Frazier Blog

As the door to the couchette opened (it’s a 4-6 person sleep compartment) I realized I was no longer sweating. A welcome change from when I went to bed. I felt very tired though. Through out the night I kept waking up. I finally found a way to fit in the bed by shoving my arm under the bunk and having my feet and head touching the other side.

As I started to gather my stuff I panicked! We were already in Frankfurt. Most trains stay at a station for 2-3 minutes and we had already been there 2. Yesterday I was woken up 25 minutes before we arrived. And today we were early because I had an alarm set for 8 minutes before the scheduled time. I quickly asked a train employee and he let me know we had another 10-15 minutes. Phew.

Now that I am in Germany this means country number 6 in the last 18 days, designation 9. Crazy. I cannot believe all the places I have seen and people I have met.

Since it was 6am the ticket office was not yet open therefore I needed to figure out how to back track. Consulting the timetables did not help! Finally I started using a ticket machine, not only could I put it in English but it printed a route for me. I had to go back a second time because it had a subway trip and I didn’t want to have to buy a ticket. Frequent trains meant I would arrive by 9am.

As my second train journey began I could fill the tiredness hitting me. I charged my phone via the trains outlets. I have been meaning to say this for a while now, I love the trains here. Not only are they easy to navigate but they are nice. Being able to charge my phone and camera keeps my digital life going. Blogs and photos! The time gives me a chance to blog. 50% or more has been written on trains. There would not be a blog without trains.

As I switched trains I felt my body dragging more. Starting the final hour journey the thought began to enter my mind “am I trying to do too many places”? Instead of pondering this, I took quick naps in a variety of semi-comfortable positions. It was a smaller new regional train that reminded me of Max.

Exiting the train gave me a bit of energy as the sight of a small town made me happy. Than I looked up, castle! Wow I get to sleep in that castle tonight. Amazing! Instantly I knew the extra travel paid off. Today would be a good day. My energy level spiked and off I went.

At 9am the town was still sleeping. Walking though the little streets felt extremely peaceful. At the moment I was down to 25 Euro and had the “oh crap” moment of “does this place have an ATM”? After some walking I spotted a bank with an ATM. Phew. Except it was offline. Hopefully the next town up has one. I spotted the church and the trail up to castle. Can’t say the 15 minute walk and 500 steps made me excited. Hiking up with my pack made me start to sweat and reminded me I really needed a shower. At the top a great view of the valley and town below greeted me. I wondered around the courtyard before I discovered the reception desk.

The castle felt very modern inside, both exciting and disappointing at the same time. Reception informed me I could not check in until 2, as I expected. Luckily she said no problem to using a shower room. Shower felt great. Got ready for the day, left my bag at the front desk and was off to explore the Rhine river area. Grabbed a great breakfast first, down to 12 Euro.

I planed to take the river boat up to St. Goar explore the town and castle and then figure out where to go from there. Where I was on the Rhine according to Rick contains the best sights packed into a single stretch. The next boat did not leave until 11:30 so I had 40 minutes to
kill. Then I remembered something about bike rental. I pulled out Rick Steves and found that I could rent a bike, do the 10k ride and then use ferries or trains to connect my journey. Found the bike rental place and got a decent 3-speed for 12 Euro all day. Out of Euro besides my souvenir 5 Euro bill. Not panicking yet thou. St Goar should have an ATM and worse case I’ll only eat at places that take a card.

After putting on sunscreen I setoff along the Rhine. Gorgeous! Soon I encountered my next castle across the river. Sweet. There are so many castles on the river because back in the 1300’s each castle would force passing trade ships to pay tolls by raising chains across the river and not letting them pass until they paid. Created some nice castles.

The entire ride snaked along the Rhine providing scenic views and wonderful photo opportunities. I made good speed and when I started to pass boats felt happy about my transportation choice. Soon I approached St. Goar.

