Having to wait many hours for the next plane, instead of having a good time with company, really sucks. You've probably been in a situation like this that I find myself in November, traveling through Europe. I had arranged to meet a friend during a long hour waiting for corespondent airplane. Finally the friend decided not to show up and I'm flying in Frankfurt with the most grounding sensation of the 12 hours waiting on me.
And just there were my mind goes to its known story, finding the negative side, complaining and judging in a chatter, a mystical rose blossomed in my smile to the realization that the possibility of me going into those hours in misery and boredom on an airport chair or in the joy and adventure of discovering this city, is totally on my responsibility.
Feeling free, since I'm alone to go anywhere and do whatever I like, I'm taking the train to the city. I'm moving very relaxed and with a sense of myself. No hurry. I haven't done any research for the city but I like to find myself a stranger in an unknown city. While in the train I'm setting a goal, that I'm going to photograph looking to find the design in the city. Not items of design but how the city is been designed each moment.
The first thing that strikes with impression right at coming out of the central station of Hauptwache, is that the city seems almost empty, as if it's Sunday morning. Goethe is one of my first encounters (he doesn't move much out of his pedestal anyway), as I'm letting my footsteps find their own way. I'm walking relaxed, without really going nowhere. The streets continue to look almost empty, at least to my perception of a weekday morning.
Without knowing that I'm moving away from the center, I see in front of me something I've seen before. A glass building with a big Euro sign installation in front of it. I wouldn't call it art but it's an impressive construction. And as I'm trying to make art out of this construction I hear a voice behind me, “Can you please take my picture”? I turn and I see a woman smiling at me. We photograph each other and we start a conversation. She's Yuko from Japan. The name means child of existence or at least this is how I interpreted it that day. Yuko has been traveling for 2 months in Europe and this is her last day, in a few hours she's flying back to Tokyo.
From this moment after, I'm looking at the city through the conversation that I'm having with my new friend as she's leading me back to the center. It's a totally different perspective that I get when she's sharing the things she found about this city. We're entering the medieval Gothic Church of Our Dear Lady (Liebfraukirche). Praying people don't get very illuminated with us admiring the building so we're going back to the streets, which are more crowded now. I propose Yuko to have a chocolate with me and she's taking me to her favorite chocolate house.
Bitter Zart (http://www.bitterundzart.de/blog/) occupies the whole front of a block, one corner for the cafe the other for the shop. There's no music but a nice rhythm, relaxed and clear, to which the decoration does well. It's bitter chocolate came with four jars of sugar, each flavored in different flower or herb. In the time we're spending here we even see an engagement ceremony a few tables away, which took place in a very polite and civilized manner. And going next to the shop where my friend wants to buy presents we saw more beautiful collages on the walls and met their creator. But the sweetest sensation in there is the artist herself. We find Renata surrounded by thousands of chocolates and her collages and we are going to find her here too: www.kos-tueme.de/
We stroll through the center until we reach the Main river and cross the famous steal bridge with the Greek scripture and the padlocks that hang from those who're trying to lock love. Actually, at the other end of this bridge each one of us will continue the trip on his own. Still, was a pleasure and an honor for me to represent the whole Europe into bidding farewell from the continent this beautiful lady. So, as I'm continuing this expedition on my own, I'm already in love with the city!
To be continued...
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