Gdansk, Poland with the Hollars

I made it through security and found my bags in Berlin pretty easily after landing at the airport.  I was exhausted, though, and had a few hours to kill in the airport before Mike landed.  I found a spot and camped out there for a while. Around lunch time, Mike's plane landed and it wasn't long before I saw his smiling face amid all of the Turks.  Well, actually, if you know Mike and traveling with Turks, it was a little bit of a look of frustration.  Anyways, we were definitely happy to see each other.  It's nice knowing that we won't have to be separated for an extended period of time, at least for a while. 

After the reunion, we were both starving, so we grabbed lunch and headed into town for our hotel.  Originally, our plan was to spend the week house hunting in Berlin before Mike went back to Izmir for the move out.  We figured if we could look at places, we might be able to move in sometime in late August or early September.  Our household goods (HHG) are not going to arrive in Berlin until mid-September, so we wanted to cut down on the amount of time we spent sitting in lawn chairs in our empty apartment.  I still cringe thinking about our first couple of weeks in our Izmir apartment.   We quickly realized that apartments were turning over pretty quickly and if we found one, we'd have to sign a lease and be ready to sign a lease for the near future.  Not wanting to spend an extra second in those beach chairs, we nixed our original plan and decided to travel instead! Are you surprised?

I didn't want to travel too far and wanted to do something pretty low key that didn't involve hours and hours of sight seeing (I was tired, y'all).  The Hollars, another Olmsted family are in Gdansk, Poland and were willing to host my jet-lagged self and Mike for a couple of nights, so we jumped on the opportunity with the thought that we would stop in some other Polish towns as well.  Plus, seeing friends and traveling would be a good distraction to keep the homesickness at bay.  

Poland had never been on our must-see list, primarily because of it's distance from Turkey, but also because neither of us really knew much about it.  Sean Hollars gave us the tour of Gdansk with the forewarning that you can see it all in a few hours, which is true.  While there isn't a ton to see there, it's Old Town is picturesque and the beach is within walking distance of their apartment.

  

We climbed up to the top of a church tower to get a view of the city from above.  Luckily, the view made the 400 step hike worth it.

Czesc from Poland!

 We went to the history museum, which was really interesting for all of us.  Sean enjoyed it because he knew a ton about Polish history.  Mike and I enjoyed it because we knew nothing.

We always laugh because whenever we stay with people who have kids, they jump on the opportunity to get a babysitter and have an adult night.  We definitely don't mind hanging with the little ones, but I think the parents are eager to get a few hours of adult conversation in.   The Hollars have three little boys under the age of seven who are all-boy all the time. The second night we were with the Hollars, the babysitter came and the adults hit the town.  I don't know who was more excited about the babysitter, the parents or the kids! 

Downtown Sopot is a cool area with lots of restaurants and things to do, including the world's longest pier!  We wandered around for a little while downtown before heading to dinner.

We went to a brewery in Gdansk where the food was good and the drinks even better!

Our night ended at some VERY POPULAR (wait 20 minutes for a drink popular) bar where they make custom drinks for you.  You tell them what kind of drinks you like and they concoct a drink just for you!

Look at those drinks!!

The next day was the Hollars' anniversary so we made our way to the next Polish town so they could celebrate on their own.  They were celebrating by taking a Polish cooking class!! How fun! Happy anniversary guys and thanks for being such great hosts!

The Journey Back to Europe

Man, do I love being home.  I love everything about it.  I'm a homebody by nature, but being home in Virginia Beach is extra special.  The days spent just hanging out are, to me, just as comforting and wonderful as the days spent doing something big and exciting. Add in my family and I never want to leave. That's where I found myself on Tuesday.  Never wanting to leave.

I spent Tuesday morning at my grandfather's apartment saying goodbye.   I think these kinds of goodbyes are the hardest because he won't be able to visit.  I love my grandfather and am so thankful to have him nearby, but it makes goodbyes even harder.  That afternoon, my mom and I went out to lunch and went shopping.  I wanted to get in one last good shopping trip before heading back overseas and this definitely satisfied my shopping needs, at least for a little while.

That night, I knew I wanted a simple dinner at home with my parents and that exactly what we did.  We grilled out, drank a bottle of Turkish wine I brought home, and made s'mores on the grill. I ended the night with a walk with my dad.  It was truly a perfect night.

The next morning, I got up early to say goodbye to my dad before he went to work. Normally, he would have come to the airport to see me off, but he does the mental commitment hearings for the city (what a guy! not an easy job and he loves doing it).  Saying goodbye was a tear jerker and really just opened the flood gates. I had the whole morning to sit around and dwell on my departure, which just led to a lot of Scout snuggles and tears over one last bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats.

