As usual, there are many more pictures than I could put in the blog. If you want to skip straight to the pictures from Frankfurt and Heidelberg, click the picture below:
With all the business (busy-ness) at work, my conference in DC really snuck up on me. All of a sudden it was Friday night and time to pack. We had a birthday party for one of our friends after work and by the time that was done, I pretty much had enough time to pack my bags, and then a short wait to get picked up at 1am to head to the airport. Thanks to the expeditors, the airport experience in Dushanbe went smoothly.
My colleague and I took the direct flight from Dushanbe to Frankfurt, which gets us to DC with only one connection instead of two. The flight is pretty bare-bones, but at least it isn't crowded. We each had a row to ourselves.
One of the great things about flying west is that you actually gain time. We left Dushanbe at 3am, flew 7.5 hours and arrived in Frankfurt at 6am. Maybe due to the early hour, we breezed through customs and baggage, got a cab, and after a quick 220+ kilometer/hour ride, arrived at our hotel. Straight away, we out and caught a tram to the train station for an excursion to nearby Heidelberg.
Once we got our tickets, it was time to eat.
Such choices!!! Pastries, sandwiches, smoked salmon... we were in heaven. I settled on a bratwurst sandwich, and a raw minced pork sandwich (mostly because I could) and then grabbed some pastries for the train.
It was amazing to find how much I missed western civilization and the comforts that come with it.
On the platform, we noticed a lot of police in riot gear and a correspondingly large crowd of soccer hooligans all toting large quantities of beer (this is before 9 am). And coincidentally, they were all riding our train! Also on the platform, we saw this rather hilarious billboard. I translated it and it seems to be an ad for a magazine on good parenting.
The weather was looking pretty dreary in Frankfurt - it had been raining every day for more than a week - but as we headed out of town, the clouds began to break up and we enjoyed the great scenery - with green, flat fields, quaint villages and tree-covered hills. The soccer hooligans were actually quite well-behaved and sang some fun chants as we approached Heidelberg.
Upon arrival, we headed straight for the old town. On the way we saw, gasp, real department stores, clothing stores, Starbucks (never thought I'd be glad just to see one of those), and so on and so forth. The organization! The civility! The cleanliness! The choices! I could go on, but suffice it to say, that it took a return to the west to really understand why Dushanbe is a hardship post. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with my first tour, but I think you have to live there for awhile, adjust to life, and then come back to really appreciate it.
In Heidelberg, we spent a good chunk of the day perusing the streets, enjoying the old buildings and churches, and carvings.
We made our way up almost 300 stairs to the ancient castle where there were great views of the town before heading back down for lunch.
Ah lunch! We found a great little restaurant off the main tourist track and I had a very refreshing wheat beer and an absolutely delicious bratwurst with sauerkraut and fried potatoes. Yum!
In the afternoon, we headed back to Frankfurt to take in some more of the sights. Like the medieval Romer district, before heading back to the hotel for a quick break before dinner.
For dinner, we crossed the river Main to eat at one of the old cider houses, where I had a huge mixed plate of sausage and, of course, cider. And of course, we got to enjoy in great views of the city skyline along the way.
The next morning, it was back to the airport for the trip to DC. I lucked out and had the two seats next to the window to myself. It was one of the planes with individual screens in the seats, so I enjoyed a couple movies I haven't seen - Whip It (highly enjoyed), and Pandorum (good, but nothing amazing). I only had two difficulties: The guy in front of me was one of those who likes to see how far back the seat goes, so I had to scrunch down in my seat to see the screen. And this girl across the aisle spent nearly the entire flight, with her head turned around like in "The Exorcist", talking loudly to the guy behind, who she didn't know, her about leaving her husband, while ignoring her children in the seats next to her.
But all in all, it was a comfortable flight and there were no major delays at the airport. It was a little odd when the customs guy asked where I was coming from (Tajikistan), and how long was my stay (6 months - but I'm going back in a week for another 18, so I really think of my time in DC as a 'stay' with a return to Dushanbe).
It's a little weird being back, but not so much as I thought it would be. The day in Germany must have helped. My colleague and I gorged on sushi (I think there will be much gorging here) and then I picked up a tub of Ben & Jerry's and a tube of cookie dough on the way back to the hotel for dessert. And no, I'm not even ashamed. I deserve it.
So here I am, it's about 4 am and the jet lag has finally caught up to me. I'm going to try to go back to sleep for a few hours, but at least my blog is up-to-date
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