After leaving Botswana and saying goodbye to my friends (both human and animal) I was ready for the next adventure- Germany! As much as I had grown to love Africa I was so very excited to return to Germany for round 2 of my visit there. It would be my third time in the country total, but because my visit there on the way to Bots was so short it kind of felt, weirdly, like I had only left the country for a long weekend and that it was time to go back. I hauled ass through the confusing maze-like Johannesburg airport and made it to the far end where my gigantic Lufthansa airplane was boarding with little time to spare. Once I was on the plane (armed with a book and my brand new Anthropologie coat, thanks to Mumsy and Matt) sighed a gigantic sigh of relief. Airports make me tense. Now however, it was one long smooth flight to Germany where my Pappy would be waiting for me.
The flight was, indeed, long and smooth, and I had time to watch several movies and TV shows from the comfort of my personal screen inlaid in the seat in front of me. Unlike my flight from Germany to Joburg, I had no chatty seat companions, but that was just fine with me. We flew through the night and arrived in the Frankfurt airport sometime around 6 am or so. I gathered my things, excitedly put on my new coat in expectation of the refreshing winter air (cold air, how long we were parted!) and stepped into the huge airport to bungle my way through train ticket buying and platform finding. It was so confusing! I finally found a kiosk sporting the red DB logo, which I recognized from train layouts, and went inside to inquire about a ticket to Dusseldorf. The ticket man easily switched into English and kindly refrained from making fun of me for having no idea what I was doing. He sold me a ticket on the next Dusseldorf bound train, which left in about an hour, and I was on my way with helpful directions to the platform. It turns out that the platform was not that hard to find, I was just nervous. The platform was also outside in a glass tunnel, so while it was shielded from the wind it was not shielded from the brisk pre-dawn chill of a December morning. For the first forty five minutes or so I was thrilled to feel that chilly air. I giggled out loud when I saw my breath form. It felt oh-so-refreshing after the dry heat of the Kalahari. Then it began to actually get cold and my ears and nose where the first to suffer. However, I was able to ignore this inconvenience because I was excited to asked a question in German. I couldn't answer, but at least it meant that I blended in. Blending in was new after months of sticking out like a sore thumb. When the train finally came I was glad to warm up in the cozy seat and nap a little. I couldn't fully relax for fear of sleeping through my stop, so I dozed and watched the countryside go by. It didn't look too different from Wisconsin, actually. My train got into Frankfurt at around 8.00 and I got off looking for Pappy, who was waiting for me somewhere on the platform. Unfortunately I didn't know where, and we must have missed each other. I walked up and down the platform, going down below to the lower level, all the time dragging my luggage around. I got increasingly worried as an hour went by with no sign of Pappy. Finally I stopped pulled out my laptop and looked up the Italian phone number he had sent me in case I needed to call him. I found a payphone and braved the European public phone system...and it worked! I was able to call Pappy and we found a place to meet up. I was so happy!
The flight was, indeed, long and smooth, and I had time to watch several movies and TV shows from the comfort of my personal screen inlaid in the seat in front of me. Unlike my flight from Germany to Joburg, I had no chatty seat companions, but that was just fine with me. We flew through the night and arrived in the Frankfurt airport sometime around 6 am or so. I gathered my things, excitedly put on my new coat in expectation of the refreshing winter air (cold air, how long we were parted!) and stepped into the huge airport to bungle my way through train ticket buying and platform finding. It was so confusing! I finally found a kiosk sporting the red DB logo, which I recognized from train layouts, and went inside to inquire about a ticket to Dusseldorf. The ticket man easily switched into English and kindly refrained from making fun of me for having no idea what I was doing. He sold me a ticket on the next Dusseldorf bound train, which left in about an hour, and I was on my way with helpful directions to the platform. It turns out that the platform was not that hard to find, I was just nervous. The platform was also outside in a glass tunnel, so while it was shielded from the wind it was not shielded from the brisk pre-dawn chill of a December morning. For the first forty five minutes or so I was thrilled to feel that chilly air. I giggled out loud when I saw my breath form. It felt oh-so-refreshing after the dry heat of the Kalahari. Then it began to actually get cold and my ears and nose where the first to suffer. However, I was able to ignore this inconvenience because I was excited to asked a question in German. I couldn't answer, but at least it meant that I blended in. Blending in was new after months of sticking out like a sore thumb. When the train finally came I was glad to warm up in the cozy seat and nap a little. I couldn't fully relax for fear of sleeping through my stop, so I dozed and watched the countryside go by. It didn't look too different from Wisconsin, actually. My train got into Frankfurt at around 8.00 and I got off looking for Pappy, who was waiting for me somewhere on the platform. Unfortunately I didn't know where, and we must have missed each other. I walked up and down the platform, going down below to the lower level, all the time dragging my luggage around. I got increasingly worried as an hour went by with no sign of Pappy. Finally I stopped pulled out my laptop and looked up the Italian phone number he had sent me in case I needed to call him. I found a payphone and braved the European public phone system...and it worked! I was able to call Pappy and we found a place to meet up. I was so happy!
