FRANKFURT

Friday, September 12, 1997 Frankfurt, Germany

Happily; we all met at the Alamo car rental station….got the car…a brand new green Opal station wagon! Luggage fits nicely in the rear with a cover over the top that will hide everything when we are parked. Off to Frankfurt without any major problems.

Arrived at Hotel Mozart about 9 am…set off on foot to the Palmengarten where we spent several hours touring the green houses and grounds. A beautiful display of Japanese arrangements. We could see a BMW new car on display, but we were unable to get into the special program they were having at the time about the car.

Dave and I both had bad hair days as the moisture in the green houses made our hair go limp! Back at the hotel we were able to check into our rooms and change socks before departing by car to the old part of the city. We were looking for the Romer and a meal! Everyone is very tired…it’s actually about 2 am in California but only noon here in Frankfurt.

We’re trying to stay up until early evening. Finally found a parking garage and walked to the Rommer. Starting to rain….I has an umbrella for Shari and windbreaker with hood for myself. Rain is very light…people pretty much ignoring it. Found the old city after walking along the Main River. Ate dinner at the same old pub where Jim & I ate our last meal in Germany in 1996 on our trip with his sister.

Shari attempted to order a “green salad” without any luck. Shortly thereafter, they served the exact item to another guest….we decided they didn’t understand “green”. But dinner was good…hot dogs, German potato salad, kraut, etc. After dinner we spent some time walking around, entered St. Bartholomew’s church…we were too tired to make the climb up the tower. Crossed over the bridge to the other side and walked back to the car under an umbrella of trees all along the Main River. Really beautiful time of year.

Back across the river on another walking bridge and home to the hotel where we all decided to meet for breakfast about 8 am. Jim fell asleep within minutes. I got out the computer and tried to work on it without much success. About midnight, Jim & I were up and about…trying to decide what time it was…hard to tell. Turned on the television for CNN. I worked on this story and tried to connect to phone line to AOL but couldn’t get the room phone plug out. Going to try to go back to sleep.