20071211 Frankfurt  Koln                        Pictures Link

We arrived at FRA about 0540 local time, exactly on time. Cold, snow on the ground.

We cleared immigration, then went thru the nothing-to-declare route at customs - nobody stopped us, so we went thru into the gallery, where we were met by a Vantage employee. She then walked us from Terminal A to B to C, then back to B, where another Vantage person found us and guided us to the bus she was unable to find.

The ride to Koln took place mostly in the dark, but we did start to see countryside near Koln. Interesting. The bus flew by comparison with the trucks, which must be speed-limited. But a lot of cars passed us.

We arrived at the River Odyssey (not the Discovery, as noted before on the Home page) and waited in the lounge with coffee and pastries until our cabin was ready for occupancy. Then we unpacked (some) and found our way around the cabin, and then the ship. It is not as well appointed as we expected Discovery to be, but we don't have much choice.

We met and talked with some very interesting people, some of whom had airline problems but most were trouble-free.

Lunch was outstanding. Then we walked down the river a ways to take pictures. Back to the cabin for a short nap.

We opened the door to go looking for Glenn & Lou and found them just outside our door, going into their cabin across the hall. Hugs and greetings all around. They put their suitcases inside and joined us. We went up to the lounge and had beers & wines and caught up on families. We took another break during which we finished unpacking, then back for the captain's drink and explanation of the next day in the lounge, followed by dinner.

Dinner was very nice, but we were definitely failing. Immediately afterward, we went to bed (9:15pm) and slept thru till 05:30, and got up a little after 6am much refreshed.