fußball fever

Wow, what an eventful last two weeks. I have spent more hours on trains than I ever thought possible. Yet I saw and experienced quite a lot over the past fortnight, so it was a decent tradeoff. I have several good stories that I will post once I have the time to do so. Of course, those lucky enough to be in GR will get to hear them in person. I think for the next couple months, I´m going to sound like Hansel from "Zoolander" every time I tell a story: "So this one time, I was hiking through vineyard-covered cliffs along the Italian coast..."

Anyways, I am back in Berlin for a couple days before I head off for home. Obviously, it´s World Cup time, so this place is crawling with people and tons of special exhibitions have been set up all over the place. It hardly looks like the same place I left three weeks ago. But it´s a pretty exciting thing, and Berlin hosts their first match tomorrow night (Brazil v. Croatia). Unfortunately, I couldn´t score tickets.

I leave Berlin at 6:30 Europe time Thursday morning and have a 5-hour train ride to Frankfurt, from whence I will depart at 3 p.m. Now, being that I´m flying budget airlines, I´ll arrive in Fort Myers, Florida, around 7:30 p.m. Eastern on Thursday and settle in for a night in the airport. That´s right, my connector to Detroit doesn´t leave until 9:40 a.m. Friday morning. Hurrah, 14-hour layover! Hurrah, NFL Europe, for helping me get such a sweet flight! So my mom and sister will be there to greet me at 12:26 p.m. Friday in Detroit, and I will head back to GR with them. Let´s just say I´m reeeeally excited to be coming home. I can´t wait to see everyone.