Day 24: Here

My first blog from Europe. I wanted to send this yesterday, my first day, but I never managed access to a computer. So lets recount the first twenty four hours. I flew into Frankfurt, Germany, landing at 0811. Customs and Passport services went smoothly. I then spent a few minutes confused about the trains. I couldn't figure out how to buy a ticket because the automated purchasing unit was all in German. I broke down and went to the customer support person. There was a 0909 train to Wurtzburg and I had more than enough time to get on it, but the guy sold me a ticket for the 1001. I made my first mistake on the train. I failed to notice that some seats are reserved and I ended up in one of them.

Jordan was meeting me in Wurtzburg that afternoon. I called him from the Airport and he directed me to walk around the town till he got there at 1300. In Europe, they use the 24 hour clock instead of our normal am/pm clock. For those of you that are not familar with the 24 hour clock, everyone else in the world is so you should be. If you are lucky, I will teach you how to read it someday, but I am not going to teach you now.

Wurtzburg was nice. I walked around doing the tourist thing. It was great to soak up the culture a bit and think about all the differences. I kept looking at people and asking myself if they were from the States or Germany. Buying a phone card was my first conversation with a German. She didn't speak English which was fine because I don't speak German. Phone card in hand, I countinued my exploring. First cathedral, first bakery, first shoe store. I now own a great pair of very European looking walking shoes, Rolands.

Jordan and I met up, continued around the town, and then left for his place. On the way, we stopped at a few little German towns, most notably, Rothenburg. Anyone familiar with Germany knows that Rothenburg is probably the most famous of old German towns. It is the only walled city still standing. It was real, true, tourist filled Germany at its best. I took tons of pictures.

Back at Jordans place, we ate a small dinner, had a great talk, and then I hit the couch after being awake for 30 straight hours. I slept for 14 hours. Now I sit in Jordan's office. We are meeting up with a number of his friends this evening for dinner. I will tell you all about that later.

Until then and tomorrow.

Jason