Caos and Car Rentals

We left Italy and headed for Germany. Flight via Ryanair went smoothly. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get a Germany stamp in my passport...yep, I really am THAT lame....

We arrived into Frankfurt/Hahn late at night and crashed at the hotel and quickly fell asleep. The morning met us just a bit early and we were slow to get moving out of the hotel.

I didn't have a specific appointment time for the interview in Germany, so I called. I was told to get there when-ever and have her phoned from the security gate. Trinity and I headed off to the airport to pick up a car.

I have to say that I wasn't good about planning for this part of the trip. I have no maps, no tourist information (I'm sure that we passed a bunch of interesting stuff), and no pre-booked rental car. This turned out to be quite the hassle. We got to the airport and Budget was with a customer, Hertz was out of cars, the other place (cant think of the name, some german/european car rental) was out of cars. I'm starting to get nervous at this point...

Avis came through for us....kindof! They had cars available but I needed an outgoing flight in order to be able to book a rental....F*#K, I'm already running later than I wanted and really need to get moving...

Trinity and I ran upstairs to the internet cafe and had a shit of a time trying to get ryanair.com to log on. Paid five times as much as I had seen the outgoing flight for two days prior....ran back down to the rental desk and again attempted to book a rental...

I needed a car rental for about 6 hours total...do you think I could get it through their heads! NO! They couldn't understand why I was going to be in Germany for three days and only wanted a car for one....SHiT!! Between nearly breaking down in tears (for fear that I wasn't going to make the interview) and wanting to reach across the counter to strangle the lady working....we finally got it through her head that I ONLY needed the car to go to an interview that I was now going to be LATE for!!

Finally, we have KEYS!! Yeah! Ok, for those that know me, you know how much I hate those stupid talking GPS systems, right? Well, I asked for a MAP, yep, a paper and ink map.....nope....sorry, 'but the car has navigation'. OK great....

We load up in the car and start the engine and neither of us can figure out how to turn on the damned GPS! Yep, looked all over...even in the glove compartment!! So....back to the rental counter. They sent a really nice guy out to help us with the GPS and we were soon on our way. Another problem is that we didn't have the exact address and the guy helping us put the wrong directions in. After driving for about 30 mins, we finally stopped on the side of the highway and re-programed the GPS and figured out that we were about 18km in the wrong direction!!

We did finally make it to the interview and the DON that conducted the interview was great..... The hospital is in great shape for being as old as it is and it's got all the latest equipment and looks quite well organized.

After the interview, we headed back and dropped off the rental car. Grabbed a bus to Frankfurt-main and have spent two very lazy (and rainy) days lounging around in the hotel room. I fear that I have nothing interesting to tell about our time here in Frankfurt-main.....

Here are some of the unique buildings and a show of architecture in Frankfurt

....and the bridge where we tipped the musician

....and Trinity and I playing around along the River.

We are off to Bergamo/Milan tomorrow (although only a short pit-stop in route to Turino)

Ciao!!