Before I got married, I had taken a mother and daughter trip to Europe, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
We arrived in Franfurt as always, and were greeted by my family over there. Even though there was no way to know that this was the last time I would see my several of family members, or how significant and special this trip would be, we lived each day to the fullest. We took in every moment and burnt each moment into a memory.
We traveled to several different towns in Gemany, from Wiesbaden, Meinz, the Rhine and even up to Vorst. I had the best time reconnecting with my Aunt and Uncle, retelling old stories, getting to know each other as adults instead of when I was a kid. I have always looked up to them and have looked forward to every phone call, email, any opportunity we had to connect. My whole life we had a special connection, even with being so far away.
When we got to go up north and see my extended family in Vorst, we were greeted by all the second cousins and their children. We made it there in time for the festival, the Schutzenfest. I am not sure if I understood this whole concept of what was going on but it was so much fun to see and be a part of. The parade ended in a tent where we all drank and told stories and reconnected with the second cousins. I am hoping that this bond stays strong so we can visit each other in the future and never lose touch with them. What an opportunity to keep the generations going strong and connected!
Moreover, we hoped a flight to see my other Uncle, who I was not as close with. He had recently built a house in Spain, near Barcelona in the Spanish region of Catalonia. Because his house was under construction we ended up staying in a holiday home. This is such a great concept, you feel like you live there and are part of the culture as opposed to a hotel room. Much more personal, like a HomeAway Holiday rental. If you have never been, words can't express how beautiful this area is. It was so interesting to me, that this region spoke a different language then the rest of Spain so you can imagine, speaking English and German didn't help but what was funny neither did Spanish- so we resorted to charades! When in doubt that worked best, and was the most fun with the locals! Unless of course the folks we were talking to didn't have a sense of humor- being American and not speaking multiple languages is as my uncle called it- ignorant, and uncultured. Not really the case, and we had no issue with language. The people were very nice!
