Jet lag hit hard this trip, real hard. Last night was brutal, and when I finally went to bed at 10:30 p.m. I was ready to sleep a good long time. Then, at 3:00 a.m., like an alarm went off, Caroline and I both woke and couldn’t get back to sleep. Well, at least she finally started her version of snoring after about an hour, but I heard the first U-Bahn of the day go by, followed about an hour later by the first flight approaching Frankfurt Airport. All the while, the birds had gotten an early start and were singing shortly after 3:00 a.m.

When I finally did fall back asleep, the sky and our room were getting brighter and I was debating going downstairs to do some writing. It was 9:00 a.m. when we finally woke again, as did everyone else. A late breakfast of various brötchen, butter, jam, meat, and cheeses was had before Caroline and I finally made our way over to the U-Bahn stop to head into the city center.

This was our first view of Frankfurt from within the city after arriving at Hauptwache from the U-Bahn. We could have transferred trains, but I wanted to walk, so we hoofed it down Zeil to Konstablerwache and got on another train to head to Bergerstrasse. We could have gone to the Bornheim stop, but again, old memories and a perfect day forced us to walk the rest of the way to my mother-in-law’s.

We picked up Jutta at her apartment and took a walk to the nearby bus stop to make our way to Lohrberg.

Like I said, “It’s a perfect day.”

We had some walking to do in the park on the mountain (Berg is a mountain in German) to get to where we were going to spend the afternoon.

We took up a table outside at the MainAeppelHaus and shared a terrific lunch of Handkaese mit Musik, a meat and cheese plate, and a couple of Frankfurters (besides the two I was traveling with). Caroline had a red currant prosecco (a sparkling wine), Jutta had an Apfelwein with sparkling water, and me a simple sparkling water.

For Nachtisch (dessert), we shared a slice of apricot cake and cherry cake (both made with Spelt) and had coffee to extend our time sitting here, enjoying the blue skies.

After more than a few hours, we finally vacated our seats and started walking back to the parking lot to catch the bus back into the city. Caroline asked that I include this poster featuring the different apples that grow here upon the Lohrberg. (The MainÄppelHaus is a non-profit institution dedicated to teaching folks about native apple and pear strains).

We can never have enough cute photos of Caroline and her mom.

This is the skyline of Frankfurt, as seen from Lohrberg. The temperature was perfect; the breeze was even better than that. Our lunch was amazing, the conversation and laughs even more so. Everything about this first full day in Germany has lent itself to making a great day here in Frankfurt.

Back at the Engelhardt’s, Klaus had made us a lasagna for dinner and although it seemed like we just ate, it was going on 7:00 p.m. before we sat down. When we left this morning, he was busy in the kitchen making the bolognese before turning his attention to the bechamel; the rest was finished while we were out. While it was supposed to rain at some point today it turns out that things stayed so pleasant that Klaus had set up the table outside so we could sit in their garden for Abendessen (dinner).

This is the Hundertwasser Kindergarten and is the first school Katharina attended. This unique architectural work has 48 different windows, very few right angles, many curves, grass on the roof, a slide from the hill down to the first level, and other features that make this building not only unique but world-famous. After dinner, we took a walk for me to finish my daily step count, and as this is directly around the corner from where we are staying with the Engelhardt’s we headed this way.

Caroline Wise and her older sister Stephanie Engelhardt. After not seeing her sister for 18 years or meeting her niece until she was 13, we visited Germany again five years ago, and then Caroline came back a couple of years ago for Stephanie’s 50th birthday, which was being celebrated at the same time that their mother Jutta was celebrating her 80th.

There’s a joke here somewhere about the snail crossing the road, but I’m tired, and it’s getting late so I think I’ll just leave this here as the ending of the day.

Walking stats: A mere 5 miles or 8 km and 15 floors.