See you in Spain

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Geo: 49.7813, 9.95361

I had another crappy sleep, yet woke up WAY too early. This seems to have been the pattern for the entire trip, so far. In fact, it's the pattern for ALL my trips ... Today is my last full day of the trip - sigh ... it feels like I just left home only a few weeks ago, but now the seconds are ticking away at an alarming rate.

I grabbed breakfast with the brothers, and there were more inappropriate comments and jokes made - fun, fun, fun! They're actually doing a super-low budget biking trip through Germany, but I really don't know how they're managing. They were alternating between camping and hosteling, but all their camping gear got stolen a few days ago. This heat must also be brutal - they told me that it was over 35 degrees when they were biking the other day. I said goodbye and Brad told me "Maybe I'll see you in Spain next year!" Is there any doubt that I'll be there again? Of course not! I guess Brad liked my answer last night, when he asked me "So, tell me more about Spanish women ..."

Wurzburg - a nice little town that I stopped in, en route to Frankfurt. First up was the Residenz, Wurzburg's palace. The tour guide was quite good, and mentioned that the Residenz has been described as Germany's Versailles - hmmm ... not quite ... I wanted to visit the Residenz's chapel, but it was closed for a wedding. The Baroque garden behind the Residenz was quite nice, and I learned something new - a Baroque garden has to have an English, French, and Italian section.

I quickly booted around town - it felt a lot like when I was in Leipzig last year, both in terms of the feel of the town, and the speed with which I toured it (see blog entry entitled "The Beautiful Breakdown Blitzkrieg Tour" http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pwong/euro-2007/1190499480/tpod.html?tweb_UID=pwong) Wurzburg is definitely worth a quick stopover, but not much more.

The train to Frankfurt was packed with people, and I was lucky to get a seat. It was incredibly hot inside, until the A/C was turned on, which seemingly took an eternity. Once things cooled off, I took a much-needed nap. Just before arriving in Frankfurt, a German dentist named Wolfgang started talking to me, telling me how he loved Banzai trees, and how he travels to Japan to improve his trimming skills. He was a nice enough guy, and even offered to let me stay at his place in the Black Forest, and even to show me around the next time I was in Germany. Why can't I meet German models named Heidi, or German volleyball players named Laura Ludwig on the train, and have them tell me how much they love Chinese guys, and offer to let me stay with them, and to show me around?

I checked into the "Frankfurt Hostel" - when I first booked, I thought that the address sounded familiar, and thought to myself that it must be on the same street as the crappy hostel I stayed at last year. It turned out to be the same place, but with a different name. It seems to have been improved slightly, but it still has the same crappy door locks. The doors have a big button that serves as the key - you need to first push the button to activate the lock, then you tap it with the key card once the light comes on, and turn the key when the green light goes on.

No one ever gets these locks open on the first try and though I used them last year, I wasted 15 minutes fiddling with it. I actually went to the receptionist twice, asking if it was the right key and right room, but she kept telling me "Just try it again." Turns out that the key card wasn't programmed properly - not a very helpful girl ...

My mattress was slightly better this year - last year's was so thin that the bed frame was digging into my back all night long. This place used to be called the "Stay and Learn Hostel", and offered English lessons. After seeing all the female Spanish tourists in the place, I realized that they could all stay at my place, and I could teach them English, for free! Of course, I would never expect anything else in return for offering these services ...

There isn't much to do in Frankfurt, and what little there is to do, I pretty much did last year. I wandered around a bit - at least Frankfurt isn't killer hot like some of the other German places I have visited recently. Feeling a bit peckish, I grabbed a salami, cucumber, tomato sandwich - blah! My last night of the trip was spent wandering aimlessly, much like the last time I was in Frankfurt.

Since Frankfurt is so boring, why did I come here? It's because it's a convenient transport hub - had I chosen to fly home from London, I'd have wasted a day getting back to London, lost another day because the charter airline flies home from London on Saturday (and from Frankfurt on Sunday), and the London flight also leaves early in the day. The Frankfurt flight leaves at 19:00, so I've got all day tomorrow to go see Koln. It's almost like I've gained an extra three days just by flying home from here instead of London. Thinking about those three extra days that I had made me feel a bit better about leaving tomorrow - sigh ... my last night in Europe ...

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Photos

a
Fountain in front of Wurzburg's Residenz.

b
The Residenz's Baroque Garden - I think that's the English section, in the distance.

c
The Cathedral

d
The Neumunster Basilica, I think.

e
City hall is just behind the fountain.

f
The Marienkapelle on the left, and the beautiful Baroque building on the right is now the TI and library.

g
"Swallow Shops" are built into the outside of the Marienkapelle. And no, it's not Thailand so none of these shops involve any adult activities ... they're named swallow shops because they're like swallow nests built into the side of a house.

i
Obelisk in market square.

l
Model of Wurzburg after a 20 minute bombing by Allied forces just before the end of WWII. 90% of the city was destroyed.

m
A little info about the bombing.

n
View from the Old Main Bridge - grapes used to produce Stein Franconian wine are grown on the hillsides overlooking the river.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe was considered to be the German Shakespeare, and was once asked what the three most important things in life were, to which he replied "Wine, women, and song." He was then asked if he had to give up one thing, what would it be - "Song", he replied.
When asked to choose between wine and women, he replied "Depends on the vintage." Franconian wine must be some fine stuff for him to answer that! But if he was asked to choose between wine and Spanish women, there isn't a drink on this planet fine enough for any man to consider giving up Spanish women!

o
One of the ugliest fountains I have ever seen.

t
Lunch was at Noodle Box, a fast food joint specializing in Asian noodles. I tried the Bami Goreng - it wasn't good, and definitely NOT authentic, though I should have known. Noodles, pork, cabbage, carrots, and celery , it was quite bland. The 15 minutes of free internet that came with the meal were a nice bonus.

y
Nordsee - I'm usually not a fan of fast-food chains, but Nordsee always has a great selection of seafood available, and they make a fine fried-fish sandwich.

z
People have jokingly asked me if I was going to get married again this summer. I wasn't planning on that, but how could I resist this beauty?
I have only two complaints about her - she's a bit quiet, and I really wish she would do something different with her hair. Same-sex unions are recognized in Germany so man can marry man - maybe they'd let man marry a mannequin, too?
Of course, I'm joking - but if this was a Spanish mannequin, then it's ON!!!