Mon(k)ey business again ..... Karsruhe to Remagen

5:00
A bit early given that I've only managed to get to bed by 22:00 but I guess I'll have to sleep in the train today again...

the rain is gone ?

the rain is gone!   (for now!)

6:00

The hotel WiFi folds……. Just after the time when the breakfast-preparer enters the building…. Could those two seemingly unrelated events be related ?????   Seems like the obvious thing to me… but she doesn’t think so…. And she can’t fix it, she says…..

6:55
A last smoke before breakfast.... there is a nice late 20s Japanese guy smoking outside in flip-flops & a bathrobe, LOL.... Talkative in very good German, he starts telling me that he is going to start university in Germany in October and has to fill out complicated forms but that he can't smoke in his room in this country..... OMG, I like this guy, I know EXACTLY what he is talking about....   Brain work need nicotine and having to take an elevator and smoke in the cold street outside is NOT conducive to getting work done!

7:05.... WiFi is back.... the regular day-time receptionist must have shown up and fixed whatever breakfast-girl messed up ;-)

Breakfast is included in this hotel.... and it includes smoked Norwegian salmon..... Oh YEAH ....that hits the spot !  Mackerel & olives for the second course ;-)

7:35
Back in my room.... THIS router STILL doesn't work .... at breakfast I must have been using a different router.....

Is THAT a SNOW LEOPARD I spy in the Stadtpark????

8:45
Time to check out and for the Good-Bye visit next door ;-)
Chatting with these people is so much easier than with any of my other 'real' relatives..... but at 9:45 it is time to leave .... I am going to miss them dearly!


10:00
Yet another train ... a Regional 'Express' though this time .... but at least it has WiFi while it sits in Karlsruhe Station .... 

10:10
The train starts out at Karlsruhe Station, that's why it was already sitting here when I arrived.  It was supposed to depart at 10:08.... but at 10:11 we're still sitting here..... NO wonder the German Rail system has issues with punctuality.

And WHAT is THIS?   The train has left the station.... but I still have WiFi?  Regional Express trains also have WiFi now?    Wow, Deutsche Bahn has FINALLY made it into the 21st century !  

Maybe not quite.... when a 'Data Volume' indicator hits its maximum position (after maybe 5-50 Mb of data), WiFi slows to a CRAWL..... and then STOPS all together....

I must have dozed off....when I open my eyes, there is a cute Asian sitting across from me....

The train ride is uneventful.... in contrast to the freezing trains of the first day, this train is OVERheated and the car's toilet is a disgusting disaster....   It seems to be raining everywhere outside,

.... so the grayish land- and city-scape isn't much of a relief either...

Noon:
Yet another train... this time not a Regional Express but just a Regional Train... a glorified tram really .... no tables anymore....

... but at least the train is reasonably empty.   It doesn't take me long to realize that this train stops at EVERY SINGLE STATION along the route, LOL.  When I was younger this used to be call the Bummel-Bahn (the Tardy-Train).   Ah well. I'm in no rush to get to my destination and the ticket was REALLY cheap.... another opportunity to increase charitable givings.....  and yes, you guessed it: NO WiFi.

But:  I'm sitting on the right side of the train to once again enjoy the view of the Romantic Rhine Valley .... ;-)

the view from Bingen

Viking Cruises, of course LOL

14:00
FINALLY!  4 hours is more than enough train time !   I deal with the Mon(k)ey business right away, on the way from the train station to the hotel..... 

The hotel owner kind'a remembers me, LOL.  It's been 1.5 years since I've last frozen my arse off in this town.....The balcony rooms were already taken this time, but I'm actually VERY happy with the room I got.....

the office 

the room !

I'm in the Mexico Room..... Mexico travel guides on the bookshelves.... Dia de los Muertos pottery on the bed's side board...  

....And Frida on the wall ;-)

I wanted to take a longer walk along the river.....

It tears my heart apart....

...seeing one of these GORGEOUS turn-of-the-century river-view villas in this state

...but then all the wine I drank today wants OUT..... back to my hotel I quickly return to PEE....

I had lunch with Grandma here about 45 years ago, LOL

Another smoke outside in the back...... I start chatting with a mid 20s smiling and unfathomably cheery guy about when the restaurant opens.... he asks me where I'm from... and he even dares say that my accent sounds DUTCH..... But WTF is it with that age group? .... LOL.....WHY do SO MANY of them seem to have Daddy issues?

17:30
I already visited relatives, spent 4 hours in a train, and completed my banking business.... I'm not really up for more excitement today.... I decide to keep it SIMPLE.....SLOW DAY is today's motto!...... eat in my hotel's restaurant (I KNOW it's OK and I KNOW that the view is fabulous ;-)...

...another smoke.... the cute guy is there AGAIN ... and he has that exhibits that adorable smile again, LOL. .....and there is is... a child of divorce ..... knew it!

OF COURSE, the ONE menu item that I WANTED, namely Cevice, is OUT today….  That’s OK, I’ll have it another day…. So I order Calamares a la Romana (OMG, it’s been SO LONG since I’ve had those) and a Salad Niçoise by another name … and another bottle of Rioja ;-)

Is that MAYONNAYSE with the Calamares ? 

The Calamares are cooked to PERFECTION, but mayonnaise simply KILLS the experience!   Thank god they can procure a Chili sauce in no time flat ;) 

The Salade Nicoise is odd-tasting…

... but why did I expect differently in the town where GRANDMA used to live, LOL

18:45
I am DRUNK & SO TIRED ..... a last wave from the cute cook (he's not particularly handsome but he's just so NICE ;)... and I stagger up the stairs with the remnants of yet another bottle of Rioja!   But I have no energy left to drink any of it...... Thank god there is a BED to COLLAPSE onto !