Day Eight – Frankfurt

31 July 2008

We are in Frankfurt, by way of Cologne. We really liked Cologne.

Jake keeps picking on me for calling it Frankfurter.

Cologne was prettier and cleaner than Frankfurt. It was like a much larger Salisbury. It was only a train change, but they told us as long as we caught a train by midnight to Frankfurt the ticket would still be valid.

Frankfurt is a lot like London. Not terribly beautiful. There are sex shops right next to McDonalds.

We may venture into the city tomorrow.

Cologne had the train station right next to a huge, black cathedral. Here in Frankfurt it is a couple blocks from the red light district. Bad city planning.

There are more and larger pictures of the Cathedral on our PhotoBucket pages

I called home tonight, but it was expensive, so I couldn’t talk long. I don’t know how long we’ll be in Frankfurt, or where we’ll go next. I am fine with Paris and home, but I think Jake wants to keep going.

We’ve spent everything now. We’ve even spent the donations. This is all very interesting, but without money I’m concerned about pressing on.

When I say ‘without money’, I don’t mean spending money. We have about 30€ – not enough for a room tomorrow night. We have no money for a train out of here to another destination. We have eaten a hamburger or shared a small pizza every day. Our daily food budget is about 4-8€ or £ – or very little. Our room tonight was 45€, or $90. About the same as a hostel, but nicer.

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[beyond-the-journal notes]

As I mentioned in my post Frankfurt… maybe we did try finding a room at a hostel. It was very hot, the people smelled very badly, and we stood in line for a very long time. The girl working there told us we could sit and wait, because they were checking in a group and it would take some time. We asked about another hostel. She said there was one across town and one ‘around the corner’ adding, “But, I don’t know if you’d want to go there. It’s in the red light district.” No, we didn’t want to go there.

I loved these chairs

This was two beds, pushed together

Beautiful rug

The hotel where we stayed was very nice – clean sheets, old elegant furniture. It was run by a older couple. She seemed to speak more English than he did. We saw her and another woman doing the house-cleaning in the morning. She was very pleasant and seemed to care about details.

This was the first place we stayed with a tiny elevator. Most of the places after, had them as well. The capacity was 5 people, with a large door that wouldn’t open until the elevator was on your floor. No ‘elevator door’ as we’d known them.

We had a tv in our room and watched the first Star Trek movie in German. Bones seems even angrier in German. We also watched Sponge Bob and a little bit of South Park – in German. The only English-speaking channel was a British CNN.

This was actually our second day in Frankfurt. We left Brussels on the 29th and stayed in Frankfurt that night, at the same hotel mentioned above. Confused? That’s okay, so am I…

 

Day Seven – Brussels

30 July 2008

We left London on the Eurostar to Brussels yesterday. It is a bit frightening here.

It reminds me of a South American country, more than Western Europe. The people are darker than I had expected. So close to the Netherlands, I expected blond hair and blue eyes.

The city looks dangerous. I am sure there are historic/important/beautiful things to see, but I’m not willing to try to find them. If I was told Jesus was in the main city area, I would go – but only Him.

We are going to try to get to Germany. We really don’t care where, but we hope we are not as disappointed and scared as we are here. I realize I am a spoiled American, and I thank God for it.

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Journal side-note:

The hotel we stayed at was 70€ or $140. Way too much for its size and comfort.

We could not find a hostel. The man kept bringing down the price. We could have had breakfast, but slept late. I asked where we could find coffee in the morning and he shrugged, then said, ‘Just coffee?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Go sit.’

We went into the dining room, and he brought us a tray with two biscuits and the most delicious coffee I’ve had in days – possibly ever.

[beyond-the-journal notes]

At the Eurostar station we couldn’t go through security with our drinks. The woman at the gate said to set them on the ground. We balked, looking around for a trashcan. She said there were no trashcans, because they posed a security risk. We continued to look around. She said, “Just set them on the ground. It’s okay.” We still hesitated. She coaxed us again, like a hostage negotiator trying to get us to put down a gun. “It’s okay. See? Someone else has set theirs by the pole. Just put them down there.” Reluctantly, we did.

