Germany - June 30

Breakfast at the hotel was very nice. You could get most anything you want for breakfast, scrambled eggs, three different types of sausage, toast, cheese, olives, sliced sandwich meats, rolls, juice, and other things. It was really quite amazing and it came with the cost of the room.

Over breakfast we were trying to decide whether to take bus tour of Frankfurt or not. We decided it would be best if we chose where we wanted to go and just took the train there.

We walked to the station this morning. It took about 20 minutes to walk the 1.6 km. It was a more pleasant walk than the night before, it wasn't raining. Operating the kiosk was much easier as well. So you can teach an old "dog" new tricks. We checked with the information counter what train we needed to get to the Palmenarten. Turns out it was at the end of the line just two stops from the station. Easy to get there.

The gardens were amazing. I don't know how else to describe them. 64 acres of beauty that I have never seen anywhere else. Not only are there flowers, shrubs, bushes, and trees outdoors that are hardy in the environment here but there are indoor habitats that are really extraordinary. We spent about 5 hours in the garden and probably could have been there longer. Admission to the gardens was only 5 € each, a real bargain.

From the garden we went to the Natural History Museum. Admission was 6 € if I remember correctly. We did have lunch here and it was very good. Be sure to ask for English menus to that is the language you speak. It turns out most places do indeed have them. The museum was very nice. Most of the display descriptions were only in German (we are in Germany after all) so some of the info was difficult to sort out. The displays were very well done and there were many, many items on display. We only scratched the surface in the about 2 hours we browsed in the museum.

The museum closed at 1700 so we headed back to the hotel . While we were at the main station we decided to check on getting our Friday tickets changed so we could to directly to the Frankfurt airport instead of the train station and then going to the airport. So we took a number and waited for an agent to help us. Turns out he refunded out initial ticket and then asked if we were tourists. Wonder how he could tell? Anyway, turns out that 2 out of country folk can get a three day train pass for 50 € less than the round trip fare from Frankfurt to Munich. So even though we were only going to be traveling two days we took the pass anyway. Had a more convenient ride back to Frankfurt and a cheaper ticket, really cool.

Took about an hour to get to our local train station and then the 20 minute walk back to the hotel. Went up to the room deposited some stuff and checked out a few things then went to the front desk for dinner suggestions. The suggestions were the place next door, a Thai place a few blocks away. The Thai place had good prices and large portions that were tasty according to the clerk. There was also a Chinese place nearby that had not such good food that was very expensive. And last a local German restaurant about 10 mins away that has good German food. That's the place we selected. The walk was longer than 10 minutes but the atmosphere was pleasant and the food was very good.