Hotel Restaurant Reuterhof Darmstadt

... facilities.
I'll know where I'm going instinctively.
Like a thief who must know every corner, every air duct, every hallway, every locked door, every personnel station, every inch of possible ground to be learned via online airport mapping systems.
This is how I will wake up and move myself onward.
From a drunk and Valium based slumber I will awake in Germany, a country which I have never visited nor ...

... not end up eating Chinese food that day. In fact, I don’t remember what we ate, until after our trip to a local museum.

The Nibelungenmuseum – what an experience. Though fairly large, this permanent exhibit is not much to speak of, except that it defied our expectations so greatly, that it has become a bit of a joke with Tracy and me. In fact, she now calls me her ‘little Nibelung’, or ‘little dwarf’ (rough translation ...

Again it seems to be an escape from the inevitable. But somehow I actually think it's way more than that.

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 ...

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.

... Now we can’t wait to go back and spend more time in Sulzbach so we can tour the orchard!

We had a great dinner with great company, we reminisced about their trips to Florida and the Gators-Vols game, we learned more about the 2009 Oktoberfest songs and found out the Nadine was to perform one of them at the local festival later in the month, and then we drove back to their apartment to see all of the American sports paraphernalia hanging ...

... to the Luisenplatz in the town center. A monument in the center of this area has a tall pillar, and a man stands on top. This man is Ludwig, of course, and he is a duke or landgrave. He stands because he said when Napoleon came to Darmstadt, he would go to meet him and protect the town. Napoleon never made it that far, but I like the idea behind this Ludwig. We also saw the city church, and the palace, which is a pretty impressive palace for a regional affair ...

... be there for October Fest and they had to drop the car off there...it is about 4.5 hours from Frankfort...They took us to the airport at 7 a.m. None of us wanted to say goodbye but it made it easier knowing that they will arrive back in Dallas Oct. 2 which is not far away...We got to the ticket counter at 7:10 a.m. and were told we could check in at 8 a.m. We pre-weighed our suitcases and really thought I would have to ...

... at Frankfurt at 9.30. I checked into my hotel room which was directly across from the main train station and got 4 hours sleep before getting up and going again. I got to the airport at 5am and because of my early check-in, I got window seats for both of my flights to home. The first one was incredibly short, the second one a bit longer. I saw the following movies: You me and Dupree, Nacho Libre, Accepted and Little Miss Sunshine.
I got back to ...

... interestingly enough, a lower percentage of accidents, drunk drivers (even though the drinking age is lower), and traffic-related deaths. I was really amazed by the Autobahn. It really doesn't look that much different from our interstate system, though the roads are probably maintained to a higher standard, possibly because there isn't nearly as many of them in Germany. The visual differences are on the shoulders of the Autobahn, where you don't see any billboards or ...

I've been in Frankfurt several times, mostly checking out the gift show in my capacity as a trade show geek in general, promoter of my frog line in particular. So I know the town a bit. But this time we merely pass through, in the middle of the night, right through the center ...