the middle of nowhere, germany

For those of you who know me really well, this probably won't come as a surprise...but I've come to realize that I love the still parts of this trip the most. Don't get me wrong--this little adventure is not at all about being still. It's about moving up and around mountains and oceans and about seeing new people and new places halfway across the world. It's about growth, about being tired in the best way, about changing. But it's been the train rides, the long, snowy walks to our hostel, the moments when we have a split second to soak it all up that really resonate with me.

I think it's because these moments are rare. It's because they meet me in the middle of nowhere, Germany, when I'm standing out in a blizzard and remembering how little I am. They find me on a train ride through the French riviera or beside the black forest, when I realize how much beauty in the world I haven't seen yet. How much I still need to see.

While the pace of this trip as a whole has been exhausting, I've been tired in the best, sore the day after a good workout kind of way. It's been challenging, for sure. Being tired, hungry and lost a lot of the time in strange cities will do that to you. But the Lord has been faithfully reminding me of the opportunity I have to serve those around me by choosing patience, joy and gentleness. Every. Single. Time. As I've gotten caught up in unfamiliarity and inconsistency, I am learning so much about what it looks like to stay close to my source and so much about investing in my community here.

SO. Germany was interesting. In an attempt at spontaneity, we googled "German cities by water and the black forest," threw them in a hat and chose one at random. After throwing the first few out (hehe)...we finally decided on Titisee and Stuttgart. We were really rooting for the black forest, and I'm not really sure why. I think we were imagining fairies and forest creatures. Maybe.

We woke up early to catch the 6 something train ride to Titisee, which is when this magical, snowy train ride through the black forest took place. When we finally connected our last train, we promptly got off at the wrong stop and realized we couldn't get back in the next hour or so. We killed some time inside a chocolate shop and played in the best snow I've ever seen. Once we got back to the right town, we were pleasantly surprised to see that Titisee was, indeed, a magical little lake town, covered in a thick blanket of snow. Still carrying our backbacks, we found our way to the lake we had seen on google images and found this.

Although you probably can't tell from the photo, the frozen, desolate lake was actually beautiful in its own kind of way. We found shelter from the snow in a tiny German restaurant, where we spent a lot of the afternoon eating spatzel, black forest cake (IN THE BLACK FOREST, GET IT?) and drinking hot chocolate while we watched the snow fall and relaxed. After dinner, we went back to the train station to catch the train to Stuttgart, where we would be spending the rest of the weekend.

First off, the hotel we were staying at was about a mile from the train station, which probably would have sounded a lot worse four weeks ago when I wasn't used to walking anywhere. The strange part about this little journey was that we ended up trekking through a residential area. Past a high school track, past little neighborhood streets. We walked silently, for the most part. Enjoying the peace and quiet of the snowy streets. Breathing in cold air is wonderful when the rest of you is warm.

When we arrived at the hotel, the lobby was dark and completely empty. Once we finally figured out the German area code, (there were lots of shambly attempts at this) we called the number (displayed on a very tiny and unimportant looking sheet of paper) and were directed to a tiny metal box, where we punched in a series of numbers. A key fell out, and were were directed to room 212, which the key would open...where we would find another keep for room 312. We then proceeded up an unlit flight of stairs and walked down an empty hallway to room 212. It was all very spy movie/horror movie, which was funny in hindsight but significantly less funny in the moment.

The next morning, we enjoyed the best breakfast ever and set out to explore the city of Stuttgart. After a little snowy shopping and sightseeing, we finished off the day with dinner at a great German restaurant (normal meat and potatoes finallyyyy) and spent the last part of the night at a trendy little college bar near the university.

Not too bad for drawing it out of a hat. Although we probably won't be doing it again any time soon.