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Here it is, the last travel blog. I'm not sitting in a hostel or train, I'm not in a foreign city or remote place. I am sitting at home at our dining table with my laptop.

It took me a while to start this last entry. I have been back in Germany for over two weeks. As long as my trip seemed to me, as long it seems that I am back home. But I still wanted to write about my last days traveling.

Yes, I just had to check the last blog again, I have no idea what I wrote there anymore. Cork didn't even really stick in my mind, so I guess it wasn't that spectacular. Although it was nice to pay in Euros again. I was really lucky with my hostel people as usual, every night there was a snorer in the bed above me. But hey, that's what earplugs were invented for. I also stayed only 2 nights until it went on to Dublin.

Dublin was a really nice city, although quite crowded. I strolled through the streets and across the university campus, through the parks and alleys and along the countless pubs. One day I walked all the way to the beach, unfortunately it had rained so hard that you could only guess the next 50 meters. Dublin was the last stop in Ireland until I took the ferry back to the UK on Friday. Wales was the stop before I went on to London. Actually, I was just hiking there, Snowdonia National Park didn't have many other options to offer. Okay, I was also car-less, you usually don't get that far anyway. Of course I kept up my traditions and got lost. But the actual path led over a private property, no one could have seen that!

When I took the train into London Marylebone, I was a bit teary-eyed. It was like coming home. My favorite bus, the 205, took me down Euston Road, past Tottenham Court Road, my regular Pret, and beautiful Kings Cross Station. I was back. The hustle and bustle, the red buses, the familiar streets, finally I had it all around me again. And finally I could see my friends again!

I stayed with Mariam again. God, it was nice to spend time with her! She is one of those warm and loving people whose positive vibes you just need in your life. We walked along the Thames, sat on a bench by City Hall and chatted about the past weeks. The skyscrapers of Liverpool Street turned on the lights and slowly it dawned. At that moment, I could not imagine ever leaving London again.

Good, I had two more days there too. Tuesday I went out for lunch with Joe and in the evening I went to a pub with Adam. What else haha. It wasn't easy to say goodbye to those two. Yes, I know I will visit them. But it's not the same. How many times has Joe spontaneously dropped by the Townhouse, how many times have Adam and I tasted our way through the pubs in the City? How many vegan cafes did Mariam and I recommend to each other, how many more times did Erhuore go out with us in the evening? I didn't want to miss it. I didn't want to miss out on living there.

And yet, on Wednesday evening, I boarded the Eurostar and set off for Paris.

Some people rave about Paris, some say it's completely overrated. I'm definitely one of the gushers. Paris has a certain magic, much like London and Berlin, which are just authentic cities. It was the perfect distraction from my grief over London, majestic monuments, bistros and ornate balconies. Yes, I may have put Paris on my list of possible places to live during those two days there.

But even that magic ended when I boarded the train to Cologne. Not without a bag full of macarons and pain au chocolats for my family, of course.

And now I am here again. In Germany, my old childhood home. I don't think I've quite realized yet that the year is over. Maybe it's better at the moment to block everything out a bit. Just conserve the memories and hold on to the feeling of life before a new phase begins. Even though it makes me incredibly happy to be back home and to see my family and friends every day, it makes me just as sad not to be in London every day. Because it has become just as much my home, and my friends there my family far away.