It's been a little while since my last post, but as I've told many of you, it would be like this once I got to Mannheim. However I've done several exciting things since last time, and therefore it's time to share it I think, before I forget.
Last Tuesday (August 9), one of my good friends from the US arrived in Germany. Since around April, she and I had been planning a trip to Paris. Gabi will be studying in Barcelona, Spain, and we figured that since I'd already be in Europe with my summer class started, it would be a cool idea if we could get together somewhere before she did her other travelling and eventual move to Barcelona. We decided on Paris because it's about a three hour train ride from Mannheim. Well last Tuesday she arrived into Frankfurt and then took the train to meet me in Mannheim. It had been a long time since we'd last seen each other, so it was good to be able to meet up. Given that communication was quite difficult, we were impressed by how much we were able to coordinate during our short conversations.
We really did not do much between then and Friday morning. It also gave Gabi time to adjust and rest up a little. On Wednesday we decided to take a little trip to Frankfurt, where we walked around and saw some neat things. There was nothing out of the ordinary on this trip though. Probably the highlight was being able to ascend one of the higher buildings and be able to see in all directions of the city and beyond. Thursday night though, we decided to go out with some of my friends, and it ended up being a pretty good idea. The only downside, I had a test the next morning. I sucked it up and showed up to class the next morning. I had arranged with my teacher that I could take the test and then leave immediately so I could catch a morning train. Well, things changed a little since we could not get a morning a train with my test likely to still be occurring around that time, so we went for an early afternoon train. I still kept the morning train story going, and ended up leaving class as scheduled and went back to my room for a good little nap. Once awake and feeling better, we left and headed for the train station.
A comfortable three hour ride took us the 300 or so miles into the capital of France, and also considered one of the capitals of Europe. I had only been in Paris twice, both of which were flight connections on my way to Russia in previous years. In other words, those visits did not really count. I once again admired the landscape on our way there, and received a free text message that signaled our crossing of the French border. When we arrived we went to an information center, where we received a list of cheap hostels and sights to see in the city. We really did a good job of figuring things out right there on the spot, and we found a hostel in the southeatern part of the city, 51 euros for two nights. To get there we would have to take the metro, and since Gabi goes to school in the middle of Washington, DC, I was quite glad to have her skills of figuring out lines to take and what not.
When we arrived at the hostel, we checked in and relaxed for a little while. I had never actually been to a hostel, I had only heard that it is a good place for youth to stay while they travel across Europe. It was not that spacious, but it was quite nice for a 51 euros for two nights. Gabi and I would share a room the first night, but had to get separate rooms the following night since we did not have a reservation. After a short period of relaxation, we ventured out to Notre Dame, a Gothic cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and built between 1163 and 1250. On our way there we twisted and turned through the mazes of roads, and around one corner I saw for the first time a sliver of the famous Eiffel Tower. We also sat down to eat during this time, at which point the sun began to set. We passed Notre Dame on our way and decided to go see the nighttime version of the Eiffel Tower, and it was quite a beautiful site. When we got off the metro, I just looked up and admired this amazing structure. Growing up, I always saw the Eiffel Tower at Kings Dominion, and everytime we went someone would tell me, "They say that the real Eiffel Tower in Paris is about twice the size of this one..." And here I was, seeing the REAL Eiffel Tower, glowing a beautiful gold into the night sky. You can see it almost from all points of the city, and because it's so tall, you will often think you're quite close to it, but in reality you're blocks and blocks and blocks away.
I turned back to see all the people and commotion going for a split second, when all of sudden i heard a gasp from the crowd. I turned around and the Tower was glittering, with hundreds, maybe even thousands, of lights flickering on and off on it. I did not know why it just starting doing this, but then I looked at my phone and it was midnight. We had unintentionally chosen the perfect time to arrive. This went on for about five to ten minutes, and then they all stopped flickering. At this point it was quite late, so Gabi and I decided to head back to our hostel. We immediately went to sleep given the tiring commute to and from the Tower, and all the walking in between.
The next morning we awoke and had our complimentary breakfast, bread and a hot drink. Today we tried to get in all the good things about Paris. We first went to The Louvre, the well known museum that holds such things as Greek and Roman statues, artifacts, and the world famous Mona Lisa. We were able to see it all, and I was quite impressed that such rules as no flash photography were often ignored. I even saw some of the museum personnel taking pictures of families and individuals who wanted it. Normally it costs about eleven euros to enter the museum, but since I study in the European Union and am under the age of 25, then I received free admission in. I was quite happy about this! After walking around for several hours and admiring all the pictures and paintings, we went to eat lunch at the museum cafe.
