"It's Just Like Riding a Bike!"

Here I am, starting my very first post on my first-ever blog, which will be all about the first real trip I have ever taken alone. A trip which just happens to be a self-planned and custom-made tour of Europe, paid for with a working year's worth of my very own hard-earned dollars. Lots of firsts and lots of dollars! And as the firsts increase, the dollars will decrease, hopefully not too quickly.

My first solo international flight was one experience where the ratio of dollars to firsts was not very favorable, although I'm told a direct round trip to Europe for $708.50 is a steal as aeroplane tickets go. Most disappointing was the fact that I didn't get the seat I requested. I asked for 11A (a nice window seat close to the front but not too close), and got 19E (third to the right in a squished middle row of four seats towards the middle). The coolest thing about 11A was that I also requested it for the flight back, so then I would have been sitting in the same seat both ways and could have included a sophisticated snippet of T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets

"In my beginning is my end...  Dawn points, and another day

Prepares for heat and silence. Out at sea the dawn wind
Wrinkles and slides. I am here
Or there, or elsewhere. In my beginning" (East Coker, I, 14, 48-51).

and seemed very enlightened and hip.

But then, as I think will happen pretty much constantly on this trip, my disappointment turned into a blessing as there was an empty seat next to mine and I could spread out and get some shut eye. Which I could not have done in cramped little 11A, despite the cool transatlantic view of the sun and the moon being in the sky at the same time which is one of my favorite things about flying (even better than stealing the little blue airplane blanket :).

So, I've arrived. And after two tired and dazed days during which a lot of my energy was spent in trying not to be too overwhelmend and terrified by the prospect of two self-motivated months in places where even the light switches are wierd and confusing, I went out into the city today. It really was, like they always say, "Just Like Riding A Bike!" Especially because I actually went into town on a bicycle kindly lent to me by the Senks, the family with which I am staying here in Germany. The more people I talked to and the more things I tried, and the more I realized that I do have the skills and knowledge I need to navigate this thing. I found my way around the city with increasing confidence, executed turns and hand signals on my bike with dexterity after only a few wobbly incidents, asked lots questions at the travel agency, train station and celluar store, and most importantly found my shoes!

Shoes are essential! They say Europeans look at your shoes to try and figure out where you are from. Also, shoes take you everywhere. Most importantly, a good pair of travel shoes has to be able to be paired with as many of your travel clothes as possible. I love my shoes, they are a kind of light blue cross between converse and keds made out of some sort of soft leathery material. All for only 20 euro!

I have a bit of somewhat mundane news to write about, so I'll put a few more pictures in between to make it more interesting.

Thomas Senk and I eating gelato in Worms

I found a place to stay in Rome in the convent of Casa Maria Immacolata, about 7 blocks outside the walls of Vatican City! After days of frantic searching and over 30 e-mails inquiring after rooms something finally worked out, which I suppose shows that persistence pays off.

Breakfast with Izzy- Coffee and a Pastry

I am probably not going to make it to Annecy, because I want to leave myself time to get ready and it will cost me a train trip out of the 8 that I have on my Eurrail pass. But I plan on hitting it on my way back up through Europe after Greece, so no worries! By then I will be less scared and better able to deal with being alone... with the French... 

 LOL: Germans have a brand of
 granola bars called "Corny"

So, I feel like I've created a pretty varied and comprehensive first post, and now instead of simply writing about Europe Im'a go for a lovely bike ride around the sunny green asparagus fields of a small German town with Thomas. Try not to be too jealous.

Over and Out!