
We figured out that Bern, Switzerland would be a good stop for two nights before heading to Barcelona. But since it was a Saturday and we had no place to stay, we decided to stop somewhere closer than Bern so we could find a hotel for just one night. Frankfurt looked like a good stop. We did have time before leaving our Amsterdam hotel to scour some Internet sites dedicated to finding group hotel rooms and found one that looked like it might work. Three stars and just a five minute walk from the train station. I wrote down the phone number and called from our high-speed ICE train. Apparently the guy understood me because he had our rooms ready to go when we arrived around 4:30 P.M.
The hotel is a fairly non-descript typical small European hotel with breakfast. I’m not quite sure how it got its three-stars but you could see the look of “fear” in some boys’ eyes as they spied the façade. They had been a bit spoiled by our Amsterdam hotel which had tiny rooms but was more typical of what an American hotel might be. Our Frankfurt Hotel, Hotel Munchner Hof is a little more, let’s say quaint. It’s actually quite adequate and the boys and leaders will manage. It as, after all, an “adventure.” That’s a phrase we use over and over when any little challenge comes our way.
This is really a stopover city and we didn’t have plans for this afternoon or evening. The boys did explore a few blocks of our neighborhood. We walked to an Asian restaurant around the corner and enjoyed dining outside. After that we walked to the “old city” part of town which was a very typical European city center surrounded by quaint buildings and in the shadow of a very tall church steeple. The boys did enjoy the old city but many were more impressed with all the fancy cars that people around here drive. Frankfurt is one of the finance capitals of Europe and is the home to the central bank of the European Union.

Again, as I write this (offline), Internet service continues to be spotty. So when you do read this, it could be two days or so after the blog was written. And I doubt I’ll be doing any posting from the overnight train…so just know we’re doing well and seeing a lot of wonderful places.
Don't forget to check out the photos.