Travelogue (Part 2 of about a half dozen)

Mar 17, 2006 01:14

December 15, 2005; Frankfurt Hahn Shuttle Bus
The last six hours have seen me make my way from the tiny isle that is the U.K. to the large daunting country that is Germany. The first thing that strikes me as we touch down at Frankfurt-Hahn is how stiff my neck is from trying to sleep on the flight. The second thing, is that I am now beyond the point of no-return, the dawning that whether I want it or not, an adventure lies ahead.

What I find slightly surprising is that the bus driver and the guy at the information desk speak English quite well. I was almost expecting to be lost in a flurry of German! Not only that, they seem quite friendly, I must say, quite a difference from London, at least on that front.

The journey itself is quite picturesque. There is the occassional blot on the landscape, but most of the time I see a tiny village in the distance or lightly wooded areas, or rolling grassland even! Almost like Scotland! It's another hour to the airport - time to relax and enjoy the view while listening to some english pop music I believe the driver is playing. Oh! I did forget to mention the windmills! I find them absolutely fascinating!

December 15, 2005; Zurich Airport
After the Frankfurt-Hahn experience, Frankfurt Int'l airport is truly a humbling experience. The check-in desks for my flight to Zurich were listed simply as '51-287'. I thought I was mistaken till the girl at the 'Swiss' desk told me I could check in at any of those desks! My only worry is whether my checked-in luggage is going to follow me to Nice or remain in Zurich.

I saw the sun for the first time since I left Edinburgh. I rather miss the comfort and security of home, but at the same time, I'm quite looking forward to the rest of the trip. Also, having sunk a lot of money into this trip, there's no looking back. I'm just working out how many jackets I could have bought instead of going on this trip!

Links and other stuff:



I still find it difficult to come to terms with this photo. If you look past the glass in the photo you can see some shops inside Frankfurt-Hahn airport. My question is, why is there an erotic shop at the airport?! It's simpy beyond my comprehension!

Background...
The first part of this was written as I rode the shuttle bus between Frankfurt-Hahn airport and Frankfur Int'l airport. It is very much the first impression I had of Germany. Frankfurt-Hahn airport is an ex-U.S. military base, now converted into a commercial airport. It is very much a tiny airport, smaller than Edinburgh even! A lot of budget airlines operate out of there. The 'Frankfurt' in 'Frankfurt-Hahn' is quite misleading as Hahn is about two hours by bus from Frankfurt. The first mild shock for me was that people seemed quite friendly, something I really wasn't expecting in Germany (at least over here, they have a reputation for being quite serious).
The second (slightly edited) part of these fairly short notes was made in Zurich. I had a stop-over there on my way to Nice. It was very much a "I have time to kill; what should I do?" sort of post.
Just to give you an idea of my travel route:
Edinburgh - London - Frankfurt - Nice (via Zurich) - Monte Carlo - Torino (via Ventimiglia) - Nice (via Cuneo) - Fra (via Zurich) - Dresden - Frankfurt - Edinburgh (via Glasgow)
I'd say that's a fair amount of travel to visit three cities.
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