Solo Travelin

Quick Note: This blog post is waaaaay too long and I'll try not to write an essay in the future. My bad.

After a great time in Aschaffenberg with Leni and her family, it was finally time to move out and continue my trip. It was sad to say goodbye to Leni and the City, but I will be back in December

My next stop was Nurnberg (a large medieval town), which is on the way to Munich. I honestly didn’t know much about the city before leaving, but I heard from a couple people that it’s a nice town and I should swing by if I can. So after packing up all my gear, which is kind of like

I’ve never really taken any trains before (just the one from slo to santa Barbara for Halloween haha), so I was kind of nervous about the whole thing. Plus, I wasn’t sure how my Eurail pass was going to work, and if they would be able to activate it. This was just the beginning of a long day filled with butterflies in my stomach as I was: traveling alone and had no idea how the train system works, where to go once I got to the city, I don’t have a cell phone (tho that’s gonna quickly change, it’s become a hassle and adds unneeded stress to my travels. I miss my Droid haha), internet is pretty annoying to Frankfurt, which is close to Aschaffenberg). completing an oddly shaped puzzle, I set out to the train station which was about a 20-25 minute walk away. On my way, I stopped in the town square for the farmers market and snagged a fresh apple for breakfast.

The train pass worked fine, and I got a seat on the train no problem. I spent most of the ride with a map of Europe in one hand, and a guidebook in the other, trying to plan out the rest of my trip better. After Munich, I now plan to make my way to Paris and Amsterdam to enjoy those cities while it is still warm (ish). Haha My plans will probably change after my next beer tho, but I think I have a pretty good idea of what to do. It’s definitely nice having over 2.5 months to travel around. I think everyone should retire at 23 and travel to Europe. J

Upon my arrival, I cruised to an internet café in the train station to see if any couchsurfers had responded yet, since I still hadn’t paid the hostel fee yet. Upon seeing ZERO responses, I gave up on that idea and walked to the hostel I was staying at which was only a few blocks away from the train station. The whole hostel experience was pretty interesting. I was hoping to run into more English speaking people, but everyone was speaking german or something else, making me feel like an outcast to some degree because I was alone. After checking in, I went up to my 6 bedroom hotel room to drop off my stuff before exploring the town. The hostel was very nice btw, and had two bars/lounges and 6 floors of rooms (pretty big size).

My initial roommate meeting experience wasn’t what I was expecting. There was only one dude when I first entered the room, and it was an older german man who looked like he was dealing meth or living on the street his whole life. He and I later shared a shot of some really bad harsh whiskey (in mini bottles) which is kinda funny. I made sure to rent a lock from downstairs for all my stuff after our initial odd encounter. Haha The other people: a german dude my age who was in town for a job interview, and 3 guys from Bulgaria who were 35 ish. Tho the Bulgarian guys ended up staying somewhere else and two girls later joined the room in the evening.

Exploring the town was a lot of fun. I stopped by

the information building and picked up some

maps, then walked through the town on the main tourist street/path with all the shops and restaurants. Most of the main sights/churches were all on this one street which was convenient. Nurnberg is MUCH bigger than Aschaffenberg (over 500,000 ppl) and I immediately felt small in the strange medieval city. There is a castle wall that surrounds the city center which is pretty cool. Nice that they kept it after all these years. The churches in Nurnberg were very impressive. They were HUGE!!! It was crazy how high they went up, and to have so much detail in everything was pretty remarkable. I had the special small Nurnberg sausages on a roll for supper (in between lunch and dinner???). It was

good, tho nothing special. I made my way up to the main castle and towers in the city which took a bit of walking. You can walk through it, but it costs money to go inside/get the tour. Either way, it was pretty nice and had a really cool view of the city. After having some espresso at a café, I made my way back to the hostel. I’m becoming a big fan of espresso for some reason btw.

Chillin at the hostel was ok, tho not as much fun as I had hoped for. Not many people were speaking English and I wasn’t in a social mood to just walk up to random foreigners and say h

ello. So I turned to my computer, and had the opportunity to skype with Jenny for a while and check my email. It was nice to talk to Jenny for a while. I definitely miss her a lot. At least in Europe I have things to distract me tho, as compared to sitting at the house in Spokane when I was there for a month. It’s gonna be great to see her at Christmas, and there is even a possibility that she may meet me in Italy in November.

