Well I returned to Colchester on Saturday evening and have just been too lazy to update you all on my trip to Germany and Turkey. But here we are and I figured that I should probably do it since I have nothing else to do!
Well I flew out of London-Stansted airport on June 8th and flew to Frankfurt-Hann airport. From there I took a bus to Ludwigshafen, and from there I took the train to Speyer to visit Onkel Hans. Onkel Hans is Opa Hattenhauer's brother and I have met him once before in the states, and he wanted me to come and visit him and I am so glad that I did. We traveled around the southern Rhein valley and took in the sights and sounds so to speak. We visited Heidelberg, Strassburg, Speyer, and a few other places during my stay. In Heidelberg I met Onkel Hans's son Christopher who is a law professor at the Heidelberg Institute just as Onkel Hans was before he retired. It was a great day, Heidelberg is a truly beautiful city. While talking with the Hattenhauer duo I encouraged (without much hesitation) to look into doing my masters in Germany, an option I am seriously considering.
The next big trip we took was to Strassburg in the Alsace region of France, and is home to one of the most beautiful Mediaeval Cathedrals in all of Europe. We spent a great deal of time wandering around and in the Cathedral while Onkel Hans gave me a wonderfully detailed history of the area and of the Cathedral's history (mainly in German and I caught almost all of it!).
Once my stay with Onkel Hans drew to a close I took the train north and visited my close friend Viktor Penner in Wipperfurth. I only had one full day with him but it was a wonderful stay none-the-less. On Monday the 14th we spent the day in Cologne wandering around the city and also spending a fair amount of time in the beautiful Cathedral that is located there as well. It was wonderful catching up with a good friend that I hadn't seen in a while, and the time spent with him flew by far to quickly.
On Tuesday I then flew from Dusseldorf to Antalya, Turkey where I spent 11 days with a bunch of friends from England, climbing, relaxing, sun-bathing, swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, and playing a great deal of Backgammon. Turkey truly is a beautiful country with much to see and do, but I spent most of my time hanging off the sides of mountains 20-40 metres up in the air. It was some amazing rock to climb, lots of slabs, finger pockets, overhangs, etc...to push and challenge me and my climbing abilities.
It was an experience that is hard to put into words, so I am not going to waste your time in attempting to do so. So take a look at my pictures on my Facebook and you will get a better feel for what I mean.
I just finished packing the majority of my things, and now all that is left is to catch the train to London on Saturday morning and then I will be on my way home!
I will be flying back into Omaha at around 8:30 pm on Saturday. Sooo....if you are free and wish to meet me at the airport to say hi before I head off to Canada on Sunday morning then you know when!
