Greetings from Frankfurt!

As we bounced down the runway into a country that I know absolutely nothing about, I began to get a bit nervous. It might’ve just been the sleep deprivation and lack of decent meals, but I looked at Brian and couldn’t help but ask, “What the hell are we doing here?” Thankfully, the airport was incredibly “American-friendly” and we made our way through just fine. The problem was, though, that the airport is located about 6 kilometers (maybe around 3 miles – no idea) south of the heart of Frankfurt. While I waited in line for the ATM to get some euros (monopoly money), Brian went to the information desk to inquire about our next move.

As it turns out, we needed to take a bus to a different terminal, then a train to the main train station in the city, and then a short walk from there. Great. We got to the train station, asked which tickets we needed to buy, and bought them from the machine (which an “English” option). Everything was going well… until we missed our train. Luckily, a nice guy from Denmark became our first European friend when he gave us a puzzled look and asked if we spoke English. The three of us (actually, the guy from Denmark) figured out what to do and we made it to Frankfurt all in tact.

It is beautiful here. When Brian and I stepped out into the city, we were both awe-struck at the incredible old buildings all around us. As it so happens, some sort of street festival was taking place in front of our hostel (which is “20 meters” from the station). We found our hostel without too much trouble (I ran over some sort of brick with my suitcase and a very unhappy vendor snapped at me. Brian ran away laughing.), and checked in with ease. Our room is much better than I had anticipated. We have a great view of the main street, which is buzzing with vendors, locals, and tourists like us.

Unfortunately, as soon as we got settled in the room, it started to rain and the festival below cleared out in seconds. All is well though. After such a long day of traveling, it is so nice to relax and adjust to our new home (for one night).

We’ve finally arrived!

Caroline

 Our first hostel. Not bad, not bad!
(Notice the matching suitcases and laptop bags.)

The view from our room. When we checked in, there were hundreds of people in the street, but they all scattered once it started to rain.

 This is for you, Sloan. I miss you!

 I forgot to write about this earlier! On one of our walks, we stumbled across this bridge with hundreds of locks stuck all over the place. I was enjoying the view of the city, when I overheard this German couple talking. As it turns out, couples will get a lock inscribed with their names, clip it onto the fence, and throw the key into the river. It was such a cute thing to witness.

So German.