Again we ventured out to the Eiffel Tower to see its majesty during the day. The plan was to go up, but unfortunately the line was miles long. I hope to go up it someday. From here we went to Champs-Elysees, a very prominent, if not the most prominent avenue in Paris. Lined with shops and restaraunts, it was filled with thousands of people from all over the world.
All this walking and touring had made us tired, so we decided to go back to our hostel. The rooms are always closed between eleven and four, so we had to put our luggage in a luggage room while we were out. Upon returning we also had to get our new keys for our new rooms. I would be sharing mine with a stranger, but he ended up being a pretty nice guy.
We relaxed for about an hour and then went out on the town for dinner and a little more walking. I got a tasty lasagna along with a special Italian beer. We walked around for a little while afterwards and evenutally headed back to our hostel. We went out to a bar with a few temporary friends and then crashed shortly after. My roomate was quite the snorer, talking, teeth grinder, and moaner. Therefore it was quite hard to go back to sleep when he woke me up at about five in the morning. Gabi would knock on the door around 915, and we had breakfast, and then decided what we wanted to do. Since I had not made a train reservation to return to Mannheim, we set out to do this, and I ended up getting a fairly immediate departure. We sat and talked for a while, and then we gave each other a big hug and went our separate ways. She will be travelling through France and Italy in the weeks to come before going to Barcelona.
The so called three hours did not happen on this trip back. About an hour from Strasbourg, our train started having electrical problems (due to an accident involving a train ahead of us), and we had to stop on the side of the track for almost two hours. Because of this I missed my connection and had to arrange new trains to get home. I had a long and lonely two hours to wait here. I ventured out and decided to get some food, at which point it started raining. And then it started pouring. Here I was, soaked and standing by my lonesome self without an umbrella, deciding what I wanted to do now. You can picture this moment from the set of a movie when a nasty breakup has just occured and the not guilty one is standing there about to sob in the pouring rain, while the other walks back somewhere. Yes, it was a fairly dismal moment, and without Gabi's company, as well as her skills of knowing how to get places...
I decided to walk back to the station where I sat and just messed around on my iPod for a while. The next train was the so called "S-Bahn". It is more like a tram on a railroad track. Although it was a short thirty minute ride, I did not forget to observe like I always do. The most interesting part was when we crossed a strait of some type. This strait seemed to go on for a while, and I kind of started to think that maybe this was the border between the two countries. So I looked and observed: On one side, the French flag waved valiantly, and then began to disappear as the train kept moving. When we arrived on the otherside, there facing the other side of the strait, as if claiming dominance over the other, waved the German flag. This was indeed the border between the two countries. It was interesting how little there was to signal it. Only the observant like myself would have noticed that the strait was named in French on one side, and then German on the other, along with their respective flags. The stations were also of German nature now, along with directions and what not.
It was in a way like seeing a familiar language, as if I was arriving back in the US. The word "Fahrkarten" (tickets) made so much more sense to me than the French "billets." If there were problems from here on out, I could now sufficiently explain them to personnel. Like I've said earlier, it's like I'm beginning to make a transition to the German language. It used to be only English, but now if I see German on any sign, then it almost gives me as much comfort as seeing English.
We arrived at Offenburg, where I had about a twenty minute wait. It was not bad though, however, when the train came, I had nowhere to sit, since the reservation that I had on my missed train no longer existed. (The S-Bahn did not require a reservation). So I stood in between cars for about two hours, anxiously waiting to get off. In Karlsruhe, a guy stepped onto the train, with a crowd of friends on the platform saying goodbye and blowing kisses along with the Russian language. I soon found out that he was born in Saint Petersburg and was no living in New York. He had moved to the US at age ten, and he and I talked for a while, and this eased the lengthy, uncomfortable trip. He was returning back home to New York after a 13 month stay in Karlsruhe. I hung with him at the platform in Mannheim until his train came, and the we said goodbye and I was racing towards my apartment.
I'm quite tired from the last week, this post really doesn't do justice of explaining everything that Gabi and I did during our time together. But an important note, Gabi is a very talented photographer, and with her permission I will be posting some of her pictures that she took with her camera, since I lazily forgot mine. (It was another last second packing thing...). As we all know, a photo is certainly worth a thousand words. You will think that some of the pictures have come from a travel magazine or something of the sort, but I can assure you the scenes you will see are exactly what I saw and how I saw them. I will try and post them here and on facebook once she has gotten settled and has had time to tweak them to her liking and post them. Until then, I hope all is well back at home. I can happily say that I'm beginning to feel like a true traveller having been to three major European cities now. These are experiences and sights that I will never forget. Take care everyone!
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