Leaving Germany

I am leaving Germany with mixed feelings. Happy to be going to see my sister in Norway but sad to be leaving people who were already treating me like family.

Johannes and Sophia left the night before while I spent a final night with Jo's familia. Then next morning I headed off with his Aunt to catch the first of my three trains to Bremen. After a relaxed breakfast and a quick goodbye to everyone - including his grandma who gave me a jersey and a pair of hand knitted socks! - we arrived at the local train station with time to spare. Or so we thought.

After glancing at my ticket, we quickly realised we were at the wrong station (Jo had booked it and we hadn't thought about it). Mist! So back in the car, and a bit of normal 100+km/hr german schumacher style driving later, and we made it to Horn and still had 2 minutes to spare (o:

Loaded with food enough to feed the entire train, I found myself suddenly hurtling along at some ungodlike pace towards some unpronouncable town surrounded by a unruly mob of school kids set to maximum on the volume control. As I struggled to hear the place names of each city we passed, I suddenly, mercifully, found myself thrown out at the right station; only to find myself just as quickly thrown into another train that was much the same as the first. My third and final train was a bit quieter, like church quiet with me being nearly the only passenger aboard, and when I finally arrived it was a relieved smile that adorned my already wearied face.

As each train had been late, leaving me mere moments to jump from one to another, I was happy to find a city tram quietly waiting for me at platform 6 as Jo's family had said it would.

This took me to the airport and after locating the Ryan Air (think 1c flight worth) spot, I settled down to wait for my flight. Being more than 3 hours away this was quite a wait but I had food enough to entertain me for many days and a few homeless people who made for good watching (I left some food in return).

Then it was off to Oslo. Land of Santa (??), reindeer and, of course, my sister.

- And on the way was the most beautiful sunset I have ever been privileged enough to bear witness to. A sea of white cloud stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction. With whirpools of grey sky peeking through on occasion, it had a texture resembling the most untouched sands of the Sahara. Breathtaking. Yet, like a cherry added to an already perfect sundae, over top of this vista rode a sun of a red rivaling the best silks of India. It lit up the entire sky with a hue that ranged from a deep blood like saffron red at its core to the most subtle of violets out towards the heavens.

Truly amazing. This time it was an awe struck smile that adorned my still weary face when I arrived at my final destination.