Frankfurt

Well we are not quite finished with our holiday apparently. We get up at 5:00 am and take a cab to the airport. We arrive in lots of time as the streets are empty this early in the morning.

We wait for our flight & we hear Italian Air talking about a flight delay to Frankfurt. Eventually we have someone come to our gate and we find out that there is fog in Frankfurt and we are going nowhere for a while.
After 30 mins. we are allowed to board but we are sitting on the tarmac and not going anywhere. They serve juice and tell us not to ask them about connecting flights. Okay. People from all over the world seem to make Frankfurt the hub to their destination. There are people going to Bahrain, Washington DC, South America.

We finally arrive at Frankfurt 2 hours late and we are told before we disembark that we should contact a Lufthansa agent on arrival. There were 17 of us on our flight connecting to Vancouver. Much to our relief there is not another flight to Vancouver till tomorrow. We are given a voucher for a hotel room & 2 meals near the airport. The rule is 8 hours or more before compensation.
We find out later from Dan that the flight we should have been on came into Vancouver 2 hours late. It must have left just minutes before we landed. It is a good thing that we missed it at that point because it would have made for an exhausting race to another terminal to make the flight.
We are given overnight emergency packs at the airport with a T-shirt, toiletries, essentials in a bag. Some of the folks have sent all their luggage through and we are not going to see it again until Vancouver. I tried to check my second bag in Rome but I was only allowed to check one bag so it was hauled on board with me. I was carrying my laptop and camera in my purse and thought that I would have no need of the rest of my things. It was sure nice to have my nightie and stuff with me.
We met a lovely lady from North Delta who was on her own & was a little nervous so she stayed with us while we rebooked our flights , collected our vouchers & found the shuttle. So we are now "3 Grannys". The airport is very large & can be very intimidating if you are alone. We sent off messages to tell our families what happened & head for the bar yeah German beer! We chat with Deanna about our trips and what we had done before going for dinner. It is now 6:00 pm & we thought we might grab a cab and go into Frankfurt but we realize it is Saturday and the stores will be closing soon. The cost for the cab will be 60 euros return so that puts a damper on that plan. We are given vouchers for dinner and breakfast and they have a large smorgasbord to choose from and we enjoy the selection. It is nice to have meat & vegetables.
Sunday
Well we are sitting waiting for 11:00 to roll around and we will head out to the shuttle again. We only have to be there 1 ½ hours ahead so we don’t have to spend 3 hours hanging around the airport. Wifi is 4.50 euros an hour at the hotel so we use it a couple of times and wait to use free wifi at the airport.
Okay so the latest update is that there is no free wifi at the airport in Frankfurt. We arrived in good time at the airport but security here is wicked. It takes forever to make it through all the lineups and are they ever particular. We find that our gate has been moved and settle in to wait to board our plane. The crowd starts to swell and then we start hear other airlines talking about overbooking. Here we go again. Our flight is overbooked and 24 of us are going to miss our flight and guess who that includes.
The good thing is they are going to pay for our hotel & meals again and the best part is they will reimburse us to the tune of 600 euros each. Holy smoke. Apparently that is the law in Germany. Chris gets bumped & Lyn gives up her seat. You can't separate the Grannies!! So we wait to do the paper work. The plane then has to take off all our luggage before they can leave. Then just as they are ready to go and now over an hour late a passenger gets the heebee geebies and insists on disembarking. Now they have to take his luggage off. Now they are more than 2 hours late. We are glad we didn't get on that flight. It takes awhile for the paperwork , then up stairs to stand in another lineup for our money & this one is long but we keep saying 600 euros. Suck it up Princess!!! Talk to a lot of other travellers in line waving their vouchers & everyone has a big grin.
We arrive at a different hotel which is very nice. And now that we are carrying cash & feeling pretty rich we decide that we are going to have a nice dinner after all & call a cab and head into Frankfurt. We go to Romberg which is a small square in town, cobble stoned & surrounded with old buildings. This has been recreated because the originals were bombed in the war. The tourist area is still half open so we have a wander around and go look at the river. It is so pretty and calm after Italy. The weather is chilly but clear. We bought a few more souvenirs & then to dinner at Restaurant "Schwarzer Stern" this restaurant dates back to the 1453. Chris had beef fillet in truffle cream sauce & Lyn lamb fillet in wine sauce finished with apple strudel & ice cream, the best meal we have had since we left Canada. Thanks Lufthansa!
Back to the airport tomorrow. Lyn is going to sell her seat again if she can. The wages are good but the job description is kind of loose. She likes the hotels no cooking. Wish us luck. Chris is arriving Monday Who knows when Lyn is coming home.
Well we both arrived home Monday. Lyn has to look for another job.

Travel Tip:
If you have only a short time in  Frankfurt  visit Romberg.