Two castles sprung into my view between them laid a cute small town. The castle are on the same bank as the town that I planned to explore later but first an ATM and than lunch. I wanted to do a picnic but the grocery store does not open on Sundays.

I struggled to find the restaurant Rick has recommended in the small windy streets. As I hit the main street and began to pull out my map I heard something, music.

I heard a band playing “these are a few of my favorite things”. If this trip has taught me one thing, music leads to good things. I followed the sound and arrived at a church courtyard facing a full band and a sign about the Goar festival. Really? I’d stumbled upon another festival!

I entered and met a ticket seller. When I asked how much she produced a menu! No entrance fee just German food! Yes! I bought 3.50 worth of tickets. Enough for a bratwurst and beer. 2.5 Euro left. Luckily the ticket seller informed me that the town contains an ATM.

Fresh local BBQ, sweet! It was very hot out so I looked for a spot in the shade. Being overwhelmed by the music and food soon wore off and I realized I was the only non-local at the festival. My spot was next to some friendly looking locals. I sat down and they asked German or English and the conversation began. The youngest person at the table was 30ish
and there were a couple of senior citizens. All of them warmly welcomed me. My bratwurst and beer tasted delicious. The locals were very curious about where I was from and what I was doing.

An older man, who I later learn is named Heinz, began to explain to me about his friends in the United states that have kept in touch for years. He told me the whole story of how they met. She fell off a tour bus and broke her hip but the tour guide said “he did not have time for this.” Heinz saw this happen and took her to the hospital. She thanked him and said sorry for not having the chance to buy one of his cuckoo clocks. He sent her one for free. She rejoined the tour and the guide gave her grief for not moving fast enough. Others on the tour complained and he was fired. A cool story of international friendship. The U.S. couple
has come back three rimes and Heinz has traveled to the U.S. once. Both believe God put them in the situation.

Next I found out George is a 747 pilot for a cargo airplane. We had a good time talking about aviation and all the pros and cons of flying a big aircraft. We also disscued the differnt life style he has exprienced from living in many different places. He really enjoys the small town community and feel.

Once again I found myself in an surreal situation. I had stumbled upon this communities festival and they made me feel at home. I really enjoyed all the conversation. I went back for a steak and a glass of local wine. But first a side trip to ATM. This one worked and I had a
healthy supply of Euro again. Now I have to time it right so I run out as I leave.

The conversation continued and I learned more about the people and the town. Over 500 trains a day pass by it’s tracks and we were interrupted multiple times by them. The steak tasted great and I enjoyed the locally produced wine.

Time for dessert. The band had wrapped up playing but not before playing though a Beatles tribute. Dessert consisted of a strawberry pudding of sorts. Yum.

The conversation kept going. As I prepared to say goodbye Georges wife brought me a piece of berry cake. How could I say no? By the way Georges wife is from Argentina. So the conversation would go from English to Spanish to German, Spanish, English and so on. Hard to wrap my head around at times. Knowing German would have helped.

I asked George for advice about the castle and prepared to leave. Then the town priest joined the table and started asking me questions. After passing his spiritual survey, his memorable line “your faith makes you smile”, I said my goodbyes and was on my way to the castle.

At the beginning of the day I thought I’d have an easy walking day. I clearly did not think about having to hike up and down from castles. The heat did not make the walk easy but the view rewarded me for the effort.

I started the Rick Steves self guided tour and learned all about the castle. I tried to stay in the shade and avoid the sun sucking away my energy. The castle today commands respect but before the French almost destroyed it, it must have been huge. It’s hard to understand from
looking at models but it looks at least 3 times bigger. I could not believe how big the storehouse was and how little space the prisoners got. Prisoners were lowered into a small room and got to sit on wood beams keeping them out of their own waste.

I enjoyed more castle views and than headed back town the trail towards St. Goar. Checked the boat time tables and it would be an hour before the next one. I decided to try my luck with the trains. Checked the tables after getting to the station and it would be there in 10 minutes. Perfect.

