Monday 18 July: We spent the available time in the morning exploring Frankfurt. It has an industrious air, with a mix of historic and modern buildings together. We strolled along the Main River and then into the old town and square.
We stopped by an exhibition of Pioneers of Comics that were ground breaking in their style. Unfortunately it was closed as most museums are on Mondays.
We spent a relaxed couple of hours before heading back to our Air BnB which was conveniently located 5 minutes from the river and about 10 minutes from the town.
We then walked to the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, bought some supplies for lunch and caught our (on-time) long distance bus to Holland.
The 2 bus trips from Passau to Holland were with Flixbus, a German-based company. There are many similar companies offering this service in Europe. They usually have toilets, WiFi, power sockets, coffee and snacks on board. Flixbus is at the lower end of the scale – the Jetstar or Ryanair of buses.
It is only possible to book online. They also have a reputation for not leaving on time and never answering the phone. On the trip from Passau to Frankfurt, the first driver was grumpy and rude, and almost falling asleep at the wheel before being relieved.
The second driver was much better. On the trip from Frankfurt to Utrecht, the driver was Dutch, with a sense of humour. When we told him Frances was Dutch, he said "now we can tell jokes about the Germans". We called him the flying Dutchman.
His replacement, we called the Slow German, although the young German driver did try. It was 'interesting' to watch him sell a snack, take payment, give change and record the transaction while driving. Also there was no internet on the second trip. When we complained, he said "sometimes it doesn't work".
Ed was kind enough to meet us in Utrecht railway station (partly under construction) when the bus arrived, and not only escorted us the 2 short train trips to Etten-Leur, but also provided a dinner box with bread rolls, cold water and beer - better service than Flixbus.
We'll now spend some relaxing days with Ed and Ineke Nelemans-Batist in Etten-Leur.
We stopped by an exhibition of Pioneers of Comics that were ground breaking in their style. Unfortunately it was closed as most museums are on Mondays.We spent a relaxed couple of hours before heading back to our Air BnB which was conveniently located 5 minutes from the river and about 10 minutes from the town.
We then walked to the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, bought some supplies for lunch and caught our (on-time) long distance bus to Holland.
The 2 bus trips from Passau to Holland were with Flixbus, a German-based company. There are many similar companies offering this service in Europe. They usually have toilets, WiFi, power sockets, coffee and snacks on board. Flixbus is at the lower end of the scale – the Jetstar or Ryanair of buses.It is only possible to book online. They also have a reputation for not leaving on time and never answering the phone. On the trip from Passau to Frankfurt, the first driver was grumpy and rude, and almost falling asleep at the wheel before being relieved.
The second driver was much better. On the trip from Frankfurt to Utrecht, the driver was Dutch, with a sense of humour. When we told him Frances was Dutch, he said "now we can tell jokes about the Germans". We called him the flying Dutchman.His replacement, we called the Slow German, although the young German driver did try. It was 'interesting' to watch him sell a snack, take payment, give change and record the transaction while driving. Also there was no internet on the second trip. When we complained, he said "sometimes it doesn't work".
Ed was kind enough to meet us in Utrecht railway station (partly under construction) when the bus arrived, and not only escorted us the 2 short train trips to Etten-Leur, but also provided a dinner box with bread rolls, cold water and beer - better service than Flixbus.We'll now spend some relaxing days with Ed and Ineke Nelemans-Batist in Etten-Leur.