I said I had five weeks to pack, but I did it in one.

I ended up shipping seven boxes. It took them three days to get to Cologne and another five to clear Customs. When they arrived and we unpacked, the apartment started feeling more like home.

Enzo’s export paperwork got signed-off (and stamped) by his Vet, the USDA, the airline, and German Customs at Munich airport. Many stamps involved! I walked out of Customs with two suitcases, Enzo, and a box. It was a big relief to make it to Germany. Enzo got his relief when he peed for what seemed like a full minute on one of the trash cans outside the terminal, and pooped right in the middle of the outdoor airport plaza.

We found Enzo a veterinarian. She examined him and issued his Euro Zone passport. Now he can travel around Europe without a problem. We also found a great place to board him when we can’t take him on a trip.

Knowing where one grocery store is located isn’t enough. You have to know at least four (even if they’re the same chain). It takes a long time to figure out what you want when the packaging is in a language you don’t understand. Is Der Cremige 0,1% Fett the yogurt I like? And what the heck is Quark? I thought it was a proton, but there’s an entire refrigerated wall of it in all flavors and percentages of fat content.

Google makes it easy to find an English version of the operator guides for the oven and washing machine, rather than trying to figure out what the clever pictures mean, or what the nine programmed (and customizable) laundry loads, labeled in German, do to your clothes for the two-plus hours it cycles.

All that and a new adventure every day . . . so far so good!