Living in Germany has been an interesting adventure and about a month ago I got to share all the fun with a dear friend. My friend flew in from Pittsburgh....the Frankfurt airport is pretty easy to navigate, but finding a meeting spot is not so easy. I allowed myself plenty of time to get to the airport.....and you all know how well I knew JFK...I could just swing around to baggage...but Frankfurt would be a different story. I parked on the 13th floor.....(looking back this could have been a sign.....) and off I went with my IPhone fully loaded just waiting for the text saying....I'm here! Once I found the right terminal (went to the wrong one first) we were golden. Tim's company has a meeting post right smack dab in the middle of the airport...so that is where we met! Mission accomplished. I told her to pack light.....don't sport the blinger anymore....and anything more than a carry on would be tricky to get in the boot (aka trunk - can you tell I passed the German driving test - got the lingo and everything) of 'junior'. We headed out re-tracing my steps perfectly - in hindsight probably dropping crumbs would have worked better. Who would think that there was a set of elevators going to the 13th floor....but we were parked on 1301...so that would of course be the 13th floor of the elevator one door down from the original elevator we took - see how the crumbs may have helped. The luggage fit in perfectly...and we were off. The whole parking deal in Germany is very different from that in the states...and the language barrier doesn't make it all that fun. You have to find a row in the parking garage that has a green light. You take your ticket....park the car and then always take your ticket with you into the airport - because you have to pay before your leave the terminal building...and you don't pay a person - but put your money into a very intimidating machine somewhat like my ATM experience...after a bit of vertigo set in as we drove round and around the 13 floors of the parking ramp....we were on route to Kronberg. I simply plugged in the address to the good old nav and in a mere 12 kilometers we would be home. Because we were so excited to see each other and were chatting away.....(and the lady's voice on the nav is set way too low).....we must have missed her say " in 400 meters stay to the right, then stay to the left and exit right".....I swear it's in english....but I still don't get it...and our 12 kilometers turned into 32....oh well! Welcome to my new normal!
I'm so excited when friends and family visit...what a treat! I always say before they arrive that Kronberg is a bit like standing in the middle of Epcot...but so much better. I won't elaborate on all the details of my visit with Laura.....but I will let you know that we had plenty of schnitzel and beer.....shopped til we dropped, tried on clothes the 'German way' basically in the middle of the store......I backed into a car...and like the good German I have become.....we got out.....acted as if we were writing something down....looked at the damage (which there wasn't any) - got back in and drove away.......we drove down a few einbahnstrasses the wrong way....we had a lot of fun....and the language always was good for a few chuckles....hence the picture below!