When I headed back to the room at 9pm, I was surprised to find a girl in our room, as I thought I had already met everyone who was gonna stay in the room (the 3 bulgarian dudes left). She was very nice, and could speak fluent German and FRENCH, giving her a very strange sounding English accent. Either way, we chatted for a bit and joked about the two guys who were already asleep. Sleeping was actually kind of my plan for the night as I had to get up early to catch my train to Munich, but as I had finally met someone at the hostel that was friendly/spoke english, I decided to stay up and hang out with her (Flo was her nickname).

We went to the bars in the hostel to see if anything was going on, but both places seemed lame so we decided to go elsewhere. I debated back and forth of whether or not to hang out/go out, but I was only going to be in Nurnberg for 1 night, so I figured I might as well try to see more of the town and test out the big city night life. Flo really wanted to go to a Club which I thought was

kinda funny because I feel like Germans are all about Clubs in big cities. Plus, I’ve heard the clubs are much different than the ones in America, and boy was that the truth! Haha After going to a bar for ½ off happy hour drinks, we made our way to “360 Degrees,” one of the Clubs that is supposed to be pretty good.

We had a great time in the club and eventually made some friends sitting in the lounge/having a drink. The club scene was so much different than in America. In America, you have 2 groups of people at a club: 1. The people socializing/sitting down/smoking cigarettes, 2a. Girls who just want to dance 2b. Guys looking like idiots trying to hook up with girls . 2a+2b+Alcohol = Grinding on the dancefloor. Haha It’s weird, in Germany, everyone is on the dance floor, often with a drink in their hand, and everyone is bobbing their heads to the music and dancing like idiots (the guys at least), not really touching each other (very different from America).).

There were lots of strobe lights, fog machines, and lasers too which was interesting. The whole atmosphere reminded me of a 7^th or 8^th grade mixer where everyone is too shy to talk to the opposite sex, except with lots of alcohol and rave music. Haha Either way I had a good time, and at the end of the night Flo went home with a random boy, and I made the trek back to the hostel alone which was fine. I made it back safely and quickly passed out in my room.

Goodnight Nurnberg!

CASTLEMANIA!!!

With Leni working on Tuesday, it was up to Mrs.

Biener and I to have all the fun exploring the city and surrounding areas. Leni definitely missed out (Entschuldigung). J We started off the day at 9am and set out on our adventure by first going back to the Castle in Aschaffenburg that we went to yesterday, but this time we could actually go in. The inside was remarkable, but I quickly realized that museums really aren’t my thing. I was pretty tired through from staying up til 2:30am the night before tho, and was pretty sluggish all day, so maybe that had something to do with it. Haha It was pretty cool tho. Lots of art and cool artifacts. Most of the art was about jesus which was pretty interesting. The coolest paintings to me tho were the ones of medieval battles. The medieval artifacts, swords, pikes, and early guns were pretty sweet too. The museum also holds the largest cork model musuem which was kinda cool (check out the coliseum).

After a fun time exploring the castle, we set out to

another historical site 5 minutes away that showcases the Italian side of the town. The house is modeled after an estate in Pompeii, and sadly I can’t remember what it’s called right now. Either way, it was cool seeing an Italian estate with a big open area with pillars and a bath inside, with lots of cool rooms. I felt like I was in a scene from Gladiator or something. Haha Outside the house was a private vineyard on a hill on the river, that is specifically reserved for “the biggest man” or “mayor” of Aschaffenberg. It was a cool house, but everything was written in German onside which was kinda frustrating (as compared to the castle where it had both English and german descriptions), so it wasn’t as cool as it could have been. sluggish all day, so maybe that had something to do with it. Haha It was pretty cool tho. Lots of art and cool artifacts. Most of the art was about jesus which was pretty interesting. The coolest paintings to me tho were the ones of medieval battles. The medieval artifacts, swords, pikes, and early guns were pretty sweet too.

