I had a wonderful time in Europe. It was my first time ever going over seas. My brother Ali and I flew through Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany. From there we took a train to visit a friend in Northern Germany that I met a few summers ago. We all then went to Amsterdam, Netherlands for a couple of days. Afterwards Ali and I took a sleeper train to Munich, Germany for a night. Next we went by train to visit my American Army friend in Bamberg. Lastly we got a ride back to Frankfurt for our flight back home.
I followed my sister's advice and brought a box of chocolates for my flight attendant, and it paid off when she brought Ali up from coach to business class. We flew in a 767 jetplane from Chicago to Frankfurt. The business class seats were nice. They reclined back fairly far and had a foot rest too. They were basically lazyboy chairs with seatbelts and trays. We got a nice meal and personal DVD players afterward so we could watch a film or two. I took a couple of Tylenol PMs to help me sleep and Ali stayed up and watched DVDs. I got a few hours of sleep which helped me out when we arrived in Frankfurt. Going through customs there was easy enough. They basically just pushed us through. With jet lag it was still disorienting being in a new country and not speaking the local language. After some wandering around we figured out where we needed to go and how to get some train tickets.
We slept on our train as much as possible on our way to Bieleferd, where my friend Janina would pick us up and take us to her home in Lohne. I met Janina in the summer of 1997 at 4H Camp Sacandaga where we both worked. She lived in the country with her mother, sister, and brother. Once we arrived they took us in with some of the best Hospitality I have ever known. My favorite experience in Europe was staying here for our first five days. We learned german language and customs from our friends very quickly. I spent most of my time just having fun and laughing at all the similatities and diferences btween our two countries. The one thing I liked most were the Castles. They were so old and fortified. I could imagine how awesome they must have looked when they were still in use.
Next on our itinerary was Amsterdam, Netherlands. Four of us went by car over the Autobahn: Janina, Christian (her boyfriend), Ali and myself. Once we arrived our first detail was to find a hotel room for the night. We parked the car and set out on foot checking out each hotel as we passed it along the way. The streets there were very busy with traffic. There is a sidewalk, bicycle lane, car lane, streetcar (train) lane, and bus lane all together going both directions. It was very confusing for us at first. We kept forgetting to look for the bikes as we walked along inducing many of them to swerve out of the way. We got a good two star hotel room and ventured off into the shopping district of the city. There is a road that is limited to pedestrians only where there are many shops and cafes and resteraunts. As we were walking along I found two of my good friends from SUNY Cortland to my surprise. I was so shocked the I did not know what to do with myself. We spent the rest of the day together experiencing Amsterdams wonders. We found this great Pub called Mister Coco's. I loved it there. They served Heinekin that tastes so fresh it makes your mouth water.
We said goodbye to Jen, Flear, Janina, and Christian and were on our own! We spent another night in Amsterdam by ourselves before we continued our journey by sleeper train to Munich. Munich was OK, but it was cloudy and we could not see the Alps to my disappointment. On our way back to the train station the next morning I was hit by a street car, ouch!
Our last cople days we spent with my friend at an Army base near Bamberg. It was nice, but alot like America because of all the Americans. I had a great time seeing my buddy Matt Best who had been there for two years. After our stay he drove us to Frankfurt so we could catch our flight back Home.
All in all I really liked Europe. Especially my friends, the castles, the beer, and it's uniquenss.
