The past 5 weeks have been pretty crazy but pretty incredible, thought with little time for blogging. After getting my wisdom teeth out I went to Europe for 10 days, Barcelona and Munich. It was my first time in Europe since 2004 and it was incredible! Looking back it was one of the best, if not the best vacation of my life. The trip also confirmed a long held belief of mine that its not so much where you go but who you go with. For the last few years I didn't really travel abroad at all, unless you count the Caribbean. And I hate saying this but it was largely because traveling with my ex was not very much fun. We just weren't on the same page on a lot of things. We didn't really get into fights when we were on trips but it just never felt right - though I guess that was a broader issue in the relationship. I also don't have anything against traveling alone but its difficult to justify a solo week long trip to Europe when you're in a serious committed relationship. Now I did find some incredible traveling partners who were on the same page about nearly everything and it worked out incredibly. Further evidence that who you go with is just as important as where you go. Maybe that's good advice for life in general.
Anyway, in summary Europe was great, it was my first full week of work since 2009 - and I feel ready for another! Lots of random funny stories, many of which probably shouldn't be made public :). Barcelona may be my favorite vacation city ever, it has beaches, culture, food and nightlife. What more could anyone want?? Though its probably best to visit before the age of 30 since I imagine 5 or 10 years from now I'd have a lot less patience for it. Oktoberfest was pretty incredible as well, I'd highly recommend the Hofbrau tent to anyone who goes. It has the most international people in it but a good number of Germans too. Of the tents we went through it seemed to have the most diverse / English speaking place to go, plus the beer was very drinkable.
After Europe I was in Chicago for 10 days, then off to the West Coast for the wedding of two incredible friends - Jillian and Ilya. The wedding itself was perfect, ideal size, beautiful venue and a great blend of religious and secular elements - I only hope my eventual wedding works out so well! The whole wedding night I could see the two of them in their own world, not entirely separated from their guests but in a world that we could only glimpse into, one which only the two of them know. Seeing this was truly incredible, such a deep and dynamic connection between two people!
Now after all my fun its back to reality, and to blogging. I have piles of work in front of me that I'm dutifully procrastinating! My vacation days have dwindled to nearly 0 so I'm going to be in Chicago for a while. I feel like I've barely spent any time here recently. Last night I was walking around my neighborhood and noticed 3 new places had opened up! Time to do some exploring!
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