As the train coasted to a stop in the town of Freiburg I looked out the window and thought, I should've brought a rain coat.
The entire time I was there it poured. I'm not talking Seattle drizzle that likes to pester us by not letting up from about late October to June, either. I'm talking New York rain. Walls of water angrily pelting you so that you're dripping wet after 8 seconds. But unlike New York it didn't stop after 10 minutes. It stopped while I was boarding the train for Munich two days later.
Despite being freezing, I will say this: Freiburg might be the cutest little town I've ever seen. The impression I had as I made my way to the Black Forest Hostel was that it was a town I could see myself living in if I ever develop an urge to move to Germany.
Everything in Freiburg is cobblestone and fairy-tale architecture. It's a small university community tucked next to the very edge of The Black Forest. (Hence the clever name of my hostel, which sat at the base of a steep, sloping winery which was visible every morning through a thin fog.)
This is the famed forest that Hansel and Gretl disappeared into.
Because of the rain I stayed inside for most of my two days, so I didnt get any pictures unfortunately.
The one time I did leave was my "quick run" to the grocery store where, and this will surprise zero percent of the people who know me well, I got lost.
Badly.
Apparently, according to the girl at the front desk of the hostel, the store was only a half mile. Making no other stops but to buy my food, I returned almost 3 hours later, and after a lot of help from outrageously friendly Germans.
But, I would like to say (and think) I would bet many people would have had troubles getting to the store. Albeit, maybe not as many, but...
That would be the one negative comment I could make about Freiburg. It's hard to navigate. Street names change from one winding block to the next, and one twisty street may be only one letter off from being called the same thing as another going the opposite direction.
Because of the weather I spent most of my experience in town locked inside with all the other travelers at Black Forest Hostel and, more specifically, with the Latvian musicians that had gotten stranded there after getting "wine poisoning."
I'm still not sure whether it was the amount they drank or the actual brand that did them in but, either way, I was happy to have them for company.
My last night was spent cooking a big spaghetti dinner with them, sharing some bread they'd brought in France, and the two of them splitting what they dubbed "a safe" bottle of wine.
The next morning I decided to buy a new pair of shoes. Mistakenly, I brought only two pairs of flip-flops (one of which went mysteriously missing in D.C) and a pair of slipper boots I bought in New York last October.
Neither were particularly appropriate for the weather and it had come down to me choosing between wearing shoes that allowed every little pebble to lodge itself in my foot, or the ones that were soaking through and giving me blisters.
A brief amount of perusing led me straight to a gorgeous pair of boots and I was excited when I found the tag marked 38. I did some quick math and figured, Well...what the hell? That's only 50 bucks US. Why not?
I looked for my size, but couldn't see where it was printed, so I tried shoving my feet into the ones on display. They fit perfectly! As if they'd been custom made! However, as I brought my feet back out I had a sticky tag plastered to my foot. It said 199 Euro.
Quickly I deduced that 38 wasn't the price, threw my slipper boots back on, and ran out the door and away from horrendous prices!
On the bright side, I know now what shoe size I wear in Europe!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Willkommen!
This is my first full day somewhere, and it´s a great place to spend it. I´m in the walled town of Rothenburg. It´s one of the last preserved midevil places in Germany.
This is what the entrance to the town looks like:
Getting here was an exercise in patience. The frustration was partially self-induced, and partially things just happen.
Sitting on my train in Frankfurt awaiting the departure, it came to me that I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. I knew I wanted to go to Rothenburg (a two-transfer, 3 hour trip South), but I´d only been told of it that morning, grabbed my bag, and marched straight to the train station.
It never occurs to me to think that I might not be able to do something or that, even if I can, it may be hard. It wasn´t until I was sitting there that I realized I hadn´t an idea how far it was, where it really was, or if I´d find a place to sleep upon arriving.
It took me 3 hours longer to get there than it should´ve, of course, but I did it.
I did end find a youth hostel, though it was full, and I ended up shelling out 28 Euro for a little bed and breakfast that was the next cheapest place in town. I have to admit, it may have been worth it to get a full 8 hours of sleep. My night in Frankfurt definitely didn´t provide me with that luxury.
