Not Every Trip is Perfect

... but you should always look for the positive within it.

My second trip alone to Germany was brought on when my dad found round trip tickets for a ridiculously low price (under $500).  I was in college, so we booked my trip for my Christmas break. I would leave on Friday the 13th and return on Christmas Eve. (I guess that's probably why it was so affordable!) 

I only made some basic plans - who I'd visit, and how I'd get there - a rail pass good for 10 non-consecutive days.  This was before Facebook and MySpace and all of that, well before I was texting, so our communication was via email.  I traveled with my Nokia cell phone, a portable music player (I can't remember which one I had at the time, but it was before mp3 players were very convenient, so it may have been a discman), a camera, and no other technology.  Two very small suitcases, because I knew I'd be walking around a lot with everything.  I completely ruined the wheels on those poor bags.

I was supposed to land in Frankfurt and meet up with my host sister, who was studying in Wiesbaden at the time.  Well, my first flight was delayed because the mechanics didn't do necessary tests that had to wait until 8 am.  We had already boarded, and had to get off the plane for the tests to happen.  My second flight should have been an hour and a half of layover, but I ended up landing after the next flight took off.  The solution was for me to fly to Amsterdam with KLM, and then on to Frankfurt.  A total delay of 14 hours.  The flight to Amsterdam was my first experience hearing and reading Dutch.  I found I understood it just fine.  The flight itself was maybe half-full, and very bumpy.  As soon as I got to Amsterdam, I had to quickly learn how to make an international phone call with a pay phone so I could get ahold of my host sister and let her know of the delay.  I was in Amsterdam something like 4 hours, so not enough time to leave and explore, and too much time to be a convenient layover.  I remember being semi-impressed by the airport, but I was very very tired and annoyed, so it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. 

My host sister met me in Frankfurt and we went to Wiesbaden.  She showed me around Wiesbaden and Frankfurt over the next few days.  It was great seeing more of Hessen.  One church we did a tour of is pictured on the right.  (I'm not finding the name of this one... I'm hoping this was that trip!)

I don't remember the order of my next visits.  I went back to Waiblingen to see the rest of my host family and the Posaunenchor, check in with any friends still in the area.  I love going back there and seeing the place I had called home for a year.  I spent time in Stuttgart, as I so often did during my exchange year as well.  That whole area is beautiful in the winter time.  The vineyards with a touch of snow, just perfect.

I went to Tübingen to visit with a friend from the exchange program who was studying there at the time.  I love the -ingens!  I went up to Trier to visit with a college friend who was studying there, but I didn't stay as long as I should have.  I was only there for a few hours, and it was dark.  But my friend was able to show me some of the historical places she had found.  The way out of town was one of the worst parts of the trip - I was trying to move on with the last train, and the last train didn't end up going all the way to the end station.  It stopped in an open station (there was a gathering area, but no doors... and it was literally freezing).  One of my wine bottles broke as I climbed the stairs, so I smelled like a wino.  The first train the next day wasn't until 5-7 hours later.  It was a rough night.

I also went to Berlin to visit another friend from the exchange program.  I can't remember if she was working or studying (or both!) there.  She showed me areas of Berlin I hadn't seen yet, including where the synagogue is, and a really awesome candy store where they make the candies in front of you.  I have pictures somewhere, but I haven't run across them yet.

This was also the trip I went to see the villages my ancestors came from.  Since I only take public transportation (I've never driven in Germany), it was difficult to get to Jestädt.  It's a small village that currently belongs to the city of Meinhard.  When my family lived there, it was part of Eschwege.  There are still family members living in the same houses that I have records about, but no one was home when I was there, and they never answered the note I left.  (That's a completely different story!)  My grandmother's German side moved around a lot more than my grandpa's did, but I went to a few of the towns where they lived in Thüringen.  The trains in the area run a lot differently because it's the former East.  Most of the route has only one rail set, with a pull over spot so that trains going in opposite directions could get by.  The trains ran on a loop, one in each direction.  Busses went into the towns I wanted, so it wasn't as hard to get to.  On the way back to familiar territory, I couldn't stay awake.  I had fallen asleep on a train and the conductor came to get me up since it was the last stop.  I remember nodding and saying "okay," and then falling back asleep.  She got me out a couple minutes later.

There are so many things I would have done differently knowing what I know now, even given the lack of social media at the time. Instead I focus on how amazing it was to see villages where my family was from, houses my ancestors actually lived in.  Figuring out where my German ancestors were from was one of the biggest reason I started learning German in the first place.  I am glad I got to see so many of my friends, especially considering the lack of internet communication at the time!  I should really consider going back sometime with more plans now that I know a lot more about my family history and the German language in general.