Returned my bike and checked out a Rick Steves recommended dinner place for later. Also read about an Italian gelato place in town, naturally I had a one scoop for an afternoon snack.

I started up the 500 steps back to my castle. A huge group of people was gathered in the courtyard. Some sort of high school group. I also saw a topdeck tour sign, same group from Venice. Activity once again centered around the castle.

Upon check-in the women confirmed my details and said “normally it’s a mixed dorm but tonight it’s you and three girls.” She could tell I was crushed. I did ask if they knew I was coming though because that could be awkward if not. She said ya I told them. She than delivered more bad news “it’s a 12 person dorm, but tonight it’s just the four of you”. I walked up the castle tower to my room so cool. Opened the door and looked in shock. A huge circular room, each of us got our own bunk bed plus 2 extras. Easily the nicest room I’ve been in. The incredible views out the multiple windows were icing on the cake. I realized the towel I had checked out earlier was no longer on my backpack. No worries get a new one at the front desk. I looked out the window and saw three girls at a table on the patio. I thought “I wonder if those are the girls”? I tried to make eye contact but it is not that’s not easy from a two story window. I descended to have a closer look.

Looked possible so I approached and asked “are you three girls staying together.?” “yes. Why?” before I could get out are you in room 241 one of them cut in “are you Paul?” I sat down and said I didn’t know they could give out my name ;). We had a conversation and it seemed like it would work well. Found out they were all from and go to school in Texas at Texas. They are currently studying abroad. I invited them to dinner but they declined and said “were going to eat the buffet and avoid the steps” I quipped back “dinner with 40 high-schoolers or a nice dinner in town with gelato after”. Agreeing that we would maybe
split a cab back up the hill sealed the deal. I set off to shower and than dinner.

A shower odyssey. I went and got my new towel from the desk and it took a little explaining. She thought she had taken my personal towel at first. After hiking up two floors to my room I realized I’d left my shampoo and soap in shower from this morning. 4 stories up in the other building. Down 2 up 4, stuff gone. Down 4 to ask “do you sell shampoo”? Down 1, snake past 40 kids waiting for dinner and get lemon scented body wash
from a vending machine. Back up 1 than 2 more. Good shower. As I dried off inside the shower I turned the shower back on with my back!

Finally got back down and we walked into town. Found the restaurant looked nice. Frances, Devin, Alex and I choose to sit outside. Agreed on a bottle of wine and started looking at the menu. Rick warned about passing trains if sitting outside. First one roared by, created a nice
breeze thouugh. I ordered the beef and potatoes. Alex is a little picky and went with the chicken nuggets.

The waiter did the try before you’re sure on the bottle thing, good sign that this food was going to be great. Mine came out but almost ended up at the wrong table because the waitress had said it was for a young boy. After not getting carded for almost 3 weeks, and the Paris women saying I was not under 26, being called young worked for me. Alex’s
nuggets really threw off the people delivering food. We all got a laugh about that. The food was phenomenal. Great place. As we were leaving the manager/owner asked if we were here cause of Rick and we laughed and said yes. Said they get lots of Rick readers and always enjoy them. We chatted for a bit and then were off to gelato.

Since this likely will be my last gelato I went with three scoops. While it tastes authentic the scoops are much smaller than in Italy. I felt myself gain weight today. I ate so much food. We strolled around town with our gelatos and than headed back up to the castle. Having no
pack makes the hike much easier but the third time of the day was tiring.

Sat outside and enjoyed the dusk as the colors changed over the Rhine river. A thunderstorm produced cool flashes of lighting off in the distance. Talked for a few hours over a bottle of wine about everything from home, politics, places in Europe, sororities, college football and relationships. Some very funny quotes came out of our night. Called it a night and headed to bed.

Back pain is starting to go away because more stretching and massaging the right spot must have helped.

Felt so good to be on a normal sized bed and not trying to fall asleep on a train constantly changing speeds. I have a feeling this is going to be a good night of sleep.

In a castle,
Paul