@ FRA

I went to the JAL lounge at Frankfurt to kill time and stock up on munchies before boarding my flight yesterday. I always make sure to head to the lounge toilets right after the boarding call, as they tend to be much, much, much cleaner than the regular airport toilets.

And this is what was on the door:Yes, it's a full-page instruction on how to use the toilet. Washlet, as they're called in Japan. I didn't need to read the details on what each of the FIFTEEN buttons did, since these toilets are the norm in Japan. But I did for amusement.
Really amazing what the Japanese have created in the field of technologically advanced toilets. Seriously though, are these functions necessary?!?!?! My own toilet in my apartment comes with a washlet, but I've NEVER used any of the buttons, aside from flushing.

I've always wondered how non-Japanese people would react to these toilets when they first sit on one…do they push every button to test each function out? Or simply ignore all but the flushing one, which might take some searching and testing to find?
Any thoughts???

Around Ludwigsburg

For having had such a long night, we woke up pretty early this morning - early enough to get our hands on some breakfast pastries. Natalie drove us into town where there was a local bakery with a huge selection of breads and pastries. (I just realized that I don't know where she lives!!!!! Did I even bother to ask?!?!?! I'm such an idiot!!! Sorry Nat!) Since there was no eat-in at the bakery itself, we headed back to her house for some fruits and the all important coffee to go along with the danishes.

Stuffed, warmed, cleaned, and properly dressed, Natalie took me out on a tour of the local area. Yaaaaaaay!!!

First, we drove to the quaint, comfy, beautiful town of Bietigheim-Bissingen. Yes, a mouthful!!! Located next to a small river, the town has some wonderful, wooden bridges and the typical, colorful German houses, with steep roofing:It just makes you want to live here!!! Well, at least Waru.
The central area is crossed by cobblestoned roads with various stores and restaurants on each side. During this late morning, the locals were busy preparing for the Christmas Market.

Walking thru the town, I found two interesting statues.
The main cobblestoned thoroughfare in town led to this unique tower of horses:I'm not sure what it represents, or its purpose in being here, but interesting nonetheless.
Now, this one caught my eye because of the language - yup, it's written in Japanese!

It's a stone monument to commemorate a Dr. Erwin Balz. I didn't read the entire inscription on the stone due to its complicated wording and the overwhelming amount of kanji on it that just didn't motivate me to keep reading. So, I did some research later on…through which I have learned that he was responsible for bringing Western medicine into Japan during the late 1800s, and was even the personal physician for the imperial household! He lived in Japan for over 20 years and ended up marrying a Japanese woman (surprising for the fact that this is still so common!!!) During that time, he seems to have discovered the therapeutic effects of Kusatsu's hot springs that has eventually led to its popularity and commercialization. Bietigheim-Bissingen and Kusatsu are now "sister towns", and there is a similar stone statue standing in Kusatsu to honor the man as well.

I will make sure to look for it the next time I go up there…hopefully soon, since the hot springs are indeed fantastic!

From there, we went back onto the road, heading towards Ludwigsburg. Being more of a city than a town, it lacked the unchangingness and charm of Bietigheim-Bissingen. Don't get me wrong - Ludwigsburg is nice enough to walk around, but just not too picturesque. Anyways, Natalie didn't take me here for the city itself, but for the nearby palace and the famous Christmas market.

Ludwigsburg Palace is, like any palace anywhere in the world, grand. With large, elegant gardens. Unlike the Russian palaces I saw this summer, Ludwigsburg didn't have the opulence, at least on the outside. Therefore, when I first saw the building, it didn't really have the "WOW" factor, and seemed more like a functioning government complex than anything else. I suppose that's exactly what it was during the 18th century…
But the interior was much better! As a guided tour was the only way in, that's what we did to see some beautiful chandeliers, super-big bedrooms (it must be cold though!), and lots of not-always-pretty, but surely expensive, artwork.

More than the palace, however, I think I was more fascinated with a particular presence in the central courtyard…

Must be the skinniest, saddest Santa Clause I've ever seen! No spirit whatsoever, but amusing.

