Dear Journal,
Here we are, travelling in a train along the Rhine! Wowzers! Absolutely gorgeous. To my right, a tall, unbroken chain of hills that is occasionally dotted with a quaint little German village. To my left flows the Rhine, one of the most important river routes in Europe, addressed even by Bahá’u’lláh in an apostrophe in His message to the “King of Berlin,” Kaiser Wilhelm I: “O banks of the Rhine! We have seen you covered in gore, and you shall have a second turn.” (Kitab-i-Aqdas, in reference to Wilhelm’s recent victory over Napoleon III and the future world wars that would devastate this prosperous region.) The region’s wealth is attested by the fact that every half kilometre is marked by either a stronghold, a fortress, a castle, a mansion, or a palace, built by every wealthy family of the region over the course of no less than 700 years.
Yesterday we travelled over the Swiss Alps into Basle near the source of the Rhine. We transferred at Basle to Mannheim, and from Mannheim to Dusseldorf. In Dusseldorf we visited a book store that carries all kinds of material, from the very new to the very old. Their antiquarian stock wasn’t very exciting, however, and we soon left. To pass the time until our next train to Bonn, we wandered through Dusseldorf’s old town (Aldstadt), with cobblestoned streets lined with restaurants from all over the world. Where did we go? You guessed it: Persian!
After a delightful ghormeh sabzi we wandered back to the train station and caught our train to Bonn. Upon disembarking, however, in our rush to remove our baggage, we left behind a poster tube filled with antique maps—which we realized just as the train rolled away.
We rushed over to the service counter in the train station, where the attendant phoned the next stop, Koblenz, and asked the attendant there to board the train, grab the tube, and keep it there for us to pick up in the morning.
That done, we proceeded to our hotel. Tired from a long day of traveling, I soon lost my way from what I could remember on Google maps. As rain began falling I stopped Shahram at a street corner with all our baggage, while I explored a neighbouring street. I went into a small bar and asked the young woman behind the counter if she knew where the street or the hotel was. She didn’t, but suggested I ask at the train station.
Thanking her, I dashed out of the door and ran back to the station, where I found a city map in the underground passage connecting the train station with the city’s U-Bahn (subway). Embarrassingly, I realized the missing street was just two steps away from the very corner where I had left Shahram with all our baggage! I doubled my pace back to Shahram as the gentle rain cooled my face, and caused my shoes to slide on the slick cobbled sidewalks.
Upon my return, we grabbed our bags and checked into our hotel, not five minutes from where we were standing. Shahram asked me to go find us some water bottles for the night, and I figured I should mimic Shahram and return to that bar, to thank the young woman by telling her about the Bahá’í Faith.
After introductions and chatting about our studies – she was Brazilian and studies politics in Bonn, Germany, and very interested in working for women’s rights – I used that to introduce the Faith and the Tahirih Justice Centre, a Bahá’í-inspired organization that defends women’s rights. She was very interested. She remembered working with some Bahá’ís in Bonn at the U.N. (There’s a large number of United Nations offices in Bonn that occupy the buildings built when Bonn was the capital of West Germany).
I told her she should get in touch with them, gave some contact information, and left, having left her (hopefully) with an idea of what the Bahá’í Faith is – probably my worst teaching experience yet, where the listener was eager to hear more, and I kept stumbling over what to say!
This morning we left Bonn and went straight to Koblenz (the book dealers in Bonn were all out of town, making our trip there unnecessary). We picked up our tube at the train station (with everything still safely inside), and we are now pulling into the Frankfurt airport train terminal with the next stop being the main train station in downtown Frankfurt. I hope after we pick up Shahram’s new credit card we can visit the Temple here – it is the only Bahá’í Temple in Europe, located just outside of Frankfurt. (Note: we didn’t end up going, there wasn’t much time.)
Personally, I’m glad we’re picking up the card, because after this morning’s hotel, we’ve probably maxed out my VISA!
Tonight we take the night train from Frankfurt and wake up in Copenhagen!
Tschuss!
Richard
That sounds like a crazy day, but that train ride must have been really special. I've wanted to see Koblenz for a while now, how is it?
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