There is something that you realize when you are sitting on a train or a bus. Life is really short, but good, and hard. You think that you’re doing okay, good even, and you feel like you know what is in store for you, but then something changes, a wrench is thrown into your plans, and all goes to hell. But this is actually a blessing, your ever changing path. Inconsistencies make for never getting bored, and for a more enriched life. I realized on my bus to Nove Hamry that I would have no internet for the next two weeks. Virtually no connection with the outside world. This was a hard thought for me, but I decided that I could quit the blogging, social interactions, and netflix for a fortnight, and dive into the forest. The result was amazing. I went to bed earlier, I went on more walks, cooked and read more. It’s incredible how much the internet sucks you in, without you even realizing it.
In the last day with my Bavarian host Hartwin, we took some of the residence (disabled people living at Hohenfried) to the art museum in Munich. It was so fun getting to see contemporary and older paintings and sculptures in the long hallways and hidden rooms. If you ever get a chance to go I highly suggest it. Munich is a beautiful city, and from the short walk from the train station to my hostel I knew I was in for a fun night. After we said our goodbyes, I went back to the hostel and unpacked my clothing, and repacked for the next day. Dinner was a delicacy of shrimp and wasabi salad and a few gin and tonics (heads up, check prices before you order a drink, I spent 15 Euros on two drinks, not a great feeling when you get bill) and got invited to sit at the table next to me full of adults. They were friends that were there for drinks and were wondering why I was sitting alone on a Sunday night. I told them my story and they laughed and we talked until they decided it was too late for working people to be out. I then learned that they were all in their late thirties and they couldn’t believe that I was only eighteen. It’s funny where you make friends, when you travel they can be every age. After dinner I got talking to the pizza chef and after an hour they offered me a job! They said that I would be hard to make enough money as a cook in Munich, but they would try to find a better paying bartending job. I need to learn German though, I really wish I had a little pill I could take and speak any language. If someone invents that let me know. The next morning I woke up early, got ready and walked back to the train station to take my train to Prague. That was easy, no problems, and upon arrival in Nuremberg they told us the train was late and wrote on our tickets that we should be given a new (and free) bus ticket to Prague. I did have to ask though, so remember that it never hurts to ask someone that works there! Most people speak English in Germany, so that helps. In Nuremberg I met some Americans from Virginia and we talked the whole way. It was nice to find some other people to talk to, not every one in the Czech Republic speaks English like Germans. We got to the train station and I took the metro to the bus station. (After a few months you figure out how nice public transportation is, and how to use it properly. Bought my bus ticket, and embarked on my journey to Karlovy Vary. The bus ride was long, and I sat listening to music and watching the world stream by. When you think about it, it’s actually incredible that we can be in different states, countries and continents within a few hours, and usually in the same day. I was using Student Agency for my bus (highly suggest, they give you free coffee, movies and good wifi aboard) and when we arrived they gently took our bags out and we all moved our separate ways. I caught the train to Nove Hamry, and stepped off forty-five minutes later to see Alice’s smiling face. We talk the whole car ride back, and I learned the history of where I would be living for the next two weeks. It was an old house built in 1896 used as German hotel that was part of a larger German town, but during the second world war, it was used for soldiers and minister guests. After the war the Czech people reclaimed their land and burned down most of the houses, the Germans were deported being only aloud twenty kgs of possessions. Our house had additions built, and was now a 4 story brick and stone house with a long barrack-style wood part. It is very large, and very hard to heat. Alice and Anbu bought it, and plan (already in motion) to remodel the whole thing. It had been used as a restaurant, a pub, and family house previously, and now it was a wonderful little home tucked away in the foggy Czech mountains. I met everyone when we arrived and was delighted that there were three other girls around my age! They had come from Hungry, France and Bavaria, so we had quite the mixing pot of ethnicities. Anbu is East Indian, and we ate so much amazing traditional Indian food. We did martial arts every morning, played cards (huddled around the heating system) every night. Anbu is really fucking good at chess, like really good, and though I wasn’t able to beat him, I did learn some good tricks. Alice is an amazing cook, and really great to talk to. Their children are so beautiful, Zofinka and Amalka are hilarious and very energetic. We spent our free time taking walks, playing with the children and reading. I reread Harry Potter six again and didn’t have another book, but thankfully they had the third Game of Thrones in english and on the third page I was already addicted. I can’t believe I am saying this but it’s actually better then the series. It was very foggy the whole time I was there, I think that maybe we had one or two sunny days. Leaving was hard, but I knew I was going home to Italy and that made it okay. I departed on the 20th, and made my long way back to the airport in Prague. It was a good journey, Vueling checked both my bags so I only had my purse to contend with, and that was much easier. I had a five hour layover in Roma, and in the Airport I found a grand piano that said “play me”. So I did, for the next hour. The thing about self confidence is that once you take that first step, everything is easier. I wasn’t embarrassed playing in front of strangers, like I would have been a year previous. Each step you take towards courage makes the next step easier, remember that kids.
