Day 2
0800 - Well, Day 2 is off to a brilliant start already. I couldn't sleep--woke up some time around 4:30 and couldn't go back to bed, so I tried to plan out our day. After taking a shower, I thought it would be a good idea to get dressed. What did I discover, however? I HAVE NO PANTS!! That's right. Other than the single pair of khakis I wore on the plane, all I have is a pair of swimming trunks! Apparently I forgot to put the trousers pile into my bag. *sigh* I'm off to breakfast now, maybe I'll find some pants in Frankfurt...
0130 - Wow, what a night this has been. We are finally crashing in our hotel room at the Cross Country Hotel Waldschloss in Weinheim. Finding this place has been quite an adventure! But more on that later...
We left the tavern about 10, and headed for the U-Bahn station at Schweizerplatz. We took the U-Bahn to Frankfurt Südbanhoff, where we were to transfer to our S-Bahn train back to Neu Isenburg where we parked our car. At first, I thought our worries had come to bear as the sign for the train said "nichts im Betrieb" or "out of service." Luckily, we soon discovered, this referred only to the incoming train on that track, which indeed did not open and had no passengers. Finally our train arrived at 10:26 right on schedule. A mere 15 minutes later we were at our car and ready to go. The directions seemed fairly simple and straight forward, and so off we went... Almost! Straight out of the parking lot I turned the wrong direction, and this road turned into what appeared to be a private residential development. Luckily the security guard was nice enough to check his map and point us in the right direction--in spite of the fact that there WAS only one other direction! I should have seen this as a sign of things to come, but unfortunately, I still thought I knew what the hell I was doing.
After that we were on our way, ready to finish our 45 minute drive to the hotel and get some rest. We quickly got to Autobahn A5, and I discovered my crappy car can do 150, however it didn't seem to enjoy it much. As time wore on, I started to realize how tired I was. I stopped at a rest stop (amazing how many there are in Germany) and got some water. That helped for a bit, but it was a recurring problem throughout the rest of the evening. We actually took the first turn correctly, and proceeded into the town of Weinheim. We soon realized something was wrong, as we were unable to find the B3 south we needed to be on. At this point, everything went wrong. We started backtracking our steps, and eventually wound up going all the way back east for at least 15 minutes before turning back around, then we wound up back on A5 going south, turned around at the next exit, and got back on the exit we -thought- was right. (I'm still not sure if it was.) The only road in our Michilen-derived directions that I also actually found in the atlas was Gorxheimer Talstrasse. We spotted some signs with "Gorxheimertal" on it so we followed them. It seemed promising for a while, darting around lots of little side-streets, and eventually we thought we were on Gorxheimer Talstrasse and started checking the numbers of the buildings. Soon we came to our magic number--23--and our jaws dropped. This was a really run-down, shitty building that from the looks of it could never be a hotel. After our horror, I eventually got out of the car to investigate. I could not find the hotel's name anywhere on the building, and so I walked down and finally found a hidden street sign that confirmed that this road we were on was indeed not Gorxheimer Talstrasse. There were some really cool castles visible high up on a mountain that I saw and was able to take a picture of, but I don't think it came out well. So anyway, we turn around and drive all the way back to the beginning, but keep seeing those signs pointing toward Gorxheimertal. Then I realized that the Gorxheimertal is actually a place, not just Gorxheimer Talstrasse. I figured that's what the signs were pointing to, and that by following them, we at least might have some better bearings on where we were. So we followed them again, drove past the spot where we previously stopped, and kept driving some more. Finally, we felt a surge of joy as a sign depicting the actual "Gorxheimer Talstrasse" in 3 km came into view. We began following this, and after passing several houses and another hotel, we realized we were in fact already on Gorxheimer Talstrasse as the road turned into something else! We turned around again and started to see the numbers on the buildings going down, below 23. Confused, we circled round again and still no hotel in that stretch. It made no sense. We did this a few more times, exploring some of the residential streets around as well, and still nothing. Finally I actually noticed the last part of the hotel's name...Waldschloss! This both disturbs and elates me, as I should have seen this sooner! The hotel we kept passing--the one that had some lights on where we were going to ask for directions--in fact WAS our hotel! We were just too stupid to see it. "Cross-Country-Hotel" is merely the brand name. At this we both breathed about the biggest sighs of relief you might be able to imagine.
