2013 in Review Part 2

So, I returned to SF in March.. And everything went to shit. I hadn't been motivated at work for a while and with all the changes at the office, it was time for a change. And then my relationship with B fell apart and I had to jump back on a plane to salvage it.

I fostered the world's best Boston, Bacon, for a week.  And I quit my job on 1 April. It was scary to just quit without having a next step already in place, but it was a very freeing experience at the same time.

B came to stay with me for 3 months, the maximum duration for his tourist visa. We were in SF most of the time, but traveled a bit as well.  We visited my cousin in Hawaii (which I would have said is one of the most beautiful places on earth if I hadn't just spent a week in Phuket), and went to Vegas and LA.

We decided that I would go back to France with him. I enrolled in a French university and started tying up my loose ends in SF.  At the end of May, we packed up our things and turned the apartment over to its new tenant, then went from one coast to the other -- back to SC.

We had just over a week in SC, and there is never enough time to see everyone and do everything. We took a spontaneous road trip to Charleston and Savannah so he could see the South. I showed him my university and the town where I spent 6 years of my life. We spent lots of time with my dear grandmother.. And then before we knew it, time was up. We said goodbye and headed to NYC for one last trip...And then to France.

What I remember most about the summer in Lyon -- the oppressive heat that smothered everything, that forced you to close the shutters tight all day and turned you into a vampire, sitting in darkness until the sun finally set and you could venture out again.  I remember lots of Italian cooking, family style dinners, visits to Parc Miribel, and the apartment hunt that never seemed to end.

And then summer was over and it was time to go back to the US to get my student visa.. Except plans changed, and suddenly I found myself single and unemployed in the US. After a month of moping around I started to cheer up a bit and decided to use my return ticket to France to have a crazy month of euro tripping before starting to look for work in the US.

Lyon, London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Munich, Merano (Italy), Kitzbühel (Austria), Hamburg, Munich again..And finally Berlin.  It was a wonderful two months and I got to reconnect with so many old friends I haven't seen in years!

I had pizza and beer for dinner in a rooftop jacuzzi surrounded by snow-covered mountains and a beautiful starry night sky. I did a bike day trip up a 6500ft high mountain. I cooked new things with old friends. I spent an afternoon lying in the grass under a warm sun next to a beautiful man. I went into a sauna -- naked! With strangers! I saw a peep show in Amsterdam's Red Light District. I drank wine wrapped up in a blanket on a fake beach watching huge ships move in and out of Hamburg's harbor. I rode a bicycle through the twisting, tree lined streets of France and had foie gras and wine for dinner next to the Rhone. I learned that a casual relationship is ok, and can be really fun. I found solace from my breakup with B (and resulting life-implosion) by wandering alone through new cities, and reminded myself that I am my best friend.

And all of that stuff I just mentioned in the previous paragraph? Yeah, it was only from 1 October to 15 November, not including my time in Berlin.  It was an amazing year, filled with so many different events and emotions and languages... It's bittersweet because I feel the ending of the year is like the door closing on everything I had to say goodbye to this year. San Francisco, my life and my friends there.. My friends and family in SC, whom I only briefly had a chance to be with in September.. B's family in Lyon, who welcomed me into their family and homes with warmth and love, and B himself. At the same time, I am so excited to see where I will end up next.

Much love, 2013... It was the best of times, it was the worst of times!

Bacon, the Boston Terrier

French Alps

Sailing in Hawaii

Hawaii sunset

Vegas!

LA

Brooklyn bridge

Lyon, France 

Summer wedding in France with B

Big Ben, London

Amsterdam

Hamburg

Kitzbuehel

Merano, Italy

Settling in for a long night on a train

Berlin wall

2013 in Review Part 1

So, tomorrow is the big night.. The last day of the year. Let's have a recap about 2013, shall we?

January: On my BIRTHDAY -- had the worst injury of my life thus far. Severe and instantaneous swelling inside my right ankle, which was breaking apart the ligaments, tendons, and bones from the inside out. Had 9mL of liquid removed using a very large needle which went all the way through my leg, and I felt all of it because the local anesthetic wasn't working.  Pain? Yeah, now I know I can handle pain.

Best birthday ever. Not.

Missed out on a trip to Hong Kong because of that, but made it to Phuket for a very fun company Sales Kickoff. The kickoff was a pivotal point for me -- I realized how much I hated working for my manager and that I wouldn't be able to stand it much longer.

Thailand!

Thailand

Thailand

Tiger Club night

After Phuket, I visited my then-boyfriend in France. We traveled to Rome, which is when I got my first stomach virus. Definitely not the best place to get sick. I spent the weekend in the hotel bed, but my boyfriend took care of me and explored the city by himself while I was bent over the toilet.  BUT.. We arrived the day that Pope Benedict abdicated! It was a crazy time. News crews everywhere.  We also visited my brother in Naples and had amazing food courtesy of the landlord Ugo, my brother's adopted father.

Roma

Camera crews waiting for the new pope to be announced

I met Bruno's family for the first time. We visited his mother and stepfather in Condorcet, in southern France. They are very New Age, very into spirituality and healing and being at one with everything. I've never felt more at ease and relaxed than the days I spent at their home. Crazy as it sounds, they helped heal my ankle which was still messed up from a month earlier.

Then we went to Lyon, where I went to my first soccer game!  It was freezing cold but it was so much fun to jump and yell and cheer and sing the team's songs.

Olympique Lyonnais! ALLEZ L'OL!

Then at the end of March it was back to SF...

My view of the city on my way home. Little did I know it would be the last time I'd see it from here

 After my return home.. Everything changed. Literally. More to come in Installment 2