Bern to Frankfurt (6/14)


Gumperson’s Law is alive and well in Switzerland! Today dawned bright and sunny – and I had to leave! Oh, well . . . guess I’ll just have to come back! My host was enroute to a commitment of his own, and was able to drop me off at the train station this morning.  I took an 11:00 AM train to Mannheim, and changed trains for the last hour into Frankfurt.  Once again, and with nostalgia, I passed through the Freiburg station. What a wonderful time I had there! The train ride was uneventful, which is, I guess, a good thing.  Once I arrived in the main station, it took a few minutes of getting myself re-oriented before I could get myself on the right underground train to get to the youth hostel where I had stayed at the beginning of my trip and where I had made a reservation – 7 weeks ago – for tonight. There is a big conference or trade show or something on in Frankfurt, so I have a bed in a four-person room. (A single room here would have been quite expensive, and everything is booked up.  I was fortunate to have made the reservation when I did.)
And the World Cup has started!  The first game was this afternoon, and as I walked around a bit near the hostel, every bar with a screen was filled up and people were watching and yelling.  There was a big screen here in the hostel, and folks were gathered round.  Usually, I am traveling with students during the World Cup, and we are able to watch and share in the excitement. But I have never been in Europe before at World Cup time. The same excitement!
Yes, I had gyros again – on salad, this time. I will forever associate gyros with Germany!
There’s a young, German woman in the room whose English is phenomenal.  She sounds very British, but says she’s not spent much time in Britain.  We had a long conversation about politics and our respective countries. It was so interesting to hear what she had to say.
Last night in Europe.  It’s been a wonderful trip! I’m off to the airport in the morning.

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