What’s up today you ask? Today was an arrival day for the “Main Body” and “Bike Day”. So what does that mean exactly? Today was the day that the guests were required to fly into Frankfurt. The first couple made it to the hotel by 7 am, just shortly before I got down for breakfast!! So we had breakfast together and waited. The second one made it by about 830 and we waited for the next who arrived about 930. Apparently no one had any issues with the Immigration and they breezed through there and baggage claim. Travel is getting easier, folks!!
The next phase was to collect my driver, Tim, and take him to the Sixt auto rental and pick up our box truck to haul bikes to the start. While we were there, we also got him signed up as an additional driver for the van.
The next stop was over at Markus Intra’s shop (Intra Spiel + Sport) to pick up the bikes. Markus is a member of a family full of bike racers. For a little history of this family, here’s a little article (that should be in English)…https://web.archive.org/web/20150518102038/http://www.landessportbund-hessen.de/magazin-sport-in-hessen/2012/ausgabe-082012/im-portaert-radrennfahrer-markus-intra/ 
After picking up the bikes and shuttling them to the Hotel, Tim was hungry for a Döner Kebab. This is, a unique dish with a Turkish origin that germany has embraced. It’s said that there are more Döner Kebab places in Berlin than in Istanbul. So Tim had a Kebab and I had some Linsensuppe (a creamy lentil soup) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doner_kebab
Finally we returned to the hotel at about 3 pm… just in time for the first phase of “Happy Hour”. That’s the nice thing about traveling…. It’s always 5 o’clock somewhere. So we went to a local ice cream/coffee shop and got something to drink, eschewing the ice cream for now although the Spaghettieis looked REALLY good. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghettieis
We took a break then went to the hotel patio to continue happy hour before moving over to the next door Tapas Bistro at 6 o’clock. But everyone had a German main dish…. Mixed grill, schnitzel, pork medallions and….. did I mention schnitzel? It was delicious!!! And Dessert back at the ice cream shop…
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After dinner, it’s time for bed time…. I know the travelers are tired because I am tired again. Tomorrow, we start the ride!
And one more thing….. I saw this Beer Coaster today and I thought I knew someone who would look good on a Coaster too….
