// we walked to our trusty beer house and had a leisurely lunch
// look! it was blossom season over there too!
Showing posts with label frankfurt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frankfurt. Show all posts
4.06.2012
day 038
this time, we got smart and stayed in darmstadt. it was only slightly better, but whatevs. it was only for another day or two.
// we walked to our trusty beer house and had a leisurely lunch
// look! it was blossom season over there too!
// we walked to our trusty beer house and had a leisurely lunch
// look! it was blossom season over there too!
4.05.2012
day 037
we took a train from brussels to frankfurt and hung out for the day
// duck, duck, goose! ... eggs at kleinmarkthalle: easter, goose, duck, turkey, quail and chicken
// being silly in front of super pretty doors
// being stinky during a break from exploring
// proper dinner at zum gemalten haus
// duck, duck, goose! ... eggs at kleinmarkthalle: easter, goose, duck, turkey, quail and chicken
// being silly in front of super pretty doors
// being stinky during a break from exploring
// proper dinner at zum gemalten haus
3.20.2012
day 021
// someone is ecstatic that we are leaving griesheim
// we pass town after town (each with a church) along our train rides to bonn airport
// and many vineyards (riesling, so close yet so far)
3.19.2012
day 020
// breakfast in griesheim. surprisingly very good.
// doing laundry in darmstadt (one town over), because griesheim does not have a laundromat
// our solace for the day: delicious german bar food and beerz
3.18.2012
day 019
this was a total travel day, beginning at 3:30AM in osaka ... in case you want to rehash the details, take a look here (click)
// bob couldn't decide between eastern or western breakfast, so he had one of each
// when in tokyo (stopover between osaka and frankfurt) ... tokyo banana!
// doner kebab for dinner in griesheim
kind of a boring day, but we all have one of those now and again, don't we
// bob couldn't decide between eastern or western breakfast, so he had one of each
// when in tokyo (stopover between osaka and frankfurt) ... tokyo banana!
// doner kebab for dinner in griesheim
kind of a boring day, but we all have one of those now and again, don't we
6.14.2011
frankfurt: one day in pictures
getting sucked back in to visiting frankfurt again ...
glossy easter eggs
bärlauch, wild garlic, ramps, ramson ...
the colorful market
our entertainment for a few minutes
old town
glossy easter eggs
bärlauch, wild garlic, ramps, ramson ...
the colorful market
our entertainment for a few minutes
old town
4.20.2011
leaving our happy place ... for another!
ok, that should be enough reminiscing about japan for the moment. we left japan about a month ago, and have been traveling throughout some of europe since then.
we arrived in copenhagen thursday afternoon and have settled into our super cute apartment. we'll be here until the end of may, so it was so nice to actually be able to completely unpack our suitcases and put everything into drawers and closets. no more having to pick up a new language each week and having to familiarize ourselves with a new city/transit layout, at least for the next six weeks.
here's a peek at our cute apartment: the living/dining room with balcony, bedroom (we have since added blackout shades so we can get some decent sleep), and view from the balcony (shopping center across the street)
anyway, our first stop in europe was frankfurt, mainly because it's a hub city on the oneworld network. and since we had to find a hotel at the very last minute and at a decent rate, we ended up staying in the nearby suburb of griesheim. i mentioned it before, and will reiterate now, don't stay there. avoid it. the only redeeming part of griesheim was a pretty decent doner kebab shop. well, that and it's near darmstadt, which is slightly better.
our second pass through the frankfurt area led us back to darmstadt. for some reason, rates at any decent hotel in frankfurt proper were unbelievably high, so again, we had to stay in the burbs.
highlights . . .
our favorite restaurant brewery, ratskeller in darmstadt. we liked it enough to go back a second time.
hanging out in the nearby theater plaza after beer.
discovering a street food market in the red light district of frankfurt after a hotel strongly suggested we avoid the area.
having dinner at zum gemalten haus with a mix of frankfurt locals and tourists.
jumping for joy with the anticipation of leaving frankfurt!
really, don't think we'll be going back to frankfurt by choice. we originally planned on being in germany to do some wine tasting, but the wineries said it was a bad time. perhaps we'll try again in june. but no more frankfurt!
we arrived in copenhagen thursday afternoon and have settled into our super cute apartment. we'll be here until the end of may, so it was so nice to actually be able to completely unpack our suitcases and put everything into drawers and closets. no more having to pick up a new language each week and having to familiarize ourselves with a new city/transit layout, at least for the next six weeks.
here's a peek at our cute apartment: the living/dining room with balcony, bedroom (we have since added blackout shades so we can get some decent sleep), and view from the balcony (shopping center across the street)
anyway, our first stop in europe was frankfurt, mainly because it's a hub city on the oneworld network. and since we had to find a hotel at the very last minute and at a decent rate, we ended up staying in the nearby suburb of griesheim. i mentioned it before, and will reiterate now, don't stay there. avoid it. the only redeeming part of griesheim was a pretty decent doner kebab shop. well, that and it's near darmstadt, which is slightly better.
our second pass through the frankfurt area led us back to darmstadt. for some reason, rates at any decent hotel in frankfurt proper were unbelievably high, so again, we had to stay in the burbs.
highlights . . .
our favorite restaurant brewery, ratskeller in darmstadt. we liked it enough to go back a second time.
hanging out in the nearby theater plaza after beer.
discovering a street food market in the red light district of frankfurt after a hotel strongly suggested we avoid the area.
having dinner at zum gemalten haus with a mix of frankfurt locals and tourists.
jumping for joy with the anticipation of leaving frankfurt!
really, don't think we'll be going back to frankfurt by choice. we originally planned on being in germany to do some wine tasting, but the wineries said it was a bad time. perhaps we'll try again in june. but no more frankfurt!