After a busy morning, we decided to relax for a bit and get some sandwiches and coffee before heading out on our next adventure. The sandwiches we got were from an Italian sandwich shop, and were quite good, tho much smaller than the typical American portions. Eating sandwiches on the steps in the plaza with Mrs. Beiner was great. I’m not sure how Europe can get much better than this.

We drove out to a new Castle probably 25

minutes away that is located in the dense forest. The cool thing about this castle is that it’s not just located in a cool forest, it’s build in the middle of a POND and surrounded by water! Very cool. The same family has owned this private castle/mansion for over 500 years, and the family still lives in a segment of the castle today (the other half is open for tours). After taking a few pics outside the castle, we joined a group of tourists and got the guided tour through the castle. Sadly, the guy spoke German the whole time, so I couldn’t really understand. Luckily, Leni’s Mom was quietly translating/whispering what he was talking about. It was still very nice tho, and I particularly liked the room with wild game trophies from the forest, guns, swords, and art about hunting. Leni’s mom said of course I would like that room because I am a man. Haha

Our day continued as we traveled to a cute tourist town called Miltenburg. On the way we stopped at a cool garden shop where Leni ‘s Mom got her grandma a cute flower pot holder for her birthday. We had espresso there as well which was very much needed. I learned the hard way that I shouldn’t stay up too late when traveling.

Miltenburg was freakin AWESOME!!! The city is

located right on the river, and has a cool street that showcases all the shops, beerhouses, cafes, and restaurants. The whole town had a cool atmosphere, and as we sat down at “Faust” brewery, the family next to us was having some sort of scavenger hunt birthday party for the kids. Man is the beer good at that brewery. Their heff is amazing, and so was their special and brown ale. Schlappe Seppel from Aschaffenberg is also amazing and shouldn’t be left out in this blog. Anyway, for dinner, I got the white sausage this time which may have been the best sausage I’ve ever had. It was served in a broth with two big sausages, and after peeling off the skin I enjoyed it

bite by bite in a special mustard sauce that is specific for that type of sausage. It also came with a soft pretzel, which I’m noticing is pretty common in Bavaria. I was sad to leave, but I had an amazing time with Leni’s mom, and was excited to get back and hang out with Leni and her friends.

After getting back to Leni’s, Leni and I hung out for a bit then met up with some of her friends at a nice restaurant in Aschaffenberg. The two guys there were a lot of fun, and we had a good time joking around and talking about sports. The girl who was there seemed unsure of me, as if I was some wild American tourist…. Haha Either way, it was a fun night, and after a couple beers we were all friends. I even got to learn some new german words/phrases, including some new swear words. Haha

When we got back home, I stressed out for a bit as I tried to figure out my plans for the next few days. I was hoping to couchsurf in Nurnberg for 2 days, but sent out my request only the day before, and got “no” from everyone. Hmmmmm… Now what? So I looked up some hostels on hostelworld.com, but it said every hostel was booked for Wednesday night. I verified this by calling them all via skype and got shut down again and again. I could have stayed another night at Leni’s, then headed to Munich the following day, but I was determined to go to Nurnberg, so I sent out some more couchsurfing requests and went to bed having no idea what I would do the next day.

The next morning (today), I hadn’t received any couchsurfing replies back, so I made the rounds of phone calls to hostels again and got lucky and reserved my bed at A&O Hostel. I was hoping someone on couchsurfing will reply tho, as its generally more fun and a local experience, and its also free compared to the 19 euro I’ll have to pay at the hostel. :( Oh well, off to Nuremberg (Nurnberg)

I heart Leni's Mom :)

Leni unfortunately has to work during

the week, but fortunately Leni's mom was awesome enough to be my unofficial tour guide through Aschaffenberg on Monday AND Tuesday. And for the record, Leni's mother is amazing. She took me all over the place, translated all sorts of things, bought me food/drinks, showed me all the best places to go, and did this all with a smile on her face as if she was my own mother. Thanks for everything!

