Day 79 – to Mannheim
- DIY room service is always a favorite because it’s quick, easy, cheap, and preferred over any coffee shop we’ve ever found.
- I think I finally hit that sweet spot where packing/repacking is easier. I guess now that our cruises are over and we are moving every 2-3 days, I know what stuff to put in a “locker” version of a packing cube full of stuff I won’t need for a while (stuff that I did need on ships like sweaters and scarves).
- Checking out and getting to our train was easy/peasy. We didn’t even have to go outside since our hotel connected to the train station.
- The train was very nice with tray tables, screen stands, jacket hooks, and plenty of luggage storage. Most of the crowd was very quiet too. And, it was a pretty day, so our views were grand. The conductor came by to check our tickets and thought he sounded English. That made us both giggle. The only thing I didn’t like was that you can either buy an assigned seat or a “general admission” seat. So, this one woman was moving from row to row because she bought a (very slightly) cheaper ticket and people were having to ask her to move out of their seats. She was nice every time, but please just buy a seat; it is quite disruptive in an otherwise-quiet train. Her little dog was a trooper though in his carrier. One person’s phone rang over and over and they would neither answer nor silence it. Another guy made being a (British?) veteran his whole personality wearing his pins, a shirt, and carrying a bag all declaring him a hero. He was even reading about war (in giant print on his iPad screen that you couldn’t miss). So it was quiet, but chaotic. The wifi was good, though. I think that’s what helped keep it quiet. People were mostly busy with whatever they like to read or watch. When it was time to get ready for our stop, the “hero’s” wife got up to go to the luggage rack to their giant case. I saw that opportunity to get our stuff down from the racks above us and claim the aisle. We couldn’t move forward because so many people were getting off at our same stop in Köln. I heard Mrs. Hero mumble something about people not moving up. There was a gap; a woman was ready except for her laptop and its one zipper. She was diligently watching an upload or download (I’m guessing) and was waiting for it to finish so she could close it and pack it. It was done during that slow crawl into the station, before the line started moving. As soon as I stepped forward, Mrs. Hero tried to cut in front of him. Turns out, she had two of those giant cases. We have no idea how she or her monoplegic hero braggard husband managed even one of those mammoth cases, nevermind two. Except for those with bonafide connections that are running late, I will never understand people in a hurry to get off a plane or train. And on a train, you can get your stuff and go stand in the vestibule any time you want.
- A very nice man at Le Crobag (croissant in a bag) helped us navigate the German menu to buy sanches (and now that massive typo has made it into our lexicon, dammit). He said people from the US were “beautiful” and when I giggle-scoffed at that, he said every place had both beautiful and not-beautiful people. And he’s right. He was both patient and delightful. He is a beautiful person and a big reason we travel.
- Our train from Köln to Mannheim was much calmer as far as the people go. We had to share a table with two other single/separate people. The woman just worked on her laptop the whole time. The guy moved when I came back from throwing away our lunch trash; his stop was next. The woman who took his seat for the last leg was really nice, too. The scenery of lots of farms and small towns was so pretty. Between the two train rides, I got a lot of editing work done and even uploaded a video. Yay for good wifi. It was also fast and got up to 263km/h/163mph.
- The walk to our hotel wasn’t that long but it was very hot.
- Self check in was a breeze. The room cooled down fast and has tons of good space as well as a small kitchen. We are going to be very happy here for a few days of eating in, relaxing, and sight seeing.
- We logged in to the (German) Wifi (but in English). After I clicked Connect, it said, “you are now logged in – hope nothing happens” LOL!
- The town is nicknamed “chess board city” because the city center streets are A-Z in one direction and numbered in the other. So, it resembles the moves on a chess board like when your right-hand knight moves from G1 to F3.
- He showered and found us two nearby grocery stores while I did some laundry and “work”. By then, our room had cooled down a lot. We also made evening plans to hit the grocery and nothing else. It was hot and had been a long day. We saved adventuring for later. This time, we had plenty of time.
Day 80 – a walk around to some fountains and gardens in Mannheim
- We slept in and then made breakfast. We also spent some time just chilling with chores/games/work.
- When we got hungry again, I made us grilled hot ham and edam cheese sandwiches. Since we didn’t have any mayo, I made a little sauce for mine out of soy sauce, lemon juice, and a splash of water. It was a nice change of pace from when we only have a fridge and can’t have heated sandwiches.
- Here is a business idea for someone. You know how you can get anything from a vending machine in Tokyo? Well, apply that to hotels with kitchenettes. I’d be able to visit the little vending store to get small containers or sets of packets of shelf-stable items: salt, pepper, mayo, mustard, ketchup, jam, oil, soy sauce, ramen, pasta/noodles, butter (shelf stable if no exposed to air), eggs (shelf stable in most of the word because the protective coating isn’t washed off them), some fruit, small canned veggies/fruits/meats, jerky, dehydrated veggies, etc..
