Hi from Frankfurt, Germany

Hi everyone, well we were trying to decide what to do for one day in Frankfurt, and found a tour company that took you out to the Rhine River. We have found out that Frankfurt is probably not a city that we will return too. On our walk this morning by the Main (pronounced mine) River we found their Dom which is there main church. While it was really pretty, all around it was modern buildings. Yet just in front of the church we found what was a Roman bath ruins that had been uncovered dating back to before Christ. As we were walking around what looked like a very small version of "old town" by this church, I found postcards. I wanted one of the Dom church but also found a black and white showing the Dom church in 1945 and the whole city around it was rubble to the ground. We found out on our Rhine tour this morning that Frankfurt was pretty much leveled in WWII and they built a new modern version. So in this postcard from 1945, the Dom church is still standing while everything around it was gone. You could say that it was unbelievable luck that random bombs didnt hit the church, or divine intervention. Who knows. Even their old town is only about 60 years old. They had pictures and tried to reconstruct some of the buildings to look like they did before the war. But Frankfurt is a city of commerce. No tourism. Even the locals during the winter leave. It gets to a minus 20 celsius and all the locals leave and go to warm countries (Mexico, South Amercia, Australia) for 6 months. Its cheaper for them to leave for 6 months than stay in Frankfurt during the winter. So its swamp with tourists here because of the Rhine River in the summer and there is no one here in the Winter. So we took about an hour ride in a bus out to the Rhine River area. We went to what was called the Rhine Middle Section. The river is very long and we only did a small part. We stopped at this one citý and saw a hugh monument they have by the shore of a lady they call Lady Germania. Then we rode a ski lift from up above by her down to a small town called Assmannshausen and had lunch at a local restaurant. Then we got on the huge tour boat and took off in the north direction. We passed several castles along the shore. Some were restored. A couple were ruins. Some were youth hostels or hotels. All were very old dating back to 1000, 1100s and 1200s. We then went down past the Loreley point (the singing siren that lured sailors on the Rhine to their deaths). and caught our boat and returned to Frankfurt. It was a lovely day even though it threatened to rain.
We have been so lucky with the weather. So far (knock on wood) we keep dodging the rain. Tomorrow its suppose to rain, but we are on the train to Berlin so rain away!
One of the things about their trains here. You have to be sssooooo careful around the platforms. When we have been standing at a platform waiting for our train, you have to brace yourself. If one comes through before your train and its not suppose to stop at your train station, it doesnt slow down by the platform. Whatever speed it was doing when it arrives at the train station, it maintains the speed and whizzes through. Its downright scary at times. And we have been on our trains when they whizz through a station without stopping. Its scary to watch the platform fly by. Also, when your are waiting for a train, when it arrives, you have to be ready to get on as its not there very long before it leaves. But their trains are so efficent and definitely on time, so they know something we dont.
The temp. is getting colder and all the trees are turning to yellow and dropping around here. I would love to see Europe in the spring.
Last night Craig was reading and went to turn on the bed light by his side of the bed when it blew with sparks. the whole room went dark. Well not actually dark, as through the curtains the lights from the buildings across the street lit the room up as well as our lamps. But we lost all power. He tried to call the desk but no one answered. He was nervous to go out in the hallway for fear that he had blown the whole floor. But it was just our room and they came and tripped the circuit breaker.
We will definitely looked at American things at home in a completely different light. (Pardoned the pun!)
Love to all, miss you loads! Love from all of us to all of you.