On Monday we essentially walked

around the city and she told me everything I needed to know about Aschaffenburg. Highlights included:

• Walking into every church (which was pretty much every 500 feet). All of them were unique and very pretty, with pipe organs in the back and confession booths on the side. All the seats in every church were very uncomfortable, but as Leni's mom mentioned, is supposed to be that way so you don't fall asleep and pay attention
• Walking through the shopping area. The streets are super skinny and made of stone which is cool. The atmosphere was also very nice with outdoor cafes, nice shops, and buzzing people.
• Symphony X (one of my favorite bands) is playing in Aschaffenberg Oc.t 4. I'm gonna see them when I'm in Munich on Oct. 5, but either way it was awesome to see a symphony x poster on the street, as well as the concert venue.

• American Shop. This store sells all things american such as snickers bars, monster energy drinks, sweet baby rays bbq sauce, and even 40 oz bottle of Old English! haha The old english was 6.70 euro tho which is nuts, because i would refuse to pay more than $2.50 american back in the states. Cool shop tho and nice to see a taste of home.
• Italian ice cream. After taking at least 5 minutes to decide on a flavor (with a huge line behind me), I finally decided on a waffle cone with tiramusu and some form of chocolate. Leni's mom and I ate our ice cream (she got ben and jerrys at the american shop haha) overlooking the river next to the castle in the city
• The Castle! Ok, they have huge castle right smack in the middle of the city which is suuuper cool looking. It was actually demolished in WWII (nice going yanks...), and took 30 years to reconstruct, but looks very nice/restored now. Unfortunately the castle was closed for tours on Monday, but as we were walking through the lower level of the castle to the garden....

• I met the Mayor! That's right, and I have the picture to prove it! Leni's mom translated the mayor as "the biggest man," and had been talking about him off and on all day, so it was crazy when we were walking through the castle and she whispered, "see that man in the suit walking towards us? That is the biggest man of the city." We politely began talking to him, and he had all sorts of questions for me. He was actually very nice, and had a pretty sweet blue tie. Anyway, his english was pretty good and we were able to talk for a few minutes with Leni's mom, and as he was leaving I asked if I could get a quick picture with him and he said of course! So now i have a picture with the mayor, and I was in the newspaper just the day before. haha I love this town!
• And more! Walking along the castle gardens, the pompeii house, walking along the river, going to the tourist information building, buying ointment for my burned hand, stopping at a cafe for coffee and cake (I actually had a beer and a pretzel tho because it was so hot; we ate outside making me feel like I was in italy or something, tho the only italy I've seen was in vegas...)

At the end of the day, Leni's mom went

back home and I hung out at Leni's place til she got home from work. Leni had a very long day at work, so we just made dinner and watched a movie which was just fine with me. :) Oh, and my hand is doing better I think??? I keep telling people I got in a fight and injured my hand, tho Leni is quick to correct what really happened. haha

Soccer and Schnitzel

Ok, I'm sure everyone already knows this, but Germans are CRAZY about soccer. Or should I say futbol? haha And that includes the women. Especially Leni! Don't even dare to trash talk her favorite team. She'll either hit you or won't talk to you for a week. haha I was hoping to go to a game while in Europe (at a big stadium with riots and the whole shabang), and now it looks like I may be going to a game with Leni in December. She's working out the ticket situation, so hopfeully if all goes well I'll go to a game with Leni and pretend to be a soccer hooligan.

I bring soccer up because Leni and I watched 2 live games at a sports complex on sunday. Her brother was on the team in the first game which was cool, and the second game was a little higher level. It's just a city league, but either way it was pretty fun to watch. Old men gathered and talked in bleachers with their dogs. Kids played around all over. Friends cheered on friends. Women took care of screaming babies. haha It was all there. It's definitely a community event, and as all the shops are closed on sundays (this is common throughout germany, where everything shuts down on sundays practically) lots of people come out to attend the game. I got a sandwich at halftime that had bologna, a half slice of tomato, and a cucumber... uh, ok? haha it was good tho. Very german I guess. Anyway, I got to meet her cousin there and a few other people, and overall had a great time relaxing in the sun watching soccer with Leni.

