Travelogue 1993 / Episode Twelve

Travelogue Deutschland 1993 / Episode Twelve

The Road to Heidelberg
Today we awakened a little later and took it easy. All of my things would have to be loaded into the car, since I was planning to leave from Frankfurt Airport on Saturday. During breakfast I spent some time drawing postcards to send to a few people in the States.

Before leaving Zavelstein, Martin wanted to give me an opportunity to walk through the Black Forest. He took me on a tour of his favorite paths past his brothers tree house and through the mean farmers field. when we returned, we boarded the Opel and set our course for Heidelberg.

The trip on the Autobahn to Heidelberg was uneventful, and the time seemed to pass quickly as we drove Northward. Within two hours we entered the city and made our way to the center of town.

High above the town of Heidelberg sits the ruins of an old castle. Behind the castle we found a parking lot and purchased a ticket for an hour. The castle was an interesting combination of ruins and well-preserved sections. One turret on the outer wall looked as if it had either been bombed or had somehow been sheared off and had fallen away from the base. Moss and vines covered it, giving it a strangely natural appearance.

Inside the castle was a large courtyard and in one of the buildings stood a giant wine cask. This cask had once held 200,000 liters of wine, twice the size of the cask at Konigstein! It was big enough for tourists to climb ladders and walk on a platform above it.

After visiting the castle, we decided to try and find a parking spot down in the city and explore the streets of Heidelberg. It took nearly twenty minutes to find a place to park, but we eventually found a spot across the river from the city.

A beautiful, twin-towered arch, stood at the opposite side of the bridge leading into Heidelberg. Streets in the old section of town were lined with shops and cafes. I found several souvenirs, and after walking a while we decided to have a bite to eat in a Turkish Pizzeria. Martin's Turkish style pizza looked good. My Italian style pizza probably was a 9 frozen grocery store special, cooked fresh in their ovens. After Dinner, we found a phone booth and called Matthias for exact directions to Hanau.

Onward to Hanau
On the Autobahn to Hanau, we passed by the U.S. airbase in Wiesbaden. I could see the lights of planes, lining up over the airbase in preparation for landing. When we arrived In Hanau, we took a wrong turn and had to find a map of the city downtown to locate the street we were looking for. Eventually we found the apartment a half an hour later than we had anticipated.

Matthias met us in the hallway of his apartment building after we rang his doorbell. A tiny, four person elevator, carried us up to his floor in the large apartment building. His wife, Christina, met us at the door and invited us in for some dinner. She had prepared Hawaiian toast with ham and pineapple chunks) for us. Neither of us wanted to tell them we had just eaten, although after having Christinas dinner, I wished I had skipped the Italian pizza in Heidelberg.

We talked about our adventures and caught up on each others lives. After dinner, Martin, Matthias and I boarded the mini elevator down to the car to retrieve the luggage. We talking for a while longer, then Matthias and Christina retired to their room and Martin and I stretched out our trusty sleeping bags in the livingroom, ready for some rest.

A Small Tour of Hessen
We were awakened by the aroma of brewing coffee emanating from the kitchen. Breakfast was of the standard European variety of which I had grown to appreciate during my stay in Germany, and eating was interspersed with conversation about the plans for the day.

Matthias was to take us to the ruins of a Roman border fortress, discovered in Saalburg, a town not far away. The ruins were discovered in the late nineteenth century and had been rebuilt to their original state for visitors. Inside was an exhibit of Roman tools and items that were quite intriguing. I was amazed at the technological advancement of Roman culture.

Our next stop was the city of Bad Homburg, another old town with a castle at the top of a hill. We visited the castle and the courtyard, and eventually ended up walking through the narrow streets of the old city. One of the buildings in the city was in the process of being restored. A clay and straw mixture was being removed from in between thick wooden beams that must have been four or five hundred years old. Rotten beams were being replaced with new beams or sections of beams to reinforce the structure. Martin stopped at a bakery on the way back to the car, buying some pastries for later that afternoon.

Back in Hanau, we stopped at the edge of the castle Phillipsruhe, lined with royal summer cottages. We spent a few minutes walking through the courtyards of the summer homes, then walked back to the car.

We arrived at the apartment, where we met Christina who had returned from school, and enjoyed some espresso and the pastries Martin had purchased at the bakery. Exploring Hanau After having our pastry break, we decided to explore more of Hanau. In one of the neighborhoods, Matthias told us that it was once a part of his paper route.

The sun was setting as we walked toward the castle of Phillipsruhe. It seems that a few years ago, two boys were playing around with fire, and accidentally set the castle ablaze. It took several years to rebuild the tower of the castle, which was damaged by the fire.

I stopped to sketch the building, while Matthias, Christina and Martin conversed in German. Several minutes later, I finished my sketch we walked back through Hanau to the Stockmanns apartment.

A Night Tour of Frankfurt
Matthias and Christina wanted to show us Frankfurt at night, so we all bundled up in preparation for a cool night. We climbed aboard the mini elevator, which supposedly was built to hold up to six passengers that was a bit difficult to believe as the four of us crammed into the small space.

It was a quick trip to the parking garage, and within minutes Matthias had his rusty old VW Dasher cruising along the Autobahn.

