Munich to Frankfurt to Gengenbach, Germany (RECONNECT WITH VIX!!!)
Vix and the rest of the camp had to wake up at 4:30am to get on the bus back to Munich.
Woke up and started to organize a bit before our flight later in the day.
Went downstairs to eat breakfast and weren’t there very long before Vix’ bus pulled up. We went outside and gave hugs to her as the group went inside. Not long later we received word that we could, in fact, come pick her up. So Sylvia stole a chia pudding and we went to the pickup room to sign her out.
Sylvia had requested a late check out, so we had a few hours to chat and catch each other up on our respective times apart.
Finally, as our check out time approached, we packed for real and rolled our luggage over to the automated baggage check. Security is so much easier her with no need to remove laptops or ipads, no taking off shoes, no yelling. Just smiles and efficient lines. TSA is bullshit.
Had an hour and a half to kill, so we grabbed sandwiches and showed off more photos.
The plane was running late, which wouldn’t have been a big deal, except we were in a time crunch, needing to hit a 5:15pm reservation for Le Petit Chef. So we were concerned by the delay, but the flight only ended up being 35 minutes in the air. After debarking, we waited an intolerable amount of time to get our luggage (Vix’s took much longer to appear, so we were getting really nervous).
After grabbing the luggage, we made our way into the main hall, looking for any signs that would point us to car rentals. We were afraid we’d need to take a shuttle or train to where the rental cars were. Finally we located a sign pointing downstairs. We followed, only to find police tape across the entire floor and a policeman instructed us that we’d have to go back upstairs, then take the elevator down. Finding it packed, we went to the other side of the elevator and it took us up instead of down.
Finally reaching the SixT rental area, we had to wait once again. When we were finally called over to an agent (Luca), he told us about how all the payment machines were not working. Again, delay after delay.
We eventually got our car (another Audio Q5, this one a turbo gas version) and drove through a rainy Frankfurt to our parking garage across the street from Le Petit Chef.
The show was interesting and cute. The presentation was much better than the actual food. But well worth it.
After dinner, while sleepy from the large amount of food, we hit the road on the two hour drive to Gengenbach. We’d be arriving after 10pm, when no one would be working at the hotel, so Sylvia emailed to make sure we had a code to collect our key.
The drive was crazy between sections with no speed limit and heavy, heavy rain. The sky was dark for most of the way.
The hotel check in went without a hitch and the room is really big, has air conditioning, and nice big beds. Aside from the tv with no apps, streaming capabilities, or English channels, it’s pretty great. I even pulled a beer from the minibar as a downer from the stressful drive.
(7,719 steps)