Ferris wheel in Brussels

There was a carnival in the street in Brussels. Carnival, as in rides and games. I think it may have added to the creepiness of the city.

When we realized finding a hostel was not going to happen, we started going into small hotels and asking the price. With a reasonable price, we would ask to see the room. The first room we saw had three single beds – not twin, single – and burgundy satin comforters with cigarette burns on them.

There were many shops along the streets with the words ‘phone’ and ‘internet’ in the window.  We checked a few and realized most had ‘internet’ on the window to let people know they had heard of the internet – they didn’t have internet access.

Internet? Nope, just phones.

In my journal entry, I say the man brought us ‘biscuits’. I, of course, mean cookies. I used to think people were being pretentious when they used the terms of a foreign country, but realized on our trip that you adopt them only to communicate more easily with those in that country. I could ask a woman what ‘line’ we needed to stand in for tickets and wait for the word ‘line’ to register to her, or I could ask her what ‘queue’ and get an immediate response.

I do think there should be a time limit for how long you can still say those terms once you get home. Maybe, a week. After that, you are pretentious.

 

Day Six – Trains, Trains and more Trains

29 July 2008 – Journal entry:

We’re at the station in Salisbury waiting for the train back to London. Neither looking forward to leaving Salisbury, nor being in London again. Must remember to get picture with Spoon.

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[beyond-the-journal notes]

Some side-notes:

We watched some British show with the word ‘lie’ in the title (?). The guy who played Victor Meldrew was on it and a very funny/cool guy name Lee Mack.

Thought: If a hypnotist told someone they would feel like they slept 9 hours, would they? What, if any, physical changes would occur? Would it last? Would brainwave patterns change? Blood levels of amino acids?

Internet access is annoying at best. A half hour at the library was free, but IE only and pages wouldn’t load. We put up one picture in two 1/2hr. sessions. The terminal at the hostel wouldn’t recognize the usb camera. I’m very aggravated.

Quavers cheese-flavour are delicious! I bought a giant bag with nine small packs for £1 at Poundland. It was a brilliant idea. I’ve eaten about 3 bags and I’m not sick of them yet.

Shout-outs:

• Starbucks throughout London gladly filled our water bottles for us at no charge.
• City Lodge in Salisbury for calling Salisbury Youth Hostel and asking they hold two beds for us.
• Brian for the lift to the temple and back to Bridgwater – major thanks!
• God for the grapes to keep us going till Brian found us.

 

Day Five – About Last Night

28 July 2008 – Journal entry:

Someday, I’ll laugh about last night.

We saw the temple, yes, then took the late trains back to Salisbury. I didn’t write much yesterday, because I was exhausted. It really was amazing, but the memory is very light in my mind from the fatigue. That makes me a little sad. I know I was there. We have photos. I remember in faint images – like a dream.

When we came back to the hostel, it was booked. They had a ‘male’ bed, but not a ‘female’. After much debate and final resolution, we paid a ‘camping’ fee. Of course, we had no tent. We tried sleeping in the grass in a small alcove area, but woke up shivering about 3:am. We moved to the porch and covered ourselves with stray clothes, dug out of our bags. We tried sitting and sleeping, curling up with our packs, but we couldn’t stop shivering. It was horrible. We decided it was a lesson well-learned. At least, I know I learned it. I will not sleep out again. I told Jake, next time, we pay what we need for a hotel – regardless of the cost – and head home the next morning.

This morning, we moved inside to the commons room at 6:30am and slept a few hours, then had breakfast, did laundry, and booked two beds for tonight. We will be sleeping inside.

We walked around Salisbury this afternoon. It really is nice. I don’t know why I keep saying it has a large werewolf population. Just something about it.

We bought a few snacks at PoundLand (think Dollar Tree) – some cup-o-soups for me (both horrible – one less so), then went to the TJ Maxx for shirts that are lighter than our cotton tees. We got two each. Mine are odd, dressy and very light. I am leaving my ‘Don’t Panic’ shirt. I have not decided what else. Jake is leaving his ‘Best Idea’ and a blank, black shirt.