About thirty-five minutes later we could see Frankfurt glowing ahead of us on the autobahn. As we came closer to the center of the city, I could see the citys lights reflecting on the river Main. Matt drove us along several sides streets looking for a parking spot with no success. Eventually he decided to park the car in a lot along the rivers edge.

From the lot, we climbed a flight of stairs to street level and began walking towards the older section of Frankfurt. This area consisted of narrow cobblestone streets lined with pubs and cafes. As we walked along the cobbled streets, I noticed that there were quite a few people wandering the streets and sitting at outdoor cafes.

The days walking finally caught up with us. We stopped a cafe called Marco Polo, a building that was very narrow, with passages that seemed to lead everywhere. Our host led us up a flight of stairs to a balcony above the narrow street. We each ordered something to drink, and spent time talking while we watched people pass below us. Around ten oclock, we began the walk back to the car. On the way, I saw two customized Harleys which seemed to draw quite a few of attention from passers-by. We found our way back to the car, and drove back to Hanau.

When we arrived we were still hungry, so Christina made a small pizza and some tea before we all retired for the night. It was hard to believe that I had just spent my last night in Germany.

Final Day in Deutschland
Matthias woke us up a bit earlier today. My flight was scheduled to depart at twelve oclock, and we wanted to do some shopping in Hanau before leaving for Frankfurt airport. After breakfast Matthias, Martin and I left for the city, while Christina left to do some saturday errands.

Hanaus central square had an atmosphere which I would describe as a cross between a sidewalk sale and a flea market. People sat behind their booths, selling items such as fruit, old clothes, old Tijuana Brass albums and a variety of other goods. Stores and shops lined the open air walkways, and shoppers mingled and meandered between them and the flea market in the square.

I had been a bit lax about gathering souvenirs for friends and families, so one of my goals on the last day was to attempt a great feat finishing my gift shopping. We moved from store to store, practicing the art of power shopping. I found several nice gifts and with only two items left on my list, I felt satisfied and somewhat successful. I was also counting on the travelers last resort the airport souvenir shop.

After whisking through the flea market and several stores, we returned to Matthias car. Martin said goodbye, and left for Zavelstein. It was strange to see the old Opel as Martin drove away after the last two weeks of nearly living in the little red car. Slowly I was coming to the realization that my time in Germany was coming to an end that within a few hours I would be back home again.

Frankfurt Airport, Here We Come
My luggage was packed in the trunk of Matthias car earlier that morning, saving the trouble of returning to the apartment to pack up. Matt started the car and began the drive toward the autobahn. Within minutes we were rolling along at 120 Kilometers per hour toward Frankfurt airport. From the outside, the airport seemed much larger than what I had imagined it to be the Friday I had arrived. It appeared to be even larger than Chicagos O'Hare. I guess I must have gotten a false sense of size since I stayed primarily in a small area of the complex when I arrived two weeks before.

Matthias took the parking exit, that led below the airport, to an underground parking garage. He parked the car and we split my luggage between us as we found our way to the elevator that would take us up to the terminals.

I recognized the area around the train terminal immediately, as we walked toward the Lufthansa check-in desk. I could almost imagine that first friday of arrival, and in some ways I wished for a chance to begin the trip once again. A part of me wanted o stay and continue the exploration, while another part of me dearly longed for home.

The clerk checked my luggage and my ticket, and then directed us to the correct terminal. Our timing was perfect. People began lining up behind the counter just as we began walking away. I still had about forty minutes before my flight departed, so we visited the ever-popular, last ditch souvenir shop, where I purchased three t-shirts and sweatshirt.

Near the gate, Matthias wished me a good trip, and I wished he and his wife Christina the best. I turned and began the long walk towards the entry gate. Everyone was required to pass though a metal detection archway and have a security officer wave a detection device over their body. I was relieved to be okayed by the guard and I began the descent to the terminal, hauling my full compliment of luggage.

The room around the terminal was packed with people, and I felt fortunate to find a seat. Approximately one third of the passengers were traveling from India, one third were Germans and one third Americans. I Squeezed my way through the crowd, to a bank of payphones on the opposite wall. After dialing my parents house I realized too late that I had lost track of the time difference Im certain that dad thoroughly enjoyed receiving my call at four-thirty in the morning. I Apologized for the goof, and updated him on my arrival time at O'Hare.

The Flight Back Home
The boarding was handled differently than at O'Hare. In Chicago, passengers were boarded in smaller groups. In Frankfurt, the call for boarding went out in German and English and it was followed by a mad rush for the gate.

I was in cattle-class again, but after being compressed in the terminal, it was nice to find even a semi-comfortable seat to sit in. A retired couple from Atlanta sat in the two seats next to me, and we both told of our trips. They had taken a bicycle tour along the Danube river from Bavaria to Czechoslovakia.

A little while later, we were served dinner, which was quite tasty. The in flight movie that followed was Dave, which was also pretty good. I think I enjoyed this flight much more, because it was a daylight flight, I made no attempt to sleep, and I looked forward to coming home.

The flight into O'Hare was interesting, since got a glimpse of Lake Superior and Lake Winnebago from above. By the time we reached Milwaukee, clouds were covering our view. We dropped down through the clouds and touched down at O'Hare. The clear blue, sunny skies above had been replaced by gray clouds and damp air.

I made my way through customs without any problems and met Mom, Dad and Peter just outside of the customs office. They were glad to see me in one piece, and I began telling them all about my adventure.

I was Home.

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