Late updates: Germany, the 4th etc

Part 1

6/16

As usual, I arrived to the airport extra early. There were no newsstands or gift shops past the security gates, so I tried a crossword puzzle, called my mom, ate candy and wandered some more. I recognized Erin from class and we chatted while we waited to board. As I might have mentioned, the cheapest flight I could find was on Air India. They fly 2-3 times a week from Chicago to Mumbai, stopping in Frankfurt. Most of the passengers were traveling on to India, but a few of us were getting off in Frankfurt. The flight was delayed and I couldn't hear the air hostesses explanation as to why. I had Matar Panir for dinner and fell asleep during the Bollywood in flight movie. I learned most women wear halter tops under saris, and Indian women lose their abs with age as well.

Erin and I navigated baggage claim and customs and said our goodbyes until Thursday when we'd meet in Cologne for the conference. I decided to suck it up and cab it, too tired to try the U-Bahn. The cab driver was very kind and talkative, but was perplexed when I gave him the fare plus tip -- I later read in "Germany for dummies" that a tip is usually just rounding up to the next euro.

I seemed to be the only guest when I arrived at Pension Bruns, carrying

my ridiculously heavy luggage up the stairs. it had cathedral celings in the room and was definitely what others would call 'quaint.'

I was so sleepy when I checked in, but didn't want to be on a wonky sleep schedule, so I showered, ate a granola bar, pulled a map of the U Bahn from the lobby and headed out.

I bought tickets for a cabaret show I read about in the dummy book. Checked out the German film museum -- a little let down, most everything was written in german. I watched some old Laurel and Hardy films in the screening room and saw the anime exhibit, really happy to see the totoro portion of it.

Kept walking and tried to take pictures ... one day I'll be good at mixing personal and scenery pics. Since I was on my own for this city, the pics are all scenery

Wandered into the Sachsenhausen district of Frankfurt and tried the famous local drink known as apple wine. I ordered mine with a bit of sparkling water and it was delish! Not sweet or fake tasting like cider drinks and not tart or cloying like fruit wines. Tasted like a very dry, clean cider. Very refreshing, but very intoxicating. The waitress told me I HAD to try this frankfurt dish know as green sauce. Due to the language barrier, she couldn't tell me exactly what was in it, but I agreed to try.

I could taste boiled potatoes, boiled eggs, cream sauce, and herbs, other that that ... anybodies guess. It was pretty good, a little odd eating all those eggs at one meal, but other than that, I was pleased.

Came home and slept early, woke up after midnight, took tylenol PM and fell back asleep.