Happy Birthday To ME...
Anyway, to make this day a bit less selfish...I'd like to pay attention to some of my favorite memories from the last 23 years:
October vacation in Chiemsee, Germany
While I was living in Germany, I was fortunate enough to have a "Host-Rotarian" who brought me to his family's vacation home in Chiemsee. I remember not knowing just what to expect when he arrived to pick me up one night- I had packed my bags, but I had never heard of Chiemsee before, and I was unsure of what it would be like to spend so much time with a family I was unfamiliar with.
That week, I made some of my favorite memories.
The house I stayed in was incredibly old; it had been added on to time and time again, so that there were uneven floors with stairs connecting them and taller ceilings in some areas. The house was noticeable a home; it was full of character, and had signs of being well lived in and beloved by families in generations past. I stayed in a tiny room just large enough to fit a bunked and a small desk.
While I spent time with my Host Rotarian and his family, I hiked to the top of an Alpine mountain (I was exhausted afterwards!), walked around the Chiemsee, went to Frauen Insel, spent nights by the family's fire pit, ate delicious meals ("brezeln mit marmalade"!, berries with creme fraiche!) - I never wanted to leave the rural paradise.
First night spent in Madrid, Spain
Mel and I had just flown to Spain on the first leg of our European trip. Even though I am a neurotic planner, especially when it comes to vacations, we had no set plan for where we were going to go after we landed in Madrid. This resulted in me having a mini-panic attack once we landed (I should have known better, to have planned something! Anything!)
Mel and I ended up spending about an hour in the airport with our laptops trying to figure out the airport WiFi; once we did, we were able to figure out what we needed to do to survive the night in the foreign city. We finally left the safe zone (the airport) and took a public bus to town. We walked around for quite some time before settling on a restaurant close to the Hostel we were planning to stay at.
I'm still unsure of whether it was because we were starved, or if the restaurant was a quality restaurant but the dinner we had was amazing. We ordered wine (we'd needed it!) and had delicious meals. Afterwards we walked around the square for a bit before settling into our Hostel room for the night
Summer of 2012: going to the beach and watching the sunrise
Oh...so many memories of summer nights spent in the Hamptons! This particular night I had spent most of the night and morning sleeping at the home of a group of polo players, but (as I often do) I missed my bed so I left early. On my way home I decided to stop by the beach and watched the sun rise. Oh what a sight...
Other Favorite Memories:
- Winter of 2013: moving to my first NYC apartment
- Lake Placid
- Grandparent's stay after Hurricane Sandy
- Summer of 2012: night of Shark Attack
- 22nd Birthday Celebration
- Caribbean trips with Mom
- European adventure with Mom
- Picking out Pierre
- Trips to Vermont with P
- Fourth of July party, many years ago