- USA
- Ireland
- France
- Belgium
- Back in France
- May 30, 2005Mexican Princesses
- May 31, 2005Versaille
- June 1, 2005Last Day in Paris
- June 2, 2005Coast of Marseille
- May 3, 2005Callanques of Marseille
- June 4, 2005Leaving Marseille
- June 5, 2005Busted Ankle
- June 6, 2005Healing in St. Raphael
- June 7, 2005Bongos on the Beach
- June 8, 2005Goodbye, St. Raphael - Hello Cannes
- June 9, 2005Antibes Daytrip
- June 10, 2005Chilling in Cannes
- June 11, 2005To Nice with the Finns
- Monaco
- Switzerland
- Germany
- Austria
- Hungary
- Poland Fun
- June 29, 2005Zakopane
- June 30, 2005Hiking in the Tatry Mountains
- July 1, 2005Trail of Wooden Architecture
- July 2, 2005Krakow Jazz Festival
- July 3, 2005Kazimierz
- July 4, 2005Goral Burger
- July 5, 2005Ciupagi
- July 6, 2005Czestochowa
- July 7, 2005Trainhopping
- July 8, 2005Happy Birthday Mom!!!
- July 9, 2005Happy Birthday Jack
- July 10, 2005Banana Riding
- July 11, 2005First Russian Embassy Visit
- Poland Family
- July 12, 2005Family, at Last
- July 13, 2005Mom's Schoolfriends
- July 14, 2005Muddy Ponds
- July 15, 2005Partying in Poznan
- July 16, 2005A Relaxing Day
- July 17, 2005Sheeshah Bar
- July 18, 2005Five Souvereign Lands
- July 19, 2005The Good News
- July 20, 2005Another Family Function
- July 21, 2005Just Chilling
- July 22, 2005The Best Bike Ever
- July 23, 2005Looking for a Home by the Baltic Sea
- July 24, 2005Copernicus and the Boyscouts
- July 25, 2005Visas are Set to Go
- July 26, 2005Luxury
- July 27, 2005A Day at Work
- Russia
- July 28, 2005Back in St. P Looking for 1UP
- July 29, 2005Peter's Pimpin' Palace and the Neverending Nights
- July 30, 2005Big Bad Moscow
- July 31, 2005Beating Birches
- August 1, 2005Off to Siberia
- August 2, 2005Drinking with the Guards
- August 3, 2005Big, Rolling Trans-Siberian Party
- August 4, 2005Pack up, Only Six Hours Left
- August 5, 2005Irkutsk
- August 6, 2005Swimming in Lake Baikal
- August 7, 2005Drenched
- August 8, 2005Partying with Uzbeks
- August 9, 2005I Love You Omul, I Heart Baikal
- August 10, 2005Pushed out of Russia
- Mongolia
- China
- August 26, 2005Chasing Buses
- August 27, 2005Looking for the Opera
- August 28, 2005Sleeping on a Wall
- August 29, 2005Trying to Find the Opera Once Again
- August 30, 2005Forbidden City and Searching for the Opera
- August 31, 2005The Opera Sucks
- September 1, 2005Hutongs and Strange Food
- September 2, 2005The Peking Ducks Incident
- September 3, 2005Beijing Shopping
- September 4, 2005The Dirt Market and Tiger Penis Vodka
- September 5, 2005Temples, Temples, and More Temples
- September 6, 2005The Amazing Summer Palace
- September 7, 2005Goodbye Asia
- Back in the USA
World Trip
Herbert and Lydia Forkl
I had most of the day to relax before heading off to meet the Servas host family I was staying with for two days, so I headed off to the town of Furth which was really close to Nurnberg and was relatively untouched by WWII. I spent the morning walking around the city and had a nice little lunch. Later on, I headed back to Nurnberg to do more relaxing, catch a few minutes of shuteye, and meet up with Hilla for a drink before heading off to the train station for Neumarkt, where I was to meet with Herr Herbert Forkl, the Servas host. Along the way, I bought a really cheap train ticket for Thursday to Vienna, which will be my next destination after leaving Germany.
I relaxed in the hostel for a few hours, had a drink with Hilla, said goodbye, and took the train for Neumarkt. This was the first time I really felt like a real foreigner. Everywhere else I have been people were accustomed to seeing big backpacks on backs of young adventurers, but here, taking a local train into the hinterlands of Nurnberg, the sight was apparently not so common. People looked at me like I had just come from a land from far away. In reality, this was not so bad, because I just had.
At the train station I helped a young woman carry her luggage up and down the stairs, called Herr Forkl, and waited for a little while for him to come and pick me up. I chatted with this woman for a while as she also waited for a ride.
We drove down to his house in the little village of Geberdshofen near Lauterhofen and exchanged stories. We eventually arrived at their big house in the little village that used to be a schoolhouse some years back. Now he lives there with his wife Lydia and their dog Rocky, and runs a screen-printing and design business from his house. We sat around, ate some dinner, and talked late into the evening about their life, our travels, Sarvas International, their business, and everything else in general. We walked throughout the entire village with their dog, passing all of the dozen or so houses that make it up. My German was getting better by the hour. Right before going to sleep, they had just one request for me. They said that their only wish is that I do not wake them up before 8 or 9 o'clock in the morning. At that point I had no doubt whatsoever that I was staying with great people.
