Europe installment #2

Traipsing down the hill I visited the Schöns. Frau Schön brushed the dirt from her hands to dab her eyes when she recognized me. We spent a few minutes talking, but then I had to go. Erika’s house was luckily within walking distance. The delicious ice cream with strawberries, in addition to the peppermint tea with herbs from her own garden made for a very cozy evening where we talked about old times, the present, and future plans. It all slipped by very quickly… and soon I was waving goodbye on the Northrup’s doorstep.
Wednesday morning I went to center city Wuppertal to meet Angelika Günther, my old piano teacher there. After a little window shopping she took me out to lunch, were we spent about two hours discussing life, and especially ballroom dance. She started taking lessons not to long ago, which she enjoys immensely, and as I share her passion, we were able to relate to each other very well.
Around one o’clock I caught a train headed to Cologne. The imposing Gothic cathedral towered over me on my arrival, filling me with awe that surprised me a little… I had seen the cathedral before. Tristan was waiting on the steps reading a book. Chatting pleasantly we explored the cathedral, then started on the city. I realized how little I had actually seen of Cologne. There were so many hidden niches crammed with buildings that were obviously several hundred years old, as well as many larger buildings like the Rathaus that I didn’t remember ever seeing before. Tristan was an excellent tour guide because he was so familiar with the area and could translate all of the Latin plaques for me. After showing me a few options museums wise, he let me chose one to see. I felt that my German experience would somehow be incomplete if I didn’t visit the chocolate museum, since chocolate is one of my very favorite things in the whole world. The best part of that was the huge golden chocolate fountain that overlooked the Rhine, spouting milky, chocolaty goodness for samples. What more can one wish for?
Thursday morning I decided to try and run by a few fabric stores to see if I could find a bit of lace to sew on the bottom of my dress, which needed a little extra length. Giovanna was an angel and drove me to the first one, but we didn’t have a lick of luck there. Praying hard I rushed to a store at the Hauptbahnhof on the way to the Barluschke’s house. Lo and behold, they had the best and cheapest lace I had found yet right on the shelf. I wasn’t sure it would be enough, but I bought it anyway and rushed on. At Christiane’s I helped her do some shopping and make some lunch. She’s just plain wonderful… she was my Young Women’s teacher growing up, and one of my greatest examples. She made her amazing strawberry quark in my honor. I can’t tell you how good that is, because it is an EXPERIENCE!!!! I watched her daughter Lisa, who is now about four, ride her bike like a pro, then we got out some craft supplies to make cards. All to soon Thomas came to pick me up, but before we left Christiane offered to take me to the airport the following morning. I had been praying I wouldn’t have to take the train. At the Götze’s house I met little Johanna for real. She was absolutely adorable! I had to get her on video… I think I’ll put that up on my blog. We made a huge pizza and then ate it by candlelight. After putting Johanna to bed, it was time for me to go, but before I left I felt prompted to ask Thomas for a blessing. It was one of the most powerful blessings I have ever received, and it sounds like I’ll be doing some missionary work while I’m here in Vienna!
One last adventure before I stop writing about the past and focus more on the present in my letters: Friday morning Christiane came to the apartment to take me away. We had a wonderful last talk in the car. I noticed immediately how heavy my bags were, but soothed myself with thoughts of getting rid of them in a few minutes when I checked it. My arms were a lot happier when they were gone. It was only a 1 ½ hour flight to Vienna, and I was planning to read about Elisa von der Recke, but my throat hurt, I had been coughing the last couple of days, and I felt exhausted. The flight (nap) was too short…
I actually started feeling worse by the time I left the airplane. Somehow I lugged my bags off the conveyor belt and made it to the place where arrivals meet the locals. Eagerly I scanned the crowd for a sign with my name or American Austro Institute on it. Nothing. For fifteen minutes I scanned the crowd. No sign. No help. My arm was aching.
Heaving my suitcase behind me I made it to a payphone and dialed the number I had scribbled in the back of my notebook. It wouldn’t work. It said the connection would start, but then it would hang up on me right away. I put more money in to see if that would help. Same failure. At this point I realized that I could use my money that I was afraid I had just wasted on internet access. There was a new message on my email from Lillian that made my sinking heart land on the floor with a splat: “Where are you? No one knows where you are. Come to the institute as soon as you get here” which was followed by directions on what trains to take and the address of the institute. My breathing got irregular and my vision blurred. Panic licked the edge of my consciousness like a hungry flame. I felt miserably sick, and somehow I had to get myself and my bags filled with rocks to downtown Vienna using public transportation that I definitely wasn’t familiar with. My pride is actually what saved me. It was offended at the thought that I couldn’t handle European public transportation, no matter what the odds.
Taking a deep breath I somehow found a ticket machine, paid the exorbitant sum, lugged those suitcases into the train taking up two seats, and just sat like I had been run over, quite crazed. Switching trains was painful, since I had to bang my suitcase down a set of metal stairs, creating a ruckus that probably deafened anyone else in the tunnel with me. I was popping cough drops, my only form of anything that resembled medication into my mouth every few minutes. Luckily there was an escalator that took me up to street level. When daylight hit my face I realized I was in the middle of center city, with no clue where to go. I knew I had to look confident though. I walked up to an old man pushing a stroller with a young child in it, and asked him if he knew where Operngasse was. He had the highest voice I have ever heard in my life (boys and girls included), with a beautiful Austrian lilt to it, which he used to explain the way to me. Pulling my bags painfully behind me I started down the street.
Every few feet I was forced to stop, wipe the sweat off my forehead and catch my breath, telling myself that I was almost there and I would make it. I found the building. I found the doorbell of the institute. The door opened into a dark hall filled with suitcases with three dark figures talking in the background. I addressed the group to ask them where I should go to find the institute, and upon hearing my name one of the women said “so you’re Margaret!” It felt good to be recognized. It did not feel good to be confronted with a huge two flights of stairs that I had to climb. If the woman hadn’t offered to take my duffel bag, I probably would have collapsed halfway up. At the office they gave me tickets to take care of public transportation for the next two weeks and arranged for a taxi that would me to Goldhammergasse, my new home. I banged my suitcases down the stairs, far past caring about the noise… I broke off part of the bottom in the process, but just picked it up and shoved it in my backpack.
The taxi driver was friendly and informative. It took us a lot longer to get there than I had originally imagined, so it was a good thing I knew the institute would reimburse me. Finally we unloaded my bags and I rang the bell outside the gate. Frau Alfons came to greet me, showed me a bed and I crashed.