Guess Who's Back?

Well folks, I'm back in Europe.  I must admit, leaving the Appleton airport last Friday, I didn't really look forward to coming back.  The comforts of home had kind of taken over my sense for adventure, and I really enjoyed the freedom of driving my car- or should I say the convenience of not spending half my life waiting for a bus, train or boat.  But I think in bare basics, I was dreading coming back to the cold, overcast skies and snow of Germany (the sun will seriously only shine like twice in the winter..). But.. upon my arrival.. the sun was out, there was no snow, and there were temperatures of.. wait for it.. wait for it.. FIFTY FIVE DEGREES.  I felt like I was on a mini spring break vacation.  To heck with the winter boots! Tis but flip flop season!  (OK- I stuck with my normal weather boots, but I must admit, I did wear flip flops for the 2 minutes it took me to take the trash out, just to spite myself..).

After a brief overnight stay in Marburg, I bought a ticket, jumped on a train and am now in Hamburg visiting with friends for the week and slowly re-emersing myself into the culture.  I went for Chinese food the other night.  I was pretty skeptical; I mean Chinese food can kind of be sketchy in the States, and now here I am in Germany where if the menu was confusing at home, now it has turned into a full out guessing game.  But turns out, Chinese is amazing here.. especially the sweet and sour chicken.  I don't know if in the states its ever like this, but here they serve you a breaded type chicken thing with the sauce on the side, and you kind of.. mix it all together.  But the chicken is in like huge filets.  It's so good.  Oh my god.  And turns out way less sketchy than Subway.  Yes, I mean the sandwhich shop, not the public transport system.  Although same goes for both I suppose.

As for travel adventures, I am starting to meddle them all out.  I mean, clearly, there are far too many places on my wish list to see compared to my realistic bank funds and time tables.  But, next weekend, don't bother trying to skype me, seeing as I'll be chilling (quite literally, since I'm much closer to the Arctic circle than  generally appreciated this time of year..) in Stockholm, Sweden.  It was a spontaneous choice- I saw the round trip flight for 40 euros online, called my friend Nichola from Texas, checked my schedule (oh gosh- it's completely free!), checked hers, consulted, and then booked.  So, we are now going to Stockholm for 3 days.  After some further research we have decided to hit up some museums, local bars, cafe's and their music scene (maybe...).  Turns out Stockholm has a large music scene that I was until this week quite unaware of, but it will probably be something unique to check out.  Or it will result in one of those stories that I will write about later in life in some sarcastic, half-fiction, one-quarter elaboration and one-quarter fact novel about my travels in Europe as a college student.  I envision something about crowd surfing in stockholm, or some relatively similar catchy chapter theme.  Ok, I am getting ahead of myself.

No photos for this blog post unfortunately- My camera battery is close to dead and the charger is sitting in Marburg.  Additionally,  I really haven't done much than chill and come off jet lag this week.  Now my big task for the day is about to commence: I am off to the grocery store down the street to get some quality German Lipton Peach Iced Tea.  You have no idea how badly I've been craving it.  Later tonight I am going for cocktails with my host family, the Fuchs.  Well, the kids anyways.  And only two of them.  And their cousin.  Ah.  Whatever.  Until next time!  Oh and dear mom- have you seen my umbrella?