After soccer we went over to Leni's parents for dinner. I got to skype with Jenny for a little bit which was nice, watched some soccer on tv, then sat down for dinner on their patio/garden (which is very nice). I've never had schnitzel before, but I believe its a german staple, so I was definitely looking forward to eating some homemade schnitzel. And boy was it delicious! Thank you very much Mrs. Biener for the wonderful meal. The whole evening was great, we made a fire in the backyard/garden, talked for a while, I got to meet Leni's grandparents who live next door, and as always, had lots of german beer with/after dinner. :)

Camping in the Forest

After an awesome day at the Stapler Cup and meeting Leni's parents,

Leni and I took off to go camping with a Scouting group she belongs to. It's kind of like a Co-Ed version of scouts in which people of all ages are involved. Anyway, the camping spot was only 25

minutes away so it was a quick drive, but along the way was a really cool small town. All the small towns I've seen are awesome btw. White houses packed together with lots of windows, gardens, red roofs, and skinny streets. The towns seem much more friendly than any small town I've visited in the U.S. The people are also much friendlier, but I'll get to that some other time.

So the camping spot was in the middle of a densely packed forest, where the trees are just starting the change color. Whe

n anyone asks me what I think of Germany so far, I always mention the trees. It really is something else. Probably similar to Seattle, but definitely different. Anyway, the spot is designated for group retreats, and thus had a a few small buildings with bathrooms, a kitchen, and an activity room where some of us ended up sleeping.

Everyone was extremely friendly when I arrived, and the older kids and I quickly got along as they practiced their english with me. haha This trip/event had special significance and had more

kids than adults, so there were about 15 kids total ranging from 9-26 years old, and really only one dad. It's not uncommon for Leni's parents and other parents to go on most of the trips tho.

Highlights

- Huge dinner (sweet and sour chicken/rice, HUUUUGE pizza cooked in their special camping oven; see picture)

- Bonfire all day/night

- Talent show (One guy stuffed his mouthful of gummi bears, I played the hand whistle and serenaded one of the guys haha)

- Beer! Lots of Beer! Their version of camping includes lots of beer. Did I mention beer?

- Campfire songs! (In german and english. haha I even taught them a few songs I knew that my family would sing)

- Drinking Game: Hammering nails into a log. Lots of variations. I did pretty well, and was practically addicted to this game. haha

- Burning my hand. Badly. I was helping move/adjust a 12 foot log that was in the bonfire, the log swung down and hit my hand very

hard with the flaming side. The impact scraped skin off my knuckles and burned the right hand of my hand worse than I originally thought. It hurt all night and still looks pretty gnarly (see picture)

- Jokes with the germans (I got to hear a fair amount of "bad"/racist jokes)

Thoughts

- Germans can speak pretty good english. I'm impressed considering most people rarely ever speak it. Most germans can understand/"hear" english well though, its just speaking it that is a problem sometimes.

- I learned about a whole new side of Leni this trip. I would have never guessed she would have been involved with scouts, or even liked camping. haha She was always the girly girl to me who liked shopping and going to starbucks. This makes me realize that I need to ask my friends more questions about themselves/their childhood to get a better idea of who they really are.

- I wish I could remember all our family camping songs better (Ex. Going on a Lion Hunt...)

Guess who's famous???

Stapler Cup/Kyle & Leni Make the German Newspaper...

After fighting jet lag all morning as well as a hangover from all the German beer (which is apparently much stronger than American beer), Leni and I finally got ready to head out to the "Stapler Cup," which is an annual local company/town event with live music, food/beer tents, and the main event... forklift competitions. The company Linde manufactures high quality forklifts, or "stapler," thus, the Stapler Cup. Anyway, its a cool event where the best forklift drivers in the company and subsidiarity companies compete in various events with a grandstand/spectators and the whole deal. After enjoying a beer and walking around for a while (the event is also right next to the huge castle in the city on the river which adds to the awesomeness), Leni and I decided to head home because we were meeting her parents for cake and coffee. But before we left, a lady from the local newspaper asked if she could take a quick picture of us for tomorrow's paper. I thought she was just bs-ing us, but, after returning from our camping trip today, what do we find at Leni's apartment??? A newspaper with our picture on the FRONT PAGE! Well, maybe not on the front page. But on something like page 5 there is a small pic of us with a bunch of other people who attended the festival. haha See for yourself! Although I was a little bummed that they didn't include that I was from Aschaffenburg. Oh well, haha.

