Final days in Europe

After a tiring two weeks of uncomfortable sleep, endless exploring, and lifetime memories made, Logan's dorm in Munich felt like home, even to me. We both breathed a long sigh of relief when we dropped our bags in his room. Probably a breath we had been holding in since we left for Paris two weeks prior. We spent my remaining European days exploring more of the city. We strolled through some parks, admired some buildings, and even checked out a crazy little surfing spot under a bridge in the middle of the city! Munich turned out to be way cooler than I imagined. We went up to the top of one of the towers in a church and I got to see the whole city through little windows all around the tower. Next to each window was a picture of the same view, taken a long time ago and labeled. Hardly anything had changed and I loved that. I got to meet some of the other exchange students that Logan has become friends with, and they were all different and all very nice. It's obvious right away that they're a fun group of people. Our first night back in Munich, Logan and I met up with a few of them at a club downtown. It was loud, it was massive, and it was a great time. Anything involving dancing is right up my alley, so I loved it.
It's hard to remember with all the traveling that Logan does over there, but he actually is in school, too. He is at an engineering school, and I had the opportunity to attend a couple of his classes. His professors taught about M theory, classical physics, and wayy too much detail on the production of glass. I tried hard to pay attention and learn, but both professors lost me right away. Logan figured this would happen, so luckily he brought his iTouch. I spent the class hours exercising my mind via solitaire and sudoku. So I was still learning and growing intellectually, right? If anything, I can definitely rule out engineering as a possible career now. And, I have a greater appreciation of just how smart my boyfriend is! That, or how much a closet nerd my boyfriend really is. Either one.
The last few days in Munich flew by. But not fast enough for a classic Sloane act to take place! On my last day there, Logan and I were going to travel to see Neuschwanstein, the castle Walt Disney based his famous castle off of. He had class all morning, so I was going to meet up with him after class by the train station. Kind of amazingly, I was able to take all the correct subways and get off at the correct stop. That should have been the difficult part. Nope! Finding the McDonald's right by the stop turned out to be the real challenge. When I asked the man at the information desk where a McDonald's would be, he waved me off with the simple and very unhelpful phrase, "To the left." Ohh, well thanks, detailed and sympathetic helper! Now I got it! I ended up circling all levels of that metro station for about 45 minutes before I saw a man eating a whopper. Using my Nancy Drew skills, I was finally able to track down that big "M". What a relief! Logan was about to head back to his dorm, too. Now getting one direction was quite a feat for me. Going back to where I came from? Don't be funny. My minuscule GPS skills would surely malfunction. I already had forgotten which tunnel I came out of at the beginning. Since I didn't meet up with Logan until much later than planned, a trip to the castle was no longer an option. Hey, incentive to return to Germany someday?
Leaving Europe and Logan was bittersweet. I knew it was time to return to reality, back to the grind. But man what I would do for another week of relaxation! This parting was not as hard as when Logan left for Germany almost four months before, seeing as it is only going to be less than two months until he is back home. It definitely was a lonely 20 hour travel back to the desert, though. Especially when I got on the main flight across the Atlantic to find that my window seat had been overtaken by a guy in dreads with a victorious smirk on his face. He and his girlfriend just HAD TO sit next to each other, so I had to take her aisle seat. Luckily I was so exhausted that I was still able to sleep for a few hours without my loving window.
Back in the states, I walked off the plane in a daze. After being questioned through customs if my reasons to travel to Europe involved a proposal from a boy I met online or not, I was greeted by my family. Noah, Eddie, and my cheerleader mom, holding a "Welcome Home" sign, my mom cheering and yelling in the silent airport. Welcome back. It was comforting being picked up by my loving family--it took away some of the sadness and loneliness. Thank God for my family. After a birthday dinner for my mom, which is somewhat of a blur of a memory since it was around 5:00 AM to me, it was time for bed. For just a few hours. Ohh this time change--I'm hoping I'll be able to keep up this ability to naturally wake up early every day, but at the same time...I'm Sloane Gerritzen-Queen of sleep. We shall see.
Europe, you were so good to me. I learned more than I could ever learn from a history book, I saw more than I ever thought my eyes would be blessed to see, and I made unforgettable, life-changing memories with an awesome person by my side. It was all more than worth those hundreds of burgers served and months of penny pinching. I am one very, very lucky girl.

Back to tackle the beast!