After I checked into my hostel in Frankfurt, I walked across the street to meet Aunt Sarah (mom’s best friend) and Ben, her husband. They decided to take a trip to Germany rather unexpectedly thus why I decided to go to Frankfurt. I’d e-mailed Aunt Sarah requesting that she meet me in the lobby of their hotel at 8 pm so we could discuss our plans for the next couple days, but they weren’t there at 8 so I wasn’t sure she’d gotten her mail. I told the receptionist to look out for them and if they came in to tell them I was in the hostel across the street.
After I got back to my hostel, I’d only been there about 10 minutes when one of the hostel workers knocked on the door and said that Sarah and Ben were waiting for Lauren below. It was so nice to see them! It’s been a while since I’ve seen a face from home. We chatted about their time in Munich and their visit with Ben’s cousin in Frankfurt earlier in the day.
Our accommodations were only three minutes from the train station, which was great, but they were in the red light district. I already knew this, as I’d read it online when I looked for a hostel close to their hotel, but the web assured me that while it might look a little gritty, it is plenty safe. Aunt Sarah however was NOT happy with the location, and thus they had booked a different hotel for the next two nights. I looked into moving to a new hostel closer to them, but it just wasn’t worth it for me since 1) I like to sleep late and being 3 min from the station is ideal, and 2) I was only planning on sleeping there and not walking around after dark.
We decided to meet the next morning at the station at 9:30 and catch a train to Freiburg which is on the edge of the black forest and is the biking capital of Germany, as well as the sunshine capital of Germany. Aunt Sarah and Ben love to bike, so we planned to take the 2 hour train there, then bike around the area for a few hours.
When we arrived in Freiburg we had a bit of a time finding a call shop (so A. Sarah could talk to her travel agent about the hotel stuff), then we had to find a bathroom (in the McDonalds), then the bike shop which required a 100 euro deposit for the 3 bikes, and thus we had to search for an ATM which took forever. Thus, we didn’t start biking until about 2 pm. The bike shop guy pointed out a big hill on the map right inside the forest where one can see all the way to France. We started biking in what we thought was that direction. We followed a bike right along the river which was quite stunning and the weather was perfect temperature; however, every time we stopped at a cross road, we couldn’t find it on the map. At one point we stood there looking at the map and big rain drops started falling on us, so I pulled out my umbrella and held it over the three of us as we gazed at the map. Finally a guy pulled up in a car and asked if we needed help,
then proceeded to tell us where we wanted to go was in the opposite direction. This is why three directionally impaired people should not travel together. Lol Actually, I think I’m pretty good with directions now (compared to how I was) but I hadn’t even been listening when the guy gave Ben directions to the overlook, so I was really no use in that situation. As we biked back where we’d come from, the rain started pouring harder and harder. Ben yelled up to us to stop under the next overpass where we put all our important things in a waterproof bag Ben had. To protect my backpack, they had an extra poncho that I wore over my bag. I looked like a giant orange, wet pumpkin - in the sunshine capital of Germany. Go figure. We started out again, but my capris, shoes, and face got really soaked. It was the oddest feeling, having what felt like tears running down my face but knowing I wasn’t crying. After about 30 minutes of rain it stopped and suddenly the sun appeared. Off came the ponchos and from thereon out it was warm and lovely.
We finally made it to the bottom of the hill with the overlook, so we parked our bikes there and hiked up. On the way there was a beer garden and (according to the Rick Steves book that Sarah and Ben had) all beer gardens are required to allow the public to use the restroom free of charge because they replaced the public restrooms. Well, Rick pulled through on this one because we used it once on the way up and once on the way down without anyone getting mad at us.
From the overlook we really could see all of Freiburg and all the way into France. It was a great view! Oh, and we also stumbled upon a couple making out hard core in the grass on the way up. This seems a common public practice in Germany, but the fact that they didn’t care at all that we walked by was really the funniest thing.
Back at the bottom we got our bikes and rode around the little suburb of Freiburg that was right there. The town was so quaint with cobblestone streets and people playing live music and everyone outside, eating ice cream and chatting with friends. We made it to the center with a big cathedral and open square, found some ice cream, and sat down enjoying the atmosphere as we ate. One of the interesting things about this little town was that there were little gullies running through it with water inside. Some were bigger than others. Some kids had their feet splashing in one, another was being enjoyed by a dog, some just had plastic ducks floating in them (placed there with anchors by local shop owners). Apparently the legend is that if you fall into one you will marry a Freiburger. 
When we finished our ice cream we started biking back toward the station/bike rental place. We arrived about 5:20 and thus had plenty of time to return the bikes and make our 5:49 train back to Frankfurt. We arrived back in Frankfurt about 8 pm, and got sandwiches from the station, checked the train schedule for the next days trip, and then went our separate ways. I never felt scared going to and from my hostel and no one ever said anything to me (though if I were a guy perhaps I’d be solicited, who knows). Also, it doesn’t get dark here until about 10 pm.
The next morning I had to meet them at the station at 8 am (yeah, I was thrilled about that, let me tell you); however, we needed to catch the 8:12 train to this little town along the Rhine where we would start our river Rhine cruise. This was free with my Eurorail pass, which was really
great, and we cruised down the river from 10:15 until 11:55 seeing castle after castle lining the river from when the area used to be about 90 individually owned areas run by robber barons. Apparently they used to put chains across the river and taxed people who tried to sail by - which means at one point you could be taxed every couple hundred yards. Crazy! Anyway, these castles were not bombed during WWII, apparently because they were recognized as being beautiful, old, and historically important. We departed the ship in St. Goar to actually get out and explore the castle there. It was pretty cool which excellent views over the river valley, other castles, and the vineyards that ran up and down the hillsides. This particular castle was built in the 1200s. After the castle we were really hungry so we went into the town and found a little restaurant. I had goulash soup with bread and split spaetzel (a sort of thick, sweeter noodle dish) with Aunt Sarah as well as potato pancakes (which were basically latkes) which apples sauce on top. It was all very yummy. :)
From there we went to a bakery to buy some dessert and after wandering around the very small town a bit more (Aunt Sarah and Ben bought wine for family and I bought post cards), we caught a train to Mainz and from Mainz back to Frankfurt, arriving about 6:30 pm. Here we said our good-byes and I went back to the hostel to get ready for bed very early and use the computer. I checked out all the train times for today since I am now on my way to Amsterdam and then Haarlem (right outside of Amsterdam) where I will meet my friend Lieselotte. I am nearly ecstatic with the idea of seeing her and knowing we will be together the rest of the trip. First we will spend some days in the Netherlands visiting with her family and friends, then we’ll go through France, Spain and visit a friend of hers in Lisbon, Portugal as well. Her boyfriend Frank and my boyfriend Tommy are both going to try and come to Spain for a week to visit us depending on flight prices, so that would be really nice. 
No comments:
Post a Comment