as a teenager, and in college, i explored south america, oceania, and southeast asia…i just…didn’t really CARE about europe. i don’t know why. it didn’t seem exotic, romantic, or mysterious enough.

but that switch has been flipped, and after this trip, europe seems like the most wonderful and intoxicating place on the planet. (well, maybe not MOST…but it’s my current geographical craving.) i fully intend to return to europe for longer than 5 days and let the history and cobblestones seep through my shoes and into my soul.

day 5 started off on top of the alp with that crystal clear view i’d been hoping for.

from inside the room.

then had to grab one last pain au chocolat for breakfast before descending the alp.

i won’t tell you how many shots i took or how long i stood there waiting for the flag to unfurl JUST RIGHT.

i went to 3 h&m’s looking for a particular jacket…which, i could have gotten for less in the US, but i bought in switzerland on principle. i needed to have SOMETHING from my whirlwind trip to europe. 😀 i did find it, though! (mine’s red.)

after my shopping was completed…i set about exploring geneva. i only had about 4 hours until i needed to catch the train back to the airport for my flight out, but i managed to cover quite a bit of ground.

(this one MIGHT be my favorite from the day…and the water really is crazy blue.)

i love this one and the next one a whole lot as well.

these two totally don’t go together. the first one is all, “yay, pretty europe,” and the second…well, it is wrong on about 100 different levels.

pretty much the entire day was spent in the car, with a few enjoyable resting interludes…which is not to say driving wasn’t fun. i think driving on the autobahn was on my mental do-before-i-die list. (i think i’ve started about 16 written lists, but i never manage to get past about 10 things. and, of course, none of them say the same things. sometimes it’s more fun to catalog the things i HAVE done.)

JP suggested swinging by strassbourg on my way back to switzerland…in theory, this was good advice…which i intended to take. however, google maps decided that i should go through strassbourg on the way to germany…and enjoy their rush hour traffic…but it sent me back south through germany. so, on a whim, i got off at an exit. and followed signs i couldn’t read, hoping i’d find something delightful to see. i was most definitely successful…and not having ANY IDEA where i was or the name of the town added a bit of spice to my adventure.

the church on the left is in the town i came to first on my detour…it had a map just next to it…there was a castle icon, so i decided to see if i could meander my way there…i’m still not sure if i wound up there or somewhere else. ? the one on the right is in neuleiningen, the town where i finally wound up. (i figured this out by taking a picture of every sign i saw and googling when i got home.)

picture perfect german town.

wouldn’t you eat germany countryside flavored ice cream if ben and jerry’s invented that variety?

i was very happy to be standing in front of a german castle.

if these two images don’t make you want to explore, i don’t know if we could be friends.

godzilla’s practice run before he took on tokyo.

i like to think this was a prison pit. i mean, any self-respecting german castle would need one, right? on the right is the view through the bars looking up.

i am a giant dork of a wedding photographer, and i can’t help looking at this and thinking that it would be a super cool spot for a ceremony.

postcard! (seriously, fall colors…tile roofs…there is even a freaking river wending its way through the valley.)

i think this is the first hint of blue sky i saw the entire trip!

got a LITTLE too into driving european style and failed to notice that i was very nearly out of gas. don’t worry…this was taken at the gas station when i turned the car back on to show the dangerously empty tank.

every day i was there, i prayed that i’d get to see a clear view from the balcony. the night before i was due to leave…God said, “ok.” and it was still clear in the morning when i woke up! stay tuned for those images. they’re pretty freaking spectacular.