I was walking thru Terminal C at Newark Airport last week, flying back to Paris for what would be my last trip as a European based FedEx crew member. I was heading to Gate C-91, Paris. On the way C-83, Madrid, incredible fountains, the Prado. Spent time there with Corey and Allison, Janice and I. Next gate, Barcelona. Sagrada Famiia. One of the most incredible sights I’ve ever seen. Also the ending point of our first ever cruise on The Windstar’s Wind Spirit. C87 - London, the Queens jubilee, the city was as vibrant as I’ve ever seen it. Ready for both the Olympics and the Queens celebration. Further down the concourse, Budapest, Oslo, Florence, Zurich. Have we really visited all these places? The scary part of my trip down memory lane was how fast the 2 years had flown by. In retrospect, we knew it would, but after waiting for 3 months for our internet connection or spending an hour in the grocery store for a trip that should’ve take 15 minutes, the bad times, if I dare call them that, maybe just the inconveniences of being a “foreigner”, seem somewhat trivial now. We learned many new expressions while living in Germany. “Not possible”, while largely something we never even think of in America, is quite the norm overseas. Don’t even try, “Have you considered doing it this way.” Remember, “Not possible.”
So here we are at 24 months and 2 weeks. We’ve sold our car, and all our German possessions. I remember telling a friend that this is stuff that we would never have in our home in the U.S., faux leather (i.e. plastic) cheap mahogany, etc…. but after 2 years, it was part of our house. Janice put together a great German home. She decorated it like I never would have imagined. It felt good to come back there after a 3 week drive thru France and Spain. It was home. I felt comfortable, just passing thru Cologne between trips to Italy, or getting ready for my next flight to Scandinavia. We made a home in Germany, and we loved every minute of it.
Wall to Wall. Beginning to end, start to finish. Wall, NJ to Wall NJ. That’s where our blogs name came from. Now we’re at the end of this adventure. One thing that I can say for certain is that this has opened our eyes to much, much more than we’ve already done. We’ve never seen much of our own Pacific coast. We’ve been talking about Charleston for over 30 years, Driving to Nova Scotia can’t be any further than our drive to Zagreb. And they speak English in Nova Scotia, I think. While we visited 3 American cemeteries in Europe, we’ve never visited Gettysburg, the historic battlefield 2 hours from our NJ front door. We can’t wait to get started.
In 25 + years of FedEx employment, Janice has probably met fewer than 5 of my coworkers, and 3 of those 5 were couriers who delivered to our door. After Cologne, she has an extended family of FedEx ex-pats that comprise over 90 families. Missing home, or looking for someone to get some exercise with, there was always a friendly and understanding FedEx friend to call. We put our new family friendships at the very top of our 2 year experience, and while we know that we may never see many of them again, the experiences will last a lifetime, and certain friendships don’t require daily or even annual contact. Just friends with a very common bond.
What were the highlights? Where do I begin. I thought Mürren, Switzerland was as pretty a place as I’ve ever been. That was until we visited Norway. Take a “You Tube” look at Rick Steves travel to Solvorn and The Walaker Hotel. We were able to spend 3 nights there. We visited Paris at least a dozen times in 2 years. It was our go to city. 3 hours on The Thalys train, a reasonable hotel room, compliments of our Starwood connections, Caitlyn and Nik. There’s no place like it that I’d rather spend a leisurely weekend, and we did, often. Twenty countries in 24 months, and that doesn’t include the 20 minute drive thru Lichtenstein. I’ve seen enough churches to last me a lifetime, but we’ve learned that when you take al little bit of extra time, you might learn something about Louis XVI or Henry, fill in the blanks. I now know the difference between Doric, Ionic and Corinthian architecture. We stood in the amphitheater where Paul spoke to the Ephesians. Janice wanted me to run a lap at the site of the original Olympic games, but where would I put my Starbucks latte. We never knew how beautiful Montenegro was, or how badly Dubrovnik was bombed in the 1990’s. Our last stop on our European adventure was Venice. Can you think of anyplace better? OK, maybe Paris, but we really enjoyed getting lost in Venice. (literally)
So now it’s Monday, and I’m in Paris until Friday. Janice is in the States, probably unpacking the 38th of our 40 moving boxes dropped on our doorstep the other day. It’s a good time to not be home, but….. Paris is not the same. It’s time to go home. We’ve been on an extended 2 year vacation and we’ll cherish every moment of it but….. Manasquan Park never looked so good.