Already I felt a little ill that night from a dinner that was the result of a long search for something vegetarian. I settled on a "Chinese" restaurant. However, it was very different from any other Chinese place I´ve ever been. I´m fairly certain the one dressing they used to flavor the food, "soy sauce," was actually gasoline.
I didn´t want to be rude, so I picked out all the vegetables, piled all the noodles to one side of the plate to make it look like I´d eaten more than I had, and asked for a box. But, eating only the vegetables hadn´t saved me and my stomach was on fire. That, with the jetlag, made me call it an early night.
Actually, everyone in my dorm room at Hostel Frankfurt was asleep by 9:30pm which meant that, at midnight, when a couple who appeared to be in their late 30´s burst thorught the door they woke all of us up. Then they came in, turned on the light, and proceeded to have a 15 minute conversation in daytime-voices at the foot of their bed. Afterwards, they hopped in the shower together leaving the light on in our room.
I´ve seen a lot of wierd, funny, and disturbing things in all my hosteling days but, aside from people stealing things, that may have been the most rude. Especially because the Japanese girl sleeping in the bunk above them (yes, them, they squeezed into the bed together) had to be up at 4am to catch her train to Switzerland.
Rothenburg is a perfect change of pace. I spent my morning today reading Yeats and drinking a coffee here:
It was lovely. I laid there on a bench at the outdoor theatre watching the fall leaves lazily glide from the trees just on the other side of the huge stone wall. I´m finding to be the fall an ideal time to be visiting Europe. Most of the tourists are gone. Yes, there are a lot of people wandering town, but they´re mostly Germans on holiday.
Here are a few more pictures of Rothenburg:
I´m off to explore!
This is what the entrance to the town looks like:
Getting here was an exercise in patience. The frustration was partially self-induced, and partially things just happen.
Sitting on my train in Frankfurt awaiting the departure, it came to me that I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. I knew I wanted to go to Rothenburg (a two-transfer, 3 hour trip South), but I´d only been told of it that morning, grabbed my bag, and marched straight to the train station.
It never occurs to me to think that I might not be able to do something or that, even if I can, it may be hard. It wasn´t until I was sitting there that I realized I hadn´t an idea how far it was, where it really was, or if I´d find a place to sleep upon arriving.
It took me 3 hours longer to get there than it should´ve, of course, but I did it.
I did end find a youth hostel, though it was full, and I ended up shelling out 28 Euro for a little bed and breakfast that was the next cheapest place in town. I have to admit, it may have been worth it to get a full 8 hours of sleep. My night in Frankfurt definitely didn´t provide me with that luxury.
Already I felt a little ill that night from a dinner that was the result of a long search for something vegetarian. I settled on a "Chinese" restaurant. However, it was very different from any other Chinese place I´ve ever been. I´m fairly certain the one dressing they used to flavor the food, "soy sauce," was actually gasoline.
I didn´t want to be rude, so I picked out all the vegetables, piled all the noodles to one side of the plate to make it look like I´d eaten more than I had, and asked for a box. But, eating only the vegetables hadn´t saved me and my stomach was on fire. That, with the jetlag, made me call it an early night.
Actually, everyone in my dorm room at Hostel Frankfurt was asleep by 9:30pm which meant that, at midnight, when a couple who appeared to be in their late 30´s burst thorught the door they woke all of us up. Then they came in, turned on the light, and proceeded to have a 15 minute conversation in daytime-voices at the foot of their bed. Afterwards, they hopped in the shower together leaving the light on in our room.
I´ve seen a lot of wierd, funny, and disturbing things in all my hosteling days but, aside from people stealing things, that may have been the most rude. Especially because the Japanese girl sleeping in the bunk above them (yes, them, they squeezed into the bed together) had to be up at 4am to catch her train to Switzerland.
