Things I Learned from Europe

I still think about living in Europe.  All the time.  Right after we came back to the United States, most of my memories were about little things - missing my bike (vs. driving in a car everywhere), remembering American cucumbers (and how they really don't taste good to me anymore), having mixed feelings about everything being in English (easier, but also...way more boring).  Now I've transitioned a little bit and recently have been thinking about bigger personality/life-changing lessons I think I got from living in Germany and Denmark for five years.

Just sitting here on a Saturday morning, here are a few:

* Getting a deep, mind-exploding realization of how big the world is, how many many people (and entire lives) there are, and how I'm just one tiny tiny tiny tiny microscopic person.  It helped me grow a little bit out of some self-centeredness and/or self-importance that was still hanging on from adolescence.  It made me realize that even the biggest of my "life goals" I had before would still mean nothing.  That the world is like an infinite universe, and my little family is actually my world.

* The vast majority of people in the world are good -- 99%.  No matter where you go.  People are good.  We all share the same experiences, broadly speaking.  We all feel the same emotions.  Empathy and kindness are the default.  

* Stuff is dumb.  It's all so incredibly dumb - also, annoying to deal with.  Doing is the only thing that really means anything.  

* Quality is not dumb, though.  If you have to have some stuff, only have what you absolutely need and then only have the nicest one you can get.  Take pride in beautiful things - but only because they're beautiful, not because you want things.

* Time is the only thing I'll ever really own and, maybe counter-intuitively(?), the only way to use it well is to limit what you do with it and take it slow.  How else can I explain this?....  The best way to use your time is to not feel like you have to keep track of how you're using your time?  That there's never anything else more important than what you're doing right this moment?  

* Hygge.  A word without a direct translation.  Relaxation, calm, coziness, quiet, slow, warm and long intimate conversations, candles, a friend playing the guitar while everyone listens quietly, simple food, singing old songs around a fire, discussing abstract ideas with a cup of tea, sitting on a porch and listening to birds, running under a bus stop shelter and watching the rain, seeing the shadows of branches on your window -- these aren't pointless, silly, time-wasting activities.  These are the things that are everything.

It's Summer, You Know?

Haaaahahaha.  The last post here was the one Paul wrote about diving!

I had no idea.

See the thing is...is that it's summer.  Or..."summer" in Denmark which pretty much feels like fall.  It's all sweaters and soups and reading on cozy rainy days.

But, you see,

We had Scotlands to hike in (half of May).

Entire Europes to drag my family around (all of June).

Julys that actually hit temperatures above 65 degrees (well...July).

Norways to ford fjords in (August).

Fetus (not plural) to incubate (all of the above months plus three more).  And okay, sure, that doesn't really take up any extra time of mine, technically, but it has taken up a lot of time in things like:

1. Biking for hours trying to find anywhere with business-attire-worthy maternity clothes--or any maternity clothes for that matter.
2. Translating pamphlets, booklets, and letters from the hospital.  They all start with what essentially comes out as "Dear Pregnant,"  So whenever I see another pregnant person I always want to be like, "Hey, fellow Pregnant!"  Or sometimes Paul is like, "Good morning, Pregnant."
3. Figuring out how to fit an admittedly small human and its admittedly not-as-small amounts of stuff into 45 square meters of not-particularly-forgiving layout along with three fish, two adults, and Devito.  (Our solution?  Less stuff!   Groundbreaking.)
4. Eating.  When I'm not working, I just spend a lot of time getting food, transporting food, making food, watching Paul making food, and eating food.  It's my newest, greatest hobby.  I probably should have written about COOKIEMANIA 2014 somewhere because it was a very memorable era of my life (now, hopefully, over).
5. "Swimming." Second only to eating as my newest, greatest hobby.  I'm incredibly not good at it, but it's so freakin' enjoyable!  Plus I look awesome at the pool.  Imagine the pastiest color of skin possible, with a black swimsuit (that was perhaps a poorly chosen contrasting color), and a big giant stomach plus a very tight swim cap and goggles.  I waddle out there and don't even care.  I'm like, Step aside, Danish Ryan Lochte!  I'm here to doggy paddle like a BOSS!

Sooooo.  That's all I'm going to say about all this so far.  

But also maybe to say that it's our 6th anniversary in three weeks and it was my turn to plan the celebration.  And we're going to go to Andalucia because I used to "speak Spanish" (thanks, ten years of Spanish classes!) but have never once been in a Spanish-speaking country, I love cured ham, it's going to be hot, and I just want one chance to be that annoying spouse who is all like, "No no, it isn't Sev-ILL-a, it's Sey-VEE-ya!"  

And to see the Alhambra - which has been a personal goal since I was twelve.  I had goals like that, okay?

Dunnn, Dunnn, Duuuuuuuunn!

The family members cometh...

Just a quick 37,000 hour trip and they'll be here tomorrow.

Hence, there shall be limited blogging till later in May,

When we're back from Bavaria--the land of lederhosen.

The Italy Series: Ostia Antica

I've decided to, at the very least, make an attempt to document our Italy trip in a more detailed way.  Instead of doing cool "themes" though, I'm just going the easy route and focusing on chronology and places.  Seems less intimidating that way.

Once upon a time, there was a ghost town.  This ghost town used to be the bustling port city of ancient Rome--Ostia.  Then, time happened and silt happened and the river and the sea moved farther away from the town.  The ghost town was buried and forgotten.

Till...now.  (Well, actually, till the 17th century)

I could give you the gritty logistical details about why this was our first stop in Italy, but I'm just going to go straight onto the main event.

Because of our hyperactive touring style, we were at the gates 10 minutes before it even opened, and we were literally the only people in the city the entire time we explored.

One reason we wanted to see Ostia was because it really was a working city.  We got to walk through old Roman apartment buildings from 100 AD, look into an old tavern and read a mosiac-menu.  And wander through the foundations of this warehouse complex.

We saw original mosaics still on the floors of the many bathhouses or in front of market stalls in the main square...

Probably one of the best parts of Ostia was being able to just climb over everything--nothing was roped off. It felt much more real--not like a museum.

And to be able to get such an up-close look at "working class" Roman architecture was amazing.  I especially loved this concrete and brick arch--a unique and still-used Roman invention.

Taking a lonely morning walk down the main street of an ancient Roman city was an unforgettable experience.  Here we had just reached the old amphitheater.

And we noticed the long-worn wheel ruts in the paving stones...

Took a seat in the stands, and got up close to the temple altars...

And toilets... (How cool is that?!)

Overall, we loved it.  It was so quiet--quiet enough that we could just begin to image what this place must have sounded and smelled and looked like at the height of the Roman Empire, thousands of years ago.

Next Announcement

Today's Travel Planning:

We're comin' at you, Athens.

June 2012

Bella Italia

Siena Cathedral

We took... a lot of pictures in Italy.

We saw... a lot of amazing things.

Duomo

I feel like all our other trips here in Europe have been more graspable--more able to be captured, at least a bit, in some sort of narrative.

San Vitale

I can't do that with Italy.  I just can't.  I've been sitting here for two weeks trying to think of a way to highlight certain things or organize a way to tell the story.  But then...then I just get so incredibly overwhelmed.

Trevi Fountain

We were able to see and do things that we've been dreaming of seeing and doing for most of our lives.  I can't even begin to list them here.  And it was the best vacation I've ever been on.

Grand Canal

I would not complain one single bit if every vacation I ever went on was to Italy.

Tuscany

Darn Paul and his Darn Glasses

I'm totally blaming this whole thing entirely on Paul and something he said about a month ago:

I remember it because it was completely and utterly and entirely and freakishly out of character for the man.

He said,