Last few days of our adventure :(

Heading and pictures yet to come Pictures are here and Here

Our last few days in Germany flew by. When we got up after a great nights sleep over looking the Main, we climbed onto our bikes and headed into Frankfurt. Our entry into Koblenz had involved some less than ideal paths and dealing with a little more traffic than we liked. As a result, we were a little nervous about cycling into Frankfurt. We didn't need to be. The ride was beautiful with excellent cycling paths and bright sunshine. There was one spot where the trail sign was missing but we luckily ran into a group who were coming the other direction who could tell us where to go and we, in turn, could tell them where to go.

The route goes south of Frankfurt and on the left bank of the Main.
(It's worth my mentioning that while it WAS the left bank of the Main, going downstream, since we were going upstream, the Main was on our left)
 The cycle into downtown Frankfurt goes right along the river bank and one beautifully kept park after another.

Once down town we cycled to the bahnhof and sought out our hotel. We had booked into a hotel near the Bahnhof. Once we were checked in it was off to explore and get reacquainted with my teenage stomping grounds.

I lived in Frankfurt 1975-1977, my last two years of high school. My father's office was just a few blocks from the Zeil and the old opera house. I can say I was thinking about where we were in relation to his office when suddenly I realized we were on the Ulman Strasse and there was his office. So many memories of visiting him there and going out for lunch with him came flooding back. I don't remember ever planning those visits in advance but I do remember the warm welcomes, walking down the Zeil with him and some great lunches at the Bursen Keller.

It was a short walk from there to the Zeil which was a buzz of activity. Every store and restaurant you can image is there. The promenade was teaming with people. We chose a restaurant with an outdoor patio to have dinner and watch the comings and goings around us. As in every other large centre we visited, the gypsies were evident plying their variety of trades from begging to performing and selling trinkets. There was also a group of Muslim men with a booth set up and making street contact to educate people about their faith.

I find that often when I am in large retail settings with a lot of buying and selling happening I get somewhat repulsed by the avarice. For that reason we didn't go into many stores. I did do a quick dash into the Kaufhof to ferret out a few small gifts to take home. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, tour cycling and shopping don't jive well as there is little space to carry things and even less inclination to add any weight to the load you are carrying.

Our time on the Zeil and in Frankfurt did allow for time to wander down memory lane. Many things have changed but many were as I knew them as a teenager. We even took the time to visit the Burse and rub the bull's testicles!

After a pleasant nights rest we loaded up our bikes for the last time and headed off to Dreieich to return the bikes. We cycled down to the bahnhof and got on the train. All went well until we got to our destination and discovered the elevator was broken and had been for three months. This meant we would need to unload the bikes. Carry our things down the rather steep stairs, which would involve a few trips, and then carry our bikes down. Ugh! At that point a young family came up the stairs and noticed our situation and probably the less than thrilled look on my face. The turned out to be yet another set of road angels who helped with our bags and helped Marvin carry the bikes down. So, in one trip we were down the stairs a and giving our thanks to another wonderful German family.

We were then back on our bikes and off to find the bike shop. Marvin had directions from the owner. Our mistake was that we had not loaded the route onto google maps. A the directions we get were not very detailed, we were not as sure of them as we could have been. It lead to some frustration and back tracking until we finally called the shop again and got clarification. It turned out that Marvin had us going in the right direction the whole time.

As we cycled into the shop Peter was waiting for us. It was sad to see the trip ending and to have to return our bike. We both had come to appreciate the mid-drive and structure of the bikes. I felt like I was leaving a good friend behind. I think next time we cycle in Germany we will need to plan on bringing bikes home with us!

Once our gear was loaded into Peter's car he kindly gave us a tour of the Taunus area and took us up to see his beloved golf course. The views were wonderful.

We then met up with the rest of the family at their favourite Chinese restaurant. In addition to the usual buffet arrangement, this restaurant also had a section where you would go and select raw meats and vegetables and then they would be cooked fresh to your specification. Katharina and Phillip got the honour of teaching their foreign aunt and uncle what to do.

After dinner it was back to Peter's home to visit and say our good byes to him and the children. In the morning it would be Astrid who would be picking us up and taking us to the airport.

Saying good bye is never easy but we are always grateful that we have had some time to enjoy getting reconnected with Peter's family. They are lovely people!

Our flight home was fine, marred only by the extremely rude behaviour of the passenger sitting in front of me. I was very impressed by the flight attendants and how they managed him.

Once we were in Vancouver it was on to the shuttle bus and off to the ferry. Once back in Victoria, Bob Gauthier was kind enough to pick us up and drive us home.

Our dream vacation was at an end! However, we now have an increased determination to do more tour cycling and hope it will not be too long before we  are back on the wonderful cycle trails of Europe!