Was it a rat or was it a ferret?

That was the question for today.

As we drove into Frankfurt Sherry swore that she saw a large ferret like creature dart across the road in front of the car and that "it was a rat".

Perhaps it was because Frankfurt have their own designated exterminator


Back to the drive from Stuttgart to Frankfurt, just like our previous European holiday we were again struck by the number of trucks on the highway - in this photo there


are 9 of them and in this one, going in the same direction as us there were wall to


wall trucks in the slow lane on the right.

Another question for today was what is half of 33 - the temperature in Auckland


today -we have had excellent weather since arriving in Europe.

After booking in to our hotel we then, as has been our habit, hit the streets heading for the main city area. The first thing we came across was another superb car free shopping strip running towards Hauptwache which we meandered down and at the end of which we made our way to the old town area where there is some superb old buildings set around a square in Dom-Romer.





Nearby was the Eiserner Steg, a steel bridge over the Main River, and all along the bridge folk had left padlocks with various messages (mainly of love) in much the same way as we saw in Japan when visiting with Sam - we also have seen the something at other stops in Europe








In the short time we spent on the bridge it was amazing the number of different forms of boats that passed under the bridge














By now it was deep into the afternoon so we headed for the nearest Starbucks to rest the feet, get out of the heat and rehydrate!

On the way back through town we came across a shop solely dedicated to Maggi products which though one might think is a NZ product is a trademark now owned by Nestle but was a company founded in Switzerland by Julius Maggi in 1872



Tonight we ate at a local restaurant serving traditional meals and though the oversized pork knuckle on my plate looked obscene it was a very nice meal.

We have two further days to explore Frankfurt but the imperative for tomorrow is find an outlet that sells the Environmental Emission badge that all vehicles must display when entering many Germany towns - our vehicle is not displaying one, we are inside an environmental zone and are therefore subject to a 40 euro fine if spotted and I have to say the vehicle sticks out like a sore thumb as every other vehicle I have seen proudly has one affixed to the front screen.