We awoke in our hotel 5:30-6am and headed down for breakfast. The buffet was filled with every type of breakfast food you could name: meats, cheese, pickles, sausages, eggs, noodles and cereal to name just a few.

Next we adventured out into the grey and cloudy day to explore the river. The weather was about 9 degrees again so not too cold, and the dreariness of the day just added to the European experience. The river was just beautiful. The path running alongside it was lined with these amazing trees with branches and twigs that grow out and then straight up. There were also some cute little birds among them.

We made our way to Scott’s apartment and demanded more brot and żurek before heading off to our salon appointment. Walking out with our blow drys, we were finally photo-ready! Scott had hired a Car2go, which is basically a car-sharing business that you use through an app. You locate and book a car that is near you and then once you have found it, it is unlocked using a special code that the app gives you. The car is keyless and you are charged €0.34 per minute. When you are done, you park it wherever you want within the CBD and then use the app to say you’re finished. Such a genius idea!

Our car was a white Mercedes. Scott drove us to Kronberg and showed us the building that he works in (when he goes in, he mostly works from home). He also took us through the little cobblestone streets of the old town. The houses here were traditional German houses built in the 14th & 15th century. After a bit of a search we found a quaint and rustic little restaurant within one of these buildings. The owner told us that it was 400 years old. Scott and Teresa ate schnitzel with pepper sauce, and Michele had the most amazing pork neck with fried onions, potatoes and paprika dip. All washed down with a Bier of course! There was a couple sitting next to us who had two little dogs, which was a welcoming sight and we made sure they got lots of pats. The atmosphere at this restaurant was so homely and welcoming, and the owner insisted on giving us a complimentary schnapps on our departure. A quick stop at Rewe (a local supermarket) for more Christmas supplies and then we set off for home.

Scott had booked us into a nice restaurant for dinner, called Klosterhof. The place was extremely heated when we first arrived so we ordered cold Bier and asked for some English menus to peruse. Michele and Scott both ordered two entrees as mains: goulash soup and dumplings with cheese, ham, onions and shallots (it ended up being very similar to macaroni and cheese). Teresa ordered beef roulade with braised red cabbage….the clear winner of the night. We had eaten so much throughout the day and the servings were so abundant that even Scott had to admit defeat (doesn’t happen very often!). We skipped dessert and Scott walked us part way back to our hotel room before we went our separate ways. Our bodies were still adjusting to the new time zone and sleep could no longer be delayed. Tomorrow we feast. Gute Nacht!