Shelby's Life and Whatnot

Last Full Day

I can't believe it--today is my last full day in Germany. As negative as I've been toward All Things German lately, I have to say I'm wistful and a little sad. Living here has been a great experience and there is a lot I'm going to miss. While I'm excited about returning to the States, I'm nervous and antsy too because of all of the packing we have to do here as well as how busy we're going to be once we get back. But I'm pointing both feet forward and keeping a good attitude.

Apparently this summer is a perfect time to travel, according to everyone wanting to fly from Frankfurt to Los Angeles. By the time we decided to go back (3-4 weeks ago) all of the nonstop flights from Frankfurt to LAX were totally booked. Scout and I will be going together with Kevin to follow on the 30th, and Scout needs a nonstop flight to minimize both her stress and the possibility of ending up in some other destination. So we have to fly out of Amsterdam. The driving time from Hamburg to Amsterdam is about the same as Hamburg to Frankfurt--about four hours--and we decided it would be easiest to leave Hamburg tomorrow (Sunday) and stay the night to catch our Monday flight. It's unfortunate that Kevin will have to drive both ways rather than drive one way and take the train back as he could in Frankfurt, so I this is going to be a draining trip to everyone. But I think the overnight stay will help a little.

Today we're going to Blankenese, a ritzy area of Hamburg right on the beach. We've been meaning to go for, oh, 6 months now but have to cram it in on the last day. Believe it or not, there are a couple of things I wanted to do here (visit the zoo, tour the Rathaus, and spend more time in Berlin for example) that we never got around to, but it's too late now. Oh well. As long as Kevin keeps working for the Germans I suspect we may be coming back here for short visits, so that gives us something to do then.