I kept my "Best Idea" shirt

Jake is right now assessing the ‘climb-ability’ of the tree out front of the hostel. I’m going to join him.

Nevermind, it’s raining!!

We’ve had no rain and very, very little salt. All of England is on a low-salt diet. Bah!

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[beyond-the-journal notes]

There is a side-note in my journal for this day:

The woman at the hostel said, ‘crazy people’ about us not having a place to stay – in jest, laughing. I told her not to hold us up as all Americans, our families are unhappy with us, so our country would probably frown on our exploits as well.

Met Karin from Denmark – near Lego Land. She is very nice. She is staying at the hostel, as well.

I don’t know why I chose to talk about salt at the end there. I guess I was missing it. I did notice some differences while I was there:

• Salt was not salty. even little packets of salt tasted like ‘half-salt’.
• Big Red was neither red nor cinnamony. Jake said they must make it from already chewed American Big Red
• Nacho Cheese Doritos were not nacho-cheesy. The bags were orange, the chips were orange, and there were no spices on them.
• Milk was almost always 2%, except for the one time we saw 3.8 on the carton. I don’t know what 3.8 milk is…

 

Day Four – Temple Quest

27 July 2008 – Journal entry:

Sitting on a train – to Bristol, then Tauton, then Bridgwater. Hopefully, we will get to see the temple today. We should make it to Bridgwater around 1:30. The temple is open from 2-5:pm. Will be amazing.

We have costly return fares back to Salisbury, then London. We have no plans after that. I suppose we’ll see how much money we have left and weigh it against the time. This side-trip is expensive, but I really want to see the temple.

I am tired today. Stiff, when standing.

The hostel wasn’t so horrible. I only disliked not being able to let my guard down. So many strangers, in and out, means a near constant state of alert. It’s a bit taxing.

Everyone in my dorm went to bed around 10:pm. I think I’ve adjusted too well to the time difference. I am not tired at 10, or 11, or 12. I’ve had to take melatonin to go to sleep so early for me. Oddly, I’ve no real problems getting up around 8:am.

There was real coffee at the hostel – not a bowl of instant and a spoon. It wasn’t as strong as I would have liked.

The train to Bristol is more crowed than London to Salisbury. I don’t know why.

I spent half the evening feeling as though the ground was moving from yesterday’s train ride. I suppose I’ll do the same this evening.

I forgot to mention, the bathroom at the hostel was co-ed with stalls. A little creepy. I wonder if everyone else was also pretending it was all fine to them?

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The scenery from the train window? Some would say, ‘Beautiful English countryside’. It reminds me of driving through Jersey – New Jersey.

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I just discovered why everything smells bad. The WC (bathroom) on the train says not to flush while at the station, so apparently they simply flush onto the tracks!!

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We saw the temple!!!

Temple of Harmony

Terpsichore statue in the Temple

The Willow-like tree from the Temple

We walked for about 2 1/2 hours in the heat, trying to get there. Most of the time walking in direct sun. We found some fresh grapes on the side of the thin, twisty road. They were delicious. Then, Brian stopped and gave us a lift to the temple and back to the train station.

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[beyond-the-journal notes]

When we got to Bridgwater we asked several people the way to Goathurst. We asked people as we walked, to make sure we were still headed in the right direction. When any of them realized we intended to walk the distance, they laughed. My map wasn’t to scale, and the guy at the gas station told us a very indirect route to walk. Brian drove us back the ’short way’. It was soooo much shorter.

 

Day Three – to Salisbury

26 July 2008

We woke in the morning and checked out of the hotel. The hotel was the most expensive place we stayed. The lobby was cool, so we mistakenly thought the room would be air-conditioned – it had a fan. We hadn’t realized the police station was directly across the street, when we checked in. There were sirens all night.

In the morning, we went to a small pastry shop. I got a cup of coffee and Jake had a piece of cake. A homeless man (an assumption) came up to talk to us. I had some store-bought pastries in my pack. I hadn’t opened them, they took up too much room and I was afraid they were going to get crushed to crumbs. I asked him if he wanted them. After several ‘are you sure?’s, he took them and offered me a small metal bucket in exchange. It looked like the cigarette buckets that are scattered about the city, but empty, clean, possibly new. I convinced him I couldn’t carry it around.

