Jiggity jig.

Sackville is very pretty in August, albeit a tad muggy. I discovered a random roll of film from last summer on one of my developing sprees this year, so I’ve included a few photos in this post to reaffirm (to myself, more than anyone else) that the place to which I have returned is beautiful as well.

For some audio accompaniment, here is The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” to match my nostalgic mood, and also to honour Chappy and Greg’s lovely Beatles-themed wedding from this weekend:

The past two weeks have been incredibly hectic. In a nutshell, I’ve been busy saying goodbye to some amazing people in Vienna (for now, anyway); packing up the apartment and moving back across the ocean; attending Mel and Graeme’s wedding near Murray Corner; making a cake and having birthday celebrations with one half of my twin siblings; going to Chappy’s bachelorette party and then her and Greg’s wedding near Bathurst; reuniting with lovely friends only to face saying more goodbyes in a week or two; coming to terms with living in a small Canadian town again; and starting a research/writing job.

In short, I haven’t even had time to unpack my suitcases yet. My room is chaos.

Since I’ve come home, however, I have had some time to develop the seven rolls of film I took while adventuring in various countries (thanks to Walmart, a capitalist wasteland that I did not miss while I was away). I now have some writing to catch up on. On the plus side, there are definitely way fewer distractions here in little Sackville, so I will have plenty of time to reminisce and second-guess myself about whether the past year was real, or just a dream…

I clearly have the not-uncommon predilection for taking photos of cloud formations. Geographer’s daughter, go figure. And watching the wide spaces over a small town while the day edges itself into sunset provides the perfect conditions for these shots. Irresistible.

I also take way too many generic, calendar-looking photos of flowers when I live in Sackville, apparently. Cities offer a lot more visual stimulation, clearly, and it’s impossible to remain uninspired when city-hopping all over the place. But I digress.

Today I did the tally, and figured out that I went to/traveled through 14 countries and 27 cities or towns in the past ten months. Not too shabby, considering my visa came almost two months late and I spent a month in France, and we traveled on a student budget most of the time.

The List

1. Vienna (Austria)
2. Strasbourg (France)
3. Paris (France)
4. London (UK)
5. Berlin (Germany)
6. Frankfurt/Offenbach (Germany)
7. Krakow (Poland)
8. Auschwitz (Poland)
9. Dublin (Ireland)
10. Galway (Ireland)
11. Bratislava (Slovakia)
12. Baden (Austria)
13. Budapest (Hungary)
14. Brussels (Belgium)
15. Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
16. The Hague (The Netherlands)
17. Wiener Neustadt (Austria)
18. Prague (Czech Republic)
19. Kutná Hora (Czech Republic)
20. Rome (Italy)
21. Naples (Italy)
22. Pompeii (Italy)
23. Venice (Italy)
24. Ljubljana (Slovenia)
25. Maribor (Slovenia)
26. Belgrade (Serbia)
27. Živica (Serbia)

I could have crammed a different city into every weekend if I was a better planner and I was just going for an impressive country count, but it was important to me to spend as much time in Vienna as possible. It’s no wonder Mink considers it her hometown. I have never seen a city that is as breathtaking on a daily basis. Thus, I am proud to have acquired some awesome stories from each of these places. And, of course, there are photos and stories still to come for the last eight on that list. More significantly, this list is just a modest beginning. (At least, I hope I am fortunate enough to travel more in my life. It’s an addiction.)

Canada is home for the next little while, but I have no idea what comes next…

Probably more pictures of clouds and green things, at the very least.