Meet the Parents

After a good time at the Stapler Cup, Leni and I drove across town to have coffee and cake with her parents. Man do they have a nice house! And her parents were extremely friendly and could surprisingly speak pretty good english. Leni's mom made a homemade apple streussel cake, that was delicious and called for lots of homemade whipped cream on top. The coffee was also incredible. mmmm.... I can't wait to have some more when I go to their house Sunday night when we have Schnitzel for dinner (which is tonight actually tonight btw). Anyway, i gotta run. Leni and i are going to a soccer game, then to her parents house for dinner. I'll blog about the sweet camping trip we went on last night and how I burned my had pretty bad later tonight hopefully. Later

Jet Lag or Hangover?

Aschaffenburg

Wow!!! Germany is sooooo cool. Trees everywhere, crazy little euro cars (we saw a van of 10 guys on the autobahn with their door open, taking shots of jagermeister and blasting music, all of them drunkily

singing haha), small streets, cool churches everywhere, and

AMAZING BEER! haha The town Leni lives in has about 65,000 people, and definitely has an awesome local feel to it. I can't believe I ever thought San Luis Obispo was pretty and had a nice atmosphere. And this was just one random small town in Germany! I'm so happy to be here, and literally CANNOT WAIT to see more of Europe.

After dropping some things off at her cool apartment near downtown, we headed off to meet her friend Christian and some co-workers who all work at the local forklift manufacturing company (biggest company in the town). The company they all work at is having their annual "Forklift Cup," where there are lots of events and competitions, food, and BEER. Lots of beer. haha Anyway, we all walked to the main downtown area, and went into a restaurant/bar around 7pm for some drinks and food. Little did I know we'd be there all night drinking, smoking, laughing, telling stories, and taking shots of jagermeister!!! haha Oh, and I had my first German Bratwurst for dinner. Which was pretty much the best thing I've ever had.

There was mashed potatoes too, and LOTS of sourkraut, which was actually pretty dang good. Quick thanks to Leni for buying my dinner and beer for the night due to my credit card/bank situation (which is now resolved btw). the whole meal experience was amazing to me. We would have a drink, then a cigarette break (walk outside the bar for a little bit), come back inside, have another drink, go to the bathroom, do a round of shots, then repeat! Despite not knowing German, and 2 of the co-workers not really knowing English, we all had a great evening and quickly became friends. I guess alcohol tends to do that. haha Anyway, we were at the bar til 11:30pm or so before finally deciding to head home for the night. Thank you Leni for a wonderful night in Aschaffenburg!

Deutschland Here I Come!

Flying Standby

I arrived at the airport almost 3 hours early to catch my flight to Frankfurt. After drinking a tall glass of beer in the airport to calm my nerves, I walked down to my gate with my fingers crossed, hoping there would be enough empty seats on the flight for me. About 45 minutes to boarding there was announcement saying "this is a full flight," which didn't make me feel so good. After about 3/4 of the people had boarded the plane, they finally made an announcement for waitlisted passengers and called my name, handed me a ticket, and I was ON!!!

The Flight

The plane departed around 7pm, so I pretty much just watched a movie and "tried" to go to bed. I'm usually pretty good at falling asleep, but I definitely struggled to get comfortable (especially since i forgot to take out my contacts). The meal on the flight was pretty miserable and I'll never get the "meat' dish again. Always go for pasta says my friend Leni. Despite being a 10 hr. and 40 minute nonstop flight, it really wasn't that bad and we got into Frankfurt at 3pm.

Saved by an Angel

Oh man, it was so weird getting off the plane and seeing everything primarily written in german, and hearing german announcements on the intercom. A wave of, "kyle, you are definitely not in america" hit me a I proceeded to walk around confused looking for the exit for about 10 minutes. haha Sadly, this was only the beginning of the frustration and confusion.

