Familiar Stranger

In order to get to Frankfurt, we had to take a train, then a bus, and then another train.  On our way there, we went through the countryside of Switzerland which was so beautiful.  The mountains rose high on either side of the road, and small waterfalls cascaded off their steep rock faces.  We wound our way through the valleys and were kept company by the quiet villages spread throughout the hillsides.

We arrived in the bustling Basel (in Switzerland) train station with an hour to wait before our next train.  We were told that we didn't need a reservation, but the train turned out to be packed.  There were a few empty seats, but they were all reserved.  So we walked up and down the aisle several times searching for empty seats while trying to avoid hitting people in the face with our obnoxious backpacks. We ended up taking two reserved seats. However, since they were reserved, Annalea ended up getting bumped from her seat. Thankfully I got to keep my seat, so we ended sharing. She sat on my lap with our bags beneath our feet.  It was a very cozy situation and we tried our best not to squish the guy beside us. We eventually we sat in more spacious seats after after a family of four got off.

Around 10:00pm we arrived in Marburg, Germany.  We hadn't originally planned on going there, but after meeting the three boys in Rome who were studying there, it became part of our itinerary.  You see, before we parted ways with them in Rome, we found out that they were living in Marburg, near Frankfurt.  Two of them were leaving in a couple days, but one of them, Grayson, was staying there another week or so.  We realized that we could be in Germany around that time so Grayson therefore invited us to come stay with him.   This would mean free accommodation,  as well as being able to hang out with him again.  So we took him up on his offer and headed for Marburg. Now, in case you're thinking that this was a very naïve move, staying with a guy we'd just met in his cozy dorm room, then know this: we both felt that he was a trustworthy guy, who was very down to earth and grounded. If either of us has felt even a tinge of uneasiness on the situation, then obviously we wouldn't have gone.  So, once we arrived in Marburg, Grayson met us at the train station and walked us to his dorm.  

The next day, we went to visit a park in Kassel (about an hour from Marburg on train).  We walked up about 530 steps to get to Hercules Castle, then walked around the park to see some waterfalls, some ruins and another castle.  Everything was vibrant green and incredibly lush.  That night we went out for drinks and I had a shot of Jäger for the first time (not bad...), as well as some German beer.  The next day we packed up and made our way to our friend's house in Bad König (also near Frankfurt).