Friendships from Frankfurt

One of the last things that we did before leaving Frankfurt was to go around to our favorite places and take photos of some of the friends that we had made. We feel fortunate to have met such wonderful people who were a tremendous help to us as we struggled to live in a foreign country where we knew very little of the language. This week’s Daily Post Photo Challenge is Friend, so here are just a few photos of the friends that we made during our time in Germany.

Bruno and the Gang at Alten Limpurg
At the Brasserie
Dejan at Alten Limpurg
Giving a Thumbs Up
Us with Bruno
The Gluwein King
Holiday Time at the Brasseri

Many Miles Traveled for a Special Meeting

We mentioned several times as our time in Europe came to a close that we knew that Rome was definitely on our list of places to visit before we returned home to the United States. Obviously Rome is an incredible city that has so many sights worth seeing, but our goal was more personal. We have been chatting with a fellow blogger, Writing From My 14th Country, since the very early days of having started our blog. In fact, her encouragement has meant a great deal to us as we learned what it took to write a blog, and we appreciated all of the comments and conversations that we have had over the past year and a half.  We knew that she was based in Rome and it was our desire that perhaps we would get the opportunity to meet when we visited the city. She graciously extended the offer to meet and we enthusiastically accepted.

Well Worth the Effort
Fountain at Piazza Navona

Little did we know that despite having traveled from Colorado to Germany and then from Germany to Italy, that our meeting would require some additional searching. On the afternoon that we had agreed to meet, she called and let us know which Piazza she would be at and how we could recognize her. It was only a ten-minute walk from where we staying in the Piazza Navona, so we decided to go ahead and travel on foot versus getting a taxi. We asked one of the waiters for directions to Piazza Farnese, which we had written on a napkin and was our meeting location. He confidently pointed it out to us on our tourist map, which was indeed about a ten-minute walk. When we arrived at the specified location, a few minutes early, we quickly realized that this did not seem at all like what we were expecting, a large, busy, piazza. There was a sign on the wall of the building in the courtyard, Piazza Firenze. Obviously he had misread our note on the napkin, which was likely also misspelled.

Walking the Streets to Meet
Another View of the Fountain at Piazza Navona

With Google Maps to the rescue, we searched for the correct location, which was now twenty-minutes in the opposite direction from where we currently were. We spoke on the phone to let her know that we would be a few minutes late, but were on our way. We have described the streets of Rome as being like a bowl of spaghetti noodles where many streets intertwine, connect, loop, and change names at various intersections.  Following the directions on our smart phone, we briskly walked along the mostly empty streets passing by a piazza, but our phone said that we needed to continue on the street that we’d been walking. After a few blocks more, we ended up at the river, so we knew that we had gone to far. Another phone call apologizing for the inconvenience, we walked back to the piazza that we had walked by several minutes earlier and this time walked into the center of the square. Low and behold we had finally arrived in the correct place, albeit about 45-minutes late.

We Were Lost
Maybe We Should Have Asked Them for Directions

Our host then gave us a brief walking tour of neighborhoods that she had worked in years previously and we talked as if we were childhood friends reunited after years of separation. It was an amazing time, hearing about the neighborhoods of Rome from someone who actually lives there and talking about our shared adventures of blogging. Just a few blocks from our hotel, we stopped and enjoyed a bottle of wine together and chatted about life, blogging, travel, and our common interests. It was not only a magical experience that we shall cherish forever, but an affirmation that the time spent sharing our experiences is not just an anonymous endeavor. We hope that everyone will go out and check out Writing From My 14th Country, it is a wonderful site that is fun to read and provides insight into Italy in ways that only a local can provide.

Narrow Streets
While We Were Wandering

 

It is the Twilight of Our Stay in Germany

The past six months have been amazing to say the least.  We will be sharing so much more of our adventures over the coming weeks, but for now we are sitting in the lounge of the airport hotel preparing for our return trip to Colorado tomorrow. There have been so many highlights of our time living in Europe, each with their own special memories. Without a doubt, meeting a fellow blogger in Rome is a memory that we will always treasure and will definitely be one of the first blogs that we will share as soon as we get back home. Having made so many friends during our time in Frankfurt, the last few days have been full of sad goodbyes, shared drinks, and a whirlwind of emotions. To say that we will miss the people that we have met is an extreme understatement, but we know that we will keep in touch and perhaps even meet again when the opportunity presents itself. As one journey comes to an end, another is about to begin, so we look back with great fondness at the places we have visited, but understand that the future holds many more memories waiting to be made. This twilight photo was from a couple of nights ago from one of our favorite restaurants on the plaza of the opera house.

Sunset in Frankfurt
From the Door of Our Favorite Bistro