Many Adventures of a Nomadic Poet A young poet with Asperger's makes travel his passion, and away he goes...

It was my final day in Europe today. I actually woke up at 6:00; two hours later than I wanted to. I had to hurry up, so I packed everything, washed up and ran out the door. It was mighty cold out and I get surprised that my tires don't freeze solid. The ride to the train station was about 15 minutes and I went in to get a ticket. The clerk was telling me that I would have to wait until 9:15, but he found another ticket in which I could leave shortly and get me there at about noon. I bought it and then headed to the platform in a hurry. It was very, very cold out, but I had to get to the airport. The train ride passed through the Luxembourg countryside as the sun was coming up, and the sunrise and snow made an amazing sight together. Since it was light out, I got to see the sights that I couldn't see on the way here. The churches and castles...I'll really miss them! An hour later, we were in Trier. I had about 40 minutes to burn, and I was riding my bicycle and the police picked on me for riding my bike on the wrong side of the road. At least here they don't give you a ticket for every little thing like they do in L.A. I stopped at a coffee shop for a Red Bull and then got inside the train station to stay warm. The train come at about 8:20 and I was on my way to Koblenz. I was hoping I could get to Frankfurt by about 11:00 so I could be early for check-in. The German countryside is very beautiful. One thing I noticed is that in many of the small towns, the church is often the tallest building. In Koblenz, there were two trains: one that left in about 10 minutes and another that would leave in about an hour, but both would get me to the airport at about the same time. However, I opted to take the later one because I wanted to search around for a bike shop to get a box for my bike. I stopped at one but they had no boxes and I was directed to another one up the street. They had boxes in the back of the store, but they were all covered in snow. So, I had a problem. I was thinking that if there were no boxes at the airport, I'd probably miss my flight. At the train station, I noticed that there was no bike symbol on the train information for the particular train I was waiting for, so I was worried that I had made a costly mistake by deciding to take the later train. But, the train came and there were no problems. The train ride was about two hours and went along the same route that I took the other day. The Rhine River and the many castles have probably been the most beautiful part of this journey. I got to the airport at about 12:30 and I checked in for my flight. I bought a bike box for $10 and I had to disassemble it (take off the pedals, seat, front wheel, etc). Everything was good! I was so worried that I was going to miss my flight and then possibly be stranded. When I get home, I'm not going to be able to relax because I have my senior project due soon. Afterward, I went through security and did all the usual airport procedures. I got a pack of German gummie bears and postcards for Teressa and Bob. I've seen two postcards to my love Teressa on this trip, wishing she was with me! It was supposed to be a romantic trip with just the two of us. At 2:30 I got ready for my flight, and this chapter of my travels concludes...and soon another will begin!