So the Journee is not over.

The Entry/Exit System is ridiculous at major Schengen airports. If you are traveling through a Schengen airport, reroute yourself and change your flight to a non-schengen airport until they really figure this system out. Otherwise, plan your connecting with 4-5 hours at least. You honestly could stand in that line if you are from the US or Canada (at this time) for at least 1hr and 30 mins, maybe longer. If you have any connections that are delayed prior on top of that? You won’t make your flight. Everyone in line was late for a flight. If not that day, the day before and now they know better.

But all this is me saying that I am stuck in Frankfurt for another night and I had to rebook my flight back home on top of this. So this really messed up my plans. I am honestly kicking myself because typically I keep a change of clothes in my carty on, just in case … i was top confident this time and I need to get over it.

But I feel like I have the airport all to myself. It seems like they have no fly outs from 11-5 in the morning so all the gates are basically closed. It is just me and the mice.

It is so quiet. I love it and I got to work on all my posts too.

Zoo, Museum of Fine Arts, Westside mall

Animals!!!

So I like to collect sim cards from different countries. Also, I feel more confident when. I have a good connection and when I tap the countries phone carriers it gives me more options, especially in Europe because roaming days across countries works really well here.

It is so good that if you are only going to be here a little while on vacation i don’t see why you wouldn’t get it. I bought one the first day in Prague, I was able to use the Prague one in Vuenna, and it pooped out in Budaoest for some reason, but I could pick one up and thankfully, I did because I am using it even now and don’t have to worry about American plans daily charges. I got a 3 day pass and expect it to work through the rest of my time here in Frankfurt.

Szechenyi thermal baths, Castle Buda, Fisherman’s Bastion, Ruin Bar)

Hiking, Shoes by the Danube, Pest

I got a fix of nature here. We went on a simple walking trail with Lazlo. And then I spent more time walking through the city looking for plaques and different architecture and notable structures.

And very randomly, I have become obsessed with walking the city area too, knowing I could find all these plaques on random buildings that I found meaningful or just plain interesting. So I continued walking around to take it all in as I walked to the Shoes of the Danube.

John von Neumann’s childhood home (foundational to modern computer architecture)

Wolfy’s food tour and Viktor Frankl’s home

I call Viktor Frankl a philosopher due to his larger questions around the meaning and life.

With what he lived through and who he became after, as a person and true influencer is such a testament to courage and optimism in the face of the worst mankind can offer his fellow man. He is my favorite. It felt like a pilgrimage seeing where he lived that it is definitely something I will cherish as part of this journee, knowing and being able to see the home in which he wrote his published work.

Train travel, Mozart, oh … water closets!?! I get it now.

So train travel … does not work with tons of crap. You have to be able to lug it yourself and make the step up and off the train with it. When you get on the train, look for the baggage area and stick you big bag there, once you get on. Not much fits overhead and there wasn’t room at the seats. A table seat is nice. It gives you a little extra room. Get a reserved seat, pay the extra 3 euro for it. Although non-reserved seats allow you to sit anywhere, 1) it doesn’t allow you to have a seat (especially if it were packed) and 2) if someone reserved the seat you are in … you have to move.

So one of the things I did when I got in was look for an atm. I set up a schwab’s investment checking before I left because they don’t have foreign transaction fees and any extra fees that are listed when I take out foreign currency at a bank location gets reimbursed when they reconcile at the end of the month. I couldn’t beat the way that sounded at all.

Given that I had to find an atm bank and that put me in the middle of a mall walk in the first district and historic city center, Innere Stadt. I saw a crazy amount of people right next to the bank at Hiiich Teddy Cafe, which I guess was a Instagram/TikTok thing?!? It was fun to see the crowd, the musician and I totally bought a teddybear from it, just because.

And then to Wiener Mozart Concert for Vienna Mozart Concerts in Historical Costumes which was a greatest hits of Mozart with Opera singers, too.

And if you noticed above, I shared some pics of the hotel I was staying at, if you saw the photos you may have noticed something missing in them. 😁😉

The toilet.

I swear I was sitting in it in the middle of the night and then it hit me. Oh, wc, water closet. I get it now. In Prague and Vienna all the public toilets had signs that said WC. It all made sense now.

Morning and The Frieze, Train to Budapest, Laundry

I will try to break this down a little more.

This was amazing. It was one of my favorite experiences. I have been paying a lot of attention to trying to understand how each of these places feel to me because I think that it says a lot about what I feel like had meaning to me in my life at this time. This in particular had a story that felt very clear to my personal reflections about life and what I was seeing from all the places. It wrapped it all together nicely.

It was stunning. In a place that was just as impressive.

And then to Budapest.

I cannot even explain how different the two experiences were by train entry. The places felt immediately different.

But it was just different. I would t say unsafe but I mean, Vienna to the city in Budapest. They were different. At first I was worried because the ladies I were with talked about experiences that made me pause and want to be more guarded.

But as you walk the city, it is just that everyone is there, people live there, work there, and visit there in droves, but it is probably the place I met the most people actually from there not just travelers.

So many people walking their dogs! And the dogs were so friendly.

This is the best city to walk. Their are plaques and memorials everywhere that share the history of the place, who lived there and what happened there.

I did laundry and right next to it was the Glass museum. It was the base of operations for Carl Lutz and he saved 10s of thousands of Jewish people from the Arrow Cross during World War II. And this was next to the laundromat 👀

I learned so much just doing laundry!

I was 100% hoping someone would play this when I saw it sitting there on A side.

Wishes do come true 👍