Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Part Drei
With Heidelburg behind us, we pressed on to Frankfurt. It had begun to dawn on me that we would be pushed for time in returning the rental car. I started to entertain all sorts of visions of enormous financial penalties, which were not helped by us arriving at the airport and having to head back out again because we (I) had forgotten to fill the tank up. If you neglect to do so, Hertz informed us they would charge 3€ per litre! Filling it up at the service station was no problem - the problem began when I tried to start the car again and nothing happened. No combination of foot on the brake, foot on the clutch, foot halfway down on the clutch, foot on the brake and clutch, foot out the window, would start the car! Finally, before I gave up and resorted to asking someone for assistance, Mon asked to try, and wouldn't you know it, the car started. She maintains that she didn't know what she did - I suspect sabotage.
Once the car was successfully returned we took a taxi to our hotel. However, the man at the hotel told us that he had a large group of Asian tourists staying with him, all of whom had been forced to stay a further night because of some flight issues, and our room was therefore unavailable. Of course, we saw straight through this; it was much better business for him to have a bunch of people staying another night than it was to have us stay one night only! He sent us to a hotel across the street where he had paid for a room for us. We set ourselves up in the unexpected hotel, and then walked down towards the river. We stopped at a bar on the way and enjoyed some apple wine, which appeared to be more of the flat cider persuasion than wine. Apparently the bar was sold out of pretty much everything else, since the FIFA quarterfinals had just occurred. This did not worry me too much, and so after finishing up (one large glass, no effects felt) we walked down to the waterfront and took pictures of the Frankfurt skyline, which, Mon reported, is supposed to be one of the best. On our way back we stopped at a dairy to get some water and Mon amused me, but not herself, by accidentally purchasing sparkling water, which she only discovered once we were back in the lobby of the hotel. While I can stomach the stuff, I do not know why Germans drink it by choice! Mon, however, was unable to take so much as a sip without feeling sick, and so I had to return to the shops to buy the right stuff.
The sleeping arrangements were strange; while they claim twin share, the beds were actually pushed together, and did not appear to be movable. Thus Mon began a strange act of dragging her mattress onto the floor, claiming it would be a few degrees cooler down there. Because she went through this effort, it meant that I did not have to, so it was fine with me.
After a roasting night, we returned to the first hotel for breakfast, which was very pleasant. Germans like their pastries, boiled eggs and nutella, and I like that they like this. Naturally, I tried to fool Mon again by bringing her sparkling water, but she could see the bubbles, dammit.
Following breakfast, we took a trip to the Franfurt Zoo, which was, I have to say, more impressive than anything we have in New Zealand, but probably run of the mill to the locals. They of course had lions and tigers and bears, oh my, but also huge ape enclosures where Mon felt right at home. The best part was an island in the middle of a large pond in which two monkeys were playing tag. The island was planted out in trees and ropes had also been put up, which gave the monkeys a lot of freedom to move around, and at some speed.
Finally the time had come to go, and we returned to the hotel to grab our stuff, check out, and catch the subway to the airport. We made it there with only minor incident when we were unsure of which train went to the airport, and the only fellow available to ask spoke no English. In my haste I fumbled and nearly forgot the word 'flughafen' for airport, but once he heard that he was able at least to point us in the right direction.
We flew to Berlin on a one hour flight, where we enjoyed a four or five hour wait for our connecting flight to Helsinki. I was excited by the presence of a Burger King, but Mon was not so overjoyed, so we found a slightly more costly place called 'The Red Baron' where we had smoothies and lingered for a while. After we left, Mon then decided to my chagrin that she wanted the soup from that place. Females. We trundled back and shamefacedly booked another table for Mon to recommence her meal.
Once that was all over, we walked to our gate and I was stoked to see that the security officer bore a real resemblance to Doogle. Also like Doogle, he kinda went to town on the rubdown, which I wasn't so stoked about. With my dignity impugned, we went to sit with the masses in a large noisy hall to wait for our flight to Helsinki.
Once the car was successfully returned we took a taxi to our hotel. However, the man at the hotel told us that he had a large group of Asian tourists staying with him, all of whom had been forced to stay a further night because of some flight issues, and our room was therefore unavailable. Of course, we saw straight through this; it was much better business for him to have a bunch of people staying another night than it was to have us stay one night only! He sent us to a hotel across the street where he had paid for a room for us. We set ourselves up in the unexpected hotel, and then walked down towards the river. We stopped at a bar on the way and enjoyed some apple wine, which appeared to be more of the flat cider persuasion than wine. Apparently the bar was sold out of pretty much everything else, since the FIFA quarterfinals had just occurred. This did not worry me too much, and so after finishing up (one large glass, no effects felt) we walked down to the waterfront and took pictures of the Frankfurt skyline, which, Mon reported, is supposed to be one of the best. On our way back we stopped at a dairy to get some water and Mon amused me, but not herself, by accidentally purchasing sparkling water, which she only discovered once we were back in the lobby of the hotel. While I can stomach the stuff, I do not know why Germans drink it by choice! Mon, however, was unable to take so much as a sip without feeling sick, and so I had to return to the shops to buy the right stuff.
The sleeping arrangements were strange; while they claim twin share, the beds were actually pushed together, and did not appear to be movable. Thus Mon began a strange act of dragging her mattress onto the floor, claiming it would be a few degrees cooler down there. Because she went through this effort, it meant that I did not have to, so it was fine with me.
After a roasting night, we returned to the first hotel for breakfast, which was very pleasant. Germans like their pastries, boiled eggs and nutella, and I like that they like this. Naturally, I tried to fool Mon again by bringing her sparkling water, but she could see the bubbles, dammit.
Following breakfast, we took a trip to the Franfurt Zoo, which was, I have to say, more impressive than anything we have in New Zealand, but probably run of the mill to the locals. They of course had lions and tigers and bears, oh my, but also huge ape enclosures where Mon felt right at home. The best part was an island in the middle of a large pond in which two monkeys were playing tag. The island was planted out in trees and ropes had also been put up, which gave the monkeys a lot of freedom to move around, and at some speed.
Finally the time had come to go, and we returned to the hotel to grab our stuff, check out, and catch the subway to the airport. We made it there with only minor incident when we were unsure of which train went to the airport, and the only fellow available to ask spoke no English. In my haste I fumbled and nearly forgot the word 'flughafen' for airport, but once he heard that he was able at least to point us in the right direction.
We flew to Berlin on a one hour flight, where we enjoyed a four or five hour wait for our connecting flight to Helsinki. I was excited by the presence of a Burger King, but Mon was not so overjoyed, so we found a slightly more costly place called 'The Red Baron' where we had smoothies and lingered for a while. After we left, Mon then decided to my chagrin that she wanted the soup from that place. Females. We trundled back and shamefacedly booked another table for Mon to recommence her meal.
Once that was all over, we walked to our gate and I was stoked to see that the security officer bore a real resemblance to Doogle. Also like Doogle, he kinda went to town on the rubdown, which I wasn't so stoked about. With my dignity impugned, we went to sit with the masses in a large noisy hall to wait for our flight to Helsinki.
# posted by Jon @ 1:45 AM 
