Saying Goodbye

My last week in Frankfurt was spent saying goodbye to all my friends - how lucky I am to have made so many friends in the past five years!

On Saturday we had an end of year softball party at Janita's house in Wetzlar. It was to celebrate the end of the season, but was also a surprise birthday for Ariane. What I didn't know was that it was also a surprise goodbye party for me! It was so sweet of them. They had made a book for me with pictures of us all playing and letters from some of the girls.

Ariane trying to hide from the photo :)

Enjoying an outdoor barbecue and party with good friends

On Monday I went out for dinner with my housemates, though unfortunately forgot to take a photo. We went to a local Apfelwein Wirtschaft and had traditional Frankfurt food. We started off with Apfelwein and Handkäse then had Schnitzel of course!

I met up with all my friends from school on Wednesday for dinner at my favourite Thai restaurant. We had a lovely evening chatting and visiting. I got to hear all about the horrors going on at school - good thing I am leaving! I will miss hanging out with them though. 

Work colleagues and friends

On Friday it was the usual softball Stammtisch, but with a high turn out of people coming to say goodbye. It was a great night, more Schnitzel and Apfelwein, but it was also really difficult for me saying goodbye to all my friends. After dinner we went and played some Kicker (foosball) and pool, something I have often enjoyed with this group of friends.

More friends to say goodbye to...

On Saturday (October 1) it was finally time to go to the airport. Anna came to help me take all my stuff on the train to the airport. I shipped two boxes, but then had two suitcases and a bike to take on the plane.

What I shipped home - both weighed 19 kg

What went on the plane - the panniers went with my bike in a large bike box

At the airport we managed to get the bike packed up in a box with not too much trouble. Then when we went over to the check in desk I was surprised by some of my softball friends there to see me off!

A surprise send off!

It was so sweet of them to come and say goodbye. We all had a nice lunch together before it was boarding time.

Now I am home in Vancouver, writing this to the sound of the rain outside. I had an amazing five years in Germany with so many adventures, memories and great friends! 

Frankfurt ❤️

When we arrived back in Frankfurt Haydn was already there, and met us at the train station. We all had a nice weekend together before everyone flew home on the Monday. 

Drinks after a stressful day getting back to Frankfurt

Most of the weekend was visiting. We had coffee at the Schwanthaler Cafe near me, lunch at the Galeria Kaufhof cafeteria, and dinner at Wagner's (of course!). In between we walked around Frankfurt, enjoying the river and Sachsenhausen.

Saturday night Christie and I left Haydn and Dad to a concert at the Alte Oper, and went to the Frankfurt Loewen Summer Game. Whoever decided to have the first game of the season outside in the soccer stadium was a bit silly - it was 30 degrees out!! They closed the roof, and managed to keep the ice cold enough. Some of my friends from softball joined and we had a great time! It was an exciting game, with Frankfurt sadly losing in overtime.

Somewhere there is some ice down there!

Anne, Christie and I

After Christie and Dad left I started the long job of packing up my stuff, which meant getting rid of a lot of stuff! So far that's going pretty well. Definitely not finished yet though. I took a day off to complete one of my goals for the rest of my time in Frankfurt. While I have rivers to bike along without many hills, I decided to bike 100 km in one day. Looking on the map I found Eltville was about 50 km away, along the Main and Rhein. So one Friday I took off. 56 km later I made it to Eltville for icecream :) 112 km total and I was back in Frankfurt!! 

Goal complete ... and the Spaghettieis was completely worth it!

A Short Visit to Vienna

Since it took such a long time getting to Vienna, we only had two full days in the city. They were taken up with either art, composers or visiting with Claire and her family. It was great to see her again and to get to meet her new daughter. Our first day we met up with them for lunch. Afterwards Claire and I took the kids for a walk and played in the playground. The second day we went out to their house in Seestadt for dinner.

Art
In such a short time we managed to go to the Albertina and the Belvedere. The Albertina has a permanent exhibit "From Monet to Picasso" which I liked. Though my favourite part was to go through the palace rooms. The building was originally the palace of Duke Albert and Archduchess Marie-Christine (daughter of Marie-Therese), Albert being the one to begin the collection of artwork. We went in the evening, and it was unusual to be able to wander through the staterooms without barriers and with very few guards.

Pretending to wait for a royal audience

The Belvedere was also originally a palace, and so if one tires of the artwork, there is also the building to look at! We saw some more impressionists, and the amazing Klimt collection.

Composers

Dad took us on a good tour of where different composers lived, worked and died. Vienna does a great job of making this easy, as most buildings seem to have a plaque up saying what palace the building used to be, or which famous person lived/worked/died there. We also went through the Mozart Haus, where Mozart lived for a few years and composed The Marriage of Figaro.

Not the Mozarthaus, but where he died

The common flags and sign telling of a former palace (this time nothing to do with a composer)

We also managed to go for coffee at the Cafe Central, which before being a tourist attraction was a popular meeting place for people such as Lenin, Trotsky, Freud, Hitler...

Time for Kaffee und Kuchen

And then, after such a short visit, it was time to catch the train back to Frankfurt.

Riding the Ringstrasse to the Hauptbahnhof

Biking from Passau to Vienna

On September 1st we (Christie, Dad and I) set off from Passau, hoping to arrive 6 days later in Vienna. We had a bit of an interesting start, as the signage in Passau was not great and we had some trouble finding the start of the Donauradweg (Danube bike path). But we finally found it!

Finally ready to go!

Day 1: Passau to Kobling

Made it to Upper Austria!

Lunch at a lovely restaurant on the river

Made it to Kobling ... one building and a ferry stop

About 50 km Passau to Kobling

Day 2: Kobling to St. Florian

Ready for the second day!

