Traveling Abroad!

Hello friends and family!

Well it was a lengthy travel but we finally made it to our destination. We said our goodbyes in Toronto, Tottenham and Guelph over the past week and it was difficult not to try and drag each and every one of you with us.

The plane ride from Toronto to Heathrow was manageable, with a strong selection of movies and shows to keep one occupied, as well as the actually edible meals and snacks served aboard. Our connecting flight was a slight panic. The first flight had arrived late at Heathrow and our connecting flight was set to depart 40 minutes after we landed. If any of you have had the fun of wandering the football field length hallways that encompass Heathrow you'll understand why 40 minutes is too little time. That, and the ever present security scans, make for a lengthy indoor journey. Fortunately, Odin was watching over us and managed to delay the second flight, giving us plenty of time to stumble upon our gate somewhat haggard and dishevelled. We landed in Frankfurt around 2pm German time and from there loaded up enough baggage to survive a year abroad. To save on space I (Manny) wore both my spring and winter coat. Needless to say I was not cold at any point, but I may have lost a few pounds of weight from all the sweating I managed to do.

From the airport in Frankfurt we took a train to Freiburg. We feasted upon fruit, water and some pre-made sushi Manny found in a train station supermarket. We arrived in Freiburg a few hours later, barely awake. The taxi driver had no idea where the address was, but eventually asked a friend and discovered it was really not very far.

We buzzed the door and were greeted with the smiling face of Jonas, a friend and former U of G German TA. With a little help we hauled up our luggage and finally sat down in a place that allowed us to stretch our legs without fear of being trampled or rolled on. After a nice dinner and a display of wedding pictures we decided sleep might be a good option. I think the 13 hours of sleep is a testament to how we were feeling last night. Today we are relaxing and beginning our search for a home of our own and checking out the local job market.

We both miss our friends and family terribly. Although the adventure has only just begun it will not be the same without each of you there to make our lives the joy that they are... but hopefully we can convince a few of you to fly in our direction in the coming months.

Lots of love

Manrin