Hamburg, Germany (Day One): They Never Said Getting There Would Be Easy
- On February 6, 2011
- By Kate
- In Photography, Travel
4
My adventure has begun. We left for Germany on Saturday, February 5th, at 2:30 pm from San Francisco International Airport. After nearly 11 hours of flight, of which I did not sleep a wink (crying and screaming toddler that kicked my seat the entire time), we (me and my coworker Alexander Shen) touched down in Hamburg, Germany on Sunday, February 6th, at 1:05 pm (local time). Tired and dirty (13 hours of travel on us) we headed to our hotel to check in. Upon getting to our rooms we both crashed. I of course connected to the internet and updated my Facebook first so that all my family and friends would know I made it safely. We napped for a couple hours, took a shower, and then met up for dinner at Trader Vics, an Asian Fusion restaurant attached to our hotel. Yes, my first meal in Germany was Asian food. But we were so exhausted we didn’t want to go far, so it was either that or Italian. After a delicious dinner we headed back to our rooms for the night. I wasn’t in my room long as I decided I wanted to go out and take some pictures. I roamed around for about 45 minutes snapping pictures and trying not to get blown over by the wind (seriously, I had to hold onto the railing a few times) before I headed back to the hotel. I crawled into my pajamas, watched a bit of BBC (it’s the only channel they have in English here), and then fell asleep for a fitful night of tossing and turning.
So far it has been an interesting experience, one I am glad I have the opportunity to take. And now for some pictures!
Last meal in the US. Mmm...Quesadilla.
Flying Over Utah
Dinner on the plane. It wasn't that bad.
Cool lights in the Frankfurt Airport.
My room at the Radisson Blu.
Yes, there really is a window into the bathroom. Creepers gonna creep.
"Passion Chicken". My first dinner in Germany. Yes, it was Asian food.
Signs at the International Train Station.
What is your worst plane experience? And if you haven’t been on a plane before, how about your worst car or train experience?
- My Hotel Room
Laurie
My worst plane experience was our flight back from Orlando in 2007. I developed a sinus cold while we were on our trip and you should NEVER fly with a sinus infection, I spent the entire three hour flight in tears trying not to scream and howl in pain. My whole head felt like it was going to explode the entire time, but my ears were the worst, it hurt SO SO much. Horrible, horrible flight experience.
Ashkir
My worst plane experience was being evacuated off of a plane because of bad weather in Dallas. I had to wait about an hour while they rerouted my flights to Washington, DC. I enjoyed the flight all the way there. Only time I ever flew, took like 6 different planes to get there, and 2 back.
I always was in first class (airline upgraded me for free cause of Make-a-Wish).
I haven’t had a bad experience yet. :-/
Cassie
I haven’t had a bad experience yet. :-/ <– You are upset about that?
Cassie
I’m sorry you aren’t getting sleep, my dear. But your photos look fabulous!
I do have a bad experience to share, sadly with my favorite airline. I was heading to Cancun with my family and we were stuck at the airport for eight hours due to a “mechanical problem.” They didn’t have any extra planes, so we had to fly on the plane being fixed. They wouldn’t update us on the progress. Eventually so many people complained that they gave us a voucher – for $100 off our NEXT purchase made within a year and only $6 for food (which barely covers a bag of chips at the airport). One woman was trying to meet her handicapped son in Miami and was now having to arrive three days late – some compensation that was. It was ridiculous! If that wasn’t bad enough, after we finally did start flying, the pilot was barely able to land the plane at our transfer airport. Thankfully, the second half of the flight was phenomenally better. I’ve used this airline many times in the past and this was the only bad flight, but man. It was bad.