frankfurt

Yesterday I had a lot of fun. I took the bus then the Uline into town from JRs house as he was a bit under the weather he stayed home to rest but gave me some directions on where to go to check out the city. One of the main things I wanted to check out and JR said it was something I had to see was the oldest church in Frankfurt.

After making my way into town and following JR's directions I made it to the church after about 30 minutes. Oh, on a side note this is the first day of rain I have had the whole trip which is crazy because I was expecting to get dumped on the whole trip... okay back to it. So once I got inside the church there was a lady who worked at the church who decided to walk me through a bit of the history and stages the church was built / rebuilt after the wars. There was one section of the church that was not burned when the rest of the church was. This is one of the only original alters in the whole church. I guess during WWII they took most of them out and stored them in bunkers but since this part was built into the walls they decided to build walls of brick around it to keep it safe...crazy things to think about. Also, this is the church where the king of Germany was crowned...well, at least where the ceremony was held.

After the church I went for a walk in the rain along the river that runs through Frankfurt and along many really cool buildings and a couple other churches...Once it really started coming down I decided that it was time to start to head back to JR's place as it took about 30 min or so to get there by public transport. I knew his girls where getting home from school soon and I really wanted to meet them before before they went to bed.

When I got back JR and I hung out for a bit then Verena, Sabrina and Sophia got home. At first they where a bit shy but then after playing peek a boo from behind a corner for a moment they seemed to warm up and we played a bit. They are soooo cute and funny. They had me read them a few story books but at first they handed me a book in german and I had to let them know that I was from California and did not know how to speak german. hahaha. They where kind enough to get me a book to read to them in english which was nice as I would have not done so hot trying to read to them in german.

JR, Sabrina, Sophia and I had dinner together but Verena had to go to her Sax lessons. At dinner the girls actually both fell asleep at the table after eating which was very cute and funny. I guess yesterday they had school then sports so they are usually pretty tired on those days. Jr put the girls to bed and read them a bedtime story and then we hung out for a few minutes before Verena got home...we had plans to go to a jazz club in town.

Verena and I went out becuase JR was still feeling a bit under the weather with a cold and needed to rest a bit. We made our way into downtown Frankfurt and through a shopping area that was all closed...very different vibe than when I was there earlier in the day. Eventually we made it to a club that was down some stairs and was actually underground. It almost looked like we where in a cave. We took a seat at the bar and grabbed a couple of beers and waited for the band to go one. There was a drummer, guitar, sax, trumpet and electric organ...all in all they where very good but the trumpet player got a bit out of control at times with this crazy high pitched solos....anywho, the place was very cool and I had a lot of fun getting to know Verena.

When we got home we where both pretty tired and JR and the girls where all sleeping so we made our way to bed. I decided to set my alarm to make sure I was up in time to see the girls and Verena one last time before they took off for school/work. When I got up the girls where already up and running around and playing so I got up and joined them. We sang a few songs like old mcdonald and such from one of their books. These girls looove their books which is cool. After a little while it was time for Verena to go to work and JR to walk to girls to school. Well, I guess that brings me up to date thus far.

Today JR and I are going to head into town again and he said I have to try green sauce and apple wine before I leave Frankfurt so we are going to grab some lunch and then around 3 or 4 I take off to head back to berlin to meet up with the Boyles who got in last night.

I had a great time reconnecting with JR and meeting his family. I really look forward to seeing them all again either on a second trip to europe!! :) or when they come out to the states to visit.