I began looking for a place to park--there was only a tiny little bus-stop lane in front of it, and an entrance to a school on the right side. Eliminating these two possibilities, I headed up the extremely steep driveway on the left side of the hotel, assuming it would lead to a parking lot on the other side. It didn't. It lead to a dead end at a 50 deg incline!!! At this point I began panicking. I was still getting used to driving a stick again as it was, let alone on the steepest hill I've ever seen! There was a second driveway veering off to the left below me that I tried to use to turn around. This worked, partially-I was able to roll down and turn the car sideways, but not enough to pull out and down the hill. Imagine this situation, if you will. I am sitting at a >45 degree interval with my butt in the air and not more than a foot separating me and the wooden fence (and deathly drop) in front of me. I try to shift it into reverse quickly, but not quick enough, and I loose about 6" toward the fence. At this point I am scared shitless and about ready to panic when I think of using the emergency parking break. It's so stupid it just might work! So I engage the parking break and start to release the clutch and accelerate in reverse. Once I have some decent engine power I slowly release my parking break, and up and away I go! I manage to get myself back down the hill in time to notice the gravel parking lot across the street from the hotel. I park and we proceed to walk up to the dark hotel.
The hotel is completely black aside from a light at the front desk which we can see through the window. We're unable to get in, even from what we thought was the "night entrance". After wandering around for a while, hoping someone might still be up and might see us sitting there, without any luck. Eventually I just decided to ring them, in spite of the exorbitant rates of my cellphone. It rang on the first try, and the woman advised me to come in the (real) night entrance, up the school entrance behind the building. What do you know, this road lead not only to the back entrance, but also to a nice parking lot! Oh well. A minor inconvenience--we then get up to the lobby and are actually able to get checked in! Amazing that someone was up that late, but it looked like a couple other people hadn't checked in either. We got up to our room--a very nice, but small room with what looks like a very pretty view out the window. 2 single twin beds are in the room, separated by a table like it's the 50's or something--very odd. The only frustrating thing is the completely lack of wireless internet access! I'm mearly typing this message up tonight for posting later on Friday. Anyway, I can't keep my eyes open any longer. I'll fill in the rest tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed it....
I still have only one pair of pants--dirt starting to show.
0130 - Wow, what a night this has been. We are finally crashing in our hotel room at the Cross Country Hotel Waldschloss in Weinheim. Finding this place has been quite an adventure! But more on that later...
We left the tavern about 10, and headed for the U-Bahn station at Schweizerplatz. We took the U-Bahn to Frankfurt Südbanhoff, where we were to transfer to our S-Bahn train back to Neu Isenburg where we parked our car. At first, I thought our worries had come to bear as the sign for the train said "nichts im Betrieb" or "out of service." Luckily, we soon discovered, this referred only to the incoming train on that track, which indeed did not open and had no passengers. Finally our train arrived at 10:26 right on schedule. A mere 15 minutes later we were at our car and ready to go. The directions seemed fairly simple and straight forward, and so off we went... Almost! Straight out of the parking lot I turned the wrong direction, and this road turned into what appeared to be a private residential development. Luckily the security guard was nice enough to check his map and point us in the right direction--in spite of the fact that there WAS only one other direction! I should have seen this as a sign of things to come, but unfortunately, I still thought I knew what the hell I was doing.
