Healthy

The sun is blinding and glinting through the Frankfurt skyline. We’ve just passed the Frankfurter Kreuz. The Frankfurter Westkreuz is coming up, and we turn toward downtown. The skyscrapers of the financial district cast their shadows. The streets in between have since been designated as bike lanes. The last time I was here 40 years ago, bicycles were a rare sight in Frankfurt. That was mainly because, back then, you couldn’t leave a bike unattended anywhere. If you did, it was guaranteed to be gone—even if you’d locked it up with a thick, heavy lock. I don’t know what the situation is like today, but bicycle traffic has increased enormously compared to 40 years ago.

Sun Over Frankfurt

There are no parking spaces. At least not for non-residents. Parking is reserved for residents with parking permit No. 15. If you want to visit one of the many restaurants in this area, you’ll probably have to arrive with a chauffeur and have them pick you up again after dinner. At the very least, the gold-embossed menus at the entrance suggest that if you can afford to eat at these upscale spots, a chauffeur shouldn’t be a problem. Against this backdrop, the €25 parking ticket left on the windshield for parking in the restricted no-stopping zone is downright ridiculous. You can’t park in Auckland for €10 an hour, and the city of Frankfurt am Main seems to be making good use of this. The nearest parking garage at the opera house, about 1.5 kilometers away, probably wouldn’t have cost much less either.

Steampunk, almost as beautiful as Frankfurt

To avoid traffic on the highway, we set out early. Our plan worked, and now we’ve arrived 1.5 hours early. After driving around in circles countless times looking for a parking spot, we discovered a nice café on Bockenheimer Landstraße. The walk through the urban canyons is still cool at this hour, and we have to be careful not to get run over by one of the many cyclists. We reach the café unscathed and have breakfast first. This morning, before we left, we only had a cup of coffee. 5 a.m. is an ungodly hour, but we’re glad we were able to get an appointment at all. After I submitted the application to extend our New Zealand visa, Immigration requested a chest X-ray. Without this X-ray, they couldn’t process our application any further. As I mentioned last week, there are only two doctors in Germany who are authorized to perform this procedure for New Zealand. After I explained our situation via email, we were able to get an appointment for this week. I also included the letter from New Zealand Immigration with the email. So everything is already prepared, and with a few signatures and a completed questionnaire, we head down to the basement for the X-ray. A quarter of an hour later, we’re standing in front of the doctor. “You’re healthy" is the brief and to-the-point diagnosis. “We’ll forward your information,” and just like that, we were back outside the doctor’s office. The whole thing cost us about 200€. That includes parking fees (tickets) and gas.

We are healthy

We didn’t want to spend any more money in Frankfurt am Main, so we headed straight back to Stuttgart. This time there was significantly more traffic, and in Heilbronn, just before the Weinsberger Kreuz, we got stuck in a brief traffic jam. By then, it was already nearly 32°C again. Yesterday I spoke on the phone with someone in New Zealand. It’s freezing there, and they recommended that we bring thick jackets. Of course, it’s winter in New Zealand right now, and spring is still a little ways off.

New Zealand can be cold in winter

In the morning, frost covers the dock, and you have to wait a long time for the warm rays of the sun. After the hot summer in Europe, Gaby longs for these conditions in New Zealand. I’m a bit more reserved about it—I’ve come to love temperatures around 30°C, and I don’t mind it when they reach close to 40°C. Single-digit temperatures will certainly be an adjustment. I certainly don’t even want to imagine seeing a minus sign in front of the temperature reading.

Thank you to all our friends for your hospitality

But those are just details. For now, we need to focus on getting back to New Zealand. As things stand right now, we’ll manage with three suitcases plus one carry-on each. The final week has begun, and we’ll keep you updated as always. See you next week—stay healthy, and fair winds. Keep a stiff upper lip.