We packed last night, had another big breakfast, manhandled our bags down the 3 flights of stairs (our exercise for the day) and checked out. A taxi cost us 5 euro to get to the station. CB posted cards, picked up some food then got onto the local train to Koblenz. The train details were very clear but it was less clear what to do with our bags – we finally went near the front of the train where there was room for us and our bags without blocking the gangway . Our ticket was never collected. We spent much of this part of the trip going through the outskirts of the cities of Bonn and Cologne but there were already some attractive small towns and views of the Rhine. We used the time to update our blog.

The changeover at Koblenz was simple enough – we had asked a local how to get to the correct gate but the signs would have got us there . A friendly local even took my bag up the stairs for me although there was a nearby ramp for the bag but the wheels did not fit on it properly. We found an area with fold up seats to leave our bags and got good seats for the rest of the trip. We spent the next hour and a half looking out the windows and taking rather blurry photos as the train windows were grubby. We had been here before but it is still a picture post card place – a castle, church and a dozen picturesque houses in the one shot. Then there were the terraces of grapes. At one stop a woman got on with lovely flowers – left over from a wedding (not hers) she told us. We did wish we could have got out at one town in particular as there was a local market for Children's (Kinder) Sunday and it all looked colourful and fun. We had to write our names on our ticket on this part – still don’t know why – but the conductor then didn’t seem to come through for the new passengers until just before we arrived so we are still not sure of the system.

When we arrived in Frankfurt the lady with the flowers insisted on taking us to the taxi stand and giving the driver the hotel directions. In fact he had reasonable English – he even offered to wait and take us back into the city for free. We declined but he did point out the bus route. We had considered trying to do a loop on the hop on bus but instead had a walk around our area enough to find a brewery, a few closed restaurants, the Ferrero offices or factory, and a couple of caches. We then we walked back briskly as it started to rain heavily.

We had a briefing for the tour at 7 pm. We had already met a couple from Christchurch. We met 2 couples from Sydney and 2 men from Jamaica and had dinner in the hotel with a couple from near Edinburgh. The alternatives were to walk around the block (but it was raining) or to bus into the town The meal in the hotel was OK and the company nice.

We have a 6am wakeup call with breakfast at 6.30 …..

You may not hear from us for a while as internet access could be pricey on our bus tour. We will keep writing however and upload when we can.