If you won’t have a chance to take a trip this summer then I recommend you read French Milk by Lucy Knisley. This was a book I picked up for the Graphic Novel Challenge and it was one that resonated with me (my review).

No, I’ve not been to France (yet) but the feelings the author captures about being away from your home and immersing yourself in another country and culture for longer than just a quick getaway are sentiments I can relate to.

I know I look at Germany with a bit of a different perspective than just as a tourist probably because my husband is German and I’ve made so many trips to Germany. Every time I come back I feel a bit disoriented and it takes me a while to get back to normal life. I actually feel like I’m leaving home.

Anyway, back to French Milk, if you have thought about going to France or want to do some armchair traveling this summer then I highly recommend it.

And, because I can’t help myself, here’s another photo of Stolberg, Germany. I want to imagine I’m there right now. Where would you like to be this summer?

Armed with my museum pass, I wandered around some amazing galleries and collections in Berlin. I finally got to visit the Neue Nationalgalerie and fell in love with a lot of the art work. One favorite painting was Kirchner’s Potsdamer Platz. We also got to see a special calligraphy exhibit and I got to spend some time with the old Masters at the Gemäldegalerie.

But what really made my museum visit special was a trip to the Altes Museum where the Egyptian collection is housed. You see, right before I went on vacation I had received Michelle Moran’s book Nefertiti. I remember hearing good things about it from some of you guys and thought it’d be a great vacation read. So I packed it up in my book bag for the trip but it didn’t dawn on me that I would actually get to see Nefertiti’s bust at the museum. The inspiration for the book!

Isn’t it fantastic? Well, I know the picture is not the best (the bust is encased in glass) but it really is dazzling and you can’t help but be amazed that such a treasure survived so many years. Aside from Nefertiti’s bust, I think my other favorites were the papyrus scrolls.

Anyway, after I saw the exhibit I quickly picked up the book and thoroughly enjoyed it (my review). The only thing I had a hard time with at first were the dates that the author notes in the beginning of the chapters. I didn’t realize that there is a calendar in the glossary that explains these. So don’t forget to check that out when you read the book. As I was nearing the end of the book I had so many questions about what could have happened afterwards and what do you know, there is a sequel coming out this August. Yay. I will definitely be looking for it.