Travels in the Soutwest

Its been a long time! There's been lots of German and Inner-drama going on over here to keep me away from this ole blog. I think I last left you in the German Gymnasium, with moody teenagers and students antsy to get out for their Fall break. I too was ready to get out of Dodge--to dip my toes in the water of the romantic travels through Europe.
It started early early Friday morning with my first ICE train ride to Koblenz (ICEs RULE). Of course, I got the days wrong and so I had an entire day in Koblenz before my sister joined me there. The city is quaint, much like you would expect a small northeastern tourist town in the US. Except 2000 years old! Almost everything there was destroyed during the war (as it is in much of Germany) so there were a lot of bulidings rebulit to look like they once did. Restaurants dotted the map and kept tourists fed and happ. All of the pictures are in my Picasa (whether I can figure out how to link that is another matter). Friday night was quiet but necessary--its hard to hear yourself think in between school, living with a foreign family, and living in a foreign land in general. I had no idea how much I needed a break from everything. Lindsay arrived with bells on on Saturday, ready to take on Germany...right after a nap. It is so difficult to travel to Germany from the US--jetlag is KILLER! We did a lot of walking around in this city on the Rhine. There were plenty of English speakers and lots of patient people. We managed to find our way to a fortress, the Rhine and the Mosel rivers, a winery, and lots of ice cream and coffee shops.
Our American friend who is living in Kiel joined us for a few days and we had a great time eating and walking around. Its amazing how important is to take the time to sit and eat. We generally found Italian food to be the safest; in these resteraunts it was easiest to avoid pork. (I am having a serious pork overload.) There was no rush and no worries. We were able to enjoy each other's company, despite everyone being tired and sharing the dorm-like hotel room of the Scholz Hotel. (PS: If you care to hear more about the Scholz hotel, especially the generous hostess, please ask...Lindsay and I have some GREAT stories!)
We were also able to drive over to Bonn and see Beethoveen's birth house. It was great to think about new things, and to place the artist who played such an important role in my childhood and in my siblings' childhood in Germany. It always makes you feel a little more at home to make connections like that. Jane left, and Lindsay and I spent one last day in cold cold Koblenz, riding a bus (my first in Germany!) over to the fortress. It was surreal to leave her. Seeing family was like a dream from which I wasn't too keen to wake up.
Luckily I hopped on a train right away towards Frankfurt to meet Merianna, my bff (Best Fulbright Friend--one of them). WOW! Boy am I an American! Most Germans hate Frankfurt's skyline because of its skyscrapers and newness. I loved it! But we only just had a look as we hopped over to Koenberg...but then found out that we had the wrong city...so we hopped back to Frankfurt and then over to Wiesbaden. I only point this out because I want to emphasize how easy it was to get around. We had nowhere to be, no deadlines, and plenty of times to make mistakes. It was actually fun. It is such a different feeling to have time to make mistakes like that. And to enjoy the time on the trains between the random cities that we might happen upon.
We finally made it to Wiesbaden where we met about a million Americans. Not really, but the city is connected to a military base and also lots of international business. I had a GREAT time among all of the America-ness. Once again, not a favorite of Germans, and, in fact, Rick Steves thought it wasn't even worth visiting! Merianna and I had a great time just taking everything. We met her family friend in Frankfurt for an amazing, personalized tour of Frankfurt with food treats included. WOW! And, the cherry on this sundae, was the American brunch we treated ourselves to on our last morning together. We found a super cheesy American bar and loaded up on pancakes, omlettes, and bread. What a crazy treat! (Im sure some of you are thinking that Rick Steves was probably right about Wiesbaden, if there is an American-themed bar there...)
Anyway, the last leg of the trip I had two nights alone in Wiesbaden of much needed quiet, bread eating, and meditation. I made it down to see Erica in Stuehlingen. Very close to the Swiss boarder, very very far away from any sort of city life! It was amazing to see a sorority sister whom I could talk to about all of this stuff without even having to say anything. I can not emphasize enough how important it is to have friends to do nothing with.
It is so easy to leave homesickness, constant feelings of strangeness, and frustrations with the school and my job behind when traveling. I loved the feeling on the ICEs! Those trains were so clean, quiet, and fast! Sometimes I think if I could just ride the trains all around Germany and rely on such a punctual system, things would be so much easier than having to get on my bike and pedal through my life in Germany. So many times I have to pedal as fast as I can to make it on time (as opposed to the easier option of pressing on the gas in the States) and it becomes exhausting only to rush to places that are foreign and stressful.
But trains are not always on time, and actually the one to see Erica was swimming in coffee from a tragic accident with the coffee cart. So there is always a give and take. But I can't wait to take more train rides, to go through the countryside and see the world. It is by far the most fulfilling thing I've experienced so far--to sucessfully get to a destination, and be confident in my ability to lose and find myself over and over again.