Day 1

Gutenmorgen, Freunds! (good morning, friends)

What a day yesterday! I arrived into Frankfurt at 7:18a.m., local time (12:18a.m. USA Central Time). Going through customs in Germany was quite different than Central America, where I traveled earlier this year. In Germany, the European nationals have their custom stations and all others have their own stations on the other side of the room. There were so many "non-Europeans" that the line wrapped the room twice. It took a while to get through customs, as you might imagine. In Honduras, the customs agent scanned your Iris, took a mugshot and asked a whole bunch of questions. In Germany, the agent said "hallo" only when spoken to first and then threw the passport back on the counter....needed a glove to catch it as it slide across the counter! And off I went in search of the exit where my dear friend and her crew were waiting for me.

Frankfurt is a typical city, as far as European cities go....Weisbaden is THE city of the area, though. For you Mobile people, it's like living in the 08 zip-code...the place to be! Weisbaden is very quaint! Buildings dating back to the 1600's. (Heather's house is the 1st floor of a 4 story house and is "new" because it was built in the late 1800's). This living arrangement is very common in Germany. The houses are so big and no one can afford a whole one. I think Heather's entire house is worth around 2 million dollars...in Euro, much more than that. I don't have a picture yet, but will post one as soon as possible.

When Heather picked me up from the Flughafen (airport), I had not slept all day as I just could not get comfortable on the plane ride into Germany. She was expecting me to need a nap when I first got in, but surprisingly I felt great and was ready to see the city! So....after a quick shower, off to downtown we went...on foot, of course! Europeans walk EVERYWHERE...glad I brought comfortable shoes (and, no, you can't wear tennis shoes either)! The people of Weisbaden dress up everywhere they go. You will never see anyone dressed casually (i.e. running shoes and shorts/cotton pants) unless they are actually exercising. The tennis shoes they wear are like Puma canvas ones...don't know what they are actually called, but you get the idea.

After a stroll all around town, we grabbed a wonderful pasta lunch at this Italian restaurant that Heather loves. They actually make the past right in front of you! Mattie ordered pizza and ate all the tomatoes FIRST...have you ever known a 3-year old to do that??? Me either.

After lunch, the kids were tired, but not ready to give up the fight just yet...Mattie had seen a "train" that she wanted to ride and Heather thought it would be a great idea because it was a "tourist" train that drove around the city pointing out this and that. So...we get our tickets and hop aboard. Instead of the kids falling asleep...you guessed it, I am the one that struggled with fighting off the droopy eyes! It hit me like a ton of bricks that I had not slept in 32 hours!

We finally got back to the city center on the train and a Diet Coke was immediately sought out! (It is 3:00 p.m.). So, Heather had brought bread to feed the ducks (the kids favorite thing!) on our walk back home throught the park. There is a little outdoor cafe in the park that Mattie had wanted me to go to with her and the ducks are just a few feet away. This was the perfect "Diet Coke" fix place. I wish you had seen the excitement that the kids had feeding the ducks and the excitement Heather and I had with the caffeine. Everyone was happy and life was great!

After about an hour, we headed back home to change the kids and went to Idstein. It's a city that the center of downtown is still original to the 1600's. The buildings actually lean because of the age...the townspeople have embraced this and have painted it these bright, beautiful colors. they have the most wonderful festivals...Christmas, Pumpkin, Wine, etc.... Of course, I missed the Wine Festival by about 4 days. The attraction that we came to see was the Witch's Tower. It was constructed in the 1500's and looks everything like a medievel tower that you'd expect. It was closed and could not get in yesterday, but it just looked cool! The pictures that we have do not do it complete justice, but we have lots of pictures from town and I will share soon.

We ate dinner at a local restaurant on this city center (8:00 p.m.)...very typical German food. I cannot pronounce what I ordered...I just pointed to the waiter, who spoke English and had lots of compassion on this foreigner. I ordered pan friend pork steak with a beer gravy. The side was Stazel (basically pasta, with a cheese coating - think macaroni and cheese type dish). Heather had a fried pork steak with a mushroom sauce and fried potatoes (think sliced potatoes/hashbrowns). The kids had sausage with fried potatoes (German equivalent to chicken fingers and fries in America).

After a wonderful meal, we headed promptly home as everyone was tired and needed a bath and bed. Heather tells me that I did not make it as far as the Autobon (sp?). She said that I fell asleep mid-sentence. I have no rememberance of this, but the only thing I do remember is her waking me up as we were pulling into the driveway....she and Mattie were all laughs.

It is 9:50 a.m. here this morning and we are running late starting our day. As I type this, I am still in pajamas and drinking coffee...however, I am excited to head downtown Weisbaden to the Saturday market. I hear it's lots of fresh produce and I am craving some fruit! After the market, we are headed to Heidelberg...this is the place that several friends told me was a "must see". It's not a very far drive from here, so that's good. I am sure it will be a nice nap for me (still in a groggy state after 10 hours of sleep last night).

Oh - the roads here are VERY narrow! The cars are smaller, but extremely nice. Most people drive BMW, Mercedes, Audi, FORD's, and Smart Cars. Heather has a BMW 5-series. We feel very "normal" in this area...in the states we would be....well, you know. The Audobon, is an Interstate that is 3 lanes across or more. However, the far left lane is unlimited speed. You can go as fast as you want...and believe me, people do! There is an ICE Train that runs along side the main Audobon out of Frankfurt. It is very expensive to ride...almost as much as the plane.

Okay, gotta go...it's time to get with the program! Hope that each of you have a wonderful Saturday...right now, all of you are still in your REM sleep, so happy dreams!

Tschus! (bye)
SS