Friday, September 12, 2008 ~ Frankfurt and Leiwen

Up early the next morning, we enjoyed the Breakfast Buffet offered by the Hotel and then headed out for another fun day. Since James and Elizabeth hadn’t been able to be with us the night before, we headed back out into the city for site-seeing and shopping. Dan and I checked out the Opera House while the others found a bank. We waited on a bench under a canopy of beautiful vines until it started raining. Then we went to the front entrance of the Opera House where Elizabeth was waiting for us. Soon the others came and we headed to a shopping center (Roemer Platz) where the stores surrounded a large outside plaza. There was a large, beautiful building (the Old Emperior’s Throne Room, which is currently a museum) amongst the little shops. Dan and Alisha decided to wait outside on a bench for us while we visited the shops. Each store was specialized, small and intriguing. They were crowded but exciting as we looked for special things. We saw some beautiful dirndls’ in all sizes. Elizabeth found one that she especially liked for her baby girl but then decided not to get it. This was the day to get many of our treasures to take home to family and friends. I bought post cards and a coco cup for Kristin. Seth took us to a Stein shop where I found a stein for Joe. James even bought himself a stein to take home. Seth and I did some more site-seeing while we looked for a shop that sold Marzipan for Ken Meacham. He had done a lot of work running off maps of Germany and highlighting spots he thought we’d enjoy seeing. When I asked him what he’d like me be bring him back, he said, “Nothing.” I told him that his name was already on my list. So, what would he like? He told me, “Just some Marzipan”. The clerk at the Stein shop told us where she thought we could find some, but it wasn’t easy to find that place. However, we saw some great buildings while looking. Finally, we found a street market where there was a candy shop. They carried Marzipan and we bought some for Ken and some for us. Then Seth and I went back to the car and went to pick up the others. It was after 3:00 PM when we finally headed out of town towards our resort in Leiwen, Germany.

The drive reminded me of driving north on I-5 towards Portland. There were a lot of green, rolling hills all around us. Many a hill was topped with gigantic metal windmills spinning three huge prongs in the wind. They were actually very beautiful to watch. Occasionally, a car would whirl passed us and we’d remember we were traveling on the Auto Bon where there is no speed limit. Seth and James alternated driving and both were good at it. I felt save enough to take a little nap on the way.

In the early evening we arrived at our “home for the week” and unloaded our things, making our rooms our own. There was a room for James and Elizabeth, a room for Seth and Alisha and a room for Dan and me. They were tiny but cozy and just right for us. There was a nice living room and kitchen and an outside patio with table and chairs. The first few days it was raining and slightly cold so we didn’t sit outside much but it did add to the atmosphere. After a full day of walking and riding we were all very hungry but there was nothing much open. Finally, we found a little hamburger shack and ordered hamburgers, fries and drinks for everyone. Some of us finished ours that night and others fell asleep before then.