Since my last post I spent another day camping this time outside of Frankfurt where I got to see the other quarter final soccer games on the big screen at the campground. It is very common here to have a big screen set up in each village for the games. I have decided I must get another tent now because the one I have is a one man tent and unfortunately seems to absorb the dew during the night. This leads to some wet and wild times in the tent when I try to get out in the morning and the tent dumps water on me. I was really glad to have it for my first days camping but now I think I should get a different one. That night at the campground I got to meet two lads from Armagh after the games and chatted to them until the whee hours. Then in the morning I met another two lads from Edinburgh and got to talk to them about their travel plans. It makes it so much easier when I can connect with people while on the road especially to chat to other travelers. I think that for any sole traveler camping is a good option because it is a very popular activity in Europe and so you are unlikely to come across an empty campground.

After Frankfurt I came down here to Mannheim to visit and stay with Floyd's cousin Eddy and his wife on the US military base. They have taken good care of me the last two days and I have gotten to meet many of their friends. Saturday night we went out to eat at Chili's at the Ramstein air base close by and got some good ol American food. I have only eaten at German restaurants a few times since I arrived but you can immediately tell you are at an American restaurant based on the portion sizes. I hadn't had that much food since I left Phoenix. Sunday I spent some time looking around Mannheim with Eddy and then last night played poker with him and some of his friends. I'm glad I used to play sometimes at Daniel's place so I knew what to do as I could tell some of them had been playing for a while. I was definitely more conservative since there was a small buy in to play. I usually play every hand even if I have no good cards but was a little wiser this time around. Many of those that I met here miss being back in the US and are looking foward to their return home. I guess it has been hard for some of them to connect with the German people and the base has everything they need for the most part. I would want to travel a lot if I was stationed here but I understand that many of them don't have any time to do so.

Today I'm heading northeast into Bavaria hopefully to a place called Bamburg. Michael in Koln recommended that area to me so I want to go and take a look. I have added pictures to Lovable Quirks from my time camping on the Rhein so have a look at those. I will be in Berlin by Wednesday or Thursday and stay there until after the Final. Love to all and any of you that haven't me in a while please do as I want to know what is going on in your lives as much as possible.