September 7: Frankfurt Airport to Mainz
Click on small photos for a full size picture.
We touch down in Frankfurt right on schedule, deplane into a cloud of
cigarette smoke (Frankfurt airport is not entirely non-smoking), clear Customs,
and collect the bike box at the oversize baggage door. The baggage storage
area is right next to the entry to the airport common area. The nice
gentleman at the storage desk allows us to assemble the trike in the quiet area
in front of his counter. We get curious looks from other customers, but
have no problems putting the trike together. 
The first problem is figuring out how to get away from the terminal and onto the bike path. We spot a couple on bikes riding up to the terminal and get directions to the path. Once we're on the path, we can pick up the route recommended in the guide book, and we're off to Mainz. The weather is nice, sunny and in the low 70's. In fact, it's so nice, we do a bit of back tracking (we never get lost), and stop at a biergarten for a bit of schnitzel, the national food of Germany.
Schnitzel, 
the thinking man's chicken fried steak...
No matter whether you're in a 5 star restaurant or a tugboat on the Rhine, schnitzel is never far away. Add a pile of pomme frites (French fries - but you have to beg for ketchup), and a dollop of kraut, and you've got a staple food of the country. We had the opportunity to sample schnitzel several times... several times..., well, you get the idea. When in Schnitzel land... |
The biggest obstacle on this leg of the trip is a bike/pedestrian bridge across the Main a few kilometers from Mainz. There a three flights of stairs up to the bridge deck and a small channel designed for a single bike tire - it works fine for a regular bike, but not for a 125 lb (bike and gear) 3 wheeler. As we begin to haul the trike up the stairs, another cyclist stops and helps us haul the trike up and down the stairs, then guides us for several kilometers as we head for Mainz.
By 4 pm, we've reached the center of Mainz and our hotel. 
Due to the small storage area they provide, we have to separate the bike into
two sections in order to fit it into the storeroom. Bike safely stored, we
retire to our room, 
clean up, and walk around the city center. We have a light dinner of pizza
and beer and call it a night.
Since our hotel is near the central train station and it's a Saturday night, we get a bit of street noise through the open window, but it doesn't disturb our sleep - much. We're up with the sun and after a bit of breakfast, we're off.
| About Breakfast...
Virtually all hotels and guesthouses in Germany include breakfast in the room price. A typical breakfast spread features cereal with milk or yogurt, various types of meats, juice, coffee, and bread (we thoroughly enjoyed the crusty rolls with butter and preserves). Depending on your lodgings, seating at breakfast may be seat yourself, but usually there is a host or hostess who will direct you to your table: "You vill sit here, und you vill sit here..." |