The trip from Houston to Frankfurt was largely uneventful. Thank goodness for mileage upgrades! 10 hours in the air crammed into coach seats would be bad enough, but we were on the tarmac for almost an hour waiting for takeoff (thanks to some very wacky Houston weather). I have only two complaints for this leg of the trip. Just as I managed to doze off (what would’ve been about 2 am my time but was close to sunrise where the plane was) we hit some seriously bumpy turbulence. And it lasted for about 25 minutes. Minor turbulence doesn’t bother me, but this was “rattle your butt off the seat” turbulence, so I didn’t get back to sleep.
And I'm on my way!
Sunrise over the Atlantic
View of fresh snow flying into Frankfurt
The second glitch was the fact that I packed my coat into my checked bag because I didn’t want to have to mess with it on the plane. I figured I wouldn’t need it until I exited the airport anyway. WRONG! In Frankfurt, Continental doesn’t use jetways, so I got to freeze my bejeppers off from the plane to the terminal bus. Thankfully I wasn’t the only schmuk who was surprised by this turn of events, so I wasn’t alone in my embarrassment or teeth-chattering.
Once in Frankfurt it was smooth sailing to the baggage claim, customs, and train station. Got my tickets from a friendly German lad who spoke very good English and explained to me that a 3-day pass would be cheaper than 1 round-trip ticket from Frankfurt to Hamburg. Sold! He directed me to platform 1, so I schlepped my gear down the stairs and waited. Then, like a typical American who doesn’t ride a train every day, I just hopped on the first one that pulled up. Doh!
The train had traveled maybe 100 yards before I realized I had gotten on the wrong one. Thankfully the travel gods were looking out for me–I still got to the main Frankfurt station, it just took a little longer because I was on a local train instead of the express. Whew!
Frankfurt central train station
Once on the train to Hamburg, it was a straight shot without any train changes so I was able to just chill out. I was hoping that by taking the train I’d get to see some of the country. What I didn’t take into account was that the sun sets around 4 pm here this time of year. So I got to see about 1 1/2 hours of the country. 
And I knew this before coming but the reality of it was somewhat of a jolt. Germans really love their beer. 
Mmm, beer! Beer gardens everywhere, even (especially?) in train stations. This is Hamburg Hauptbahnof
Stay tuned for more adventures in Hamburg!
