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And We're Back.
Author: Raine    Date: 12/27/2021 14:03:06

First off, a profound thank you to TriSec for filling in while we were abroad.I would have checked in here more but we were briskly busy tho not overwhelmed on our getaway. As you hopefully saw, we have a photo album over on the BoF.

When we arrived at our first leg of the trip, Stasbourgh, we saw pretty fast that the EU vaccine passport was a golden ticket of sorts. Well, maybe not so much as golden since everyone had them, but it was a ticket to getting into restaurants and any place food and beverage were served. Walking around and in shops pretty much everyone wore a mask. It was like that in Heidelberg and Paris as well. If someone had a mask slip, authorities would remind a person and the mask would be properly worn.

In others words, not once was there a problem. Masks are 'normal' and people really seemed to care about others. It was nice to be away from the chaos and insanity that is happening here in the states. No one cared about Brandon. As a matter of fact, the few times we met and chatted with people who spoke English and they seemed relieved that TFG was no longer muddying the waters, although they were aware of the fallout we are still dealing with in the states.

Christmastime over there is exactly as beautiful as I had hoped it would be. It was like a storybook or a movie. It's a season that is truly celebrated. While we celebrate here it was different in that there was no mad shopping rush, and I may have missed the retail consumerism. It just felt joyful and low-key in Strasbourg and Heidelberg. Paris was a bit more hectic but no more than the last time we were there. It was just nice.

I did learn one disturbing thing though. There is no escaping crappy American Holiday music over there. It was everywhere. I didn't experience it but I found my wincing every time I heard a new song start-- I was mortifyingly expecting 'Grandma got run over by a reindeer at any moment. That moment never came, thankfully.

A simple twist of fate happened when the day s before we left, we had a return to sender Xmas card. Turns out, our friends relocated to Paris in September. She now works at the embassy there! Thursday we got together with them and their 8 and 5 year old and went to a holiday market to reconnect after having missed them because of, well, a lot of things, namely this damned pandemic. While eating a racklet baguette, I heard the little boy sqee with delite: "A real Santa Claus!!" and he and his sister ran to greet a very jolly and very skinny man in the red suit and a glorious beard. It wasn't until after that that I realized I had not seen one until our second to last day in Europe. Experiencing the joy and innocence of a young child in a new unknown country seeing Santa was magical.

It was the best present this jaded and still hopeful woman could have received.

&
Raine
 
 

1 comments (Latest Comment: 12/27/2021 15:42:10 by Will in Chicago)
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