My first full day in Europe! I left with Gabri when he went to work in the morning, only to realize that I forgot my camera when I came out of the subway and wanted to start my tourist style snap-shooting on Eschenheimer Turm. Guess I was too excited. So I had to go back to Gabri’s place. Good that Frankfurt was not that big, so were most of the European cities. I picked up some food from a small grocery store on the way back: one chocolate bread, two bananas, a bowl of instant noodle, a small bag of sliced bread, and some salami. It surprisingly only cost me a bit more than 5 euros. Guess it was not that hard if I wanted to eat cheap. I had all the time I needed as a tourist so I took my time to have some more breakfast and got out again. This time, for real. My first mission was to find the Consulates for Czech Republic and Switzerland. For some reason, I was checking an old Schengen website, from which I thought these two countries were not included in my visa. I walked to Eschersheimer Landstraße 20-22, the address I got from a website for the Czech Consulate but it was a bakery shop and a hotel. I was very frustrated because I needed it immediately as I was discussing the possibility of meeting my UBC friend Sijia in Prague that weekend. But there was nothing I could do, so I decided to go to the Swiss one first. Walking on the main shopping street Zeil, I saw a tourist information booth, so I decided to ask them if they know where the Czech Consulate was. The two gentlemen who was working there made their best effort for me with their broken English. They couldn’t find it from the map or their computer system. But they were able to retrieve a phone number and called it for me. The answer was the address was Eschersheimer Landstraße 25-27, instead of 20-22; but the consulate was closed on Monday. I was very disappointed but still decided to go there and make sure that was the place since it was not too far away. Not until I reached the destination did I realize how stupid I was the first time I was there. The address was only 3 numbers apart, the building for the consulate was on the other side of the street from the bakery and the hotel, and there was a huge Czech Republic flag standing in front the building. How could I missed that the first time around? How could those people around this building never notice that big flag? I was very frustrated when I saw the information board in front of the building said only their Berlin Embassy issue visa. The trip afterward to Swiss Consulate was much easier. I found it right away and the reception told me my Schengen visa was valid for Switzerland. The first morning in Europe didn’t go as smoothly as I wanted so I decided to take a break. I stopped by a Chinese restaurant to have my lunch and then went to Coffee Fellows, my daily internet spots in Frankfurt, to check my emails. Sijia told me in her Facebook message that she heard other people used Schengen visa to go to Czech Republic. That finally pushed me to check again on the countries I could visit with that visa. It was a big surprise: a lot more countries had been included in the Schengen zone than I knew; of course, Czech Republic and Switzerland were the two new ones included. I was equally angry with me as I was excited. I wasted a frustrating morning looking for something I already had, but the good news was my travel zone just got expanded. I needed more than 80 days!
Since I no longer needed to worry about the paper work stuff, I officially started tourist sightseeing. Frankfurt didn’t have too much to see. The old town part was rebuilt recently so it doesn’t have too much of the old Europe feeling. The city had become a European financial center with skyscrapers of big banks. I first walked to the old town. The Kaiserdom was the first church I visited in Europe but it was under major construction so it looked very ugly from the outside. I walked to the river side coming out of the Dom and stepped onto the pedestrian bridge Eiserner Steg, where I had a beautiful view of the River Main and the Frankfurt city skyline. Coming back to the old town, I walked past by Römerberg, where the Rathaus (City Hall) was located. That was where I got my first feeling of the good old Europe. Because I didn’t have any plans to go into any place, it was a quick walking tour along different tourist attractions. I was back in the financial center in no time. This time, the cyclists got my attention. It was very cool to see all those bankers in suits and well-made dress cruising around on those 80’s style old bikes, so were the chic ladies on 3-inch high heels. The bike lanes were everywhere. It might be quite a scene to me but couldn’t be any more normal for them. I was still not out of the discussion in Vancouver about adding a biking lane on Burrard Bridge. Should it even be a question at all? Hell, we do need more bike lanes here in North America! After passing by the gorgeous Theatre and Eurotower again, I walked into the long green belt sneaking between those skyscrapers. It felt refreshing to have these easily accessible parks in the middle of a metropolitan. It was like its own small state inside this big busy world. I ended up at the beautifully decorated Alte Oper (Old Opera). After a short break by the fountain, I walked toward the Hauptbahnhof, not without passing by the red-light district. The main station was a magnificent structure, both from the inside and outside. I was so amazed to see the trains coming in to park at the train tracks before heading out again for another journey. We don’t have too many trains in North America; and back in China, the trains pass railway stations from one side to the other in open style. It was the first time I saw 20 trains together on the same end under one dome. It also felt exciting to check out all those different kinds of trains I already heard so much of: ICE, IC, Regional, S-Bahn, etc. I couldn’t wait for my first ride!
I was feeling a bit tired by around 18:00, probably because of the jet lag. So I decided to call it a day. Gabri was meeting his girlfriend Alina that evening, so I had some quick food for myself. I read a bit of my book and watched some TV until they came back home. Alina was a very nice German girl and was well-travelled as well. She even went to Montreal before. We got to know each other and then started chatting about my plans. They recommended me to go to Heidelberg, and Alina said she could show me Marburg - where she was doing her university - if I wanted to. I took both of the suggestions, so my next two days: Heidelberg and Marburg.
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