Last Sunday morning at 6 AM Nathan (Shale Crescent USA president), Lynnda and I landed in Frankfurt Germany after a flight from New York City of over seven hours.

We flew from Pittsburgh to New York to catch the international flight. Picked up our luggage from the Pittsburgh flight, rechecked it and went back through security for the Germany flight. We had to show our passport to get through security and again when we boarded the plane. After landing we had to show our passport one more time to get into Germany, where we were asked why we were coming to the country and how long we would be staying. Simple questions the man in front of us either answered wrong or had an issue with his passport. After at least a 10-minute discussion, he still didn’t get in. The officer sent him somewhere else.

There is a five-hour time difference between Pittsburgh and Germany. When Germany goes to daylight saving time at the end of the month, it will go back to six hours. We got to our rooms at 7:30 a.m. Our bodies thought it was 2:30 a.m. We were ready for a nap.

Our first business meetings with companies and German trade associations started Monday. We had additional meetings and an event set up by U.S. Commercial Services where Nathan and I were both speakers and I was part of a panel discussion on Tuesday.

Sunday was a free day. We took a taxi to downtown Frankfurt to explore. Temperature was only in the 50s. People were everywhere throughout the entire city, individuals, couples and families walking, biking or riding scooters. We stopped at an open-air market at one of the town squares and had an outside lunch of bratwurst, fries and a Coke. They didn’t have Diet Coke so Lynnda had carbonated water. We didn’t know there was carbonated and noncarbonated water. You need to ask or look closely to get the one you want.

The next adventure was finding a restroom. They have very clean public toilets with an attendant. Fortunately, we had already traded our American dollars for Euros and I had coins. It cost Lynnda half a Euro. The urinals were free. We learned all public toilets require coins, some as much as 1 Euro. We did a bus tour of Frankfurt and also toured a cathedral. “Old” is a relative term. In America “old” is 100 years. The cathedral we toured goes back to 1048 when construction was started — over 400 years before Columbus came to America. The original church on that site goes back to the 600s. The craftsmanship, sculptures, stained glass windows and artwork were incredible. How they were able to build these cathedrals without the cranes and tools we have today amazed me.

Even though the temperature was only in the 50s, people were eating outside at restaurants and coffee shops without heaters. We stopped at a coffee shop on the afternoon and chose to eat inside.

The pastries and pretzels are incredible.

The entire time we were in Germany and Iceland, the few obese people we saw were tourists. Bakeries were everywhere. Bread and/or pastry are part of almost every German meal. Walking and biking the people do must keep them fit. In Iceland where we flew to on Thursday, it was 32 degrees with a wind chill of 18 degrees at 7 p.m. One town we passed through on our way to Reykjavik was having a race. We saw the finish line. Those are hardy people.

In the three large German cities, Frankfurt, Duesseldorf and Cologne we toured and went to local restaurants in places at night down narrow streets where I wouldn’t feel safe in most U.S. cites. We felt very safe. Maybe because there were so many other people out. One of our German friends who we have been working with and having weekly Zoom calls became our guide. He helped us to navigate the trains and took us to a restaurant we would never have found in Duesseldorf down a dark, narrow, coblestone street. The restaurant opened in 1628. (Just after the Pilgrims came to America) Napoleon had a meeting with his generals there in 1815. We had real mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, three different bratwursts, strudel and ice cream for dessert AND German dark beer. We closed the place at 10 p.m.

The people throughout both Germany and Iceland were friendly and helpful. Most spoke English. My German consists of “Please, Thank you, Good morning, Good Evening and Hello.” Both countries are incredibly clean.

We could drink the water everywhere but especially in Iceland where it is cold. Lynnda claims it tastes better than our water. If there were slums or bad areas we couldn’t find them. Even though buildings were old they are painted and well maintained. They have homeless but not many so far as we could see. Recycling is a big thing. They don’t have space for landfills. In Germany there is a quarter Euro deposit on every bottle glass or plastic so there isn’t litter. Tossed bottles are like finding quarters. In Germany the plastic caps are connected to the bottle making them easy to recycle.

In Germany most cars are VWs, BMWs and Mercedes including taxis. Most people must have cars because they were parked everywhere at their apartments and condos. They travel by train to work. Trains are everywhere, fast and easy to use. The train we took to Duesseldorf traveled at 250 km/hr. (about 155 mph)

Lynnda and I were way out of our comfort zone upon arrival but have adjusted well for the short time we have been here. It’s been an incredible experience and opportunity to learn firsthand about other counties and cultures. We are touring Reykjavik, Iceland today. A glacier is right across the lake. Next week I’ll talk about the business part of the trip.

Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com, is the director of marketing and sales for Shale Crescent USA, www.shalecrescentusa.com. He is a professional engineer with a master’s in environmental engineering and over 40 years’ experience in the energy industry. He is a professional speaker and author of four books and numerous published articles.