Let's see....
I could tell you about the trip to the Croatian coast and surrounding islands. Perfectly blue waters along a rocky coastline. Reminded me a lot of the Greek islands.
Or about that jaunt over to gorgeous Venice. Sunset over the Rialto bridge was breathtaking!
I promised myself I'd make it to the Plitvice Lakes National Park and I did. Would have never imagined such a tropical looking place in Europe.
Oooo, how about the outdoor hockey game in a 2000 year old arena in Pula, Croatia? In the middle of a warm September weekend. Once in a life time opportunity!
Or you might like to hear about the north eastern Italian countryside and wine region. Who knew it even existed?!
Paris, anyone?! Yep, we finally made it to the City of Lights after 5 years in Europe. It was bigger and better than I imagined!
But I think the most important 'trip' we took all year was the one where we loaded up all of our belongings and drove the 10 hour drive to Germany.
Yep, we are back in Germany. Where our European adventure first started.
To make an extremely long story short, I'll just say this...if things sound too good to be true, they probably are. The hubs getting a chance to play hockey in a big city, with a warm climate, with a ton of North American guys sounded too good from the start. We'd heard the team had, how shall I put this, 'issues' about paying guys on time - or at all - in the past. But, we knew guys on the team and were told that it wasn't as bad as it sounded.
They were right...it was way worse. And apparently hadn't been this bad ever before. Paychecks were weeks late, paid out in small, 'shut up for now' increments. And not deposited in a bank account like any other normal organization would do. Nope. You had to meet the GM in some weird location and were handed a wad of cash. No paystubs, no receipts, no telling where half that money ended up.
When the hubs got injured at the very beginning of the season, it only spelled more trouble. Not only did this mean that we had to worry about not getting our paychecks, but it also meant that he had to pay all of his hospital and doctor's bills out of pocket....sans any kind of insurance. Not cool.
Outside of hockey, the city and the girls from the team were ah-mah-zing. It was so great to be in a big city (over a million) and we had a really fun and special group there! But, I guess we weren't in Europe for me to solely make friends and party, now were we?! (Seriously, that was news to me).
So, when we had a chance to leave the team in November, we jumped at the chance to start the season over somewhere else. And who else took our pathetic butts in but Germany. God love ya, Deutschland! haha.
We've been here since November and are still trying to chug through this seemingly never ending season. Once again the hubs is in the playoffs and trying to make the most out of this bizarro trip around the world. The finals start tonight and we're hoping it will be a good series!! Cross your fingers for his team (or be German and press your thumb for luck).
It's definitely been an up and down year, that's for sure! And there's no telling what next year will bring. All I know is that we've been through it all and are somehow still ready for more.
As you can tell, blogging hasn't really been a priority of mine of late. And I don't expect it to be anytime soon. But, I couldn't just abandon TGN, my labor of love, without at least addressing the issue. This blog was something that I put so much effort into at one time. And I'm really glad that I had the experiences I did running it.
Our adventures in Europe may not be over, but I think I'm through chronically them through TexaGermaNadian. I'm not sure if I'll post in the future, but just in case I decide to pick it up again one day, consider this a 'goodbye for now' kind of deal.
Sincerely hope everyone has been doing great! I try to sneak a peak into ya'lls writings every now and then. I finally joined the Twitter machine. Find me at @LindsLeav. I don't tweet much (or, at all), but would love for you to find me so that I can find you and keep up with all the clever stuff you have going on.
And a quick note on all the happenings in the U.S. this week. Once again, after seeing all the good in people that emerges after such disastrous things happen, I'm so proud to call myself an American...in any country! Thoughts and well wishes are with everyone in Boston, West, Texas, and everywhere else back home.
Peace out Bloggyland. It's been real!
