Traveling Alone
Tuesday - Wednesday, July 29-30, 2014
I said goodbye to Utah, stopped over in Atlanta, landed in Frankfurt and trained to Hamburg today. Well, I think it's been more than 24 hours but I haven't slept in a bed yet so it feels like a single day. The flights were great. I was actually able to doze off here and there for 5 hours or so on the long flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt. I landed at 7am Frankfurt time and had 4 hours until Mom and Jason landed so after I bought our train tickets I ventured out into Frankfurt alone. I rode the train and people watched. I stood next to a young man, around 20 or so, in a suit and tie quietly singing from his small Quran in his hands. It was kind of comforting to hear his soft, low voice on the quiet, lonley train full of strangers. I visited the Dom Platz and the Romerburg church where I quietly sat on the back pew and journaled while I listened to the church bells ringing and watched people snapping pictures with their iphones. I walked along the Main River while they were setting up for a street fair. All the while pulling my suitcase along the cobblestone streets. I quickly started to regret packing so much (even though I did cram everything into a carry-on size suitcase).
I met up with Jason and Mom and we got on the train. It's been nice to be able to have time to journal.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
2:56pm
On the train from Frankfurt to Hamburg:
I can't keep my eyes open. We are on the train heading to Hamburg, going through beautiful German countryside and I keep falling asleep!
All of the announcements are in German. Occasionally they will repeat something in English but mostly we have no idea what's going on. Jason can piece together some things. Our train had an engine problem so we were delayed 20 minutes or so but other than that, we've had no problems (that we know of).
3:36pm
The trains are so quiet--like a sacrament meeting in a singles ward! The trains themselves are quiet and so are the people on them! But right now we have a small family (Mom, Dad and 8 yr old girl) sitting across from us and they are just cracking up about something (or lots of things), I have no idea. But I love to hear the happy laughter.
11:56pm
Tonight Jason and I dropped our stuff off at the hotel (Mom stayed to rest) and headed out into Hamburg on the trains. We ate donners at the mall food court, bought some german chocolate and apfelschorle (sparkling apple cider mineral water) and fumbled our way through the city buses to find Am Frankenberg where his friend Marco lives. We walked down the cute little street and knocked on their door, hoping it was the right one. We went inside and visited with Marco and his sister and Mom and several friends for an hour or so. It was fun and interesting to be able to step inside the world of a German family.
That's all for now. I'm exhausted and need to get some sleep. I can't believe I'm really in Germany!
I said goodbye to Utah, stopped over in Atlanta, landed in Frankfurt and trained to Hamburg today. Well, I think it's been more than 24 hours but I haven't slept in a bed yet so it feels like a single day. The flights were great. I was actually able to doze off here and there for 5 hours or so on the long flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt. I landed at 7am Frankfurt time and had 4 hours until Mom and Jason landed so after I bought our train tickets I ventured out into Frankfurt alone. I rode the train and people watched. I stood next to a young man, around 20 or so, in a suit and tie quietly singing from his small Quran in his hands. It was kind of comforting to hear his soft, low voice on the quiet, lonley train full of strangers. I visited the Dom Platz and the Romerburg church where I quietly sat on the back pew and journaled while I listened to the church bells ringing and watched people snapping pictures with their iphones. I walked along the Main River while they were setting up for a street fair. All the while pulling my suitcase along the cobblestone streets. I quickly started to regret packing so much (even though I did cram everything into a carry-on size suitcase).
I met up with Jason and Mom and we got on the train. It's been nice to be able to have time to journal.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
2:56pm
On the train from Frankfurt to Hamburg:
I can't keep my eyes open. We are on the train heading to Hamburg, going through beautiful German countryside and I keep falling asleep!
All of the announcements are in German. Occasionally they will repeat something in English but mostly we have no idea what's going on. Jason can piece together some things. Our train had an engine problem so we were delayed 20 minutes or so but other than that, we've had no problems (that we know of).
3:36pm
The trains are so quiet--like a sacrament meeting in a singles ward! The trains themselves are quiet and so are the people on them! But right now we have a small family (Mom, Dad and 8 yr old girl) sitting across from us and they are just cracking up about something (or lots of things), I have no idea. But I love to hear the happy laughter.
11:56pm
Tonight Jason and I dropped our stuff off at the hotel (Mom stayed to rest) and headed out into Hamburg on the trains. We ate donners at the mall food court, bought some german chocolate and apfelschorle (sparkling apple cider mineral water) and fumbled our way through the city buses to find Am Frankenberg where his friend Marco lives. We walked down the cute little street and knocked on their door, hoping it was the right one. We went inside and visited with Marco and his sister and Mom and several friends for an hour or so. It was fun and interesting to be able to step inside the world of a German family.
That's all for now. I'm exhausted and need to get some sleep. I can't believe I'm really in Germany!
Goodbye Utah!
Hello Atlanta!
I watched the sun rise over the coast of England. It was beautiful! I could see the edges of the coast below while watching the sun rise above the horizon.
The church at the Haptwache train station in Frankfurt. The bells started ringing as the bicyclists were riding past just as I came up from the train.
Lederhosen, anyone?
Buildings in the Main Square in Frankfurt, Germany.
The Romerberg church.
Inside the Romerberg Church. I sat on the quiet back row and journaled. It was very peaceful even with the group of Japanese tourists snapping pictures with their iphones.
The ceiling inside the Romerberg.
The Main River in Frankfurt.
Panorama of the Domplatz in the early morning before most of the shops were open.
From the train in Frankfurt I saw several of these housing projects. This picture doesn't really show it well but they were almost like trailer parks with little houses and yards. Some were more like shacks, some were quaint, tiny cottages but all of the yards were beautiful and well-manicured even though they were tiny. I wonder what the story is behind these.
Boarding our ICE train to Hamburg.
A blurry picture of the German countryside on our train to Hamburg. It was beautiful!
Trying to find Marco's street on the map.
A building just down from our hotel in Hamburg.
Enjoying a donner in Harburg.
Jason walking down Am Frankenburg to Marco's house as the sun was setting.
Jason with Marco (his German exchange student from 4 years ago).
Jason with Marco's family.
A quaint little cemetery across the street from Marco's home.
Marco's street: Am Frankenburg in Harburg, Germany.
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