Rothenburg is a perfect change of pace. I spent my morning today reading Yeats and drinking a coffee here:
It was lovely. I laid there on a bench at the outdoor theatre watching the fall leaves lazily glide from the trees just on the other side of the huge stone wall. I´m finding to be the fall an ideal time to be visiting Europe. Most of the tourists are gone. Yes, there are a lot of people wandering town, but they´re mostly Germans on holiday.
Here are a few more pictures of Rothenburg:
I´m off to explore!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Last Day in D.C
I haven't been away from home long enough to feel nostalgia when I say my 3 1/2 days in D.C has made me tanner than an entire Seattle summer did.
That said, there are a lot of ways in which it's different here.
It's likely just this small pocket of the city & the areas I've chosen to explore, but the place reeks of wealth, success, and people eagerly clamoring for their generous helping of both. Though, as is usually the case when you have a city full of BMW's and Prada handbags, the streets are also full of homeless people.
Aside from the money thing this city also just reeks in general. Or, at least my neighborhood. They're draining the sewers, and all the food from the international festival a block away, nor the exhaust from the tour buses has the ability to mask the smell of waste.
Don't get me wrong, D.C has a lot more going for it than sunshine, yuppies, and poo. I've had a really good time here! Thanks, mainly, to the Smithsonian museums. I went to eight during the last few days.
My favorites: The Air and Space Museum. They had the very first plane the Wright Brother's built and flew, and I listened to an informative talk given by a former astronaut about his time in space.
The National Portrait Gallery. I was at first a bit disappointed they didn't have any paintings by Rafuse (who I fell in love with when I was 18 after a painting of his inspired me to write a children's story that got me an A in Creative Writing). But they more than made up for their omission of his work, which may have been too abstract for their museum as it was,when I discovered the indoor courtyard oasis. It is full of trees and natural light prisiming down through an all glass ceiling. Gorgeous!
Museum of Natural History. One word: Dinosaurs! Full scale, built with skeletal pieces.
My 1st full day I saw Arlington Cemetery. I had to elbow my way to JFK and Jackie O's grave site so the pictures didn't turn out too well. Nothing like a couple hundred international tourists to interfere with a steadycam shot! After taking the picture I felt a little confused about what drives people to take pictures of graves anyway, so I'm not going to post it here.
That said, there are a lot of ways in which it's different here.
It's likely just this small pocket of the city & the areas I've chosen to explore, but the place reeks of wealth, success, and people eagerly clamoring for their generous helping of both. Though, as is usually the case when you have a city full of BMW's and Prada handbags, the streets are also full of homeless people.
Aside from the money thing this city also just reeks in general. Or, at least my neighborhood. They're draining the sewers, and all the food from the international festival a block away, nor the exhaust from the tour buses has the ability to mask the smell of waste.
Don't get me wrong, D.C has a lot more going for it than sunshine, yuppies, and poo. I've had a really good time here! Thanks, mainly, to the Smithsonian museums. I went to eight during the last few days.
My favorites: The Air and Space Museum. They had the very first plane the Wright Brother's built and flew, and I listened to an informative talk given by a former astronaut about his time in space.
The National Portrait Gallery. I was at first a bit disappointed they didn't have any paintings by Rafuse (who I fell in love with when I was 18 after a painting of his inspired me to write a children's story that got me an A in Creative Writing). But they more than made up for their omission of his work, which may have been too abstract for their museum as it was,when I discovered the indoor courtyard oasis. It is full of trees and natural light prisiming down through an all glass ceiling. Gorgeous!
Museum of Natural History. One word: Dinosaurs! Full scale, built with skeletal pieces.
My 1st full day I saw Arlington Cemetery. I had to elbow my way to JFK and Jackie O's grave site so the pictures didn't turn out too well. Nothing like a couple hundred international tourists to interfere with a steadycam shot! After taking the picture I felt a little confused about what drives people to take pictures of graves anyway, so I'm not going to post it here.
I also took no pictures at the Pentagon because apparently it's not allowed post 9/11. (The remnants of which can still be seen by the marble they laid over the original exterior which is a few shades different than the rest.) Here are some of the picture I did take:
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