Storms, Sprints and Long Island Iced Tea
So there we are - finally airborne with little or no thanks to Flymaybe. What we do have them to thank for is the hours delay that means we are descending into Frankfurt smack bang in the middle of a thunderstorm.
There we are sailing through the massed clouds dodging great flashes of lightening and being buffeted around like a toy in the bath of a rather irritable hyperactive child. This flight just gets better and better.
Following a bizarre approach which felt like we kept slamming the breaks on every thirty seconds we did finally touch down. Once on the ground there was no sign of the rain that had battered us on the way down. In fact the sun was out.
A thankfully brief trip through immigration and customs and I make it into the arrivals lounge. I staggered out dazed into the sunlight only to be greeted by Rebecca telling me that the bus leaves in one minute. Great. Now I'm sprinting through Frankfurt Airport with all my bags flinging children and nuns behind me as we charge towards the bus station. Travelling - dontchya just love it?
The bus journey was less eventful and we were soon home, showered, changed and ready to hit Niederrad. Pausing only to pick up Lloyd as he arrived home from work we headed to the only place to celebrate your arrival in Frankfurt: Escobar!
Now you may remember Escobar from some of my previous tales and it's as good as ever. Obviously the fact that it was happy hour added to the appeal. Two Long Island Iced Teas later and I was feeling much more relaxed about my flight. A table full of tapas didn’t hurt either. And - true to form the wonderful people in Escobar appeared on cue with a round of gratis cocktails to see us on our way. It truly is a place without equal - if you're ever in Frankfurt search it out!!
[My review of Escobar]
As it was a hot evening we decided to decamp to the outdoor seating at another regular haunt - The Sky Lounge. Here we managed to arrive in time for what is described as 'Blue Hour' which seems to be the same as happy hour, just later in the evening. Long Island Iced Tea once more. Oh and then some wine.
Unfortunately they have to close the outdoor area at midnight so we had to shift inside but not before the arrival of two guys (we guessed Japanese tourists) who arrived and plonked themselves down. The waiter kept explaining that they would have to go inside but in response they kept standing up and pointing at the taxi they had jumped out of which seemed to be waiting for them. A taxi pub crawl? Oh the decadence.
As it turned out they were pointing at a young woman who was still in the taxi (hopefully paying the driver) who joined them at their table and looked bored whilst they excitedly and drunkenly talked very loudly with a side serving of gesticulation.
Well blue hour was over so there was only one thing left to do - head home and drink schnapps whilst watching the 1978 TV version of Heidi. The significance of the last part I shall explain at a later date gentle reader...
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If you are walking through residential areas, particularly those filled with apartments, you will regularly see piles of what can only be described as 'junk' just dumped on the pavement.
Now this seems on the face of it decidedly odd for a country where they are so fastidious about their waste disposal and recycling. There is however a reason for this – the local council (or whoever it is looks after these sort of things) run a service whereby they will collect and remove unwanted items of furniture for you. All you need to do is ring them and ask when they are collecting in your area and then simply pile all your unwanted possessions in the street.
Whilst this is a good service it does have the effect of making the place look untidy. What is amusing though (well to me at least) is that once placed on the street it becomes open season on this furniture and people will root through it and drag away any items they like the look of. People will even return with cars to collect stuff they'd seen earlier. This means that by the time the council do eventually arrive most of the stuff has gone.
An ideal way of recycling I suppose.