I noticed Butterfly Bushes everywhere – mostly purple. I have several in my garden and love them. Over here they are, apparently, weeds. They grow along the railroad tracks, in alleys, out of brick and stone with no visible dirt. I didn’t see any yellow or pink – only purples and a few white – I guess those are weeds from a different area?

Butterfly Bushes along the train track

We took the train to Salisbury and found a youth hostel. It is very nice, but I was a little uncomfortable with the whole ‘dorm’ concept with strangers. A girl came in after I had made one of the beds and said it was her bed. She wasn’t very nice about. I took it in stride and moved to another. She came back later and apologized for being rude.

Salisbury is beautiful. It is small, yet has a large shopping area that doesn’t take away from the charm of the town. On the day we arrived, there was a huge farmers/sellers market set-up in a parking area. Everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to DVD’s.

Corner building in Salisbury

Even though I love the town, I told Jake it gives me the impression of a town run by werewolves. There was nothing sinister there.  Perhaps, it is just my cynicism that it couldn’t be so nice, or maybe it has something to do with the obvious age of everything? The werewolves lure the tourists in with their English charm, then turn to wolves at night and eat them.

For what the wolves leave behind

I locked my pack in the cupboard in the lobby. Everyone else scattered their belongings around the room, but I don’t know these people and have very little with me – nothing I am willing to lose.

Tomorrow, we’ll head out towards the temple.

 

Day Two – London

25 July 2008 – Journal entry:

We woke this morning and had breakfast at The Clink. Jacob ate a ton of toast – 7 pieces – and I had some cereal. Then… we set off.

We walked about 2miles – probably more – and finally found something – London Bridge, a horrible, tiny bridge over the Thames. From it, we could see the Tower Bridge further east. We didn’t want to walk that far. Our packs were bothering us most of the day. Jacob’s is hurting his back a bit. Mine is killing my shoulders.

London Bridge

We bought tube day-passes. It was a blessing. One very hot, uncomfortable and crowded ride and we were right at the Parliment, Big Ben and London Eye. Jake’s camera decided that would be the best time to quit working. I believe he got photos of everything but Big Ben and some statue across from it.

London Eye

We rode to Picadilly Circus, later. I’m very underwhelmed.

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I forgot – we came across a market today. It was great – a large, semi-sheltered, farmers/food market. Boroughs. We ate lunch there. I got a spinach and ricotta ‘empanada’ and a plum from a grocer. Jake got some grapes.

Pig legs at Borough Market

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This evening we went on a food quest. While walking, Jake noticed a ‘ferris wheel’ between the buildings. Turns out our hotel is just a couple blocks from the London Eye! We walked down to it and along the Thames a bit. It was chilly. I bought too many french fries, then we came back to the hotel to call home.

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[beyond-the-journal notes]

Breakfast: For coffee they had a large bowl of Nescafe and a spoon. I kid you not. I had a headache since I’d gotten to London, because I didn’t drink my morning coffee the day we left. Nescafe is not what I consider real coffee, but it fixed my head.

Camera troubles: We had to buy batteries for the camera. It wasn’t broken, just out of juice. The man at the shop explained how different types of batteries worked and why alkaline doesn’t work well in high-draw electronics. I liked that.

French Fries: By too many french fries, I mean I bought three small fries at a little food stand – thinking the size would be similar to American small size – instead, a small was about the size of a large fries. It was quite a bag of fries we brought back to the hotel.

 

Day One – London

All the ‘Day’ posts will be from my journal notes with added things that I remember. I’ll try to go day-by-day with things I couldn’t post at the time.

24 July 2008

I was very tired. I had very little sleep, and we had to be at the Dulles airport around 8:30.

On the flight, Jacob slept most of the time. We talked a little to a girl in the same row as us. She was taking sleeping pills. She took one, slept, when she woke she took another. I slept a little. When we first boarded the plane there was a man already asleep at the window seat to my left. I called him my hero. He must have gotten on the plane just a few minutes before us, and he was already out cold.