My flight finally left, and I got to Catania at midnight, to be picked up by Hismael and his uncle Antonio. It felt so damn good to be warm. Though it was night, the pavement radiated heat from where the sun had kissed it all day long. I could’t help smiling the whole car ride home, and breathing in the island air, I went to sleep. Italy feels like home for me, I think it is my favourite place in Europe so far. It just feels right, you know?
In the last day with my Bavarian host Hartwin, we took some of the residence (disabled people living at Hohenfried) to the art museum in Munich. It was so fun getting to see contemporary and older paintings and sculptures in the long hallways and hidden rooms. If you ever get a chance to go I highly suggest it. Munich is a beautiful city, and from the short walk from the train station to my hostel I knew I was in for a fun night. After we said our goodbyes, I went back to the hostel and unpacked my clothing, and repacked for the next day. Dinner was a delicacy of shrimp and wasabi salad and a few gin and tonics (heads up, check prices before you order a drink, I spent 15 Euros on two drinks, not a great feeling when you get bill) and got invited to sit at the table next to me full of adults. They were friends that were there for drinks and were wondering why I was sitting alone on a Sunday night. I told them my story and they laughed and we talked until they decided it was too late for working people to be out. I then learned that they were all in their late thirties and they couldn’t believe that I was only eighteen. It’s funny where you make friends, when you travel they can be every age. After dinner I got talking to the pizza chef and after an hour they offered me a job! They said that I would be hard to make enough money as a cook in Munich, but they would try to find a better paying bartending job. I need to learn German though, I really wish I had a little pill I could take and speak any language. If someone invents that let me know. The next morning I woke up early, got ready and walked back to the train station to take my train to Prague. That was easy, no problems, and upon arrival in Nuremberg they told us the train was late and wrote on our tickets that we should be given a new (and free) bus ticket to Prague. I did have to ask though, so remember that it never hurts to ask someone that works there! Most people speak English in Germany, so that helps. In Nuremberg I met some Americans from Virginia and we talked the whole way. It was nice to find some other people to talk to, not every one in the Czech Republic speaks English like Germans. We got to the train station and I took the metro to the bus station. (After a few months you figure out how nice public transportation is, and how to use it properly. Bought my bus ticket, and embarked on my journey to Karlovy Vary. The bus ride was long, and I sat listening to music and watching the world stream by. When you think about it, it’s actually incredible that we can be in different states, countries and continents within a few hours, and usually in the same day. I was using Student Agency for my bus (highly suggest, they give you free coffee, movies and good wifi aboard) and when we arrived they gently took our bags out and we all moved our separate ways. I caught the train to Nove Hamry, and stepped off forty-five minutes later to see Alice’s smiling face. We talk the whole car ride back, and I learned the history of where I would be living for the next two weeks. It was an old house built in 1896 used as German hotel that was part of a larger German town, but during the second world war, it was used for soldiers and minister guests. After the war the Czech people reclaimed their land and burned down most of the houses, the Germans were deported being only aloud twenty kgs of possessions. Our house had additions built, and was now a 4 story brick and stone house with a long barrack-style wood part. It is very large, and very hard to heat. Alice and Anbu bought it, and plan (already in motion) to remodel the whole thing. It had been used as a restaurant, a pub, and family house previously, and now it was a wonderful little home tucked away in the foggy Czech mountains. I met everyone when we arrived and was delighted that there were three other girls around my age! They had come from Hungry, France and Bavaria, so we had quite the mixing pot of ethnicities. Anbu is East Indian, and we ate so much amazing traditional Indian food. We did martial arts every morning, played cards (huddled around the heating system) every night. Anbu is really fucking good at chess, like really good, and though I wasn’t able to beat him, I did learn some good tricks. Alice is an amazing cook, and really great to talk to. Their children are so beautiful, Zofinka and Amalka are hilarious and very energetic. We spent our free time taking walks, playing with the children and reading. I reread Harry Potter six again and didn’t have another book, but thankfully they had the third Game of Thrones in english and on the third page I was already addicted. I can’t believe I am saying this but it’s actually better then the series. It was very foggy the whole time I was there, I think that maybe we had one or two sunny days. Leaving was hard, but I knew I was going home to Italy and that made it okay. I departed on the 20th, and made my long way back to the airport in Prague. It was a good journey, Vueling checked both my bags so I only had my purse to contend with, and that was much easier. I had a five hour layover in Roma, and in the Airport I found a grand piano that said “play me”. So I did, for the next hour. The thing about self confidence is that once you take that first step, everything is easier. I wasn’t embarrassed playing in front of strangers, like I would have been a year previous. Each step you take towards courage makes the next step easier, remember that kids.
My flight finally left, and I got to Catania at midnight, to be picked up by Hismael and his uncle Antonio. It felt so damn good to be warm. Though it was night, the pavement radiated heat from where the sun had kissed it all day long. I could’t help smiling the whole car ride home, and breathing in the island air, I went to sleep. Italy feels like home for me, I think it is my favourite place in Europe so far. It just feels right, you know?