Wednesday, December 30, 2009

We Made It!

Well after missing out on our first flight out of Buffalo we managed some great weather there yesterday and found our way to Detriot. We arrived more or less on time in Detriot, possibly a couple minutes behind, but once there realized that our flight to Frankfurt was going to be 15 minutes early and it was on the other side of a rather large airport (and we only had 1 hour to make the connection under the original specifications).
We figured we were fairly good for heading over, but decided to walk at a brisk pace anyway, just to make sure. As we were nearing the gate we heard "Last call for boarding for flight NW250 to Frankfurt". Needless to say our brisk pace turned into a full out run for the gate. Running on one of those moving sidewalk things is quite an experience. Kind of like you are flying...especially when it ends.
We ended up making it there just in the nick of time and we were one of the last few people on. We had some great seats up near the front of the plane, just two aisles from 1st class. The meals aboard the plane were nothing special, but were filling and edible so I really cannot complain. The rest of the flight was shorter than I expected, but uneventful and I managed a couple hours of sleep, with Amanda getting just a bit more.
Our next adventure came once we got to the airport. We eventually managed to figure out that we would need to take a shuttle from the one terminal to another one in order to get to the trains. Once there we were able to purchase a 2-day transit pass for Frankfurt so that we could get around. It took us a while, and with a little help from an information counter to figure out which train to take, but eventually we found it and headed for the main Frankfurt train station.
The train ride was brief, maybe 8-10 minutes, but the bags were heavy and we were tired. To our excitement we discovered that our hotel is about a 2 minute walk from the train station(I can see it out the one window of our room, it is one of those big rounded ones that have really high ceilings and pigeons, just like in the movies). Even at 10am we were able to get an early check-in at the hotel which was nice. Hotel room is nice, but nothing special. It is almost a corner room and has a nice view of some lady in the room across the street playing with the blinds as well as a brown/tan cat staring out the window.
Once checked in we dumped our stuff back in the room and headed back to the train station to get "breakfast". We both had croissants and orange juice/soda stuff(Fanta) which we took back to our hotel room and ate while sitting on the floor(which is where I read your comment mom, not a cafe, but close).
Now Amanda is taking a nap and I am blogging. We might go the zoo later on today, but we shall see where things go. We were thinking of going to Stuttgart or Lunen at some point, but it will not be on this part of the trip as the train tickets would run us in excess of $300Cdn for a round trip, which is out of our range. If we really get the bug in our pants to go the cheapest option seems to be to rent a car for a day at $120, which is still a bit of money.
So far that is all. We have had an eventful trip to say the least, but it has been enjoyable. We are very much looking forward to what lies around the next corner.

3 comments:

Rosalyn said...

So thankful to hear that you made it safely to Frankfurt. Enjoy exploring for the hidden treasures of this city; Stuttgart and Lunen will still be there next time.

Amy said...

ya you made it!!!
have funnnn!!

Reinhard said...

Hi, Ryan and Amanda!
Wie geht es Euch? Habt ihr viel Spass? We hope to hear from you , how things are going.
Make sure you visit the Roemerberg,
since it is a distinctive landmark of Frankfurt. The old town holds the key, just seven blocks East of
trainstn. along the Mains R.
All the best,Grandpa and Grandma