Adventures in Frankfurt

When I booked our flights to Izmir, I found that no airlines flew straight from DFW to Izmir Turkey. Every flight took us through other cities. We chose to fly from DFW to Frankfurt, have a 24 hour layover there, then fly to Munich, and then, to Izmir, then take a bus to Gurre, our final destination.
We were to arrive in Frankfurt Wednesday morning around 9, and leave at 7:45 Thursday morning, which gave us time to actually see some of Frankfurt. We chose to spend the night in a hotel in the airport so that it would be easier to catch our flight on Thursday morning.
Our flight from DFW was as easy as any 10 hour flight could be. I even slept a few hours, which is unusual for me.
When we arrived in Frankfurt, we went immediately to the hotel, and were able to check in, and even get a room early. We put our things up, brushed our teeth, and went out to see the city.
The first step was to go down to the train station, which was connected to the airport. Every major airport should have a train or subway that will take you straight into the nearest city. It is so convenient. Getting our ticket from the machine was a little complicated, since we don't read German, but we managed, and rode the train to the downtown area, got off at the main station, stood in place a few minutes trying to figure out where we should go, then we started walking.
There was a lot to see. Frankfurt is an old city, with many buildings dating from the  medieval period.

We stopped for a traditional German lunch, then walked some more. Eventually we decided to buy tickets to ride the City Tour Hop on Hop Off Bus. We hopped on and rode the entire loop, then rode to the river area and hopped off. We walked along the beautiful river park where crowds of people were enjoying the beautiful warm day. (We were NOT dressed for beautiful warm weather. It was chilly when we left Ft. Worth and we expected it to be cooler in Germany. We were uncomfortably warm in slacks and sweaters.)

After a while, we decide to hop on the bus and ride back to the train station. We waited for 30 minutes at one stop, then walked a few blocks to another stop. After waiting another 30 minutes, we decided to begin walking toward the central city area and watch for the bus. We never saw the bus. We had to walk a couple of miles to a train station, wearing winter clothes and carrying sweaters. Really not fun. We finally got to a station, decided which ticket to buy to go back to the airport, and joined the mob downstairs waiting for the train. We stood in confusion for a while, decided we were on the wrong side, went back upstairs, and down to the other side. Les found someone who looked like might possibly speak English and asked her which train to take to the airport. With that information, we hopped on the next train, which was the right train, but going the wrong direction. We rode the train about 30 miles to the end of the line in the countryside.

Last stop on the Frankfurt train system.

We  sat for 20 minutes, and rode it back where we started, then on to the airport. It was after 8pm and we were really hungry, but did not dare stop anywhere to get food. We got back safely to the hotel and ate in the hotel restaurant, something that we never do. Why would we eat at a Hilton Hotel instead of authentic German food while in Germany!!! But, this time, we didn't dare step outside the hotel.
We rose early the next morning and went straight to the airport. Their security is much more organized than DFW, and stricter. Each individual is directed to the next open line. I went to line 10, Les went to line 2. I had his bag, with his carry on bag of liquids, and my liquids in my personal bag, which meant I had my small bag with 5 items, and his gallon bag full of liquids (because someone told him they had changed the rule about liquids). When I went through the screen, I was selected to be patted down. I have never been patted down before, and I don't know why I was this time, but it was not pleasant, although they did have a woman do it. Then, I walked through and saw a man holding the tubs with my things. OOPS! I smiled and walked over. He told me that I was only allowed one bag of liquids. I told him that I had my husbands bag and his liquids as well as mine. I think he believed me because of the contents. He said he understood. He said that I also had too many liquids, but that they were all ok, except the full size toothpaste, which was not allowed and would have to be thrown away. I said that I told my husband it was too big. The nice man said that it was fine, because I smiled and was nice, that some people make his job hard because they are not nice, but I made his job easy. And with that, we left Frankfurt and headed for Munich.