Day 19 (May-22, Sunday) In Germany

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Good morning from the Dolan estate outside Frankfurt Germany . They have a very nice house and we had a good night’s sleep. David did wake up once during the night because he could not feel the ship moving, but dismissed it and went back to sleep.

We had a good day visiting with Mike & Sue, and their girls. Mike cooked a nice breakfast and then we gave Maggie the First Communion presents which we had brought for folks in St Louis. Then we all went to the base for Sunday morning mass. Sue and the girls stayed afterwards for a school function while Mike brought us back to their house. Mike and David tried to fix the suitcase but it is going to take a trip to the local hardware store on Monday (not open here on Sundays) to get a couple of parts. We hope to solve the problem tomorrow. Altogether, we had a nice restful Sunday morning.

After lunch (Mike bar-b-qued some hamburgers) we went to a local town called Rudesheim. There were some threats of rain today, but it was nice and warm and sunny when we left. There are lots of things to see in Rudesheim, including a lot of tourist shops right with many different interesting items for sale along the south bank of the Rhine River. However, one of the places that Mike knew about was a Music Box Museum (guess how excited Janet got when she heard about it). It was a really interesting collection of VERY old music boxes – some of them big enough to cover a whole wall. There were some classic calliopes, player pianos (even a couple of player violins), gramophones, classical looking music boxes, and miniature music boxes which made bird calls. They were all really impressive and we would recommend it for anyone else who comes to visit. Of course the tour ended with a gift shop, and Janet resisted buying anything because it would be difficult to bring back in our luggage.

Afterwards we took a trip to the top of a mountain with a marvelous overlook of the Rhine River. We road up in 2-person cable cars (built in 1954), and nobody got scared or anything. Up on top is a large statue overlooking the Rhine. The statue is called “Germania” and commemorates the Franco-German War and the reestablishment of the German Empire in 1871. It was built in the years from 1877 to 1883. It is 114 feet high and can be seen pretty clearly from the river below. One casualty of the ride was that David’s StL Cardinal cap blew off his head and floated down into the grapevines far below (don’t worry – he has others at home). There was a thunderstorm while we were on top of the mountain, so they temporarily suspended the return cable-car service. We wait out the storm in a restaurant near the statue, but it was noticeably cooler afterwards. The ride was a lot of fun and provided marvelous views for many miles up and down the Rhine.

With everyone being a little tired by the end of the day, we went to the Wiesbaden AFB food court and had a typical (quick and no frills) American dinner from Taco Bell. This actually was the first coca cola David has had since leaving St Louis, so it was something of a treat too. Tomorrow we will be back on the trail of more adventure, but this was both a day for family visiting and some tourist events. We are having a great visit though.

Good night from Niederhiem near Frankfurt Germany.

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