I recently felt inspired to sit down and write about some of my stories that I haven’t shared before. When I started the blog, I covered a lot of ground writing about both summertime and wintertime. But I want to focus on the latter for this one, because without a doubt, it was the most special time in my life—the time when I met Johana, when I found salvation from all the disaster that had just passed, and, moreover, a period of pure magic that words will never fully capture.

Lübeck and the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital.

After my life took a massive U-turn in Levi, and after I had returned from another failed opportunity in Prague, I found myself back at TSH—a mess and completely unsure of what came next. The universe had pulled me back, and it became clear why shortly after my return. Johana, whom I had known since the first day I arrived in Germany after leaving the U.S.A., had also fallen into a low point in life. In this difficult period, we found each other.

“When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change”

Johana and I had always been good friends during the time we’d known each other. When I left for Finland, we promised we’d write letters to one another, as we were both fond of the idea of handwritten notes. We were always the quieter, more introverted types, so during campfires and dinners in the summer, we often related to each other as the quiet ones on the edge of the activity.

Everyone had left TSH. Only a few staff members came by now and then to work reception hours during the holidays. The weather was beginning to get cold, and the days were very short in the north. And so it was here that Johana and I found ourselves—alone in an empty hotel. We moved into H5 together (the flat at the top of the reception building) so as not to be so alone, and we decided to decorate the flat for Christmas.

It was here in Lübeck, while looking for things to decorate with, that Johana and I shared a beautiful time in this Christmas-themed Hanseatic city. Our time was effortless, free, and pure magic. We went from store to store, picking up little things for the flat and simply enjoying each other’s company. It felt like a date—without any of the pretense of one.

The centerpiece of the Christmas market was a massive Ferris wheel right in the town square. While walking around, Johana asked me if I had ever been on a Ferris wheel before. I told her no. She took my hand, and we got straight into line. It was well worth it—the views were incredible, and the joy we both felt watching the man whose job it was to spin us around left us overwrought with happiness.

Before the night was over, we followed up on a suggestion from a stranger we’d met on the bus into the city. An older woman sitting across from us had noticed us talking and chimed in, asking about the two of us. She suggested we visit the hospital in the city—an old one that, during Christmastime, is transformed into a massive indoor marketplace in the most beautiful setting. The hospital was right near the Ferris wheel, so we walked over to take a look inside. Again, it was well worth it. The interior was angelic, and the markets were incredible to browse in such a setting.

It was all a Christmas miracle—and we hadn’t even reached Christmas Day yet.

Berlin, Slumberland

A friend of Johana’s and mine had left for a grand European tour with his friend a few weeks prior to Johana’s and my night out in Lübeck. He was to return to TSH soon so he could pick up his things before flying back home to South America. But before this, his final stop was in Berlin, so Johana and I decided we wanted to go join him. We also told another one of our friends from TSH about this reunion, and the temptation convinced her to jump on the first flight in the morning from Venice to Berlin. So quite the reunion it was set to be.

At this point, I was honestly starting to have some feelings for Johana after what had just happened in Lübeck days earlier. So the entire train ride into Berlin had this special tension between us—much like the scenes between Celine and Jesse in the Before series.

We arrived at Berlin Hbf, and I checked Johana into her spaceship capsule hostel, (remember, she’s an Alien) which she had wanted to try for weeks after seeing it. I was staying nearby in another hostel. By this point, it was about 6 o’clock. Our Venetian friend was arriving in about two hours, so we just rested up before agreeing to all meet at the Lustgarten in front of the Berlin Cathedral.

It was great seeing our friend again, and the setting was magical—Berlin, Christmas markets, cold winter air. We walked around the markets for a few hours and tried some bread bowl soup (the goulash was the best 🤤) before checking back into our hostels for the night.

The next day, our other friends had arrived, so the five of us met up at Brandenburg Gate in the morning. We walked down Unter den Linden, viewed the memorials, and goofed around a little bit on our way to visit a South American goods store. Johana was looking for some dulce de leche, and seeing as half of us were from Uruguay, it was fitting.

The activity of choice for the rest of the morning was thrift shopping around the city. We checked out a few places, but the best by far was this spot just off Alexanderplatz. The selection was incredible, but for some reason, we all gravitated towards the hats. Johana and I were off walking around together, trying on different ones. One of the hats looked especially great on her—she was hesitant, but I insisted, and so we got it. Since then, this hat has become part of her identity, haha.

I was awake really early that morning, walking around the city alone before meeting up with everyone. So by this point, I was a dead man walking, and I went back to rest for a few hours.

