The Fernweh Bookworm

Being in Montana and visiting Glacier National Park, I decided to catch up on the 2 most recent books in Kristen Proby’s Big Sky series. I am a huge fan of Ms. Proby’s writing, having read everything she’s published (with the exception of her paranormal series, as that is not my thing). I felt catching up on the characters in Cunningham Falls was the perfect place to start reading on vacation since I was in the general vicinity of where the fictional town was located.

These two novels, like the rest of her books, center around an independent female and a male that will bend over backward to make her happy. The first book I read, “Enticing Liam”, is about the youngest child and only daughter of the King of England (mind you this is a fictional British Royal Family, in no way are they remotely trying to mirror the actual Royal Family) and her Montana bodyguard. Both characters are initially introduced in the book “Enchanting Sebastian” (which is the book that comes directly before “Enticing Liam” in the series and introduces the characters in next book I read). The second book I read while in the Glacier National Park area, “Taunting Callum”, involves the 3rd son of the King of England, Callum and Aspen, the local coffee shop owner.

Both books were fun and entertaining to read. The characters were not afraid to speak their mind, but were also flawed, which always results in some sort of misunderstanding with another character. I will always recommend a Kristen Proby book, as she is one of my go-to authors.

Today my mom was thinking about the most amazing place she’d been all year.  She asked me what I would choose and it wasn’t an easy answer.  I rang in last New Years with my high school best friend and her new fiancé.  I went to NYC for a long weekend with a group of friends.  Besides eating all the great food in NYC, seeing sites, I also saw my first show on Broadway.  Multiple weekends were spent visiting family, which included major events such as seeing my sister-in-law sworn in as a citizen and spending time with my new niece.  On two separate occasions friends from Germany visited and I was able to show them around my city.  I even had a weekend on the beach in Florida.  The year has been pretty great, but the best trip I had was going on another trip to Germany.

My trip to Germany was three weeks, but not long enough.  It’s never long enough.  My trip was full of meeting new friends, spending time with old friends, and visiting new locations.  I spent time seeing Dortmund; a city I’ve always been near but never saw.  Old favorites were done again, such as a Rhine River cruise and spending time in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.  On the last day of the trip I ventured to the first day of Oktoberfest in München, with reservations in a beer tent for the full experience.

But, out of everything I’ve done the past year, by far the thing that was the most amazing was the day I spent at the Zugspitze.

The Zugspitze is the highest point in Germany located in the Alps, outside Garmisch-Partenkirchen.  The day I were there the cable car to the summit was out of order, so we had to take the cog wheel train to the glacier, then a cable car to summit.  The summit included the most amazing views of the valley and the Alps.  You can walk between Germany and Austria, just to say you did.  There are multiple locations to purchase food and beer, including a restaurant with indoor seating.

The best part of the Zugspitze is the serene feeling.  You are on top of Germany.  You can grab a beer or coffee, a snack, and just sit and enjoy the view…which is spectacular.

In the New Year, I know there will many new adventures (Rome, Italy is already booked), friends to see and meet, and family to spend time with.

I am a firm believer that you need to have activities in your life that you find fun. Whether that is cooking, playing a sport, or whatever, it’s something that you actually look forward to doing and miss when you can’t.

For me it’s reading.  Not just reading anything (many would be appalled that I can’t read something like Lord of the Rings) because everyone has that something that they enjoy.  (Many of my friends are huge LOTR fans.)  For instance, my dad loves books about politics and history.  I love romance novels, especially if they’re rom-coms.  Like most fans of reading, I have certain authors that I will buy their book without knowledge of that is it about, just because they wrote it.  (I’m particularly thinking about Christina Lauren, Kristen Proby, Emma Hart, just to name a few.)

Tonight I finished a book by Shannon Stacey about a firefighter and an EMT.  It was a fun book in a series about a firehouse in Boston.  The main characters, Gavin and Cait, initially don’t generally get along with they are called to the same location.  Of course it’s all a misunderstanding because then they first met they were attracted to each other, but when he called her ma’am one time, it was all down hill.  Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t care to be called ma’am either and may have taken offense to it (I especially did in my early 20s), but I do give him credit for trying to be a gentleman.  Cait is trying to help her mom and brother out after the sudden loss of her stepfather and Gavin is trying to help Cait.  I like Cait because she is a strong, independent woman, who isn’t afraid to give a man shit.  Gavin is just plain a gentleman, which you can never find fault in.

As life does to all of us, I have been silent for far too long due to a hectic schedule.  I have been traveling, working, and just plain trying to see where life will lead next.  Sometimes, you need to take a moment and enjoy what is in front of you.

Last evening I saw a friend and she looked exhausted.  I suggest we go to a local wine bar called Pure Wine Cafe Friday evening (tonight) to unwind and relax, just simply have fun.  After a bottle of Riesling, a platter of meats and cheese, and olive oil and bread, we wrapped up our evening with the above goodness...Nutella Waffles with strawberries.

Nutella always makes me think of my first trip to Germany in 2004.  I’d never experienced anything like it and immediately fell in love.  Now I order it when ever I can.

But the waffles are completely besides the point.  Sometimes you need to take a moment and escape from your current life and enjoy the ideas you would like for your life.  We discussed our loves of travel and how we wanted to live abroad.  It doesn’t matter how old you get, having dreams gives you something to strive for.

I Have a Dream Martin Luther King Jr. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom August 28, 1963

I don’t know how many times I’ve climbed the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. I like seeing him atop his chair watching over the city. But last time I was there, I found this written in the steps, commemorating the historic speech Martin Luther King Jr. gave from that location. To be able to stand there and look out over the landscape as he changed American history was moving.