For the first time ever, I did not spend Christmas at home with immediate family. However, I was fortunate enough to celebrate the holidays with wonderful family and friends, across Europe and beyond. I packed everything in my hiking backpack to avoid paying extra luggage fees on the lovely budget airlines that make this travel possible, and making everything fit was an experience.
preparation
As I wrote in my last post, John and I met up with Sadie and Angela in Madrid, and it was so good to see faces from home. It is funny to think back to how John and Angela hated each other when we were young, but there we all were together in Spain!
Saying bye in the airport was just as difficult as I had imagined, but I always cry at the airport, so nothing new there. However, I got very excited again once I was near my gate and had to time to think about my upcoming journey!
an italian christmas
My mom’s cousin, Amanda Fahlstrom, and her family were the most gracious Christmas hosts, and my holiday with them in Italy will forever be one of my favorites.
Amanda and Jack picked me up from the Venice airport and there was mercifully almost no traffic on the way back to their town. I immediately felt at home, and we quickly settled in at their house for Christmas Eve.
Christmas morning was so much fun opening presents with Matteo and Marco, and I was delighted to discover that Santa had remembered that I would be in Italy – the boys even found presents under the tree for me, as well as theirs.
We went to a beautiful and welcoming Christmas service and then headed to Jack’s mom’s house for a delicious Christmas lunch. I love the food here in Galicia, but her food in Italy was some serious competition. The Napolitano extended family made me feel like one of their own, and I am forever grateful for the experience. This, couple with facetiming other family and home eased any distance that I felt.
getting ready for the Christmas meal 
the first course – divine 
dessert! 
a refreshing hike 
more food 
according to Jack, this is the best pizza in Northern Italy – it certainly didn’t disappoint! 
not a bad view at all!
We spent a couple more days relaxing, enjoying games and new presents, eating more delicious food (including one dinner of pork chops with real bbq sauce – really taking us home to KC!), and taking advantage of the wonderful weather. We managed to get in a nice hike into the foothills, and it was beautiful and just such fun.
My stay in Italy came to an end, and my bus to the airport arrived delightfully early – meaning that I had a bit of time to spend wandering around Venice. The Marco Polo airport has a great bus line right into the actual city, and the schedules were in my favor. I love Venice, and being able to wander through the streets and along the canals for almost two hours was such a treat. I got myself a pair of earrings and a couple ~snacks~ and headed back to the airport.
a quick snack 
me, a crazy backpacker! 
and then onto…Paris!
My next destination with France, and after making it back to the airport with plenty of time I hopped on my flight to Paris. As some of you are probably aware, the Paris transportation workers were on strike. This meant that only a couple of the train lines were running, and I was fortunate enough to get into the city from the airport without any issues. My accommodation was near (crispy) Notre Dame, which is easily accessible.
I met up with my friend Amanda (also a Fulbright in Pontevedra) in Paris, and we had booked tickets to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. I have been up the tower once with Mom when I was 8, and it was ethereal to be there at night. There was a snafu with ticketing for our cruise of the Seine, but we were able to catch it the next morning before heading out to Versailles. Of course, my breakfast was a Nutella crepe and it was delicious.
Figuring out the bus lines out to Versailles was neither easy nor too difficult, but it was necessary as the trains were not an option. Once we arrived, we were embraced and graciously hosted by the Michel Family (Mom nannied for them when she was in college, and they are so wonderful and kind and gracious and treat me like family). Versailles is such a pretty city, and the chateau is simply stunning. With our European residence cards, entrance was free, and we were actually in the hall of mirrors and the adjoining rooms during sunset. It was beautiful. Between spending time with the Michels, exploring Versailles, and walking through the gardens, it was a refreshing and uplifting couple of days.
Versailles 
ratatouille?! on a crepe? 
a sneak peek of the chateau at sunset 
Amanda and I at the gardens 
exploring Versailles 
there is a very similar photo somewhere of me when I was 8 here…
some festive contemplations:
- how beautiful the world is: I mean this in both the sense of the scenery and monuments, but in its people as well. I have been embraced by so many, family and friends of course, but by acquaintances and strangers in several countries. It is overwhelming in the best way, and I am humbled, grateful, and uplifted. Thank you. From sitting on a quiet hilltop in Italy to meandering through world-famous gardens from a few hundred years ago, there is such beauty around us…I hope we as a collective global society see this now and work much harder to systematically care for and preserve it.
- what home and family are – literally, how I define them and how I feel them have changed / been made more clear. Also, I must admit that videochats and techology greated aided in this, and it was delightful to see family all over the world via videochat: Uncle Ron and Aunt Joan, my nuclear family, cousins and aunts in KS, CO, and MO…etc.
- why holidays are important to me: something that my nuclear family learned a few years back is that holidays are not about the day – they are about the precious time we get to spend with loved ones. There have been many holidays that John, Dad, Mom and I celebrate NOT on the calendar date, due to a variety of factors. That ritual of family – spending time in each other’s company and laughing and celebrating life – is sacred to me in a way, and I felt that same sense away from the familiar. That tells me I am incredibly fortunate to have such wonderful people in my life!
One of my favorite things about the ~winter holiday season~ are all of the cards – Christmas, New Year, etc. Thank you so, so much to everyone who sent me a note in some form, as it just reinforced that feeling of home and holiday cheer from afar.
One of my English class families sent me a virtual holiday card, and it was so kind – my heart nearly burst with happiness when I opened it. I am constantly humbled by how much this community has embraced me; this holiday season brought an even bigger sense of this as I traveled and reveled in time with extended family and friends.
my fulbright year 