Clarion Collection Parkhotel Bensheim

Again it seems to be an escape from the inevitable. But somehow I actually think it's way more than that.<br><br>Why do I think that? I'm sure you are wondering what special thing happened at the end of my last entry in the first world trip ...

Well...this time honestly I didn´t have time to make travel list or structure my backpack. After finishing my PhD graduation there was time onyl to celebrations and party (since the last months I rarely had much time).<br> Heidelberg is ...

It was sooooo cold in Frankfurt, we didn't want to spend much time here since we had no winter clothing. WE got in late, went to our hotel, then back to the airport to get our flight to Bangkok moved up. We though it would be at 8 that night, but they managed to get us on the next flight out, which was pretty much within the hour. Woohooo! I also kept speaking Italian in Germany... so confused with all the languages.

... almost no one ventured all the way up to Philosophenweg. I fully appreciated the "scenic" spots with benches along the way, welcome spots to breathe and take out the water bottle. Students and philosophers used to walk up that way to clear their heads. When I passed through, the cloud cover was dreary except for a break through above the castle and a spectacular showing of cerpuscular rays. A German lady started ...

... it. You must pass through another security checkpoint to enter the Lufthansa gates. Then you wait in long lines which are not really lines all all because everyone politely presses forward until it is one giant herd of bodies. Only the determined persevere and move forward. The rest of us schmucks stay put in line as people move ahead until we get the hang of it and we learn to politely push forward. My passport was taken, entered into a ...

... their walls, not to mention some German candies.<br><br>Unfortunately it was time to call it a trip, so we all piled in the car and Flo kindly drove us home on the ultra-efficient Autobahn where nobody drives slowly in the left lane.<br><br>Auf wiedersehen! It was a great trip!<br><br>Pam and Glenn said: <br><br>Pam&#8217;s first observation of her old high school alma mater town of Frankfurt was that it had not changed much. From the Bahnhoff down ...

... rather expensive to get in, so just walked around the gardens (the rose garden was very overgrown and not really looked after! shame! ) and watched a bear pacing in it's rather too small cage..poor thing...<br><br>So headed off towards Germany via Castle Karlstein....seems that everywhere you go, you get stung...everything costs money...nothing for free...not even parking...<br>Again it was super expensive to get up to this castle...so we ...

... to the test. Success!! The Boats are sold out and dont open at all after this until April! Oh well. We walked a little more upto the walk bridge but instead of going over the other side of the river we headed back into the City area. We walked across the road and behind a building to what looked like a clearing and found the main square! It seemed really random to find it there like that! It had some of the traditional German house-styles there (White with like a cross-hatched ...

... I will include a photo of this. Inside the museum there were old phone exchanges that still worked and tablets of writing dated from 1500BC among many other things. There was a postal stamp press there that worked and a modern mail sorting machine. Put simply, if you are ever in Frankfurt, it is worth seeing. Although Frankfurt is a cool city, I plan to be moving on soon so my next entry will probably be from Köln (Cologne). Bis später ('til later)