Day One - Frankfurt to Wurzburg

May 16, 2018 – Frankfurt to Wurzburg

FIRST!!  Happy birthday, Stu!!!

We arrived at the airport in plenty of time to drop off our bags at the Lufthansa counter.  Interestingly enough, they weighed our carry-ons! Then it was on to meet our German counterparts, Henning and Kirsten Kerstein.  He’s a laugh-out-loud, jovial kind of guy and she’s a delight!  We met them at the shuttle, took them down to baggage claim and got them settled on the Armstrong elevator, so they could claim Marilyn’s car from valet parking.

Then it was on to begin our own adventure.  We cleared security in no time, thanks to our TSA/GOES documentation, and settled in at our gate.  Marilyn did some work for her 99s and I read until it appeared to be time to board.  We were a bit delayed but people started queuing up anyway.  There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the lines but finally one of the Lufthansa ladies assured us we were in the right place.  The line didn’t move and didn’t move, so we struck up a conversation with an Indian family who were traveling to Mumbai to stay with family.  There was some kind of technical glitch;  but eventually we were on board.  A lady tried to claim my seat, but she was actually seated in the row ahead of me.  She was very nice about it, though.  When my seatmates showed up, they were our Indian family!!

Marilyn had selected a seat in the exit row and was very happy with the extra leg room.  I was happy with my aisle seat, several rows behind her.  As usual, I didn’t sleep at all – but I got to watch “The Post”, “Call Me by Your Name”, “The Greatest Showman”, and “Lady Bird”!  All the movies that were on my latest “need to see” list!! And I loved them all!

There was the usual tribute to gluttony.  First was the red wine and pretzels, then dinner consisting of chicken with rice and red peppers, a spring-greens salad with creamy Italian dressing, crackers and Tillamook Monterey jack cheese, roll and butter, and a brownie.  Then came orange juice, a bottle of water, and breakfast – scrambled eggs with mushrooms and stewed tomatoes, mixed fruit (pineapple, kiwi, watermelon) and a roll with butter and strawberry jam.

When we finally arrived at Frankfort it seems there was a system-wide problem and they couldn’t find a way for us to deplane.  Gotta love Frankfort.  Everyone I know who has flown into or out of here has had problems.  Luckily, we didn’t have a connecting flight, so it didn’t impact us very much.  We got through passport control, claimed our luggage and went looking for the key to Henning’s VW Golf.  After several inquiries we finally found the right place, collected the key and then went searching for the car itself!!  There are banks of elevators to the various parking levels.  The two guys working in baggage storage, where the key was hiding, gave conflicting directions but we got there anyway!!  Boy do they do a lot of walking in Germany!

Apparently they tell you when to slow down to 120 kmp, but when the signs are gone, you can do any speed you like!  At least it sure seems that way!

There was the usual scramble to figure out how to get out of the airport and on to Wurzburg;  but all’s well that ends well.  We lucked into the location of our B&B Hotel Wurzburg, parked in the car park, settled, sort of, into our room, and went off in search of the Wurzburg Residence and Court Garden.  This massive and ornately-decorated structure, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was build in the 1700s.  Although you can’t take pictures inside, indeed, you have to leave your bags in a locker, we’ve got lots of memory photos and, of course, real photos of the gardens outside!

We figured out how to pay for our parking and then went looking for dinner.  We found a parking place on the street and walked to the Restaurant Luisengarten, where we ate outside in the cooling weather.  I had cordon bleu mit pommes und salat ( breaded pork steak stuffed with ham and cheese, French fries and salad) and  lovely light (not the diet kind) beer!  We walked back to the car, managed to find our way home, and spent some time figuring out how to get to Nuremburg tomorrow.  As I started this blog we’d been awake thirty-nine hours.  Shudder!!  (No proof reading!  Please forgive!)

( There are a couple of phone photos I'd like to add; but the connection seems bad.  Maybe tomorrow! )