And so the time had arrived. My first trip since embarking on this journey was upon me and with a blank canvas, I set my target to any country within Europe, as I want to be able to tick off most of the countries within the continent at some point.
After looking around at possible destinations, flight times and ticket prices it came down to two different cities that caught my interest. First, I started looking closer into going to Milan, as San Siro/Giuseppe Meazza is a place that I would like to set my eyes on before it’s too late and Inter had a home game against Verona coming up. However, the flight times didn’t suit me very well as it would’ve meant a very early flight back on a Sunday morning. With the Serie A schedule not having been confirmed at the time, I didn’t dare to book those tickets with the possibility of the game being a late Sunday kickoff.
Instead, I started to look into the possibility to go to Nuremberg where the ticket prices were about the same but with much better flight times. The only drawback was that I had already mentioned going to Milan to one of my good friends and he wasn’t too keen on going to Germany instead. Something about the food culture being better in Italy?
But as one of the reasons for this project is to push my limits a bit and get more familiar with travelling on my own, then Germany seemed like a good destination to start. It’s a country that I have visited many times over the years and after studying the language for a few years in school, I am somewhat able to get around without speaking English (I thought). And unlike my friend, I believe they have a great food culture. Bratwurst, Brezen und Bier!
Said and done, I booked my flights to Nuremberg with Ryanair and it set me back €40 for the return flights. No added luggage, just me and my backpack!
Next on the agenda was to find somewhere to stay and one of the first places I looked at was a room through Airbnb for €25 a night that was around 10 square meters big. It didn’t take me long to decide on this place as it looked very fresh and it had everything that I needed. A bed, toilet, shower and a small desk. Perfect – booked!
The day before flying my fiancé told me that one of her colleagues would be on the same flight as me. With the flight being 40 minutes late it sure was nice to have someone to talk to while waiting. Once we arrived in Nuremberg it would also show to be very helpful as she was there to visit a relative. A person who could explain exactly which line of the U-Bahn to take, to which stop I should go and she even gave me two tickets that she could spare. A great start to the trip!
In all gratefulness and excitement, I missed the part where she explained how to use the tickets. So I ended up at my stop without having used any of them. It wasn’t until after I got outside that I realised how you are supposed to use the tickets. From the metro station to the apartment I had a five-minute walk and it didn’t take me long to realise that it wasn’t the most touristic area that I had managed to book a place in. The rain pouring down didn’t help the atmosphere either. But it’s these things that make the trip and the experience more genuine!
After finding my apartment and getting my backpack off, I decided to get outside again to try and find a food store to buy something quick to eat and something to drink. No luck this time and with all stores already being closed, I ended up going to one of the döner places that I had seen when walking from the metro station.
After a day of working, travelling and a lack of food in my belly I didn’t feel ready to rely on my German skills just yet. So I tried to do my order in English, but the personnel didn’t seem too keen to speak to me and I completely forgot to buy something to drink. I headed back to my apartment and damn was that food tasty!
The morning after I woke up nice and early and was excited about what the day had to offer. After getting ready I headed outside and the weather looked more promising than it had the day before. After walking around for a good 45 minutes I finally found a café that looked inviting enough and I headed inside. I told myself that it was time to make use of those years studying German in school and I sure felt like a language genius once I sat down with my cup of coffee and my pretzel. And it probably tasted even better because of it!
With some breakfast in my belly, I figured it was time to do some sightseeing and I decided to take the U-Bahn towards Fürth – the place where the first game of my trip would take place.
To read more about this, stay tuned for part two of my trip to Germany.
