We were up early. Some guests had an early flight and were moving about soon after 04:00 - this meant that I was awake and would doze fitfully for the next couple of hours. Because we had done the majority of our packing yesterday, there was no panic this morning. We wandered down for breakfast at 7:30 and sat with Jane and Trevor before being joined by Carole and Ian.
With breakfast done, we returned to the cabin for final ablutions and to put the cases out. The crew would be along to collect them and load them into our coaches before we left. Those of us who were not on the early flight, gathered in the lounge until called to our coaches. Because our flight was not until the afternoon, Saga had laid on an extra excursion, stopping in Wiesbaden on the way to Frankfurt airport. The coach driver seemed a little confused when we arrived in Wiesbaden, he went to the wrong rendezvous point and had to double back on himself. Eventually, we met up with the other coach and the local guides.
Our guide gave us a brief history of the town, explaining that the hot springs have made it a settlement since before the ice age. The water rising from 2,000m below ground reaches the surface at about 66C. When we tried it at one of the 26 springs, it was certainly too hot for a comfortable shower or bath (though, as we were in the middle of a side street, it may not have been looked on kindly by the locals had we stripped off to try). My abiding feeling for Wiesbaden was that of elegance. The houses and public buildings were very chic, though the outskirts of town had some impressive technology parks.
We walked through a small arcade to the square in front of the main church. Unlike the other places of worship we have seen this week, it was faced in brick, which seemed a bit of an anomaly. They estimate that some 6 million bricks were used. From there we passed the town hall and looped up into the old shopping district before returning towards the concert hall and the casino. After a quick comfort break, we returned to the coach and made our way to Frankfurt Airport.
Even with the extra excursion, we still had an hour or two to kill before our flight. We sat at one of the cafes and grabbed a snack and a drink (and squirrelled more in our bags for the flight). The flight took off early and we landed 20 minutes early at Heathrow. Unfortunately, we then had to wait for a stand to become available, so lost most of the time we had gained.
Once through passport control, the Saganauts gathered in the baggage hall to claim our luggage, said our fond farewells, and headed for the meeting point. Our driver was waiting and, like the trip last week, we were joined in the minibus by Robin and Marjorie and had to drop them off at Headley (near Bordon) on the way home. This meant that it was 19:20 before we arrived home, but Ellie rushed out of the house to give us a huge cuddle and that made everything right.
That's another lovely trip complete.
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