Today, on our way to see Caroline’s mom, we move through the same streets, arriving to find a mother-in-law, a bit disoriented. To minimize any confusion, I excuse myself and leave Caroline to talk with Jutta as we’ve recognized that she can become overwhelmed when dealing with two people simultaneously. When lunchtime rolled around, Caroline brought her mom to the dining room and joined me downstairs so we could head to our next meeting.

Returning the way we came, a sticker announcing Photography & Philosophy caught my eye; it turns out that this is a print magazine named Soul of Street that comes out of Cologne, Germany.

We had some time before our 1:00 meeting and so we took a walk over towards the opera. During my previous visit, this square was empty, and I photographed the Alte Oper with nobody between me and it.

Most of the tourists that would normally be in Europe during the summer are still missing from the streets, but other than them, things appear mostly back to normal as far as crowds are concerned. I’d estimate that maybe 1 in 10 on the streets are wearing masks, but for all shops and trains, masks are still mandatory.

Walking around the opera we discovered a new building we’d never seen before, the Wave or Die Welle as it’s known in German.

This is an old friend of ours, her name is Angela, she’s a nurse, and this was about the only time she could find to meet with us as tomorrow morning she leaves for Formentera, Spain to visit her boyfriend, Ruben.

Our loose plan was to visit an open-air market, get a bit for lunch, and sit a while talking over coffee. That’s exactly what we did.

After a few hours of sharing plans for the future and talking about love, Angela needed to get going to do some shopping and packing for tomorrow’s flight. Having only had the bratwurst and wanting to beat the Friday dinner crowd, Caroline and I headed off in the direction of a small German restaurant Angela recommended.

Across the Main River on our way to Sachsenhausen. Our destination was Eichkatzerl restaurant for some traditional local cuisine and a small bembel of Apfelwein for Caroline.

All that Apfelwein (apple wine) Caroline drank had to find an exit. To her regret, she decided to try one of these portapotties, and from the afternoon sun that beat on it all day, she knew she’d made a mistake. You may not be able to see it quite clearly but her face is reflecting the stench she’s emerging from.

There’s a strange realization as we walk along here on the Main River: we are about the oldest people around. It’s not late, maybe 7:30, as we stroll along, but the older people of the city are nowhere to be found. I should point out that if we are on the train between 6:00 and 9:00 in the morning, it’s mostly younger people, but after that, the old folks head out into the city, but by 3:00 p.m., they are disappearing as young people once again dominate the scene. It’s strange to me that old people appear to be carving out a time of day when they can avoid young people, but that’s just my observation.

Back on Eisener Steg, a.k.a. Iron Bridge and on our way back to the main shopping area where we’ll catch a train out to Heddernheim. Another day for friends and family.