Frankfurt to Mainz
Trip Start
Sep 09, 2005
1
121
150
Trip End
Ongoing
Mainz,
Rhineland-Palatinate,
Germany
Friday, May 2, 2008
I got a speeding ticket on the Autobahn three years ago. Yes, I know.... I thought so too. However, YES, you CAN get a speeding ticket on the autobahn! Anyway, I tried to pay it, really I did, well sort of did.. but couldn't get any answers as to where to pay, how much, whatever. Really rather strange. So, I was concerned that this would catch up with me the next time I had my passport checked in Germany. I actually hadn't landed in Germany for 2 years because someone told me that was the statute of limitations for autobahn offenses.
So, here I was, back in Germany, in passport control.... not really wanting to approach the counter. Try as I may to cajole the officer, get him to laugh, or anything to make sure he is distracted and doesn't notice I am a fugitive, he is like a rock. No smiles, no laughs....he is looking at the screen after he swipes my passport for what seems like an eternity. I am doomed, I am sure.... Others went through in seconds, I was standing there, looking as guilty as those dopes on TV for what seemed like hours. Now that I think about it, is than any different than usual? I am actually sure it was hours.. I was almost ready to confess to anything, when he finally smiled and handed my passport back to me!!!! Yippee!!! I made it! I was going to get my luggage, not the yellow pages to look up a lawyer.
While waiting for our luggage, we noticed about a dozen young fellows that are new to the army and the assignment in Germany. There are two MP's watching over them, answering questions and telling them what their next steps are. They all gradually find their luggage tons of it so it seems. Our luggage has yet to arrive. We are soon feeling grateful that we packed enough for two days in our carry-on, but just when almost all hope for a cheerful reunion with our luggage was gone, here it came, up the conveyor belt. Whew, that was a relief. It took a really long time to for all the luggage to arrive, ours was last, so it was even longer.
As we organized our stuff I could hear the MP's giving advice and instructions to the soldiers - how to get money - better out of the ATM than the currency exchange, where the USO was, how to get to the trains, etc. When I heard train directions, my ears really perked up and I mosied over near the group.
When the head army guy asked if there were any questions, I raised my hand and said I had a couple. Now I have proof that the best and the brightest are serving our country, because when they all looked at me with very puzzled looks on their faces, knowing I didn't belong with them in any way, shape of form, they were all polite and didn't laugh in my face. The MP was also very nice and l asked him to repeat the instructions on how to get to the train. Once again, my dumber than dirt expression was working overtime. He repeated the directions, but then said he would take us to the train, personally. He left the group with the other leader and walked with us to the train out of the terminal. It was strange, for we didn't have to go through customs at all. We just walked right out with our luggage. I asked our personal Army MP escort about this, and he said everything is checked before we get our luggage... Ah, well that explains the delay.
So, we get on the train, then off at the train station. I actually avoided a Zurich moment for those of you who know that story. Our Army escort took us to the train ticket counter, made sure we got the correct tickets to Mainz and led us to the correct platform! I think he wanted to make sure we did not go anywhere near the army base. Can you imagine the chaos I could create there?
We get to the Mainz Hauptbanhof and find our way to the street. Well, there was a little confusion with an elevator. We found one and it started to go down. When it opened we got out and then realized there were still stairs to go down. So we went down them and saw the elevator opening on the first floor. We just got out like lemmings when the door opened, not noticing we were not where we needed to go.
We thought we knew the city so started walking to the hotel. Well, Mainz should be called Maze. The pedestrian area has no right angled street intersections, they go around bends and then you find yourself right back where you started. We did this several times and finally found the huge Mainz Dom. I knew we were getting close. After a few laps around the enormous church we saw the Rhine! Hour hotel was right on the river, so we figured if we make it to the water we have a 50/50 chance of turning the right direction. Finally something looked familiar and we walked left and soon saw our hotel.
We checked in and the room overlooked the Rhine with a spectacular view. We were so tired. It was only 11:30 am Germany time, which meant it was 3:30 am US time. Advice to travelers typically states you should stay up as long as possible and go to bed early to encourage a switch to the different time zone. This was going to be difficult. We went out for a walk to re-acquaint ourselves with the city and stroll the farmers market. We needed to use the ATM to get money and also check on the Rhine cruise for the next day.
About 3 hours later we were walking zombies and couldn't take it anymore and went back to the hotel restaurant for dinner. I kept worrying that I would fall asleep and my face would end up in the dinner plate. We made it through dinner and nearly ran back to the room!
