Finally made it to Europe! and finally writing about it...

So, Spring 2010, my travels finally got me to Europe. I flew into Frankfurt, Germany on May 26th. Rain greeted me in Frankfurt, so it felt just like home Seattle. Got on the wrong train from the airport, and soon found myself in rolling, green countryside with vineyards (or hopsyards?) and farms, along the banks of the river Main. Helpful folks on the train called my hosts, and confirmed that I needed to head back towards the city, to the Grisheim stop, just west of downtown.

People have asked "why Germany first?" and I say it's because I've met some cool Germans on my travels (i.e. in SE Asia and Australia) and wanted to check out their country to see how it develops cool citizens of the world.

Sure enough, within my first two days there, I'd met some more cool people. I stayed with a host from Couchsurfing for the first time, Nicole, met her housemate and boyfriend, and enjoyed nice meals and conversation with them, and their couch was comfy. Explored the city on Thursday, finding a farmers/craft market in one of the main public squares, where impressively appointed trailers are the stalls, grilling, brewing, refridgerating, and even baking (I think), the proffered victuals. There for lunch, I ate not-bad wurst, a tangy olive and pepper salad, and sampled the apple cake from the impressive bakery selection. My Mum might tap into her heritage a bit deeper, to come up with some new baked goods for her repertoire. (Oops, I should use Germanic words, not French, for this section...)

After strolling the city for a few hours, checking out the arrangement of neighborhoods, parks, businesses, I slept off some jet-lag in a grassy spot on the main (of several) university (Goethe?) campus, undisturbed. Around 5:30PM, thinking of heading back to the apartment, I spotted someone with a badminton racquet poking out of her backpack, caught up with her at the light, and asked where she played. She explained it was at the gym, starting at 9:00PM, and asked if I wanted to play... perceptive folks in Germany!
In the meantime, I was welcome to join her watching a video related to a class she was taking. It was set in London, about the dictated life of Bangladeshi woman who arrange-marriaged a guy living there. Quite interesting. Met a few of her friends afterwards, so the 4 of us cruised around on their 3 bikes, found some dinner, and played badminton. Ended the evening with another fun activity- dumpster diving... from a pile left on the sidewalk. They acquired a vacuum cleaner, window shades, and possible a full Ikea bookshelf (if they went back for it). Okay... moving on to Bavaria next.

Traveled (yes, again by train, since it's such an efficient system), to Wurzburg on Friday. Famous "Residenz" there was the main site to see while I had 4 hours before meeting my friend, Ruth. Basically, a huge estate owned by someone connected to royalty. Tagged along with the German tour group when they were given guided-only access to the aprtments where the king would stay if he came for a visit. It was on the road out of town called "The Romantic Road" through small-town Franconian (Bavarian) countryside. Met up with Ruth later that evening, in time to partake of the wine festival, highlighting local wines. Potato balls, goulash, and strawberry wine for dinner there, with a boisterous Norwegian couple, their German hostess and friends, as dining mates.

In the small town of Steinsfeld, near the castled, walled-town of Rothenburg, I stayed with Ruth's lovely family, in a wooden country house. First thing I noticed was that most houses had solar panels on the roofs. When I asked about that, her dad mentioed that he also organized the village to buy a 3 million euro wind turbine to share. Hmm... no additional commentary at this time on addressing the energy crises proactively through alternative (yet traditional) sources.

Okay, enough for this post. Will add more in the coming week.
Ciao (from near Milano, Italy).