Rhineland-Pfalz

Our trip to Rhineland-Pfalz started out with a mad-dash at the Frankfurt train station to catch our connecting train.  Our train out of Nuremburg ended up being delayed and we had to run across the Frankfurt station to catch our connection to Manheim.  Out of breath but on the train, we found a couple of seats and in no time found ourselves arriving in Manheim.
 
We were met at the station by Bill and his wife Christel.  After introductions (it had been 40 years since my father saw them last), we drove over to Ludwigshafen and saw the BASF factory where Bill used to work.  After dropping off our things at our hotel we walked around a nearby park before meeting up again for dinner.  We had good Chinese food, which made for a nice break from the norm, and after dinner we returned to Bill & Christel’s apartment where we looked through photos and looked out at the view from their hi-rise building.

Our second day in South Western Germany Dad, Bill and I drove down to Heidelberg where we spent the day walking around the castle grounds and a bit of the town before heading over to Bill's son's house.

We spent the afternoon with Hans and Michella (and Kayo) talking about the time my dad and Bill spent in the Army together and highlights of what had transpired since. It was a nice afternoon and sitting in their backyard in the sun was quite enjoyable. We were having such a good time we ended up staying for dinner.

Our last full day in Germany we drove out to Speyer and walked around the Cathedral there. After lunch along the Rhine, we drove down to the Weinstrasse - an area of Rhineland that produces a lot of wine. We drove through small villages and eventually stopped in at a place serving Neuerwein (new wine) - a semi-fermented wine that was quite good.

After our drive we went back to Bill and Christel's house where we had a quick dinner of excellent Nuremburgwurst, bread and cheese.
 
All too soon our tip was coming to an end. Back at our hotel we packed up our bags and the next morning we boarded our train for Frankfurt where we caught our flights back to the US.