Our connecting flight left Philadelphia at 4:30pm and was a brief seven hour stint before it finally landed in Germany. It was right around 5:30am (11:30pm Ohio time) that
we landed! Basically, I stayed up all night because I can’t sleep on planes or buses. A few movies later, the long flight was over and we were able to unload at Frankfurt’s international airport! This was my first time see or touching European soil. It felt good to finally be in Europe. Getting th
at far was only half the battle though.
We waited on a couple more US flights to come in before taking a shot at grabbing a train up to Cologne. By the time 7:00am rolled around, w
e began waiting in line for train tickets for about an hour… and FINALLY, we were able to load a train going in the direction we wanted by 8:37am!
The trains were a whole different beast than the planes. We went with the cheap, scenic, frequently stopping train with occasional switches at stations. The added trip length was certainly worth it though. The beauty of the Rhine V
alley was overwhelming. May old and staccato/Tudor style houses lined a wide and serine river. In the hillsides along each river’s bank are large steps and fields of grape vines. Gorgeous!
SO… we finally did reach our youth hostel by around 1:30pm today. Wiped out. Those are the only words I have. 22 hours of straight travel takes a lot of energy. I am seriously having a hard time just focusing on writing this blog! That last sentence took several tries to perfect, so I apologize for any incoherency.
After arriving in the afternoon, we all decided that we’d go back down town to graph some lunch and see a few sites. I will have to elaborate on these throughout the week, as I’m sure will seeing them again throughout the next two weeks. The main thing is that I had my first meal and beer. I believe the beer is a rather common and popular one among the locals. Reissdorf Koelsch was the name of the beer.
I also had German ice cream for the first time (on recommendation by multiple friends). It was as amazing as they all said it would be!
Well, I’m having a hard time keeping my eyes open, so I need to sign out. OH… and one final note… free or consistently available wireless internet does not exist in Germany. If I seem to be in less frequent contact than originally planned, that is a good reason why. Once I’m in Munich, I’m hoping that becomes more of a non-issue.
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