To get into the Christmas spirit, we went back into the city for the Christmas market. Small stalls lined the street and plaza, selling a bunch of wooden crafts, candles, non-perishable food items, accessories, etc. I didn't end up buying anything (as usual), but just looking at all the crafts and taking in the atmosphere was great fun! To top it all off, we had the typical Christmas market food at the plaza:Bratwurst and sauerkraut. I am in Germany after all. And a cup of warm Glutwein. Since Natalie had to drive and I still had a long travel day ahead of me, we both downgraded to the non-alcoholic version. Hahaha. I love mugs the drinks came in!!! Wish I could've left with one in hand.
Sadly, we had to slowly leave the market by this point, and back to the car.

I can imagine the market to be more lively and prettier at night, but I had a train to catch at 4pm...
Natalie dropped me off at the Ludwigsburg Station, where we said our goodbyes and promises for Natalie to visit me in Tokyo : )

I took the local train from Ludwigsburg to Stuttgart. Then, boarded another train at Stuttgart, thinking that it would go directly to the Frankfurt Airport. Nope. Needed to transfer again at some in-between city…Mannheim, maybe?! Either way, I didn't miss the transfer since there were constant announcements and reminders on the train. In English. This last train apparently started its long journey in some other European country, on its way to another one, and was therefore very packed! Sort of felt like being on a rush-hour Tokyo subway or on a holiday-season bullet train.
Uncomfortable, but it did take me safety and surely to the airport.

Was in London. Now in Germany.

Late last week, I flew to London. 5 days in the city to hang out with friends. I don't intend to do an entry on that here…it was just days of chatting, eating, shopping, and sleeping. Nothing interesting, unless you are Waru catching up with her friends.

Although I flew into LHR, I couldn't fly out. Well I could, but I would've had to purchase a very, very, very expensive plane ticket. Especially since this trip was a last minute idea. So, rather than do a roundtrip, I decided to fly out of a different city for my leg back to Tokyo. Frankfurt in this case.
Which worked out perfectly because this would give me a chance to meet up with my RTW friend, Natalie. She was my dorm-mate in Santiago, Chile, and I ended up doing a Spanish course there because of here recommendation! That was….WOW, close to a year ago!!! And then we reunited in Buenos Aires for my birthday. Great memories : )
I'm so excited to see her again!!!!!!!!!!

Thus, I took an evening BA flight to Frankfurt today. I would've preferred to have taken the morning or afternoon flight, but those seem to go at a premium with the demand from business travelers. That's why I didn't get to Frankfurt until after 10pm. Rather late, creating a need to rush, rush, rush, rush, rush!!!!!
Rush through immigration (I was probably the only one traveling on a non-UK/EU passport and needed to go through passport control).

Rush to claim my luggage. Although I know that I can't do anything to control the speed with which luggages come out on the carousel. Just hope.
Rush out of the terminal, onto the connector train, into another terminal.
Rush to the 24-hour luggage storage center, where I wanted to leave my rollie suitcase with various London purchases for the night.
Rush to the train station to catch the last train out tonight to Stuttgart. I'd booked this ticket online (DB website) only a couple of days ago. Hence, it cost me a fortune!!!!! Need to book at least 3 days in advance for the discounts. In the middle of the night, the ticket booth at the station was closed, and there were no electronic machines. And no conductor to check the ticket on board. Hmmmm.... could I have possibly gotten away without having to pay for the ride?!?!?!

Surprisingly, everything went well.
And I arrived at the Stuttgart train station around 12:30am…where Natalie was waiting for me with her car. I felt soooooo bad for making her drive out in the middle of the night, but she was very nice about it. Lots of hugs and greetings.
We drove for about 30 minutes (obviously no traffic at this hour!) to her little town, our conversation jumping through trip memories, reality checks (ie. the daily, routine, somewhat duller life after travel), and plans for tomorrow.
She let me crash in her room for the night, which she had prepared with a bottle of water and a late night snack:How sweet and kind!!!!! I need to learn to be this hospitable when/if I have friends over.

Tomorrow's going to be a busy day.
I have to be back at the airport in about 15 hours.