Day 104: Back to Stuttgart!.

We got up , checked out and asked the clerk to give us information about the train back to Koblenz. She graciously printed out a list of trains we could take and explained which ones were direct and fast (the ICE train would take a little less than an hour to get there).

We then took a taxi to the train station. At the train station, I didn’t know that everyone had to have a ticket (like at the deli counter) to get a place in line. I wondered why people had tickets in their hands but I didn’t see the dispenser because when I came in, someone was blocking my view of the dispenser. Ted finally saw the dispenser and got a ticket for us AFTER I made a comment about people cutting in line. It looked like people were in line, but in actuality, they were waiting their turn. He poked me and reminded me that many Germans speak English!

Then the lady standing next to me gave me her ticket and she took her son’s (or her son’s friend’s ticket) and gave us hers. And she was worried that she would miss her train and yet she gave up her ticket for us…complete strangers! Then we sat down and waited and I worried that we would not make our train. The guy sitting next to us, saw that I was getting worried and asked what our ticket was. He then exchanged with us again as his ticket was even sooner than ours! WOW! Twice in the course of 20 minutes, two people gave up their places in line for us.

We got our train tickets which looked like airplane tickets and was in a really neat holder. We took the excalator up to the train platforms and looked for platform 2. We found it and waited for our train. It was going to be here in a few minutes. When the train arrived, we boarded and found it to be air-conditioned and comfortable. If it wasn’t such a short ride, I would have gladly fell asleep! A woman came by and stamped our tickets.

We watched the scenery go by as we did on the boat but this time from a different vantage point and much more quickly. All too soon our train trip was over. Ted remarked that he really liked this train much better than the one we took last night. Personally, I like to take the train so I have no preference.

We stopped to get a snack and looked around for a taxi to take us back to the hotel in Koblenz. The taxi driver dropped us off and we went inside to pay for our parking.

We then went to get our car. We decided to have lunch at the Weindorf again. Ted really wanted to try the potato pancakes. I decided on another dish that looked like it was a local dish. The waiter described it as being potatoes mixed with a local cheese. I assumed it was hot…but when it came out there were three ice-cream-scoop-sized balls of this potato and cheese mixture and it appeared to be cold! I wasn’t sure I’d like it but it was wonderful!

There was a concert going on in the terrace at the Weindorf. While we ate, we were serenaded by different German singing groups. There were a LOT of people there eating and listening to the groups. It was wonderful. All too soon, it was time to leave and drive back to Stuttgart.

The drive back took 3 1/2 hours. We stopped several times for bathroom breaks and a stop to take a nap because we didn't sleep well as the air-conditioning at the hotels didn’t work very well.

I have to make a comment about the bathroom break. The place we stopped at had a “pay for” bathroom. It cost .50 Euro (about .75 cents). I thought it was rip-off UNTIL I went into the bathroom and used the facilities. As I flushed, I realized something was really different about this facility. An arm came out and the seat literally spun in a clockwise manner and the arm cleaned the seat. The seat looked like it was going through some sort of metamorphisis. At first I didn’t know what it was doing and it looked odd, but after a second or two I figured it out. How silly of me not to realize that’s what was happening! The facility was being cleaned for the next person! How COOL is that?

We got home, checked email and then went and had dinner at Mamma Maria’s. We then to the apartment to finally set up the bed as Ted finished building the bed slats while I was in the states. We then went over to Kelley base to do laundry.

It’s been a long weekend and we both are in need of sleep!

Sunday 07/05/09