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Published: July 16th 2011
I had gotten the worst sleep ever! People were coming in and out all night, there was road work outside, and it was so hot the windows are open, and it was just overall so noisy. I finally did get a bit of sleep and I was so tired in the morning that I didn’t hear my alarm go off. I woke up to some girl poking me holding my iPod as the alarm is going off, oops! Sorry! (I was totally “that person” this morning.) Luckily, had gotten all my stuff together the night before so all I had to do was wash my face and brush my teeth then pack my toiletries bag and I was done (because I didn’t want to be “that person” . . . oh well, the best laid plans . .. ). After getting ready I still had a few minutes before I had to leave for the train station so I charged my computer in the kitchen; (breakfast was not till 8:00, and I wanted to leave a 7:30, oh well) while in the kitchen I saw a hostel employee making coffee for the breakfast rush so I went upstairs to at least
get a cup of joe before my train, and to my surprise breakfast was out a half hour early, yay! I made myself a cucumber and salami sandwich and went back downstairs with my coffee and breakfast sandwich to see how my much my computer was charged. I ate and drank fast, since I wanted to leave for the train station with enough time for errors (since I seem to like to have them), and hoped I could sit next to the window on the train since not only are the views amazing but also there are outlets there to keep charging my computer and iPod.
After getting to the train station I got a snack from the grocer, which used up most of my Czech Koronas (since you never know if there will be a dining car, which as it turns out there wasn’t on this trip) and the lady at the check-out counter was so nice! As I was looking through the foreign coin and trying to figure out what to give her she kindly gestured for me to put it all down on the counter and she would take the right ones. It was a cool
experience since she didn’t speak any English but she got her point across very well and was nice about it (hard to get all three together!). I was then so excited to have Euro’s for the rest of the way (how did people do it before? I am done with having to figure out exchange rates and trying to know how much everything really is supposed to cost in that country’s currency and I have only had to use 4 different currencies in Europe so far!).
The train ride was magnificent. When I was talking to my Mom earlier in the week I told her that I was kind of ready to come back across the pond, but when I ride the train I really don’t want it to be over. This also marks the last stop of me being a solo traveler, I love it so much, and while I am excited to be meeting my friend, Derrick, in Germany (he has family there, and I have inspired him to make the trip over to see them) I will miss my solo traveler days. I have learned so much about myself while traveling alone, it’s been great!
(Enough
of this looking forward and back, lets live in the present why don’t we! On with the show, so. . . .) When looking at the train schedule from Prague to Frankfurt I quickly realized that there wasn’t a good system in place. I would have to find the bus station in Prague (no biggie) and take a bus to some random place. Ok that’s the easy part; then it says it would be a ten minute walk to the train station from the bus station and the train left exactly 10 minutes after my bus was scheduled to arrive. Now, I can mess a lot of things up, and if I then have to rely on the bus making it in time AND my amazing sense of direction under a time crunch, it just isn’t going to happen. So I decided to look at my options, and I eventually found a train gong directly to Berlin from Prague and a direct train from Berlin to Frankfurt! Sweet! It was only about 2 and a half hours longer as well which is great since I like riding the train and it would give me longer to look at the beautiful
German countryside. So that is what I did and it worked out beautifully! I arrived to Frankfurt and checked into my hostel (which just happens to be in the middle of the red light district) and got settled. The hostel itself is very nice and I had read great reviews if it online. My bed is very comfy and I was given the cleanest whitest sheets ever (I think they were even starched!) the girl in the bunk above me is very nice and she is from Thailand (I really want to go there too!) but studying in Sweden.
The hostel was hosting a BBQ and was scheduling a night walk for that evening, perfect! So I made my bed, took a shower and headed downstairs for the BBQ; it was a euro fifty for my chicken breast and he grilled it right in front of me! You even were able to have bread, tomatoes, pickles, and condiments as well! I had a great fresh meal for less than two euros and I didn’t even have to go anywhere! While waiting for my chicken to grill I met an interesting guy from Greece and when he asked me where I
had been I couldn’t stop myself from saying I loved turkey (whoops) but he seemed to be cool about it. He spoke clear English but his grammar was funny and I didn't understand exactly what he was doing in Frankfurt (nod and smile, nod and smile). After dinner it was then off to the night walk; there were about ten of us from the hostel going and it was great because I had a chance to talk to some different nationalities that I had never met before. Dubai and Algeria! Dubai guy spoke great English and he has a great job in the oil and natural gas industry. His schedule is so that you work 12 hour days for 6 weeks straight then you get 4 weeks completely off! Wow!
The Algerians are cool as well. The one I talked to for a while is a business man and he owns an English tutoring school but his English is just ok, (it's better than any foreign language I know!) and he wants to go live in America for 3 months to get better. He says it's better to learn that way and I agree. ( . . .Turkey for
3 months?) 😊 I also met some French Canadians and an Aussie who were awesome. When the walking tour ended the French Canadians, Aussie, Dubai, and I (sorry about the names!) got a drink at one of the outdoor clubs (I heart Germany) I had the traditional apfelwoi (a bitter apple wine, it was good!) and the guys had beers. The outdoor club was amazing as I love to dance and it is just a random stage set close to the Mine River and live DJ was playing some awesome dance music! It’s definitely my style. We all danced and chatted until the DJ and bar had to shut at 1 a.m on the dot (city ordinances) and there were cops to back it up! We chatted for a bit with the other guys until around 1:30; they were going to keep going to see what other places they could hit up, but Aussie and I had a few nights in Frankfurt so we decided to head back to the hostel.
(I should have said something but . . .) On our way home but I was just following Aussie Nathan (finally got his name!) and as it turned
out he was following me. Oooops! And neither of us had a map! (I swear I normally don't leave home without it) our guide had said it was a 10 minute walk back to the hostel from the outdoor spot we were at. It ended up taking us an hour and a half to get back. I have never been so happy to see a hostel in my life! I had worn flip flops out thinking there wouldn’t be too much walking involved, but boy was I wrong!
Nathan was a little worried about going back to the hostel because of the shops around our hostel (remember I said it was in the red light district) I was confused because no one had bothered me at all, but it turns out the guys are harassed to come in the doors of some of these establishments, Nathan told me he was literally pulled into one! (Note: I was never bothered once while staying at this hostel – Frankfurt’s Red Light district felt safer than the streets of Prague!) I heart Germany!
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