorite city, ever, if I had to pick just one. I ended up working for a health food company in Belgium for a short time, helping them out with the translation of their Website from French into English, and had the opportunity to go to some trade shows and do client visits at a couple of health food stores.

Some of the favorite places I visited within Germany were Augsburg, Heidelberg, Berlin and Hannover. I went to the 2000 Expo on my own, which I preferred, actually, spending two days popping in and out of 24 different countries pavilions at my own pace and according to my own interests.

I was fortunate to have a friend who was married to a French military man, and was able to visit their little family in Metz, Bordeaux, and near Versailles, where they still live.

Is that all? Well, you can’t really count Liechtenstein, it being so small (I think it took us 8 minutes to drive through). But oh, Switzerland! Can’t forget the land of my chocolate dreams…

People ask me if plan to return to Europe (I have a German passport, so technically I could work anywhere in the EU) and I have to say, the thought does cross my mind from time to time. I’d love to go back and see the places I missed, namely the south of France, Greece, Spain, Portugal… Anyone care to join me?