June 3rd - Day 2 Germany/Ethiopia 2023... Planes, Trains, and Spätzle

Day one melted into day two as we flew over the Atlantic Ocean.  We "slept" on the plane and arrived in Frankfurt in the afternoon.

(Yes, we has McDonald's fries when we landed in Germany.  Hungry teens + not yet exchanging currency + vegetarians = desperate measures!)

All 14 checked bags came through without any trouble.  In addition, may God greatly bless the wonderful people who operate the luggage storage at the Frankfurt Airport.  I am so glad that we don't have to haul all of the bags around Germany!

Most of us had a new experience with riding the train from Frankfurt to Nürnberg.  The ride provided a nice chance to relax more comfortably and watch the German countryside pass through the windows. 

By far the best part of arriving in Germany was stepping off the train in Erlangen and seeing my "foreign exchange" brother waiting for us.  I haven't seen him in years.  However, it is like we just picked up where we left off.  He was (re)introduced to most of his U.S. nieces and we met his amazing girlfriend.

One of the beautiful aspects of this town lies with it's walking and bicycling access.  As we left the train stop we passed at least one hundred bicycles that were parked outside.  The hotel was a short walk.  Sven-Christian and Michelle's apartment is a short walk from there.  While there are cars on the roads here, it seems that they are far outnumbered by bicycles.  Some of the streets are labeled for bicycles to have the right of way over cars.  Others are bicycles only.

Sven-Christian and Michelle hosted us for a traditional German dinner complete with sausages, potato salad and spätzle.  We ate a wonderful meal accompanied by even better company.  The conversation, smiles, and laughter lasted well into the evening. 

It was dark outside as Sven-Christian walked us back to our hotel.  The air had a cool refreshing breeze as we walked down the bricked sidewalks.  There was a quietness that I would never expect while in a city. 

After all the travel, fun conversation, and good food we all slept well.