In the summer of '92 the Frankfurt railway station was full of youngsters who, just like me, traveled through Europe with a Teenage Summer Railway ticket and were eager to visit new cities, discover other cultures and above all, to meet each other.
Everyone was in a relaxed mood and that day, while I was crutching with my leg in a long heavy cast I got a lot of help. Groups of boys and girls carried my rucksack or my crutches while I was hopping up some stairs or just because we were heading in the same direction. And even a big English rugby type of guy carried me on his back, up the stairs to the railway platform because the elevator was broken.
I had a great time, despite traveling alone I didn't feel lonely and everyone was friendly and in a good mood. Making new friends was easy.
I was sitting in the train to Prague waiting for departure when I saw three young girls running on the platform. One girl pointed to the train on the left and one to the train on the right. They decided to come into my train and, what I hoped for happened, they sat down on the seats next to me.
The train was leaving and one of them turned to me asking in what direction the train was heading. I told them the destination was Prague and they were just like, 'O, cool, haven't been there' and that's how most of us were into this traveling. Just hop on a train and see where we end up.
The girls were pretty, slender and looked athletic. Wearing t-shirts with a colorful prints. The tallest girl was wearing a short skirt, with candy colored leggings and ankle boots, the others were also wearing bright leggings but with shorts and sneakers with white socks
I was shy and although my attention continuously went to them I forced myself to look out of the window. They were constantly talking and every word seemed to require a hand gesture to clarify it. Every now and then I looked over and once I looked straight into the eyes of the girl wearing the boots. She sat opposite me on the seat across the aisle. But she was too busy talking or discussing things with her friends in their own language, and seemed to have no interest in me.
The train conductor came and in a compelling tone he said: "feet off the seats!"
"Oh... sorry, but i'm... you see my cast is really uncomfortable and... "
"No, it's not allowed in German trains, a casted foot is still a foot."
"But i can't walk on it, the cast never touches the ground and so it has a clean sole."