The last few days in Berlin

11.01.2018 So there we were: On the Condor plane; happy to have secured two seats by the emergency exit; ready for the long flight from Frankfurt to Seattle, our first short stop on the way to our adventure called Work and Travel in Canada.

It was almost forgotten that we had panicked 24 hours earlier in our apartment in Berlin, packing boxes, tidying up and cleaning. But from the beginning (at least almost).

Many weeks before our departure to the new world on 11.01.2018, we had started packing boxes with clothes and personal belongings, which should be safely stored with the family during our absence. So we started early, but we underestimated the amount of clothes and items. So it looked at our farewell party a few days before departure as if all talk of Canada in the months before was just empty words. There was still a lot to do, a lot. The last three days before the start of our adventure were packed. From 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., packing boxes and suitcases, storing them, checking important documents. Again and again.

Wednesday morning it felt like we were facing another 12-hour day of packing boxes. But wait. Today we were supposed to go to Frankfurt by train... around noon. So it was tight. At some point about 1.5 hours before departure we finally managed to pack all the boxes and suitcases. Now tidy up the apartment. Just as we were about to start, the doorbell rang. It was Patrick's mother and grandmother. 'Great,' we thought, 'the best time for a family visit.' Our skepticism quickly turned into relief as we managed to do everything in time with their help - lucky us - and were even taken to the train station - double lucky.

Arriving at the train station, we impatiently waited for our train. At least Bella and I were impatient. After all, we had been looking forward to this moment when it finally starts for 10 months. During our visit, it looked a bit different: the two of them seemed to realize for the first time that they would not see each other for the next few months. After the farewell, we sat on the train and realized that it was now time for us to start.

The train journey went smoothly. In the early evening of 10.01., we arrived at Frankfurt Airport, where we took advantage of the early check-in to get rid of our heavy luggage and secure good seats with plenty of legroom. Our flight was not until the next day. Trusting in the German Railways and their general vulnerability to weather, we did not want to take any risks. We were lucky again and got the last two seats in front of one of the many emergency exits. Relieved with two large backpacks, we went back to the train station and took the next S-Bahn towards Rüsselsheim. That's where our hotel was, which provided us with shelter for the last night of our stay in Germany. The next morning, we started half asleep and with full stomachs towards the airport. After a long wait at the security checkpoint and an even longer wait at the check-in, we were sitting in our seats: on the Condor plane; happy to have secured two seats by the emergency exit; ready for the long flight from Frankfurt to Seattle, our first short stop on the way to our adventure called Work and Travel in Canada.