Around 10:00, my mom and I decided it was time to leave. I had already said goodbye to my dad and my mom was coming with me to the airport, but there's something about leaving my actual home that just had me in tears.  We arrived at the airport at 10:30, two hours before my scheduled departure.  It ended up only taking about ten minutes to check my bags and print off my boarding passes, so we headed upstairs and sat in the Starbucks.  I don't even remember what we talked about, but I do remember wanting to just keep talking to keep my mind off of the fact that my time was dwindling.

When the time finally came to say goodbye, we both were crying.  I'm crying right now thinking about it. I'm pretty lucky when it comes to moms, so saying goodbye is never easy. After a long hug, a lot of tears and one last smile of reassurance, I turned and headed to security. She stood there and waved until I reached TSA.  What a good mom. There until the last second, like always.

When I reached the TSA guy, I was a blubbering mess.  I didn't even try and hide it. He could tell and started making small talk about where I was going and how everything would be okay.  I held it together and just smiled until he said "Who are you leaving behind?" to which I replied with tears brimming in my eyes "everybody."  Note to TSA guys, probably not the best question to ask a tear stricken girl in the airport.

I made it through security uneventfully (thank goodness because if they had asked to do a private screening or something extra, who knows what would have happened.  I was FRAGILE at this point.) and found a corner that was unoccupied to hide away in until it was time to board. My flights went smoothly, although I had an aisle and didn't sleep that much.  I made it to Berlin and through security without a hitch, which hopefully signifies a great start to an exciting year.

My month at home was perfect. I couldn't have asked for something better.  I'm incredibly lucky to have such an amazing group of friends and family to welcome me home and make saying goodbye so hard. Over the past year, I've definitely developed a greater appreciation of different cultures and how big our world is, but I've also gained a deeper appreciation for the place I call home and the people that make it so great.

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

A Weekend in the Windy City

We found out a week or so before I left to come home that I would most likely be here through the 4th of July.  My parents had already planned to head north to Chicago to visit my aunt, uncle and cousin, so I decided to tag along with them.  I didn't realize that it would be my last weekend in the United States, but I was so grateful that I got to spend it with my family.

My parents and I headed to the airport on Friday and, after finding out we were delayed an hour, we chose to spend our time differently.  My dad chose to nap....

while I wandered the terminal and ran into these guys....

After our delay, we took an uneventful flight to Chicago and met my aunt for lunch.  It was really past lunch time, but we (mainly my dad) had been eagerly waiting for deep dish pizza, so we obliged, despite the time.  If you have my family, you know there are a lot of us.  So many that I had to draw Mike a family tree so he could keep track of us all.  He probably still has it somewhere and references it when I'm telling another family story.  Anyways, one of my second cousins 5 million times removed was in Chicago visiting a friend from college and had emailed my aunt about meeting up.

My dad, Katie, and aunt

That evening, we hung out at a brewery with my aunt and uncle near their house.  We ended the night at a Mexican restaurant.  It was so fun to hang out and catch up.

The next morning, we started out the day with my dad's favorite apple pancakes.  Can you tell how happy he is? 

That afternoon, my parents and I went for a walk and hung out at the house while my aunt and uncle prepared this delicious meal for us.  That evening, one of my dad's best friends from college and his wife came over for dinner at my aunt and uncle's house.  It was so fun to listen to him and my dad tell stories from college.  I learned about a whole different side to my dad.  ;)

The next morning, my aunt, my parents and I headed into the city.  We made a quick stop at the bean and couldn't resist a selfie at the bean!

We walked around the city and couldn't resist a picture of the sign that might be as loud and as obnoxious as it's owner.

We stumbled into Millennium Park where the orchestra was practicing.  We got a free concert just listening to them practice!! How cool is that? I love finding things like that in cities.    

After hanging out in the park, it was time to head down to the river for our boat cruise.  My aunt had raved about the architecture tour via boat and it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon sight seeing.

That evening, we headed back to Evanston where my aunt and uncle live and went out for Indian food with my uncle and cousin.  The food was delicious and we all left very content.   The next day, Fourth of July, I had an early flight home to Norfolk, while my parents stuck around to celebrate.  Evanston does a big celebration for the fourth, filled with games and a parade.  My cousin was participating in an egg toss, so they all went and watched him before coming back for some pie.  How cool is this pie my aunt made?  Pretty impressive right?

Once I got home, my aunt picked me up.  The original plan was to go to the beach, but torrential rain cancelled that plan.  Instead, we went to lunch where I had a cheeseburger in the American spirit. It was a great last weekend in the United States filled with lots of laughter and love for this great country we live in (sometimes).