Hardly had my suitcase cooled from the heat of Vegas when we were off again, this time to Europe. Glen had a meeting to attend in Slovenja and we tacked on a few days and destinations to his itinerary. It's been 34 years since I've set foot in Europe and things have changed. I was worried about language issues since I spoke no German, Czech, or Slovene. I should have known that with the advent of the Internet, English has become the universal language of travellers.
We arrived in Frankfurt, Germany at noon and made it through customs with no problems. We then hauled our luggage down to the train station. After trying to figure out the vending machine, a woman helped us get tickets. Our train was due to arrive in a half hour. Since the Frankfurt train runs every two hours, this was a lucky break. It cost 4 euros (about $5.50) and was a double-decker carriage so we dragged our suitcases up the stairs to our seats. Had we known it was only a 20 minute ride, I think I'd have stood with them on the landing.
The downtown train station (Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof) was not far from the hotel but finding the Intercontinental proved to be difficult. We actually travelled through the 'red light' district before arriving on its doorstep. Hauling rolling suitcases over cobblestones is not fun.
We were surprised our room had twin beds as we had requested a queen but felt it was not worth complaining about. We ate lunch in the bar, sharing a huge club sandwich and a couple of good German beers. While Glen checked his emails in the room, I napped for an hour. I had slept on the plane but needed this time to take the edge off.
The hotel was close to the Main (pronounced 'mine') River which had a promenade along its banks. We walked past swans, barges, and tour boats until we came to a heavily travelled pedestrian bridge. Instead of crossing it, we headed into the city and discovered the Town Hall square. Just beyond it was the main shopping area of Frankfurt with many high-end stores. On a side-street, we discovered a French market selling wine, food, and crafts Many locals were enjoying the warm evening under the tents. A singer entertained us with a Boney M song and I remembered the group began in Germany.
We wandered around the tents until we found the beer kiosk advertising beer for 2,50 euros. After ordering two, we realized the actual cost was 5 euros. While drinking from our 'souvenir' glass steins, we finally came to the conclusion we had rented them. I'm sure the vender had told us this but neither of us could speak German. To test our theory, Glen went for a refill and sure enough, the price dropped. We got our money back when we returned our glasses.
On our walk, we had passed an unique German restaurant off the beaten track so went there for supper. Unfortunately, we didn't have reservations so were told we must wait an hour. I was hungry so we returned to the hotel after making reservations for the following night. The owner didn't write down our names just said, 'Armstrong, like the astronaut.'
At the hotel bar, we ate two skewers of 8 different sausages served on potato rosti, complimented with grainy mustard and washed down with more German beer. It was delicious. We tumbled into bed at nine and slept solidly.
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