Transit

Day one of another parkrun adventures began with a pickup by Mitchell and drive to Stansted.  Adele and Catherine were already on board and Adele, in her usual way, chatted continously for the entire journey.  
We spotted Gordon in security a d Marion also messaged to say she had arrived.  We were enjoying a coffee a short time later when we learned our flight was delayed by  2 hours.  

There was a 25 minute delay on rhe S19 into  the city but by early afternoon we were at our hotel.  

A short time later we were in a bar enjoying some nachos, hummus and beer.  Marion ordered me a very small glass which I found amusing. 

We headed across the Rhine towards the cathedral.  The bridge was covered in thousands of padlocks, many decorated with names and dates and as trains rattled noisily alongside us, a variety of boats were travelling beneath.    We could see silhouettes of people on top of a very tall building and 2 giant sculptures on men on horseback stood either side of the bridge.

Back home,  across the day, another part of this weekends story quietly and sadly unravelled.  Emma and Carol, unable to take time off work, were travelling from Heathrow later in the day.  Carol reported in the morning that she was unwell and that there was a possibility she would be unable to travel.  This became a reality and Emma headed to the airport alone only for her flight to be cancelled.   Meg and Mitchell thought they'd got her on a later flight whilst she was in transit but the payment sat in pending, the airline couldn't help and the flight left without her. 

Amidst drizzle and a darkening sky, we next settled in a window bench inside the Brauhaus Fruh.  Spread over many levels, using and finding my way back from the WC after several beers was quite an experience.

We returned to our hotel via a dark and damp cathedral square for sleep.