Around the World: Mannheim

April 3, 1992

I left Freiburg today thinking I was headed for Frankfurt, but I got on the wrong train and ended up back in Basel, Switzerland.  The mistake ended up giving me more choices.  There's a place called Mannheim which is half an hour from Heidleburg, and the hostel in much cheaper.  Frankfurt and Stuttgart are only an hour away.

The hostel in Mannheim is only a ten minute walk from the train station, a short distance from the US military base.  While I waited for the midday lockout to end, I wandered around the hostel grounds and found a kitchen, complete with a stove!  It's such a treat to be able to cook my own meals instead of searching for cheap places to eat or living off sandwiches.  My hopes were dashed when the doors unlocked and I learned the kitchen is only used by the staff.

There's just enough time to get settled and maybe try some wiener schnitzel from the vendor at the train station.

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"People are lucky and unlucky not according to what they get absolutely, but according to the ratio between what they get and what they have been led to expect."

~ Samuel Butler

Around the World: Going Postal

April 1, 1992

I woke up later than I had hoped to and almost missed breakfast.  It worked out better this way as I missed dining with the rowdy group of students eager to explore whatever it is they have come here to see.  Today's mission: Post Office.

Freiburg is a very pretty city, on the western edge of the Black Forest.  It's easy to get distracted by the view and easily lost.  After a bit of redirection and a few photographs, I find the post office.

The post master speaks no English, but fortunately, we are both fluent in charades.  With the help of the clerk at the adjoining stationary store, we wrap up the box with tape and string.  I bring it back to the post master who hands me customs forms to complete with German and French instructions.  I hand it back, hoping I've mailed it in the right direction.

The post master wants to know how I want the parcel shipped.  He holds out his hands like an airplane.  This option is very expensive so I shake my head.  He motions his hand up and down, like waves.  I nod.  The whole entertaining procedure cost me 36 German marks (about $24).

• ¤ •

"Every once in a while, someone will mail me a single popcorn kernel that didn't pop. I'll get out a fresh kernel, tape it to a piece of paper and mail it back to them."
Orville Redenbacher

Around the World: Freiburg

March 31, 1992

Before leaving Geneva this morning, I stopped in at a large department store.  I wanted to find a coffee pot like the one Sabina used to make her delicious coffee and after finding something similar, I turned to find the cashier and discovered Nirvana.

I'm gonna need a bigger bag.

A store employee found me blissfully saucer eyed and held out a plate with little chocolate samples.  It would be blasphemy to decline free chocolate in an aisle devoted to it.  The chocolate in Switzerland is mrf mur mum... (I shouldn't write with my mouth full).  Oh, my good gracious, it is delicious!  Maybe it's the mountain air.  Maybe it's just really good chocolate.  At $1 a bar, debate amongst yourselves while I make my way to Freiburg to mail a small container of this stuff home.

The youth hostel, known in German as a "Jugendherberge" is clearly marked on the map, but that doesn't make it any easier to find.  After a two hour hike through scenic Freiburg, I finally find the hostel and grateful that it has a bed available.  It is currently inhabited by 150 small fry that only scream in German.

There's a park bench by the river where I can quietly enjoy some of the chocolate I didn't package up to mail home and a sandwich.  Coming toward me on the path is another confused backpacker with a map searching for the elusive Jugendherberge.  I offered him directions and a handful of crackers, knowing he's already been on a long journey.  He was grateful for the snack and the information and continued on his way.

There are three other girls sharing my room.  The hostel relocated the young students who were given the room earlier to accommodate the new arrival of backpackers.  The four of us shared some wine and gave me directions to the post office.

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"We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers."

~Seneca