Alas. Our last full day in Germany. We debated back and forth on extending our trip and exploring more. Perhaps Belgium or Switzerland. But we decided this morning that we will leave on time as previously planned. Germany has been mostly good to us. The weather had some room for improvement but considering the flooding that happened this week in other parts of Europe, I’d say we were blessed.

Today was a mostly chill day. We took a scenic drive through Black Forrest landscapes. Our brief stop today was in an obscure village that our tour director was raving about for its monastery. We took a group photo in front of it. Aside from the toilets, nothing was really open in that town. We were searching high and low for water until Matt eventually hiked up to Aldi. He ended up getting back on the bus too late and was required to sing. He gladly walked up to the front of the bus, grabbed the microphone, dedicated the song to me, and sang “Loving you is easy because you’re beautiful….” complete with the “do do doos” and high pitched “ahhh-ahhhhhhhhhh.” Everyone cheered for him and said he was always allowed to come back late. Meanwhile, I was grateful for the water!




The next stop of the day was Heidelberg, known for its red Castle on the Hill. It was more of a lunch spot and last chance to buy souvenirs. We had some food and snapped some photos.

When we got to Frankfurt, we started saying our goodbyes. Though we haven’t know these people for long, some of them started to feel like family. Matt is already plotting some trips to visit.

Once again we have overdone it on the shopping so we hopped on a bus into town to buy a suitcase. On the way back to the hotel, the public transport people were checking for tickets…. No problem right? Wrong. I reached into my pocket to grab our tickets and they were no where to be found. I looked at Matt in hopes he was holding them. Nothing. The enforcement people were quick to demand the fine. I kept apologizing to Matt and trying to explain. I had my gloves in the same pocket and I can only imagine they fell out when I pulled my gloves out and I didn’t realize. Matt ended up laughing and joking with them and they appreciated how much German he could speak. They still made us pay the fine but we parted on pretty comical terms. When we went back out later for dinner, they were on our bus again and started laughing once they saw us. I had Matt hold the tickets this time around.


We went back to the Römerberg square to say goodbye and see it one last time. After that we stopped in the pharmacy and Matt grabbed a bunch of those magic vitamin shots to take home with us. Dinner was at Havanda Turkish which was buzzing with a lot of young folks. Then it was time to head back and start packing everything up.

All in all a slow day to end with. Germany has been a wild ride and sits at Country #14 for me and Country #5 for Matt. I’m not yet sure if it will make my top 3 or not, but nonetheless I had a great time.