It was a long flight – seven hours plus some change. There was nothing much in the way of entertainment.

When we got to London, we followed the signs to the Underground and used the instructions I had printed to get to the hostel – The Clink. The Underground was delightfully easy to use – logical, simple. We made it to the hostel and registered. Our room was very small with a bunk bed. I had reserved an ensuite – so we had our own bathroom with a shower. The bathroom was tiny. It reminded me of the type of bathrooms they have in RV’s. Everything at the hostel was clean and nicer than I had expected.

The door to our hostel room

Our beds

The bathroom door

My journal note:

First impression on London… It is filthy(!) and smells of urine. The dirt, trash, etc. was everywhere on the route from Kings Crossing to our hostel. Cups, napkins, cigarette butts, trash bags. I don’t know if it’s just the area of town where we’re staying or everywhere. Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

I would like to sleep in my own bed, among trees not trash.

Yeah, not the best first impression.

 

Temple of Harmony with Pictures!

So, I’m sure at least everyone who read that we visited the Temple of Harmony thought to themselves, “The what? Why?” Yeah, it’s okay. It’s a little-known garden folly in the middle of nowhere. By nowhere, I mean down a very, very long road when you’re walking. I came across its existence in a weird way. Doubting anyone who knows me could possibly think I’m even more crazy, I’ll explain.

Back in 1993 (I checked), I had a dream about a temple sitting on a hill by a river with a willow tree. It was a beautiful scene, so I did a painting of it. I’m not a good painter and the image of the temple was split onto four canvases, so rather than attempt to patch it together from photos of the canvases, here’s a photo of the sketch:

Sketch of a temple

I have the canvases hanging on the wall above my desk. I see them daily.  In 1998, I decided to try to find out the style of the temple. I looked it up and came across the Temple of Fortuna in Rome. While looking up the Fortuna temple, I came across an image of a garden folly made as a replica of it – the Temple of Harmony, in Goathurst:

Photo by Mick Humphreys

That might not be the exact image I found at the time, but if not it’s close.  The similarity was striking.  The angle of the temple is different, but the river and the tree really spooked me.  I saved an image on my computer and thought, ‘Someday, I’ll have to go there.’  When Jake said he wanted to go to England, that was one of the first things (besides ‘why??’) that I thought.

That’s the story of how/why someone from Virginia ended up at a little-known garden folly in Goathurst, England.

Me at the Temple of Harmony

 

Welcome home…

That’s what the customs agent said, after checking our passports and customs form. It was so good to hear.

We took our scheduled flight home. For an extra $1000 each, we could have left two days early. For an extra $500 dollars each, we could have left a day early. We stuck it out till our scheduled flight. It wasn’t easy. We stayed at airports. Yes, that means what you think it means, but it isn’t as bad as you may think. Airports are like campgrounds, seriously. There were so many people sleeping in the airports it was hard to find an open bench.

I woke this morning in my own bed with a twisted back. Two weeks walking with a 12lb. pack on my back, no problem, but twisted my back sleeping in my own bed. I think I must have turned over in my sleep and thought I would fall off an airport bench and jerked over, hurting myself.

We both kept journals, so I’ll put in some things I couldn’t on the odd keyboards and expensive internet options in the UK and Europe. At the airports, the internet access was £1 ($2.00) for 10 minutes – very limited and expensive. Europe was better for access, that’s why we have more posts from Germany, but the keyboards were very hard to use.

Pictures will be forthcoming as well. We have a few videos we made, nothing grand, but we’ll post them on the YouTube page in the following days.

I’m enjoying air conditioning and no smelly people. I am enjoying not having to pay to use the bathroom and being able to toss things in the trash, rather than filling my right pocket with trash in hopes of finding a trashcan.

I am thankful to everyone who donated to our adventure. You guys are the best! There were many, many times when we didn’t know if we could eat or how we could travel, and when we checked the site we saw that we could go a little bit farther thanks to your generosity. We owe a lot to you guys and hope our future posts will give you more of an idea of our experience and how you helped.