DAMDetails - Day | Calendar

Tip
Type	Name	Description	Service Provider	Cost	Notes	Actions
Reminder	Hugendubel (Book Store)	Buy cycle touring maps!	Location in Frankfurt	$0.00	Only going to let myself buy maps for the 2019 France trip right now. Any other future trips are so far in the future that any maps I buy now will be out-dated and need replacing. But alas, Hugendubel didn't have any maps for EV6 in France, so I will have to order those online.
Reminder	Phone AC to register bikes	1-888-247-2262 Register bicycles for flight home		$0.00

Service
Type	Name	Description	Service Provider	Cost	Notes	Actions
Other	Frankfurt Transit	Group Day Pass, including Flughafen.		$27.00	Includes Laura

Accommodation
Type	Name	Service Provider	Confirmation	Location	Cost	Notes	Actions
Bed and Breakfast	Sascha Room 1	AirBnB		Kelsterbach	$216.00	3 Nights for Rhonda & Brent Host: Sascha Rüsselsheimer Str. 66 Gebäude, Kelsterbach, Hessen 65451, Germany +49 176 4369 3569 Map and Directions Zoom from AirBnB Photos 1 \| Photos 2
Bed and Breakfast	Sascha Room 2	AirBnB		Kelsterbach	$187.00	3 Nights for Laura Host: Sascha Rüsselsheimer Str. 66 Gebäude, Kelsterbach, Hessen 65451, Germany +49 176 4369 3569 Map and Directions Zoom from AirBnB Photos 1 \| Photos 2

Notes	Actions
Our AirBnB was supposed to have WiFi. They really don’t. They have some kind of repeater that amplifies someone else’s WiFi, but it barely works within the house. If we’re sitting within 5 feet of the box, we can load one web page every five minutes or so. It has been a tremendous hindrance to our ability to get our required research done for preparing and packing to come home. Which leads me, finally, to our trip "Kelsterbach" (see “Cluster F*ck”, June 27). I have never been more frustrated with German efficiency than I am right now. After doing a small amount of research last night (with our horrifyingly slow WiFi), we set out at 7:30AM. We would have liked to do more research before we left, but sometime in the night the WiFi connection point completely disappeared and never came back. We finished up at 7:30PM after achieving absolutely nothing. We stopped first at the Flughafen (airport) to ask Air France if they sell bike boxes. The internet has them selling them for €5 in Paris, but I couldn’t find any info about Frankfurt. The Flughafen is just one stop up from where we’re staying in Kelsterbach, so it’s easy to stop in there. The young lady had a heck of a time trying to sort out whether they sell boxes – it included asking other staff members and making some phone calls. Finally she said that she thought they did, but it would take them a while to find some and we’d have to wait. We suggested that we would come back later in the afternoon, which she thought was a glorious idea. Laura remembered seeing a DHL at the Flughafen in 2015 (wow) so we looked for that and talked to them. They close at 7PM, and they take large packages, just like the place in Kelsterbach. Taking care of the bikes right at the airport would be easier, so that’s our new plan – shipping the two bikes out from the Flughafen DHL. We proceeded into Frankfurt where we tried to find some cheap duffel bags. We’re probably going to walk 1km from our accommodation to the train to get to the airport, and I’m not sure I can carry a packing box that far, so I’d like to have a duffel bag. We did end up finding a few; the cheapest being about €40. None of us actually needs a duffel, so that seems expensive for a shipping container for a one-way flight. Brent convinced me that packing boxes were the way to go, and both Brent and Laura assured me that they’d come back and help me with my packing box if necessary. We snooped around Frankfurt just a little, stopping in at the Galleria and looking at outdoor stuff (i.e., skorts) and shoes, and also the Hugendubel to look at cycle maps and English books (for the flights home). Then, we high-tailed it back out to the airport to find out about the Air France bike bags. The fellow who talked with us on our return (our young lady was gone) advised that they don’t have bike bags. So, back into Frankfurt we go, with our little bit of information about where to find some bike stores, which is where we would normally get our bike boxes. It was a terrible game of “hot potato”. Each place we visited passed us off to another place until we essentially ran out of business hours. The most “unfriendly helpful” guy told us to look for bike boxes in the Müll (garbage). The problem with looking in the Müll (and here’s where my frustration with Germany comes in) is that there’s no flippin’ Müll around ANYWHERE. You cannot find bins of cardboard recycling for love nor money. As soon as a bike comes out of the box in the store, the box is somehow magically whisked away to Müll heaven never to be seen again. Disheartened and frustrated, we headed back to Kelsterbach. Laura and I were physically done, but Brent still felt good. We had dinner at the Italian restaurant and went back to the AirBnB. I had exchanged a couple of emails through the day with our AirBnB host. He first of all advised that we speak to his wife about the WiFi. Very unhelpful. When we stopped back in briefly in the afternoon, she told us that she had the WiFi unplugged when no one was using it. No wonder it disappeared and never came back. She told us we could plug it in if we wanted to use it, which we did, but it is still just as bad as ever. She said that they were getting better WiFi “next week”. I have my doubts. The host said he would call their provider, but I doubt that too. I don’t think they have a provider. I think they’re amplifying someone else’s WiFi and feeding me a line knowing that I’ll be gone soon and can’t do anything about it. I will definitely be complaining to AirBnB about it anyway… I made it super clear that WiFi was critical to our last two days in the country and asked him to confirm that he had good WiFi before I booked.

