Kathleen's Journal

Departing Germany Cont...

October 21, 2004

It was our third trip to the train station in Mannheim. The first one was to see if we could find it; the second one was to purchase our tickets; this, the third, was to travel from Mannheim to Frankfurt Airport. Our seat assignments were in car #34, Seats 23 & 24.

Cynthia, Patrick, Margaret, and I awoke at 5:00 a.m. to prepare for our departure to Mannheim. We arrived with time to spare and waited patiently for our track number to be displayed on the board. Our train was finally added to the display and we headed toward Track 3. Right on time! The train arrives; Margaret and I kiss Cynthia and Patrick good-bye, and we board our train.

Our seat assignments were in car #34, Seats 23 & 24 We squeeze through the sea of standing passengers trying desperately to locate our seats before the train pulls away from the station. Finally, we locate #23 and 24, only to discover two travelers "keeping our seats warm." We politely explained to them that our tickets were for their seat numbers and they graciously (?)relinquished.

At that moment, Margaret & I looked out of our car window to see Cynthia and Patrick standing there, watching. Cynthia, in her leather jacket, looked a bit cold; Patrick, in his own leather jacket and stylish British cap, had the more concerned look upon his face and looked relieved that we had found our assigned seats. The couple we had displaced were American tourists from Wisconsin. Even though they stood on the way to the airport, they stood near us and we chitchatted.

Margaret and I arrived at Frankfurt airport and immediately went to the First Class Lounge. Margaret had her usual Bailey's and Coffee with a pastry; I tried to have a cappuccino but, alas, in trying to flavor my cappuccino with cream, pressing the button twice resulted in a HUGE overflow. While my cup runneth over, Margaret was exclaiming to me, "Kathleen, the cream is OVER HERE!"

It was time to walk to the gate, and Margaret and I found the way. The flight was a bit late boarding, all the seats in the pre-board area were taken, and we sat in the waiting area on the grillwork for the air-conditioning system. We were observing all the people and we noticed Susie sitting in the third row. Susie had been our flight attendant on our Houston-Frankfurt leg with whom we had established a beautiful rapport. Susie had given Margaret a bottle of wine before deplaning which Cynthia, Patrick, and we enjoyed the first night in Germany.

To Be Continued - My lovely mother is visiting and we went shopping at Memorial City Mall last night, searching for the perfect Christmas gifts. We visited L'Occitaine and mother purchased some exfoliating massage rub. I am going to exfoliate her feet and then massage her feet with 60% Shea Butter Massage Cream. This will be the third time for the 60%, but the first time that it will be preceded by the exfoliating foot rub. She has LOVED the attention to her feet and, I swear, one night she fell asleep for a few minutes...so gotta go, but will finish my $100 story at a later date......

The return flight was so nice; First Class is the only way to go. After dinner, Margaret and I both watched The Notebook. I had seen it before; Margaret had not and did not know the storyline. Margaret started crying toward the end of the movie and we both started laughing. A stop in Newark, another trip to the President's Club, our leg to Houston, and there was John waiting to drive us back home. He was a welcome sight after such a long trip and, of course, it is always nice to be back home. The End