Once I got through security I tried to call my friend Leni Biener to let her know I had arrived so she could pick me up. I tried using the international phone Carolyn Boynton had given me, but sadly, I could not get the dang phone to work. I then tried to get on the internet so I could call Leni using Skype, but at Frankfurt there is no free wi-fi, and I didn't want to risk using my debit card to pay 5 euro for an hour of internet. Ok, now what? I then decided to exchange my $20 american dollars for euros, which sadly only gave me 10 euro and 30 cents. :( I then tried using a pay phone using euro coins to call Leni, but I couldn't figure out a. how to use the machine, b. what number I should really be trying to call Leni at. International phone numbers can be confusing. After messing around with the dang phone for 20 minutes, I went to the information booth, kinda got directed to free internet, then was told there is no free internet at the airport, which is HUGE by the way. I was walking all over the place by this point, from train terminals, to the departure area, going up and down who knows how many escalators, trying different phone booths again, and talking to more information people. It had been at least an hour since I had arrived, and I had no idea if Leni was waiting for me outside in her car, or still back in her home town 30 minutes away. I decided to use my 10 euro to buy a phone card in hopes that THIS was the solution. But after playing around with it for another 20 minutes, I still couldn't make the call, and now only had 30 cents left in my pocket. I needed a new plan, and started walking away from the phones, when all of a sudden, what do I see??? An Angel, in the form of Leni Biener, turned around a corner and saved my life! Oh man was it a relief to see her. After a big hug and brief hello, we hurried to her car and left the airport.

It was really quite amazing that we ran into each other at the airport. Little did I know, Leni had been at home, checked her computer, and saw that my flight had landed. After waiting 30 minutes for me to call her, she decided to hop in her car and drive to the airport, assuming I'd call her on the way, seeing as though that's what I had told her I was gonna do. Then, when she got to the airport, and I still hadn't called her, she thought I was lost and decided to try to find me inside. Finally, after getting an illegal parking spot, she ran through the airport searching for me, and 20 minutes later we ran into each other. Whew!!! Both of us were definitely happy to see each other, ending my nightmare in the frankfurt airport, and we were off to her home town of Aschaffenburg! Tschüss

Getting Ready to Fly Out

I just got back in sunny San Luis Obispo after spending the last month with my amazing family in Spokane Wa. It was a great time back home, filled with fun adventures with family, but now it's time to get serious about my Europe trip as much of it still unplanned. haha And yes, I realize I had 3 months to plan this trip, but hey, it'll all work out so relax. :)

I fly out of San Francisco to Frankfurt, Germany Thursday Sept. 22 @ 7pm, assuming everything works out alright with my standby companion fare on United (courtesy of the Halden's). My awesome couchsurfing friend Leni is picking me up from the airport at 3pm on Friday, and I'll be staying with her the next 5 days or so in a small town called Aschaffenburg which is about 30 min. east of Frankfurt.

I have a 3 month Eurail pass which is going to be really nice, and will allow me to essentially ride unlimited trains throughout 22 countries in europe! This allows for a lot of flexibility and "change of plans" moments, which should keep things interesting on my trip. Oh, and I also grew out a mustache the last 4 weeks, so that should keep things pretty interesting on my trip. haha

Where I'm Going:

- All over Germany and Switzerland to start my trip, then it's all up in the air. I'd like to see Nice, Monaco, Milan, Venice, Croatia, Vienna, Budapest, Athens, Prague, Copenhagen, Norway, Amsterdam, Brugge, Paris, Luxembourg, Normandy, Dublin, and Lisbon. With lots of small towns along the way.

Planned Highlights of the Trip

Oktoberfest, soccer match, Symphony X Concert, walk across Luxembourg, bet 20 euro on black at the Monte Carlo, ice bar in Copenhagen, sail in the Mediterranean, run a half marathon in Munich, champagne in Champagne, Guinness on tap in Dublin, drinking "das boot," Beatles Museum in Hamburg, bicycle around in Amsterdam, Normandy beach, scenic railways in Switzerland, German xmas markets & more

What I'm most looking forward to: German beer :)

What I'm least looking forward to: Not seeing my girlfriend for 2.5 months :(