Notes

Actions

Our AirBnB was supposed to have WiFi. They really don’t. They have some kind of repeater that amplifies someone else’s WiFi, but it barely works within the house. If we’re sitting within 5 feet of the box, we can load one web page every five minutes or so. It has been a tremendous hindrance to our ability to get our required research done for preparing and packing to come home. Which leads me, finally, to our trip "Kelsterbach" (see “Cluster F*ck”, June 27).

I have never been more frustrated with German efficiency than I am right now. After doing a small amount of research last night (with our horrifyingly slow WiFi), we set out at 7:30AM. We would have liked to do more research before we left, but sometime in the night the WiFi connection point completely disappeared and never came back. We finished up at 7:30PM after achieving absolutely nothing.

We stopped first at the Flughafen (airport) to ask Air France if they sell bike boxes. The internet has them selling them for €5 in Paris, but I couldn’t find any info about Frankfurt. The Flughafen is just one stop up from where we’re staying in Kelsterbach, so it’s easy to stop in there. The young lady had a heck of a time trying to sort out whether they sell boxes – it included asking other staff members and making some phone calls. Finally she said that she thought they did, but it would take them a while to find some and we’d have to wait. We suggested that we would come back later in the afternoon, which she thought was a glorious idea.

Laura remembered seeing a DHL at the Flughafen in 2015 (wow) so we looked for that and talked to them. They close at 7PM, and they take large packages, just like the place in Kelsterbach. Taking care of the bikes right at the airport would be easier, so that’s our new plan – shipping the two bikes out from the Flughafen DHL.

We proceeded into Frankfurt where we tried to find some cheap duffel bags. We’re probably going to walk 1km from our accommodation to the train to get to the airport, and I’m not sure I can carry a packing box that far, so I’d like to have a duffel bag. We did end up finding a few; the cheapest being about €40. None of us actually needs a duffel, so that seems expensive for a shipping container for a one-way flight. Brent convinced me that packing boxes were the way to go, and both Brent and Laura assured me that they’d come back and help me with my packing box if necessary.

We snooped around Frankfurt just a little, stopping in at the Galleria and looking at outdoor stuff (i.e., skorts) and shoes, and also the Hugendubel to look at cycle maps and English books (for the flights home). Then, we high-tailed it back out to the airport to find out about the Air France bike bags. The fellow who talked with us on our return (our young lady was gone) advised that they don’t have bike bags.

So, back into Frankfurt we go, with our little bit of information about where to find some bike stores, which is where we would normally get our bike boxes. It was a terrible game of “hot potato”. Each place we visited passed us off to another place until we essentially ran out of business hours. The most “unfriendly helpful” guy told us to look for bike boxes in the Müll (garbage). The problem with looking in the Müll (and here’s where my frustration with Germany comes in) is that there’s no flippin’ Müll around ANYWHERE. You cannot find bins of cardboard recycling for love nor money. As soon as a bike comes out of the box in the store, the box is somehow magically whisked away to Müll heaven never to be seen again.

Disheartened and frustrated, we headed back to Kelsterbach. Laura and I were physically done, but Brent still felt good. We had dinner at the Italian restaurant and went back to the AirBnB.

I had exchanged a couple of emails through the day with our AirBnB host. He first of all advised that we speak to his wife about the WiFi. Very unhelpful. When we stopped back in briefly in the afternoon, she told us that she had the WiFi unplugged when no one was using it. No wonder it disappeared and never came back. She told us we could plug it in if we wanted to use it, which we did, but it is still just as bad as ever. She said that they were getting better WiFi “next week”. I have my doubts. The host said he would call their provider, but I doubt that too. I don’t think they have a provider. I think they’re amplifying someone else’s WiFi and feeding me a line knowing that I’ll be gone soon and can’t do anything about it. I will definitely be complaining to AirBnB about it anyway… I made it super clear that WiFi was critical to our last two days in the country and asked him to confirm that he had good WiFi before I booked.

Romantische Straße and the Mittelrhein : 2017-06-28 : Unproductive Nightmare Day in Frankfurt

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