Mainz (German: [maɪ̯nts]; English: /ˈmaɪnts/ )

Steffi, an outside mid from Sand invited me to visit her in Mainz.
(pronounced Mines)

It's impossible for me to turn down an adventure so I agreed to a 2.5 hr train ride and a chance to explore new cities with a fun friend.
DUH!

datum 01.12

Kehl ab 07:05

Kahlsruhe Hbf an 07:52

 I got on the train, sat down and thought, "WOW! this is classy!" Then a man came to check my ticket and said something in Deutsch (I have a really great "Ich verstehe nicht (I understand not)"-face so most people either speak slower or try a different language.) He guessed the right language and said, "This is first class, you're in second class, you must go two trains ahead."

2nd class was still nice and the scenery was amazing.

 Kahlsruhe Hbf ab 08:08

Mainz Hbf an 09:47

Steffi picked me up at the bahnhof in Mainz.

 First stop: chai.

 My family has one of those turning things, but it's about 193 times smaller.

I typed in "german turning thing" to find out what they're really called.
It took .000000000000786598 sec to tell me it's called a Christmas Pyramid.
How is the internet so smart?

Wikipedia has a similar picture from Mainz on the "christmas pyramid" page.

I also discovered that "thing" is a noun- a material object without life or consciousness; and inanimate object.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/THING

(for future reference) 

  Mainz Fußballspieler

 We walked into a church.

I was a little disappointed to take pictures from behind glass and metal bars, but then Steffi tried a door and we went in.

Genius.

 It was scary quiet and incredibly beautiful.

We took a walk down the Rhine.

Frankfurt am Main

(am Main refers to the river)

It rained on our way from Mainz to Frankfurt, but once we got there it stopped.

hole

 poor Steffi was really patient with me while I took pictures of EVERYTHING...

2 fixies in a row!

 I was about to do something really cool and then I decided looking awkward would be a better option.

seriously lecker.

 I like bretzels and I like chocolate, but together...?

Maybe not.

 We were so confused as to why there were locks all over the bridge and then we saw that they had names, dates and hearts on the locks.

"Love Locks on the Eiserner Steg"  

Apparently it's a cool thing to do in some European cities.

"more bars in more places"

(I don't miss you AT&T)

 Möwe
photo cred: Stefanie Wagner

 Art?

I didn't wait for her to look, I was in a rush to drink my glühwein.

 Kakao

Frankfurt Christmas Market

SO COOL.

December 1 and 52.7°F?

That's fine with me.

Great hostess.

 Steffi went to work and so did I...

These are white elephant gifts we got for the Chirstmas party.

 sweetness.

 shower blinds; not curtain. 

 I had a great stay in the flat above the bank!

Thanks Steffi!

38 photos... that must be a record