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Geo: 49.7688, 6.64948
... looks like we made it! Anyone who had to hear/read about my drama the past couple of weeks knows that I was feeling pretty fatalistic about actually getting to Germany. And anyone who didn't have to hear/read about it, consider yourself lucky. The Lufthansa flight attendants kept threatening to strike, but they kept putting it off till closer and closer to our departure date. On Wednesday, we read online that they were going to strike on Thursday (the day we were supposed to fly), but then on Thursday morning it was reported that they wouldn't strike till Friday. Still not completely convinced, we went to SeaTac and – lo and behold – actually boarded a Lufthansa plane bound for Frankfurt! On time and everything!
For the first time, I'm able to type "we" – meaning John and me (or should that be John and I?) – on this blog, which makes me very happy. We are taking this trip to Germany, Austria and Switzerland to celebrate John's 50<sup>th</sup> birthday. Also for the first time, we got to the airport by taking the bus downtown and catching the light rail. It's pretty slick, even though the seats are kind of uncomfortable. But it only cost $2.75 … can't beat that.
The flight was mostly uneventful. The seats aren't quite as nice as on British Airways, but the plane is smaller so you're only cooped up with 300 other people and not a billion like on a 747. The guy in front of me was a recliner. I can't get too upset about that. I mean, you bought the seat, you should have the right to recline if you want. But during meal service? That's a little rude if you ask me. The guy in front of John was a bouncer. To be fair, he was pretty tall and must have been massively uncomfortable, but he kept bouncing around and fidgeting and generally making John's tray table jump all over the place. John couldn't even watch videos on my little laptop because the Fidgetron-5000 changed positions so often and so emphatically that he came dangerously close to breaking the laptop screen.
The flight itself was pretty smooth and the food was … okay for airline food. Nothing special, nothing particularly German. John watched “The Avengers” on the seatback screen, and I watched “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.” Tried to sleep but didn't do too well.
We landed in Frankfurt about 40 minutes early (7:45ish) and had to deplane on the apron and take a bus to the terminal. Immigration was easy enough: I'm not sure the agent even looked at me because she was busy laughing with the other agent. We got our bags and then found the train information desk. And here's where the trip got punishing. After a nearly ten-hour flight, we had to take a nearly three-hour train journey to get to Trier where our tour starts. Why Rick doesn't start the tour in Frankfurt (or at least somewhere close), I don't know. We had an hour to wait at the airport station before our train, so we went to Starbucks. Before you judge us, you should know that I'm getting over a cold and John is just getting a cold. Nothing would have felt better on our throats than a cold, smooth Frappuccino. I got us a seat while John went in to order. He was all prepared to order in German but the barista – who had spoken German to the people in line in front of John – instantly spoke English to him! When he picked up the drinks, John said, “I was all ready to speak German to you but you spoke English right away!” The barista laughed, apologized and then spoke German. Anyway, Frappuccinos = ahhhhh!
While waiting on the platform for our train, we were approached by a man wanting help interpreting his ticket. Just as we were saying, “Sprechen Sie Englisch?”, he was saying, “Parlez-vous français?” So we spoke French. I love speaking a different language and being understood!
The first train wasn't so bad; it was an ICE, or express, train. We stumbled into the bar car, so we sat there and had a Coke (me) and a beer (John). The train went along the Rhine to Koblenz, passing through Bacharach, by the Lorelei and also through St. Goar. In 2010, my group stayed in Bacharach and day-tripped to St. Goar, boating back to our hotel past the Lorelei. It was fun to see the places again, even if the train was going by fast enough that I couldn't make much out. When we got to Koblenz, we transferred to a regional train bound for Trier. There were no seats available, so we had to stand for nearly an hour and a half. I thought I would collapse. With about 15 minutes to go, a seat opened up so I finally got to sit down. Bliss!
We arrived in Trier and walked for about 30 minutes to Residenz am Zuckerburg Trier, which is part hotel and part senior residence. I don't think it's quite a nursing home … maybe more like assisted living. I'm thinking of it as the Memento Mori Arms. The hotel rooms are mixed in with the residents' rooms, and they're really big! We have a large entryway, a big bathroom (with one of those dumb showers that gets the entire bathroom floor wet, but it's wheelchair-accessible), a bedroom, a kitchenette, and a living room. We look into a little courtyard, and there are electronic shutters on the windows. It's pretty nifty!
We sat in the living room, turned on the news in English, found out about the shooting in New Jersey and the earthquake in the Philippines, stared into space for a while, and then took naps. Went back out around 5:30 to walk and get fresh air and some food. The hotel is a couple of blocks from a large shopping precinct/market square, so we had lots of choices (though most of them were ice cream shops). Stopped in at a store to get Kleenex, cough drops, etc., then walked through a shopping center hoping for a café. There was a small food court but nothing appealed, so we kept walking.
Here we are in Germany's oldest city, ready to start a tour of three German-speaking countries. Trier was founded by Augustus in 16 B.C. and has Germany's oldest Christian church. Before the Romans arrived – before there even was a Rome – the Celts inhabited this area for well over a millennium. So what did we have for dinner tonight? Pizza, of course! We found a little Italian restaurant, and pizza just sounded so good. And it was: we shared a nice, spicy pepperoni pizza, and afterward we stopped at one of the ubiquitous eis cafés and had lemon gelato. Walked a bit more in the hope of finding an internet café or at least free wi-fi, and then walked back to the hotel.
We're now watching “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” in German and having fun trying to figure out the questions. But I think it's about time for bed …
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Mom
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Great news that your outbound flight departed. I'll be waiting for your next post!