I still have plenty to write about for this trip to Europe, probably about ten more entries, but I will pause here to report that later today I am flying home to Mexico from Frankfurt.
Yesterday I was up early to finish packing, check out of my hotel in Basel, my last stop in Switzerland, and walk across the street to the train station. (Just as in Frankfurt, I booked a hotel convenient for train travels.) The train would take me back to Frankfurt where I would spend the night at a hotel near the airport.
Ever the early bird, I was at the station at 7:30 A.M. even though my train was not leaving until 9:06. I had plenty of time to grab something for breakfast. The Swiss supermarket chain Migros has an enormous food court in the station with stands selling everything from Italian pasta to Thai food. I had an avocado / egg sandwich, a scrumptious croissant filled with apricot (I could make a whole meal out of the wonderful baked goods) and a hot chocolate. Why would anyone go to McDonalds with so much quality "fast food"?
When my train appeared on the big board, I made my way to the platform. It was a high speed ICE (Intercity Express) operated by the Deutsche Bahn, the German state railway. In spite of the German railway's growing reputation for delays, my train arrived on the dot at 9:06.
As you can see from the sign on the platform, Frankfurt was not the train's final destination. It was continuing on to Berlin.
The ride from Basel to Frankfurt is a little over three hours. We arrived at the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (Main Station) a couple minutes ahead of schedule. I then needed to buy a ticket for the S Bahn (suburban train) to go to the airport. I went to the travel center operated by Deutsche Bahn and bought my ticket from a machine with the kind assistance of an employee. I went to the lower level of the station, waited about ten minutes, and the S Bahn arrived. It's just a 15 minute ride to the airport. My reservation was at the NH Frankfurt Airport Hotel. (NH is a chain of European hotels. They are in Mexico also, but I have never seen one in the U.S.) I had earlier communicated with the hotel via email about where to catch their free shuttle service. They answered immediately with the information. The Frankfurt Airport is enormous, and it took me a while to find the hotel shuttle stop, but once I was there I did not have to wait long to be transported to my hotel.
My room was clean and modern... nothing spectacular... but fine for an overnight stay.
Today my flight will leave at 1:35 P.M. and I am supposed to be there three hours ahead of time. The duration of the flight is around twelve hours... longer than the flight from Mexico City to Frankfurt because of headwinds. Mexico City is 8 hours behind Germany, so I will arrive home at 5:30 P.M.
So, now it's time to take a shower, do the last bit of packing, have breakfast at the hotel, and take the shuttle to the airport.
Auf Wiedersehen, Deutschland!
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