I must tell, before I forget, the story of our early morning joy ride on the autobahn to the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, on the first stage of our trip back home from Europe this week.
We get up early on the boat to finish packing, get to breakfast and get our day started. We know it will be a long day of travel after almost three weeks straight away from our apartment in New Jersey.
As we eat our breakfast, we notice a driver at the pier working his car back and forth along the waterfront, apparently aiming for the perfect spot to place the tailgate and greet us (he was the only car there; we figured he was for us).
Indeed, we are able to get on the road around 8:30 (we were scheduled to get our transfer at 9 a.m.).
No problem. We were ready. It'll be great to get to the airport in plenty of time, we thought.
Oh, we were about to get there even faster than we ever could have imagined.
Seems Rudy the driver likes to drive fast. Real fucking fast! And do a little texting and cellphone chatting, too!
Colleen and I glanced at each other about 10 minutes into our trip as we both sensed that we were moving kinda fast. It was hard to tell, to be honest, because we still were being passed by some vehicles. So, this is the autobahn, huh?
Rudy was a great guy. He must have sensed our sideways glances and clenched teeth because, unprompted, he says. "German highways are great. No speed limits."
"Don't worry, 190 is nothing for me."
He's talking kilometers per hour (we hope), and we quickly calculate that's about 115 mph.
"But don't worry, I'm a very safe driver."
Rudy then grabs his phone (again) and starts flipping through pictures to show us a car only he and his son are allowed to drive for the car service company they work for. It's a red Mercedes McClaren (similar to this) he says he's gotten up to 350.
"Germany is a paradise! Hahaha," Rudy howls, genuinely proud of his nation.
Well, you already know we made it back fine, as I am able to retell this.
So, one day we shall return to Rudy's paradise.
We'll be ready to hold on tight and enjoy the ride.
Thanks for reading.
Travel happy!
JR