Even though I am well into my thirties, I am about to embark on a twenty-day family trip with my parents, brothers and significant others. It’s mostly in honor of my mother’s sixtieth birthday, but also to celebrate my father’s recovery from a sudden health crisis he had at the beginning of the year.
Our first stop is Frankfurt, Germany, where we had a 12-hour layover that permitted a brief excursion. Pictured above is the tiny town of Idstein, which reminds me of Disney’s Magic Kingdom, specifically of the area around “It’s a Small World.” Except Idstein is eerily empty and quiet.
Here, reality was inverted in my mind. Disney’s version of a little German town, bustling with life at any given moment, feels much more real than the deserted, authentic place that inspired it.
My plan during this twenty-day trip is to write a series of “Trip Poems,” which I will be sharing on my blog. They might not be very good or lucid, but they should be a valuable record of a once-in-a-lifetime voyage, at least for me.
As always, thanks for reading!