Arriving in Germany

After a long flight I arrived in Germany today, however unfortunately my flight did not go as smooth as I would have liked but I am making the best of it. I had a wonderful time driving to Portland for my departure and Alissa, Della and I stayed in a beautiful hotel with a pond for a view, an indoor pool and spa, a great location and vibrant decor.

Alissa and Della took me to the Airport Thursday morning and the flight was great until reaching the East Coast where we encountered a thunderstorm over Philadelphia. The plane hoovered over the storm for a half an hour before making a detour to North Carolina to refuel the plane. Then the plane took off to hoover over the storm again to wait until it could land. By the time we were able to safely land there were so many planes backed up, we had to wait 45 minutes before a terminal was available. At this point I was 4 hours late from when I was suppose to arrive and fortunately my connecting flight to Frankfort was delayed as well. So I made my next flight but unfortunately my checked back pack with just about everything in it never made the connection.

I was devastated this morning when I arrived and my bag was not here. No clothes to change into and no way to clean up or even brush my teeth. All I had was my passport, money, traveling books, a map and fortunately my sleeping bag. At least I have those essentials. I ended up wasting the whole day in a huge airport where I do not understand the language trying to figure out what to do and where to go. I was not planning to stay in Frankfort and was planning to hop on a train to Dassau where my great grandfather was born and then to Berlin. Instead I am hanging out in Frankfort hoping my baggage will arrive tomorrow on the next flight.

I finally was able to find a hostel and some great food (vegetarian pizza). Ironically, the hostel I am staying at is right across the street from a pond as well. I took my pizza to go and sat near the pond in the grass against a tree to eat. That was the most relaxing and beautiful part of my day, breathing in the cool fresh air while watching the locals feed the geese, ducks and pigeons as joggers and bicyclist rode by.

As dawn approached, I started hanging out with my "youth hostel roommate" and we started to met Europeans from Germany and others from Morocco, drank a bottle a some pretty good Spanish wine and went to a club until our curfew at our youth hostel.

Well, this was a very interesting first experience in Europe and I hope to continue my trip tomorrow. Until my next post....keep me safe in your thoughts!