Yes, I'm REALLY Moving

Gosh I can't believe it. Less than 7 weeks from today I'll be on a flight to Hannover to discover a new home, continent, language and culture. I'll officially be an EU resident and this is like a dream come true for me. I can't wait to get my visa for the long haul. It's scary but exciting at the same time -- much more exciting! I love to travel so living in Hannover is ideal for me because it's in the center of Europe and I can fly or take the train anywhere and be to some of the greatest spots in under an hour. I can't drive from here to Boston in under an hour, so to think I can be in Copenhagen (fly) or Hambug (train) in 45-60 minutes is pretty great. I saved up enough money so that I can explore my new turf once I arrive without the pressure of having to work myself into a coma as I have living here in America these past years. I've been saving for this relocation for several years now which meant working a lot to get to this point, I started saving awhile ago and when I mean saving I mean SAVING.

The view from our former hotel room where we stayed for 2-3 months each year for 3 years!

But it's finally here now, I'm moving and it's time to reap the rewards of my labor. Life is like that, isn't it? We have to sweat and work before we see the fruits but boy, when the fruits are ripe for pickin' it sure is exciting. I sometimes feel VERY limited in America, and it's not because America is boring or anything but we're kind of closed in over here and don't get a lot of exposure to outside cultures, we experience culture but always on our own grounds (a Thai place in Boston, a Mexican eatery in Texas, etc.). I'm interested in going outside of my fish bowl to experience a culture within that culture, in its natural habitat so to speak. I'm really looking forward to seeing places like Denmark, Italy and Turkey. I want to travel to Spain. I'd love to see Scotland. Sometimes in America I feel like I'm at Epcot Center's World Showcase and I'm seeing culture through the lens handed to me here, "Look at this! It's France! See this! It's Germany!"... I want to BE in these countries, be the outsider, be the "guest" and feel both the pleasure and pain of it all.

This place has the best brunch on Sunday. I went here with my family and my good friend Esra Celik.

I will miss America though, it will always be home to me because I was born and raised here. But I'd love to try out Europe for awhile. I've been wanting to live abroad since I was around 12 years old and my BFF relocated from London to South Carolina and I couldn't get enough of her accent, way of life, and listening to her stories about British life and culture. I caught the relo bug very early on. Of course, my aunt and uncle had a huge influence on my life, lived in Europe, South America and Russia when I was growing up and I LOVED opening packages from them whenever they shipped stuff over to me. It was the highlight of my life to see something in a language I couldn't understand or a toy I'd not seen before.

I'm hoping to buy one of these next Spring. I'm dying to own a vintage car. I'd also take a new Mini Cooper, but a used one.

And of course, you have my mother's family who are mostly Polish/Russian/Irish (my dad is English/Irish), they all immigrated here in the late 1800s during the 1st World War and so on the farm where she grew up they ate only traditional Polish and Russian food and spoke Polish and some English. When I went to their farm growing up (in Rhode Island) I would help my grandmother bake bread (she made a lot of challah "braided bread" or an egg bread but I cannot recall the name), pastry twists and pies. We also made golabki, golomki sauerkraut, kielbasa, pierogi... Since Polish food is a mix of German and Slavic cuisine, living in Germany feels a bit familiar to me in a funny way.

I someday dream of having a shop like this one, in an old building... This is around the corner from our apartment currently. My husband's family once owned a bunch of buildings here but no more. Imagine owning a place like this? One can dream!

So what are all of these photos of? They are mostly taken in Hannover (List district). Not all the homes in Hannover look this way as 80% of the city was bombed by Americans during World War II (right after the end of the war too, boooo!) so much of it had to be rebuilt quickly resulting in lots of postwar architecture without all these ornate details. But in some districts of Hannover you still have lots of these pre war buildings from the 1800s (some from the 1700s) that are amazing. There are many streets there just lined with gorgeous buildings, each one different and unique. I will show you more once I'm over there, okay? These photos are all a few years old. I can't wait to move - the count down has officially begun! (images: holly becker)