Back to Westphalia

Our flight from Adelaide was the first destination on a 3-leg trip back to the Old World. Only two days ago we had a farewell dinner at our friend's house, where we made our famous Uzbek pilaf in a beautiful Cruisette and drank Barossa wine. We sat outside and I tried to soak in that last impressions of Australia - the fresh pungent scent of eucalyptus, passion fruit vine growing on the fence, the people with whom we had dined. I wondered when I'd come here again...

We flew over Adelaide. Last minute squabble with the management of the apartment, the stress of waiting for the notorious Adelaide taxi service whose only consistency was its consistently being late, days of packing and negotiating with kids on what to leave and what to take - all of this was left behind. The plane soared above Glenelg and the ocean sparkled an unbelievable torquise blue. I could not believe how beautiful it looked and while the boys were chiming "Bye, Glenelg", a pang of sadness stabbed me. I grew fond of Adelaide, the ocean, our new routines and I knew I'd miss it so!

The flight from Australia was uneventful and I couldn't help envy my children who had slept through most of the flights to Singapore and Frankfurt. We landed in Germany and took a train to Wuppertal, another cute Westphalia town.

Luckily, Europe met us nicely - the weather was over 25C and it was April 1.