Biking along the Danube, with the industry of Linz in the background

Once we made it to Linz, we did not even really stop. We then left the river, heading to St. Florian. Due to some large, busy roads we had some minor trouble getting there. After some confusion, but luckily only one loop, we did make it (exhausted) to our hotel. After a rest we went to see the church at the large monastery.

Beautiful interior and organ

And then of course some food!

72 km from Kobling to St. Florian

Day 3: St. Florian to Grein

We spent the morning in St. Florian and took a tour of the monastery. We only started our biking for the day at about lunch time. After a long day the day before, we had a shorter ride to make it to Grein for the night. 

Much wider than the Rhein or Main

Only 50 km!

Day 3: Grein to Melk

We started off the day with an amusing ferry ride across the Danube. The driver started the boat across, then left the wheel to come and collect fares. But because there were so many of us on there, it took longer and the boat needed to be redirected. Luckily a fellow passenger stuck his arm in the driver's area and steered a bit for us :) The driver (and many passengers) found this amusing. 

And it wasn't even high tourist season ...

I touched the Danube!

And another monastery. This one was also beautiful, but did not have the same empty atmosphere. Melk was a tourist trap with not nearly as good a tour. But still an impressive building!

The view from the courtyard in front of the church

47 km from Grein to Melk

Day 5: Melk to Krems

We had a bit of a taste of what was to come the following day - some sprinkles and one intense shower. Luckily we could try and get out of the rain and wait it out.

Trying to stay dry as we waited for it to pass

By the time we made it to Krems it was dry, and we had a late lunch near our hotel. When we entered the restaurant it was absolutely full of parents and kids. Finally I realized that it was their first day of school, and as they end about lunch time, all the families were out celebrating. Dad and I then wandered around Krems in the afternoon, before finding a grocery store to buy food for dinner. After dinner we all walked along the river.

Krems riverfront

Shortest ride of the whole trip - 36 km from Melk to Krems

Day 6: Krems to Vienna

Well, the weather saved the most impressive for last ... it poured on us almost the whole way to Vienna, stopping just as we entered the city. We, however, barely stopped. The paths were great and we pretty much kept going for 85 km to Vienna. A couple short stops, one to eat some sandwiches for lunch.

Dad was prepared ... poncho from the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls

Taking a break out of the rain

Finally entering Vienna

Over 80 km in one day!!!

And finally, feeling very accomplished but completely soaked, we arrived in Vienna and made it to our hotel. We were staying at the Schottenstift (monastery) near Schottentor. Our room soon looked like a laundry room with all our wet clothes hanging everywhere, and we quickly overheated the hairdryer. Thankfully our stay in Vienna went back to sunny and warm!

Back in Frankfurt

When my parents first came we only had one night and part of the Saturday in Frankfurt. We did however make it out on our bikes for a short ride along the Main to Offenbach. Mum rode Christie's bike. Offenbach isn't too spectacular (at least what we saw), but the ride along the Main is always pleasant.

Mum and I with surprisingly few other people

After we came back from Leipzig and Erfurt we had a long weekend in Frankfurt, including the Museumsuferfest and Christie arriving. On Saturday we went into the Staedel and the newly reopened Jewish Museum.

With all the stands along the river in the background. I have a similar picture from Christmas 2011.

Then on Sunday I played my last home game. Mum, Dad, two of my housemates and 7 of my friends from school came to watch me play :) And they chose a great game to watch! We played against Darmstadt, and won both games. I played well, managing to score a run every time I was at bat. I got our teams MVP trophy for the game. Unfortunately this was how I got on base twice:

First of two hit by pitches ... left my leg with a massive bruise and quite swollen.

Dad left after the first game to go and pick up Christie. Then when I was done we all met up for dinner at a local Apfelweinkneipe.

Me trying to stay awake :)

On Monday Mum flew back to Vancouver, and on Tuesday the rest of us got our bikes on the train to Passau.

Leipzig and Erfurt

When my parents came at the end of August, our first trip was to Leipzig and Erfurt. In Leipzig we met up with my aunt and uncle from England, as they flew over for a few days with us. Both places were chosen because of their connections with the composer Bach, as well as for being beautiful places.

Dinner on the train to Leipzig

The new town hall, very near our apartment

We spent one afternoon in the Stasi museum. It was full of all the ways they observed people and all the equipment they used. They had machines to open and reseal letters, record telephone conversations (onto confiscated western cassettes) and to photograph people secretly.

Machines to read all letters entering and leaving East Germany

While we were in Leipzig we also had some good meals in famous places. We went to two different famous coffee houses and also for dinner at the Auerbachs Keller.

Coffee in Zum Arabischen Coffe Baum

We went out on the SBahn to the Völkerschlachtdenkmal - The Monument to the Battle of the Nations. Which was fought against Napoleon in this area. It was completed in 1913, one hundred years after the battle. Dad and I climbed up (part way with an elevator) to the top.

Monument with grand view across the lake

Selfie at the top .. before retreating from the mass of flying ants!

Last dinner in the Auerbachs Keller 

After Leipzig, Mum, Dad and I went on to Erfurt. It was not detroyed during WWII, and thus still has a very pretty old centre with colourful houses.

Pretty view down a small street near our hotel

Houses over the Krämerbrücke

One afternoon Mum and I went to the Folk Museum. It had all kinds of artifacts from what life in the area used to be like. I liked how the different areas each had a theme, often with a small reconstruction of what a room or place would have been like.

An old store

On our last morning we took the train to Arnstadt, where Bach had worked before Leipzig. They have a magnificent Bach Church there. My favourite part was the organ:

The organ towering over the rest of the church

After a short time in Arnstadt we took the train back to Erfurt, just in time for lunch before our train back to Frankfurt.