After that we were on our way, ready to finish our 45 minute drive to the hotel and get some rest. We quickly got to Autobahn A5, and I discovered my crappy car can do 150, however it didn't seem to enjoy it much. As time wore on, I started to realize how tired I was. I stopped at a rest stop (amazing how many there are in Germany) and got some water. That helped for a bit, but it was a recurring problem throughout the rest of the evening. We actually took the first turn correctly, and proceeded into the town of Weinheim. We soon realized something was wrong, as we were unable to find the B3 south we needed to be on. At this point, everything went wrong. We started backtracking our steps, and eventually wound up going all the way back east for at least 15 minutes before turning back around, then we wound up back on A5 going south, turned around at the next exit, and got back on the exit we -thought- was right. (I'm still not sure if it was.) The only road in our Michilen-derived directions that I also actually found in the atlas was Gorxheimer Talstrasse. We spotted some signs with "Gorxheimertal" on it so we followed them. It seemed promising for a while, darting around lots of little side-streets, and eventually we thought we were on Gorxheimer Talstrasse and started checking the numbers of the buildings. Soon we came to our magic number--23--and our jaws dropped. This was a really run-down, shitty building that from the looks of it could never be a hotel. After our horror, I eventually got out of the car to investigate. I could not find the hotel's name anywhere on the building, and so I walked down and finally found a hidden street sign that confirmed that this road we were on was indeed not Gorxheimer Talstrasse. There were some really cool castles visible high up on a mountain that I saw and was able to take a picture of, but I don't think it came out well. So anyway, we turn around and drive all the way back to the beginning, but keep seeing those signs pointing toward Gorxheimertal. Then I realized that the Gorxheimertal is actually a place, not just Gorxheimer Talstrasse. I figured that's what the signs were pointing to, and that by following them, we at least might have some better bearings on where we were. So we followed them again, drove past the spot where we previously stopped, and kept driving some more. Finally, we felt a surge of joy as a sign depicting the actual "Gorxheimer Talstrasse" in 3 km came into view. We began following this, and after passing several houses and another hotel, we realized we were in fact already on Gorxheimer Talstrasse as the road turned into something else! We turned around again and started to see the numbers on the buildings going down, below 23. Confused, we circled round again and still no hotel in that stretch. It made no sense. We did this a few more times, exploring some of the residential streets around as well, and still nothing. Finally I actually noticed the last part of the hotel's name...Waldschloss! This both disturbs and elates me, as I should have seen this sooner! The hotel we kept passing--the one that had some lights on where we were going to ask for directions--in fact WAS our hotel! We were just too stupid to see it. "Cross-Country-Hotel" is merely the brand name. At this we both breathed about the biggest sighs of relief you might be able to imagine.
I began looking for a place to park--there was only a tiny little bus-stop lane in front of it, and an entrance to a school on the right side. Eliminating these two possibilities, I headed up the extremely steep driveway on the left side of the hotel, assuming it would lead to a parking lot on the other side. It didn't. It lead to a dead end at a 50 deg incline!!! At this point I began panicking. I was still getting used to driving a stick again as it was, let alone on the steepest hill I've ever seen! There was a second driveway veering off to the left below me that I tried to use to turn around. This worked, partially-I was able to roll down and turn the car sideways, but not enough to pull out and down the hill. Imagine this situation, if you will. I am sitting at a >45 degree interval with my butt in the air and not more than a foot separating me and the wooden fence (and deathly drop) in front of me. I try to shift it into reverse quickly, but not quick enough, and I loose about 6" toward the fence. At this point I am scared shitless and about ready to panic when I think of using the emergency parking break. It's so stupid it just might work! So I engage the parking break and start to release the clutch and accelerate in reverse. Once I have some decent engine power I slowly release my parking break, and up and away I go! I manage to get myself back down the hill in time to notice the gravel parking lot across the street from the hotel. I park and we proceed to walk up to the dark hotel.
The hotel is completely black aside from a light at the front desk which we can see through the window. We're unable to get in, even from what we thought was the "night entrance". After wandering around for a while, hoping someone might still be up and might see us sitting there, without any luck. Eventually I just decided to ring them, in spite of the exorbitant rates of my cellphone. It rang on the first try, and the woman advised me to come in the (real) night entrance, up the school entrance behind the building. What do you know, this road lead not only to the back entrance, but also to a nice parking lot! Oh well. A minor inconvenience--we then get up to the lobby and are actually able to get checked in! Amazing that someone was up that late, but it looked like a couple other people hadn't checked in either. We got up to our room--a very nice, but small room with what looks like a very pretty view out the window. 2 single twin beds are in the room, separated by a table like it's the 50's or something--very odd. The only frustrating thing is the completely lack of wireless internet access! I'm mearly typing this message up tonight for posting later on Friday. Anyway, I can't keep my eyes open any longer. I'll fill in the rest tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed it....
I still have only one pair of pants--dirt starting to show.