So very sparse on the blogging. I take back what I said about commentables in an earlier post. Yes, I want you to comment. Even if you are cloak-and-daggering! ;)
It's been sparse because I've had scarce internet access. Tuesday night I flew out of Dulles and landed in Frankfurt Wednesday morning. I admit I wasn't super excited about Frankfurt, or Germany for that matter. From what I read in the guide books, Frankfurt was the 'headquarters of the EU currency,' the financial capital of Germany, 'modern,' and billed itself as Mainhatten (a play off Manhattan--a definite sign of banality when a European city is nicknamed after a much livelier and character-driven AMERICAN city). Mostly destroyed in WWII, everything rebuilt is modern, and anything that looks like it maybe 'Germanic' is fake and a replica.
The first day I arrived I forgoed the promised jog to my body to work out jet lag, plopped down on the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport's plumped feather bed and napped until I realized I would miss my train to Idar-Oberstein. Idar is a tiny hamlet to the west of Frankfurt, off the Main River and closer to the Rhine. On the way from Frankfurt the train cut through large hills that had been blasted away and terraced for optimum grape-growing. Apparently the region is famous for wine. Meeting an old college buddy in Idar, we sat down for dinner at one of Germany's few family friendly restaurants, as we had a two year toddler with us.
One thing I love about Germany is it seems every major hill has a castle or fort built on top, sometimes overlooking a tiny town. It makes me believe in Beowolf (hah, am I even on the right continent? someone correct me). Dinner was some type of steak, a bit chewy, marinated and cooked over a pit fire with a side of crisped homestyle roasted pototos. Yum.
And then I somehow figured out how to switch trains in the middle of the night to arrive back at the airport. Pics will come once I've returned home and downloaded them to my laptop.
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