Sav: Today Gordy had to take care of some church duties in the morning and had a meeting in the afternoon, so I was left to my own devices. I didn’t mind this too much because the level of relaxation I hit was so perfect today. In the air B&B I rented out there’s this pastel coloured raised plushy chair by the window that looks out over Lake Leman, and the owner of the flat, a professional pianist, was at home practicing.

Post warm shower and donning a comfy knit sweater, I spent my day blog writing, researching hostels for future destinations and face timing with friends. All this while cozily cuddled up with a coffee and listening to a slightly muffled piano. It was warm outside and the sun beat into my room, sending light rays through the window that showed the slowly swirling dust in the air. Swans paddled around on Lake Leman, which shimmered in the sun. It felt like a scene from a movie.

When Gordy was done with his Sunday duties, we met up for an early dinner and bused over to the train station to reserve my seats for the next morning. The last few things I needed to take care of included picking up postcards and Swiss chocolate… the latter so Meaghan could experience one part of Switzerland, if she had to miss the rest!

We went and watched a holiday movie with his friends from school, and then he walked me home. I have to leave at 6:15 AM so it only made sense to say goodbye tonight. As short as my stay was in Geneva, it was so sweet. I can’t wait for more banter-filled days with Gordy in the future. Hopefully we don’t have to wait another 3 years!

S

***Over to Berlin

Meag: In Berlin there’s an area called Museum Island. It’s exactly what it sounds like – an island full of museums! Sav and I only visited one museum last time we were here and it wasn’t on the island, the German History Museum, so for my last day in Berlin I wanted to check out the island and what it had to offer. I chose the Pergamon Museum, which houses some amazing objects and structures. It is partially closed for renovation, so the part I was most looking forward to was a huge jewel-toned, blue-glazed brick gate from Babylon, the Ishtar Gate. Pictures are beautiful but they don’t quite do it justice. The gate was built in about 600 BC and was uncovered at the turn of the 20th century by a German archaeological team, then brought to Berlin and reassembled in the Pergamon Museum. The gate is breathtaking, decorated with lions and unicorns, along with a daisy-like motif running parallel to the animals to honour the goddess Ishtar. I could have sat there in awe looking at this gate for a long time, but there was so much to see at this museum that we needed to move on.

And I’m sure glad we did – the second floor proved to be fascinating. This next floor held an amazing display of Islamic art which walked through the history of Islamic dynasties and how they shaped arts and culture. The colours were all so vibrant, and every inch of every object was covered in intricate designs. I could have spent as much time as we spent in the whole museum just in this one section. We joked throughout this exhibit about which pieces we would be taking home with us. Tobi chose a small, white, detailed chest, while I chose a large bronze basin. Maybe it would make a great giant fruit bowl! Unfortunately, the pieces we chose wouldn’t fit in my purse (and security might not have been too happy with us).

I probably should have done this before my last day in Germany, but I finally got a little German lesson! Tobi (tried) to teach me to count to 20 in German. My mouth does not want to make a lot of the sounds. I can’t for the life of me say 10, which is sehn. This may look simple but believe you me, it is not because ‘s’ is said kind of like ‘z’ but also kind of like ‘ts’…I think. Try as I might, I can’t even get close to wrapping my tongue around it. My inability to say 10 is problematic because a few of the teens have this word in them so that screwed me over for those ones too. 12 is also a hard one. Try this at home – zwulf. Not that easy, is it? My inability to make the right sounds, and all the sounds I made while I was trying, provided endless entertainment for Tobi. He says I have an absolutely terrible accent and I can’t even argue with him on this – it is truly horrible. We disagreed on whether this is because of the student or the teacher. Good thing I’m leaving tomorrow and will not have to subject any other poor Germans to my horrendous German skills.

M