FIrst Stamp in my new passport!

Trip Start Aug 16, 2009

Trip End Sep 07, 2009

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Flag of Germany Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany
Monday, August 17, 2009

The plane ride was not too bad. I got an aisle seat right by the door of the plane. It was in a row of three seats, with the middle seat empty! It was a full flight, so having an empty seat beside me was great but the only draw back was my seat did not recline. I was surprised to hear that we were going to be served a hot meal, followed by the typical complimentary drinks. On the plane they showed Marley & Me, I slept thru the next movie so don't remember what it was and then I saw the last half Hannah Montana, while eating a very dry muffin I found on my tray. Next time I will have to remember to ask for a complimentary blanket, as it was quite cold on the plane. Being right next to the door, I was the very first person off the plane, walking into the wonderful 30 degree weather in Frankfurt. I must admit that this is probably the very first time that I did not have to fill out a customs declaration form to get into a country! I just had to walk off the plane, show my passport and collect my bag

Frankfurt Main train station

. I got the very first stamp in my new passport!

Having the train station attached to the airport made everything very convenient for me. I got my Eurail Pass validated, booked by overnight train to Rome and I was all set to go! Arriving at the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (Main station) brought back some good and maybe not so good memories from following the World Cup in 2006. Ha ha ha! I had a few hours before my next train ride, so I thought I would head out and have a look at Frankfurt. I managed to miss the lockers (right by the main entrance to the train terminal) and had to lug my backpack around with me. Either I forgot or had the blinders on when I was here in 2006 but there are a lot of sex shops and strip bars within just a few steps of the train station. They even have a Sex Hotel! Ha ha ha, I just had to get a picture of that as proof.

Really not much to see just outside of the train station except a lot of Middle Eastern restaurants and even one Australian restaurant. So after seeing the giant Euro sign, I went back to the train station to have a bite to eat and waited for my 10:50 pm train.

I found the train, the car and the room that I was supposed to sleep in but of course the door was locked

Frankfurt

. There was another guy who did not speak English, sharing the room with me. He was on the train first and was violently trying to pull the door open. I guess we were considered last minute reservations and is why the door was not left unlocked for us. My neighbour was Marco, an Italian living in Brazil. He too was staying in a six bunk room but had no roommates. He said that we were on a direct train to Milan and he probably would have room for us if the door remained locked.

The train conductor eventually came and unlocked our door for us. I got settled in and produced my ticket, reservation and passport to the conductor. The other guy in the room produced his ticket but no passport! The conductor asked once again for his passport. In his broken German, I managed to hear that he did not have a passport and that he was from Italy. This was quite odd, as he looked somewhat Middle Eastern! The conductor said that no passport is bad and mentioned something about the police.

Time to get some rest!

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