That evening, I decided I wanted to go out to one of Berlin’s famous clubs. Months prior, another friend of mine had introduced me to the world of nightclubs, and at this point, I was still drawn to them. In hindsight, I don’t believe my desire was coming from a pure place. I was still finding myself after all the mess in my life leading up to then. Over the summer, I had gone out maybe a dozen times into the night to lose myself in the techno clubs of Germany. It was a lot of fun, and I’m very glad I experienced it all. This night ended up being my final visit.

I walked around the city alone that night, meditating deeply on everything that had happened up to that point. My visit to the club didn’t have any of the magic it once held for me. For many reasons, I think that night I decided I was done with it.

In the morning, I found a nice café, where I sat down and wrote about all of this. Much later that evening, we had all agreed to meet up at Schlossgarten Charlottenburg, as this Christmas market was supposed to be one of the grandest in the city. It didn’t disappoint either. We all grabbed some Glühwein and walked around the market until it closed.

Afterward, we all agreed to visit a bar back in the city center. David Bowie was supposedly a regular there back in the day. It was cheap, popular with young people, and had sandy floors—the perfect cocktail for a great evening.

When we arrived late that evening, it was completely full inside, as it was freezing outside. Nevertheless, we chose to stay and took a seat outdoors with our drinks. Johana and I sat next to one another. We all talked and talked, knowing that this was likely the last time we’d all be together. We were each about to go our separate ways, and this was our final night as a group. So we made the most of it.

All the while, something special was brewing. Johana had gone quiet. She grabbed an empty cigarette box and began writing something on it. It was mysterious, sexy, and grabbed my attention like nothing else. We were all shivering from the cold, and it was about time to head home for the night. We all got up, and Johana left her note on the table. I asked if she was going to take it, to which she responded that it was for anyone who was interested. I grabbed it without her noticing, and we all walked to the bus stop and said goodnight.

The contents of the note left a major impression on me. I walked the long way back to my hostel, deeply contemplating what it meant…

In the morning, before leaving Berlin, Johana and I met up ahead of our scheduled meetup with everyone else to catch our train back to TSH. We had a few hours to kill, so we went to the DDR Museum together. Much like our train ride earlier, we were alone again, and that same tension was there—only stronger now.

The train ride back to TSH was very long, and it wasn’t until late that night that we all arrived. Our friends were supposed to stay and spend a week before their flight back home.

A Leipzig Love Story

Something truly magical had happened over the next week at TSH. Our friends were sharing our flat, and it was difficult to find moments of quiet. So much was on my mind, and I needed a way to communicate my thoughts as Johana and I grew closer. We had promised to be pen pals before I left for Finland. So late at night, I sat down with a candle, wrote my feelings to her, and slipped the letter under her door. We exchanged a few more letters during that time, and after our friends left us, we shared our first kiss.

Now it was just about time for Christmas.

We were both far away from our families and had no idea what to do in TSH. So we set out to Leipzig to spend Christmas with another one of our friends. He wasn’t in the greatest shape himself—he had just gone through a breakup, was living alone, and working a job that was draining him. So we felt it was only right to go and cheer him up.

The city, our friend, the Christmas spirit—it was all just right. We spent those days between my hostel and our friend’s flat. We watched a show we all loved, and Johana and I fell deeper and deeper into each other’s arms. We exchanged Christmas gifts, visited more markets, and cooked some big meals together.

It was the most memorable Christmas of my life…

For our final day on this journey, Johana and I decided to go to Dresden—just the two of us. We left early in the morning and spent the entire day walking around, talking, and exploring the city. Most memorably, we shared some Glühwein in the Neumarkt of Dresden during golden hour.

It was all so perfect, I found myself looking up and saying, “Gracias, Dios,” as it was all so magical and unreal. The only possible explanation was that an angel had been sent down to Earth—kind of like George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life. Especially considering how I had been feeling before this holiday season.

I could now confidently say that Johana was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with…

Winter in Brodten

And there it was—Johana and I were together. We had an entire hotel to ourselves in the dead of winter. We didn’t have any responsibilities for weeks, not until March when guests started to return. We pretty much just cooked, watched movies, went for walks along the beach, and spent entire days talking and making H5 our home.

One of our friends came to visit us, we went to Amsterdam, Johana went to Venice, and I started this blog. It was a period of abundant free time—a perfect cauldron for us to grow together.

I love Johana. I plan to travel as far as we can together and to spend the rest of my life with her. I also couldn’t possibly have imagined a more magical setting for us to have met.

So I must say it again…
“Gracias, Dios… gracias por mi ángel, por H5, por este milagro navideño.”