Friday May 17 -- Weesp to Frankfurt

Packed up and left Weesp with an hour or so to spare, which was a good thing because I made a false start by catching the wrong train. Luckily I realised the fact and was able to hop off at a connecting station and catch the next train to Amsterdam Centraal. Since my first three train seats weren't reserved, I decided to take the earlier trains to Utrecht -- where I had to change -- and then on to Venlo, since I'd already seen Utrecht yesterday. So I had an hour in Venlo to explore -- slowly, though, since I balked at leaving my backpack in a locker for 5#. 

Venlo's not famous for anything, as far as I know, but it's nicely laid out on a river with a big church and a big town hall, and a confectionery shop with a cheap coffee machine, which is what I mainly needed at the time. There was a bit of excitement in one of the shopping streets, with police and fire officers in attendance, and a big electric fan blowing fresh air into one of the clothes shops. There was a faint smell of smoke, so I assumed that something had smouldered or caught fire and set off the alarm, but nobody seemed too perturbed.

Back to the station and on to a slightly faster train to Dusseldorp. There was no particular indication when we crossed the border into Germany, though the stations seemed to get a bit smaller and shabbier. It's all still very flat, and a mixture of rural and industrial sites. Some of it could even be the back end of Penrith; and then there are sweeping green vistas with cows and sheep. A few windmills around, but nothing like the number we saw in China -- or Spain, for that matter.

Changed at Dusseldorp to a real fast train, for which I had a booked seat in Carriage 23. Nothing on the platform to indicate which carriage stopped where, but luckily they had posters up, listing every train. To make matters more confusing the sign on the platform kept insisting that our train was leaving at 12:21, even when it was 12.24 and it hadn't arrived; but it came at last and I found my seat and a place to stow my bag. We passed through Koln, but I was facing backwards and saw very little of it, and raced through more flattish green countryside to Frankfurt.

Frankfurt station is enormous -- it took me about five minutes just to walk down the platform to the exit. There's a very twee toilet in the middle of the concourse, down two flights of stairs painted yellow and decorated with bunnies; I suppose they're trying to ease the pain of parting with 1# just to do a wee. But swings and roundabouts; as I was about to buy a metro ticket a nice Asian man gave me his day pass, which he'd apparently finished with, and so my first ride was free. No gates, though, and no systematic checking, so I could have just got on for nothing anyway.

The apartment is on Line U5, which gets a mention in Wikipedia for doing something very odd; after running underground for a few stations it emerges into the light and transforms into a tram, pottering along the streets and waiting at red lights. It's very ingenious, but a little strange.

Five minutes' walk from the tram stop brought me to the address I had, but I discovered that it was a whole apartment block and I didn't have the number. I messaged my host, and stood up in the adjacent lawn to wait (I would have sat, but there was nowhere to sit). I was getting concerned, but she arrived after 15 minutes and let me in. She was forty-ish, short-aired and quite heavily tattooed, so I wasn't sure what to expect from the apartment, but it turned out to be well-equipped and very pleasant, with a separate bathroom, kitchen and lounge opening off a narrow hallway, rather like the place I stayed with the kids in Rome. And it has a washing machine and a heated towel rail, so my hygiene requirements should be met. There's a thermostat heating system, but also radiators, the water for which appears to be heated on the spot in the bathroom (by gas? nuclear power?). There's a huge clock set into the wall of the lounge which is, unfortunately, wrong, and the power supply is quite weak; charging tablets seems to be an overnight thing. But it's a very comfortable place.

I found a local shop and stocked up on food for the next few days. German food is fairly similar to Dutch, with the addition of a few more sausages. And I bought Tilsiter cheese, which turned out to be very pungent and needs to be enclosed in two plastic bags. It was about four when I got back, and I thought of going out to explore, but stayed home in the end. Tried the TV -- the usual rubbish, but in German -- did a wash, had dinner, and read for a while before turning in. The plan for today is to walk to Central, buy a two-day museum and transport ticket, and get my bearings in the city.

 

Love to all and happy election day!

Jon.