- After lunch, we walked over to a large garden, a large water tower (one of Germany’s first urban ones), and several fountains. While it was all we could find to do in Mannheim (so far), I welcomed more rest.
- We tried a bar, but it was too divvy even for us and they smoked inside. But a couple of blocks away, we found a much nicer one (that was cash only). There was also a betting sports bar nearby. Then, we popped into a grocery for a few more supplies and headed back to the hotel.
- For dinner, I made us a pseudo stir fry (missing a lot of ingredients). He really liked it. So I guess a better version of it is going into our usual rotation at home.
Day 81 – Kunsthalle Mannheim, a museum of contemporary art
- After we shook loose a few cobwebs, we cooked and ate a pretty big breakfast (and cleaned up). We’d do this same pattern on cruises with room service, but they don’t usually have our hours, exactly. Maybe next time we should ask; maybe there are exceptions or add-ons, especially if it’s a standing order for a similar time.
- We walked back to the water tower and fountain area to visit the big museum, Kunsthalle Mannheim. Turns out, we had seen the old building the day before. Both the old and new parts were very cool buildings, I know we confused at least one employee when we went straight to the top and worked our way down. The area guards were pretty confused, too and kind of had to scurry to us as they didn’t see us coming. The museum had a lot of pretty cool art. I really liked the kinetic sculptures and seeing some works of the great famed artists in their collection. His favorite part was a giant spinning clock that was balanced with a rock and consumed most of the central area from the ground floor to the ceiling. A group of older students came through and I admired one young lady’s tshirt: Less Drama More Karma.
- After the museum, we made a grocery run for 2 dinners, 2 breakfasts, and 2 lunches. I love having a kitchen when we travel. It’s easier, cheaper, and healthier. And while I appreciate small markets, it did make me miss larger “super” markets where you have some choices. Still, we have amassed a spice collection: salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, an herb blend, lemon juice and soy sauce. We also have left some cheezy sauce powder I was just using as a generic seasoning blend. Luckily, we found small and lightweight versions of them all. Sounds like I need to make a “kitchen” kit for when we travel. I’ve seen this but never did it: apparently, TicTac containers make good spice storage.
- Not long after we got back, he made us a late lunch. I thought it was weird that I was hungry so early. And then I realized we hadn’t eaten since brekky.
- I did a tiny bit of work; I finally figured out an annoying problem with a video and got the blog post for it posted.
- And then, I wanted to lay down to rest my back and I ‘oops I did it again’ (fell asleep).
- Dinner was sliced pork with an amazing Knorr sauce packet. It was only €1.29 (with a grade B in food health) and shows a whopping $8.99 USD suggested price (which we all know would be a grade D or E once American manufacturing changes to cheaper ingredients). The Knorr site shows it as a new product, so maybe that will settle out on balance. Anyway, I have the ingredients listed and I’m going to try to make my own fresh version. Rahm Champignons has you add 400g of champignon mushrooms to the sauce. We just had it plain over the lovely pork, and it was great.
- Gaming/YouTube/work filled our evening. I also have a way-too-long-and-growing list of things we need to do when we get back. Oooooof. I guess we won’t be bored.
- Oh, and fabulous news: #theU Miami struck a uniform deal with Nike! I’m so happy! It’s reported? rumored? that the contract is over $2M for 10 years (‘27-’36). That’s a lot better than the $90M/12yr we had with sAdidas (who gave us an embarrassingly-ugly camo uniform for one week last year). We hear it’s the largest uniform deal in history. Damn, I hope that’s true.
Day 82 – Mannheim rest day
- We designated this day as a rest day. We made a ham and egg scramble for breakfast, gamed, rested, and made sandwiches for lunch.
- Late afternoon, we walked to the grocery to resupply on drinks. It was a gorgeous 71ºF walk there and back. It was also nice to enjoy the early signs of fall, like a few crunchy leaves on the path.
- For dinner, we had some turkey breast with sauce and German potato salad. We ended our provisions about as perfectly as we could, leaving breakfast/lunch stuff for the next day (a travel day) and our “spice rack” for future cooking opportunities. We even used up the last of the frozen veggies. I’ll say this about German (and European in general) grocers, their packaging is normal serving sizes. None of this 5.3 servings garbage we have in the US. We have also had a variety of foods instead of just chicken for dinner and turkey for sandwiches. The only thing redundant was the pack of frozen veggies because the smaller ones were things we didn’t want.
- Later in the evening, we got the anticipatory check out email from this business hotel. It was the cutest one of these we have ever received. “Dear [him], how quickly the time has passed. Sadly, you are leaving tomorrow.”
