On the Road Again 2013 # 25

I am now back in my apartment. I am obviously somewhat behind in my blog postings..... I will continue to discuss my trip in sequential order.

The hostel was an older house that in its time must have been quite magnificent. The carving on the staircase, the wood paneling and the size of the living/dining area all spoke of quite luxurious living. However like all hostels that use converted space it was a bit chopped up and cluttered looking. The room that I was given on the main floor was a strange elongated space with only one small window. It seemed to be over packed with furniture, some of which was not in very good shape. The room felt as if it had been or perhaps still was, used for storage. The hostel itself was located in an area that I think was a student ghetto. It was hard to tell as it was the weekend before Labour Day and there were relatively few students around. But it had that feel to it.  Just a few blocks away from the hostel were some extraordinarily beautiful and large homes along the river. They looked like the sort of places that perhaps tenured professors lived.

There were 6-7 people at the hostel when I arrived. Three or four of them were young Germans (at least I think that is the language they were speaking), two of whom were working there. There was a middle aged man who came and went and I suspect was either the owner or at least the manager and then there was a older man who spoke more than a few languages. I think I was the only uni-lingual individual in the house.They seemed to be all busy in the kitchen so I dropped my stuff off in the room, changed into sandals and went out to find a place to eat. Perhaps because it was a Saturday night but the few greasy spoons that were around- were closed. I walked the general area for 30 or do minutes trying to orientate myself but I was just too tired to keep on looking for a place to eat. Unfortunately the only food store in the area was also closed. I knew I had to eat so when I got back to the hostel I made some Chinese noodle soup. I always carry a few packages in my pack. It is lightweight, easy to make and I like the taste.

By the time the soup was ready, the other  folks were finished eating their meal and I sat down to eat alone. It was a strange place - I felt as if I had sort of invaded someone private space and that while they were happy to have my money - there was no need to be particularly welcoming. When I finished eating, I tried to start a conversation about bus routes etc. No one seemed to have a clue how the bus system worked except that as the next day was Sunday the system would not be working well, if at all. I went on-line and found a bus schedule. It appeared to me that there were buses and that I could get to where I needed to be. Usually hostels are fairly good about knowing how the public system works. I rely on those who work on hostels to help me. It is disappointing when they don't know and perhaps more importantly - give the impression that they do not care.

 It was only 9:00 but I was exhausted, in fact I was past the point of being tired. I would have been quite content to go to bed right then. But the middle age man put on a movie on the big flat screen.  I was in the front room on my tablet checking out bus schedules. I could have gotten up and moved to my room but I was too tired to move and so I ended up watching it. It was a silly thing about families and drug smuggling and.... The plot was instantly forgettable and while there were points at which I may have chuckled it really wasn't funny.  As soon as it was over, people started to disperse - I quietly drifted off to bed.

My roommate was the older, multilingual gentleman. He too was getting ready for bed.  We chatted for a few minutes. He told me that he use to hitchhike but now given his age (he was in his 70s) he took the train. The following day he was off on the Polar Bear Express to see the north. I admired his sense of adventure. I suspect that if we had been there longer we would have had an enjoyable chat. As it was it was short. Our conversation ended with him asking me if I minded leaving on the light as he would need to get up a number of times during the night. While normally that might bother me, I am sure that I was already asleep before my eyes closed.