So, as you may know, I’m back in good old England settling
back into British life.
But there was a time before this.
Well that seems pretty sensible on the old crazy scale I hear you say.
But here’s the thing, I decided to go the week before I was
supposed to be leaving Vienna…forever, leaving two days to pack, clean and have
my last overpriced cake and coffee at a Viennese institution (went to Demel btw
and it was very nice).
But, even crazier than that, I decided to visit not one
friend in Germany, not even two, oh no I was going to be super-efficient and
visit 3 friends from Uni all in one go all in one week. #socrazy.
(Thankfully they
were all on the same side of Germany-it’s actually a pretty huge place!).
And if that’s not crazy enough for you, the third part to my
madness was I travelled almost entirely by coach, starting with a 10 hour coach
journey from Vienna to Mainz (near Frankfurt).
Why? Why on earth would I do that to myself?
A little thing called Budget, which considering I was still
saving for the Asia trip was pretty tight.
The fact of the matter is, as much as we love to hate (Sl)Easyjet
and Ryan Air you don’t know how good we have it in the UK with cheap flights to
pretty much anywhere in Europe.
Vienna on the other hand, is a very expensive airport to fly
from and so that brought me to something called MeinFernbus. A coach service
that boasted free Wifi, comfy seats and most importantly cheap cheap prices.
33 Euros Vienna to Mainz? Couldn’t say no really. (Well I
could but I did really want to visit my friends).
Cue a nail-biting, hair-pulling booking session, juggling 5
different journeys, coordinating times and distances and wondering what exactly
I had let myself in for. On the plus side, my geography of Germany is a hell of
a lot better now (pub quizzes come at me).
By some miracle, it all worked out! And I saved a hella lot
of monies which meant more for Bratwurst and Beer.
Reeeeeeesult!
And that’s what I kept reminding myself as I sat on that
coach, slowly going mad.
No amount of Wifi that actually works, can distract you from
the pain of being unable to move your legs for 8 hours straight. Yeah, there were
no stops (after the one 2 hours and a half in) which would be my only grumble
about Meinfernbus but then I guess it would’ve taken even longer to get there!
So as I stepped off the coach at 9pm, the final stop of the
whole journey and the very last passenger, I naturally felt some sort of
achievement. I was a Hardcore Traveller.
I had definitely earned my visit to Mainz, which coincidentally
I had been to before. A whole 5 years earlier in fact, with the same person I
was going to visit! (This is actually the romantic story of how me and Laura
met but I won’t go into it, it’s too complicated to explain).
So here I was, back in the cute medieval(y) town on the
Rhine.
But the city did look a little different from last time
because it had been taken over by hundreds of stalls lining the streets and packing
out the squares for the Johannisnacht festival, which Laura told me is a pretty
big deal this side of the Rhine with 30,000 people coming from all over.
I couldn’t wait to experience all the German ness! And
experience it I did, through the medium of food. (How else?)
It was a foodie heaven.
^Ok so crepes aren’t strictly Deutsch, but it had Kinder
Schokolade in the middle so still counts!
But of course with so much choice comes the curse of
indecision. And I suffer from it bad, so very bad.
I drive my friends and ever suffering boyfriend mad with my inability
to choose; how am I ever going to make actual life decisions??!!
^If in doubt go for the Bratwurst.
Having gotten our foodie fix for the day we wandered back
past the stalls , and back to Laura’s who lives in the convenient location of
10 minutes from town and 10 minutes from the train station.
We rested our weary legs (and drank some wine) before
heading back out into town for the evening entertainment.
I have to say, I never would have guessed that I would be
standing in a German square, listening to a glam rock tribute band singing Bon
Jovi and Alice Cooper. It was surreal.
There’s something about being in a foreign country,
surrounded by non-native speakers, singing your heart out in English to the
classics, with perfect pronunciation of every word.
Although I busted the band on their “I’m from California
act” due to a simple but classic German-speaker error (the kids used to do it
all the time it was so irritating and they never ever remembered!).
No, we do NOT “make a photo”. We take a photo. TAKE.
T-A-K-E. It’s not hard, dammit!
The next day, which was also my last, was a Sunday so as
anyone who has lived abroad will know, this means zero things can be done,
apart from drinking coffee or going for Eis. So we popped over to a nearby town
called Wiesbaden for a leisurely Sunday stroll.
It was a charming little place.
When the rain decided to stop, we headed back out in search
of the bus that would take us to a palace on the Rhine.
Found it no trouble, thanks to Laura’s amazing
organisational skills.
Behold! Schloss Biebrich!
So pretty. So salmon! (this area of Germany goes crazy for
that colour it seems).
We didn’t actually go in (not sure if you can) but the
grounds are pretty extensive so give yourself at least a couple of hours to
wander around.
Especially if you like ducks….
^Got a bit carried away with the super zoom on my new camera!
And with that, my very short, but very lovely trip to Mainz
was over. Thank you for having me Laura!
Next stop Munster and a 6.30 am start.
…to be continued.
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