Standing in Awe

So as you can probably tell from the extreme absence of my writing, it has been quite a process coming back.  After a health scare with Megan on the way home, some vomiting, and an extremely janky plane ride across the Atlantic, we made it back to Chicago.  As we made our way through the airport and through the dreaded US Customs, I appreciated how familiar and yet how foreign everything around me seemed.  People speaking English, all the signs in English, and huge toilets, all seemed familiar, but almost from a past life.  I was warmly greeted by Celeste in the airport and was so grateful to see a familiar face.  By the time we had landed Megan was feeling better and we got her on the Megabus with no problems.  Going out into the big city was very strange.  All the cars were huge, it was busy, and people seemed to be in such a rush, but to be honest I was so content just to be with family that I could not even begin to process everything, and my mind...

Firstly I want to thank my family who, after my last post, was so encouraging and comforting. I am most definitely savoring these last 48 hours. It is a bitter sweet in every sense; the sweetness of the fresh honey from Crete with my yogurt this morning and yet the bitterness of my inbox filling up with innumerable emails wanting me to schedule, plan, and prepare. Greece has been the perfect end to an amazing trip. Our hostel is unreal with air conditioning, in room bathrooms, free breakfast, a rooftop terrace that overlooks the acropolis and a beautifully remodeled home with wood floors and real mattresses. It is insane. We arrived late last night and ate here at the hostel where I enjoyed and incredibly fresh Greek salad complete with a large slab of feta on top. After a great sleep in our luxurious beds we enjoyed the wonderful breakfast and then went to the famous and huge flea market. There was shop after shop filled with hand made leather sandals, ouzo, luggage, baklava, and tri...

So I know I haven't posted in a while and I apologize. As my mother has noticed I am growing weary. I am still enjoying the amazing experience, but living out of a backpack and constantly packing and repacking is getting old. A while ago Megan and I made a rule saying we need to stop talking about home because we are going to miss what is right in front of us, but somehow we find ourselves breaking this rule more and more with each passing day. Small things like "second to last time packing," or "this time next week...". All that being said we have still been having a great time in Italy. From Switzerland we got on a train and headed south through the mountains to the Cinque Terra on the northwest coast of Italy. It is a series of 5 small towns with hardly any traffic nada slow paced lifestyle. As soon as we got there and found Barbara, the adorable little women we rented a room from (which is more common than hotels in these small towns) we headed strait for ...

Another day in paradise. So yesterday we decided to just relax in the morning. After the 6 hour hike the previous day we were pretty tired and a bit sore. After a while reading and soaking in the sun we decided to hike up to a big waterfall with our new British friends. The hike was a but more uphill than expected but totally worth it. We walked up through the grassy hills and into a big pine forest. After traversing across the hill and swinging down and around a large rock, we were staring the waterfall In face. It was huge and showered down onto a bunch of flat rocks creating mini frigid world pools everywhere. We hiked down prepared with our swimsuits and plunged into the glacial cascade. We were instantly frozen, but some how extremely alive at the same time. With the waterfall to your back looking out through two huge vertical rocks that have been sliced by the water you can see the snow capped mountains beyond. It was unbelievable. After warming up in the sun a bit we headed back...

Wow! That is pretty much all I can say about the alps. We arrived yesterday to Gimmelwald and I literally can't even begin to describe how beautiful it is. Everywhere I looked I was staring the alps in the face and breathing clean air. The scent of fresh mown hay filling the air and the sound of the bells around cows and goats necks in the distance. Taking a fifteen minute around town was enough to see the whole thing. There is a small shop called "the Honesty Shop" where no one is attending the shop you just write on an envelope what you took and put the money in the box. after a long day of traveling we laid low and just relaxed. This morning I awoke before the alarm to the sound of rushing water out the window. A peak out the window and a quick photo snap of the insane view and I headed out for my first day hiking. With Megan, and two new friends we headed up the mountain toward the glacier. Around every bend we found waterfalls and grassy fields full of wildflowers...

After a disastrous day we made it to Berlin just fine. I was greeted by a screaming running Marie (foreign exchange student from sophomore year of HS) and the feelings were mutual. We headed for the train and instantly it felt like we had never been apart. We dropped our bags at the hostel, which was a Hilton compared to the previous one, and Marie showed us around her favorite German city. Overall Germany felt much less European than all the other places we had been. The more modern buildings and traffic felt more like home than Europe. In the evening we went up to the top of this big tower to see the city all lit up from a birds eye view. It was stunning. After a good nights rest we decided to do a bus tour the following day. It was very interesting because I had a VERY brief idea of German history and much of it was explained. We learned about wen Berlin was decided and saw remnants of the Berlin wall ad even visited Check Point Charley. I still can't believe that the Berlin wal...

Once we finally made it to Berlin we had a great time. Marie picked out a wonderful hostel with hot showers, soft beds, and friendly staff. After a long hot shower I felt the cleanest I have in a while. We headed out and saw Bandemburg Gate which was part of east Germany and has been the site of many historic battles. We meandered toward the mall and grabbed some dinner before ascending the 240 meters to the highest point in Berlin to take in the city all lit up. We were pretty tired so we went to bed ready for a packed day the following morning. I went to bed more satisfied than I had felt in a long while. We made it to Berlin, I was with Marie, and in a soft warm bed. It's funny how you don't realize how unsettled you feel until you really do feel content. In the morning we headed down to the bakery on the corner to try out some yummy German breakfast breads. With coffee as my fuel we went out on te town to do a little shopping. We quickly jumped on a "hop on, hop off...