Winter holidays in Deutschland

Kels and I had a fun time in Berlin! Kels only had a few days left before flying home for Christmas, so that loomed over us the whole time. It was only a bit of a distraction though, and we were still able to fully enjoy Berlin! The artsy city gave us a new and fun attitude full of spontaneity and the need to fully live every moment. We met 3 American college students on a study abroad semester, near the Berlin wall, and ended up spending the evening and night with them. They were sweet and fun, and it was funny seeing the different attitude they held toward Europe...
The climate change coming from warm Barcelona to brisk, windy Berlin proved to be a bit of a shock for our bodies, and we got hit pretty abruptly and hard with a cold (that I'm still trying to get rid of a month later...). But we pushed through the sniffling, coughing, and tiredness, and managed to have a great few days in Berlin!
On December 22nd, we parted ways, Kelsey to Frankfurt to catch her flight home, and me to Magdeburg to my sister. It was bittersweet: we were both overwhelmed with emotions about seeing loved ones again, and returning to the rythmic and structured life, after 4 months of freedom and spontaneity. It was also sad knowing that our time traveling through Europe was coming to an end...
When I arrived in Magdeburg, I was greeted by Mareika (my 15 year old sister) who is currently living with our uncle and going to school in Germany. It was so nice seeing my uncle and ant and big cousin again who I hadn't seen for over 4 years! I stayed with them for a couple days, and then on Christmas Day we all drove to Salzwedel to my grandparent's house. Again, very nice to see the family (my oma and opa, ant and uncke, and little cousin)! We ate a TON, played cards for the majority of the waking hours of the day, and downed chocolate like there was no tomorrow (and I mean boxes and boxes!) It's always a great time, going to Germany to visit the family, but the lifestyle (and diet) are sooo completely different, and I can only take a so much of it...
On the 26th, Mareika and I caught a train up to Kiel, in northern Germany, where our big brother, Toby, picked us up! We then drove to Lütjenburg to where he lives with his girlfriend Andrea. It was the first time in 6+ years that we 3 siblings were together for Christmas...it was very special! We also got to spent a couple days with Elias, my precious nephew ♥ ! Unfortunately Toby only gets him for a couple of (tough) days every 2 weeks...custody battle... It's not a situation I would wish on any child or parent. He's only 1 1/2 years old, and it's all so confusing for him...
On New Years Eve the four of us (Toby,  Andrea, Mareika,  and I) loaded into their small car and drove to Berlin where we stayed with Andrea's mom in her small apartment until Jan. 5th.
On 31.12.13 we enjoyed the time together, ate a big dinner, drank lots of champagne, and hung out. Shortly before midnight, the 4 of us went to Alexanderplatz (central Berlin), fireworks in hand, to let 2013 go with a bang and a pop! It seemed like all of Berlin was out on the streets, and most people were setting off their own fireworks right off of the streets out of empty Sekt, Wodka, and beer bottles! Hugs, kisses, alcohol, and wishes for the 2014 filled the air!
Toby, Mareika, and Andrea went home then, and I made my way across Berlin to meet Tom (someone I had met when I was in Berlin with Kels) to go out dancing, and start off 2014 with some excitement! We ended up going to a house party and spending a great time with (new) friends until 4am, and then heading out to look for a club. After walking an hour, and then standing in line for 1/2 an hour, they asked us for 30€, EACH, to get in...AT 5AM :O ...so, we walked around the still lively Berlin for another couple hours, and then went to sleep. That day we all stayed in bed, and evidently so did most people in Berlin.
The next few days were calm and relaxing, and on the 5th Toby, Andrea, and I drove back to Lütjenburg, and Mareika back to Magdeburg (school started back up on the 7th).
I stayed with Toby and Andrea (I think I forgot to mention that she is 7 1/2 months pregnant) for the next week! It was great having a stable place to stay, a stocked kitchen (something that is greatly missed while traveling), and a bicycle I could use to go those 4Km into town. I got myself a week membership at the tiiiincy gym in Lütjenburg, and that quickly became my couple hours for myself everyday. I think I may have sparked a bit of (much needed) interest for excercise at the house as well!  Toby works weekdays 8h-17h, and then comes home exhausted, so our quality sibling time was limited but sooo great! I hadn't spent and real time with Toby since 2007, and sooo much has happened to and changed for the both of us...but inside we're still the same people we were before, so things just worked between us and it was as if we no time had gotten between us!
It was also so great to see Mareika! The dynamic there is quite different though: There are only 3 years between us (and 6 years between Toby and I), we're both girls (self explanatory), and we've been together pretty much our entire lives... It was wonderful to see her again after 4+ months of separation, and all went surprisingly smoothly for the first week...and then we went back to their same old sisterly ways. No matter how much we wished that things would change over time, it wouldn't be at all the same without that...
So, yesterday I made my way up to Denmark wher I met Mette, a friend who came to the US on exchange last year. Her and her family are being very kind and letting me stay at their house, and show me around the beautiful town of Ribe (the oldest town in Denmark). It's so wonderful to see Mette and spend time together, and I'm so grateful to have a private guide around this beautiful city so full of history!
More to come sooon!
~Iolani