Karlsruhe, Germany & A Glass Of Wine In France
By Kevin Wilkerson PubClub.com Travel Blogger
So I was headed to Europe one summer for my first trip to Amsterdam to meet some friends, including someone whom I soon dubbed “Mr. Amsterdam.”
From there, a friend and I were traveling to Germany for a few days to visit some friends we had met the previous year in Greece and had promised to – get this – give us the key to their place overlooking the volcano in Santorini!
I was so excited for these travel adventures I practically sprinted on the plane out of Los Angeles on the day of my departure.
Amsterdam: A Boys Trip In A Boys Town
My friends were already in Amsterdam, having traveled there a day earlier and when I arrived at the hotel, I was greeted with these words from the manager: “Call Linda.”
Linda (not her real name) was my recent ex-girlfriend who was spending her post-college graduation summer backpacking through Europe. She was in London spending a few days with her aunt before hitting the rest of the continent.
I was like a untrained dog straining to get off the leash and spring through Amsterdam but the manager would not let me take another step without calling Linda. We had broken up a few weeks earlier and I still adored this girl but heck, I was in Amsterdam!
So I called and she said the person she met on a message board at college who was supposed to be traveling with her had bolted, leaving her alone. (The guy was a fool, by the way, because Linda was a beautiful girl with her eyes wide open to the new adventure in front of her.)
She wanted to know if “maybe, possibly, I come meet you in Amsterdam!?”
Heck no I protested! This was a boys trip in a boys town! I did, however, somewhat reluctantly agree to meet her in Germany. We were going to a town called Karlsruhe, far off the beaten tourist path.
So we – Linda, myself, one of my American friends and our Karlsruhe friends – went around and toured the area, rode on the autobahn, visited a castle and experienced the local nightlife. where my American friend dashed back from the bathroom to ask if he was a dame or a heron!
Since we were so close to Strasbourg, I wanted to go into France to have a glass of wine sitting outside of a cafe. It seemed such a European thing to do in my mind. Linda and I took this trip alone.
Even tho we got along (and still do to this day) there was just something not the same if we had been traveling as girlfriend and boyfriend. There wasn’t any stress or anything like that, but the things we did and the places we went lacked that warm, fuzzy feeing you get when you’re involved with someone.
After Germany we went our separate ways (and that’s quite another story, let me tell you!) and eventually met back in L.A.
Traveling abroad with an ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend or perhaps even an ex-wife or husband can be done but each of you has to have the right temperament and know that what previously may have sparked romantic emotions are instead just passing mental moments.
I say just sit back and enjoy the journey and the experiences. And have some wine at an outdoor cafe.
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