What happened to the summer?

Set of Andre Chenier at Bregenz

Well, I've really been terrible with keeping this blog updated. Honestly it's because Tumblr is so distracting and then I joined Pinterest and that's pretty distracting too. That's where I've been spending my online time. Anyway, what I'm wondering is where was the summer? I guess I was expecting more summery weather but mostly it seemed to rain a lot. Now I have to brace myself for another winter, short days, gray skies. Ugh. Oh, I was going to do a quick recap of what I've been doing since this summer but too much happened so it won't be quick at all. (Maybe I should break it down by cities?)

In May we went back to the States for a wedding, then I got kind of stranded there waiting for a space-available flight back here. It's tricky doing that alone in the summer, or any busy traveling season. I got to visit with a lot of friends which was great. So I ended up staying with my mom for about 4 weeks, and arrived back to Germany just in time for my in-laws' visit. I got homesick for my temporary home which sounds pretty weird. Mostly because I missed Frank. But driving in DC/MD is beyond what I want to deal with. Plus you have to drive so slow there!

So in June, with Frank's parents, we traveled a lot. We went to Pula, Croatia, which is a little beach town on the Adriatic. Reminded me of Monterey and 17 mile drive in some places-- they have the same cypress trees. Went to a couple different cities on the coast, Rovinji was one-- so pretty. It's like Italy except cheaper and less crowded. Some interesting adventures there. Driving through the wooded hills and mountains of Croatia in a Russian 4x4, we got to see a cave and actually a really great view of the sea from the top of a hill. It was anticlimactic because we spent about 3-4 hours in that thing. Actually it was a good bonding experience with the family.  We also took them to Strasbourg, Heidelberg and spent a bit of time downtown in Wiesbaden (on the hottest day of the year!).

I had about two days to recover from all that traveling to prepare for more traveling! This time with my family. I hadn't seen my brother for about 2 years so I was excited to see him. My mom, well, I just spent 4 weeks with her! (Just kidding, Mom, if you're reading this.) So my mom planned one of the most ambitious tours probably in the history of family vacations. Of course I kept thinking about National Lampoon's European Vacation. It wasn't like that at all. I think I drove about 2000 miles total. Three weeks of travel with about 2 days in between the West leg and East leg of the trip to rest. We went to Amsterdam, Brugges, some little town in Luxembourg and then to Nurnburg, Munich, and a little town near Bregenz, Austria. My GPS stopped working as soon as we left Germany because I didn't have the right maps loaded. It was kind of a nightmare, especially driving in Amsterdam, where they apparently invented the GPS and if you driven there you know what I'm talking about. My bro subbed in as a human GPS for a little while. This was my burden to deal with on the trip, driving and the GPS. My mom and brother both had their own dramas going on too. So that was fun. You have no idea how much appreciation and admiration I have now for tour guides, or anyone who has to plan these kinds of trips-- it's not for amateurs.

In Bregenz we saw the annual opera, Festspiel, I think they call it. I saw a web cam photo of the set being built months before and was determined to find my way there. They build the set into the lake so it looks like it's floating. We saw Andre Chenier, which I've never heard of before, but it was great, even without english subtitles and no intermission and outside in the rain. It was the most amazing set ever. It was a giant bust inspired by the painting, Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat (in his bath) by Jacques-Louis David, which I've always thought was a beautiful painting in a very morbid way. So it all tied in with the opera which was about the French Revolution-- Marat being an important figure during that time. Anyway, this was our last event of the trip and a major highlight for me. I can't wait to see what they do next summer.

I have to go now, to recover from a cold so I can get ready for more traveling next week!