Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Frankfurt Shenanigans & The Belgian Way

FRANKFURT:

Leaving Prague was a bittersweet experience and yet another thriving part of the adventure.  We originally were planned to have a three train day, after two different connections, totaling a little over 7 hours.  After some unexpected delays on our first leg, being told to move up 5 cars because the back of the train was stopping soon while the rest continued, then being notified shortly that the entire train was having problems we were finally informed of a mandatory bus trip connecting us to our next leg.  Thank goodness our two stops were in places where trains ran multiple times an hour, because the bus trip was definitely a curvy, bumpy, scenic, and time consuming route.  Though delayed, and despite Magen getting stuck in the train doors at one point (confusion hilarity!) we still found our way to the interesting place of Frankfurt, Germany.  Magen cleverly termed our day of travels “Trains, Translations, & Tight Spaces” which is completely appropriate.  Arriving on a Saturday evening really only left time for a quick bite of Thai food down the road and a nice introduction to our hostel.  We quickly became the favorites with our hostel land-lady who let us take extra showers and gave us extra creamer for our morning coffee, nice to make a friend!

            Ready to venture out on Sunday we were treated to a city slow in process and nothing but a few tourists.  The locals had obviously had a long week and were resting up for the one ahead.  Our hostel room delivered breakfast every morning with everything from hard boiled eggs to some of the best coffee we’ve had yet.  We ventured down on the empty Metro system to the Old Town cultural part of the city.  Frankfurt has managed to maintain a heritage rich in German culture but also established itself as the financial capital of the EU.  There wasn’t a whole lot to see in Frankfurt, most of it focused around the old center, and there were multitudes of museums but we decided to save our money for the good ones in London and Paris.  I also treated myself to a good run down along the Rhine river, along with many of the fitness enthused locals.  With the good internet connection we were able to catch up on our Skyping with the family which was such a nice and refreshing treat. 

Monday brought a new mob of movement, with men in tailored business suits and women fidgeting with their metro blown hair-dos.  Frankfurt had come alive.  So far, the Germans have reminded me the most of Americans, with their great appreciation for space and their slightly over-indulgent diets.  We also ventured through a botanical garden with lots of floral, all of Europe seems to be much more blessed with moisture and plant environments than home is, not fair.  Later in the day we checked on train tickets and made our way to a park.  For our journey to the park we bought an authentic bratwurst hot dog setup and I added fries.  The woman asked me if I wanted ketchup on them, I said please, and she ended up squirting mayonnaise on them instead.  Magen’s face was priceless.  She had recently read that is the norm for the Belgiums, but she was not expecting it in the Frankfurt train station.  To say the least it was actually not too bad, just different.  I try to be open to new experiences and sometimes it pays off.  After finally finding the entrance into the park, after walking its borders for quite a while and eating our food intended for a picnic it was worth it.  The park was huge and thriving with locals participating in everything from running, biking, and badminton, to soccer, reading, and hackysack.  Seeing the locals interact in such an open setting was nice.  I snapped a few pictures while Magen wrote in her journal.  The park was close to a university so the park was a popular past-time it seemed like.  We almost felt a part of the group for a minute, which was somewhat comforting.  We missed the Fourth of July celebrations back home but sounds like there weren’t a lot of fireworks anyways.  We were there in spirit though.  I find myself missing bits and pieces of the West Texas summer, probably just harnessing the comforts of norm, but the European summer is beautiful in itself. 

Overall, Frankfurt really wasn’t anything special, a nice peek into yet another culture; a place where the little conveniences of a close supermarket and efficient metro system welcomed our traveling spirits, and an impressive business mecca has managed to preserve a rich ancestral part of the city.
BELGIUM:
On to Brussles, Belgium on Tuesday was a much more sophisticated train trip.  The trains seem to be getting nicer with every trip we take and the further away from Italy we get, pretty impressive.  The US definitely needs to invest in a rail network much larger than the Amtrak.  With a more confusing metro system than we’ve met yet we gradually made our way to our hostel, actually a Hotel Sabina advertised through the hostel-world website.  It’s nice and we have our own bathroom, and it’s also convenient to many of the sights nearby.  We quickly dropped our things off and ventured out into the unkown world of the Belgiums.  Quite an ethnic integration seems to be going on here.  Brussels is actually the capital of the entire EU so I would guess that just comes with the territory across the globe.  An extremely big city with lots to see, though we didn’t have Rick Steves backing us on this stop so it’s been a bit difficult discovering where things are, so we ventured out on a walk of discovery.  Not paying attention to geographical positions or directions we made our way around several of the sites.  Ranging from the Grand Market (where they have the annual flower festival and build an original pattern every year) to the Mannekin Pis (literally a little statue peeing into a fountain).  At the statue we indulged in the well acclaimed Belgian waffles, being sold on the nearby corner, I had a square dipped in white chocolate, and Magen had a waffle on a stick with dark chocolate.  I must say they live up to their reputations, a close second only to Poppie and Dad’s recipe! 
Magen and I find ourselves getting lost in the extremely eclectic, welcoming, and tempting streets of the city.  Similar to Budapest, each building is different from the next but they all seem to fit into a grand masterpiece.  Each door and brick seems to tell a different story.  With several places to turn we ended up getting a bit lost and once we arrived back to the hotel saw one of the major sites we had stopped by.  We were within 400m from out hotel at one point and didn’t even know it haha, oh the adventure!  Today we did a little more venturing out and made it to the Atomium on the way north end of the city, with more park territory, and a scenic tram ride.  Afterwards, we stopped by the Central Train Station to purchase our tickets to London (which is not covered by our global pass, ended up getting a “discount” for 89 euros, yikes, but should be worth it).  We’re interested to see if we travel on top of the sea or through a tunnel under it, aaahhh!  Then we found our way back to the Grand Market area where I had to indulge in yet another Belgian waffle, this time on a stick, and we also purchased a small assortment of treats from a small shop choclatier (melts in your mouth is putting it lightly)!  Fighting a few rain storms, but wallowing in its greatness, we came to the city library which I’m quite sure had Magen screaming for joy.  The viewing room of the Librarium was free and documented the history of books a bit (though not in English), and we also had some foggy views of the city from the top floor cafeteria through rain soaked windows.  Pretty sure Magen would have stayed there forever had it been possible.  I hope she finds a place to work someday in the states that excites her on that level. 
The Belgian way is definitely attractive.  We find locals gathering at nearby cafes early in the evening to share a beer with one another and seem to go well into the night.  They truly share a city as gorgeous as it is big, with a few very helpful and friendly locals, and manage to maintain an inviting environment to foreigners.  It’s nice to hear the French language for the first time spoken on a regular basis.  At the moment, we find ourselves sitting at the corner café close to our hostel sipping cappuccinos (that came with whip cream and chocolate sprinkles), next to a birthday celebration, lovers holding hands, a clearing sky, locals enjoying the company of friends with cigarettes and beer in hand, Magen reading, I typing away, and not a worry in the world but to enjoy the presence of life!  Life is good, today and everyday, that’s about as simple as it gets.  We are trying to enjoy the last few moments in the Belgium atmosphere before heading off to meet the Brits in the morning.  We are both super excited about what London has waiting for us.  We can’t believe we’re approaching the halfway point in our journeys, which have already brought loads of fun, exciting experiences, one full memory card of pictures, and insight into a far away but yet so similar world! 
Until next time friends, thanks for reading, hope I’m inspiring your future possible journeys, and may the day find you enjoying the presence of life and appreciating the many blessing the Lord has brought our way!  Ciao for now . . .
 
For pictures of Frankfurt and Brussels, see the following public Facebook album link:

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