Frankfurt - Day 12
Still itching for another hike, we decided to take a walk around Jacobi Pond. On the way there, I finally spotted something I’d been hoping to see all trip—a frog crossing sign! I had this mental image that the sign was warning drivers to slow down for migrating frogs because, if you hit one, you’d slide like you just hit a banana peel in Mario Kart.
The trail itself was quiet and peaceful, with hardly anyone else around. Early on, we stumbled across a tree that was… spraying water? After a quick look at the sign, we learned it was actually called Pinkelbaum—which made us laugh way more than it probably should’ve. As we kept walking, we noticed these strange little chicken heads spray-painted on trees along the path. I’m guessing it was just random graffiti, but it definitely added an odd little mystery to the walk.
For Caitlin’s last day, we decided to go axe throwing! She used to compete in a league, so she was totally in her element—meanwhile, I was over here just trying not to accidentally hurl an axe across the room. One look at the scoreboard and you can definitely tell who knew what they were doing.
I sipped on a really good hard cider while we played and had such a fun time hanging out, even if I quickly realized axe throwing isn’t really my thing. That said, I did manage to hit the bullseye once—there’s even a video of me getting some tips and nailing it right in the center! Honestly, not a bad way to wrap up the trip.
To wrap up Caitlin’s time in Germany, we made one last stop at a bakery for some Kuchen—because no trip here is complete without it. On the way, we spotted the tiniest little car that looked exactly like a roller skate, and of course, we had to stop for photos. Caitlin went all out at the grocery, stocking up on snacks without red dye—since it’s banned in the EU, she was determined to get everything she can’t get back home.
For our farewell dinner, we went to a cozy local spot called Atschel, where we were seated with a group of friendly Swedes who were in town for business. As luck would have it, they worked in the same industry as me, so we swapped LinkedIn info and chatted about work and travel over a few rounds of drinks. The conversation got progressively livelier as the evening went on. At one point, they were joking about how expensive their business trip was getting, and one of them quipped that he might have to “put his ladyboy out on the street tonight” to pay for it—gesturing to the younger guy in their group.
Later, as we tried to figure out how to pay the bill (which is always an adventure in Germany), one of them teasingly asked if I wanted to pick up their tab. I shot back, “Well, what do I get out of it?” They laughed and said, “What do you want?” So I wrapped an arm around the younger guy and said, “How about your ladyboy?” Caitlin was mortified, of course, but it broke the whole table into laughter. Honestly, it was the perfect chaotic, funny, and memorable way to end her trip.