3.31.2011
In Transit (Unrated Director's cut)
Now that I've had more than a few days of fun under my belt, it's time for me to lash out about my least favorite days on this trip. The trip has been amazing in so many ways, but not so much on days like these. And since Steph did such an awesome job with the timeline, I'll just add a little color commentary. Enjoy!
March 16: Sapporo to Osaka (9.5 hours)
7:00A … Leave the hotel and walk 2 blocks up to Sapporo Station
7:49A … Hop on the 36-minute train to New Chitose Airport
8:25A … Go up 2 flights of escalators to the check-in counter
8:35A … Circle around the central gift area for breakfast and settle on a couple fish cakes
9:??A … Head over to our gate and wait for flight, finally buy the Yoshimi Curry Curry Sticks we'd been seeing everywhere (delicious!) A little light to start the day
10:30A … Flight to Haneda (Tokyo) departs Oddly empty flight...just like the flight in, but who knows, maybe people are just avoiding Tokyo?
12:05P … Arrive at Haneda, pick up bags from baggage claim
12:30P … Head down to Keikyu line for the 25-min ride to Shinagawa
1:00P … Arrive at Shinagawa station and make our way to the Shinkansen area
1:07P … Miss the 1:07P train, pick up some unagidon for the ride Beware that unlike most other rail stations, once you pass the gate here, you only have one option for bento...and they were sold out of almost everything when we got to it.
1:20P … Get in line for the 1:37P Nozomi train, 4th in line
1:37P … Train arrives and it's standing room only, we squeeze in shoulder to shoulder
2.5-hour train ride, standing, within arm's reach of the heavily visited restroom
Eat half the unagidon and pass it to AJ who is about 5 people/7 feet away At least I got to sit on my luggage...Steph was totally squished by the b-room. I wanted to kidney punch anyone who climbed over me (and everyone else) more than once. So looking forward to the shinkansen, but it was like a can of sardines in an 225F oven. One school aged dude in front of me was watching Bieber Music vids on his ipod touch the whole time, while his buddy next to him looked at fetishy girly magazines...Pretty sure you can guess which one disgusted me more [ed: As I write this, Steph just asked me "Are you sighing just at remembering this stuff?]
4:06P … Arrive at Shin-Osaka station, head to Midousuji line
4:26P … Arrive at Hommachi station, walk a long detour and then 4 blocks to the hotel
4:40P … Arrive at hotel
We did not have reservations, because the on-line system wasn't working but we did send them an e-mail request. They hadn't looked at our email but were able to give us a room. Score! Highlight of this stretch was our hotel room...too bad we had to use it to be online the whole time to figure out what to do next
March 18: Osaka to Frankfurt (21 hours)
[ Booked flight and hotel the morning prior ]
3:30A … Wake up, shower, pack and head down to lobby MISERABLE
4:35A … Our taxi is ready to take us to Namba Nankai station, quick drive (trains not running at this hour)
4:50A … Buy tickets and wait on the platform/train for departure Clubbing hoes out in full effect waiting for trains home to start up!
5:15A … Train departs for 43-min ride to Kansai Airport
5:58A … Train arrives, walk across skyway to check-in counter
6:10A … Walk around dining courts and realize shops don't open until 7:00A, sit around no place to nap
7:00A … Windowshop our dining options and decide on one with toast on the menu, last minute purchase of Osaka Mini Choco Banana Kuchen
7:30A … Head into gate area and wait
8:35A … Flight to Narita departs
9:55A … Flight lands, walk over to international terminal, dump our full bottle of shikwasa juice (domestic flights allow full-size bottles of liquids through security) that one was whack, luckily we drank all of the good one.
10:??A … Realize we're in Tokyo and can finally buy some Tokyo Banana! buy 2 kinds: original and kurobe (chocolate), wait around gate area for flight
12:30P … Flight to Frankfurt departs
12.5-hour flight, flying mostly over Russia, watch at least 4 movies in a row I watch Battle Ship Yamamoto (again), and Partners: The Movie 2, she watches stuff with Katherine Heigl, we both watch Morning Glory...Harrison Ford is terrible in that.
4:45P … Land at Frankfurt Main, wait in passport line, wait in baggage claim, grab taxi 20- to 30-minute drive to hotel
5:30P … Check in at hotel in the suburb of Griesheim (don't stay there, just don't do it) Don't be fooled by the nice pictures and seemingly nice accommodations, this is as business as it gets, more expensive than our $30/night place in Sapporo, except the combo soap/shampoo is on dispensers bolted to the walls. Internet is free, but hella slow and only in the lobby, and you have to ask for a new login every hour. Eats are pretty limited and a walk, but a local Doner Kebab saves the evening. Oddly, a super high proportion of italian places in the area (we're not that near the border are we?) plus a Thai buffet that looked oh so tempting... We wanted to do laundry, but there are no facilities in the area...to do it we took a tram ride into the city (15min) plus hiked another 35 min to a laundry. It's right next to a super discount grocery store and chinese restaurant that wasn't open. Nothing else in the area. If you ever get stuck there, maybe the russian deli would be a better option? After laundry, wanted to mail some heavy ass books home...but we missed the post office by 30 min. Boo. My hand will continue to be cut by the bag, and I'll have to carry that shit for a few more days. One consolation is that we hit up the local brew house for some delicious beers and tasty meatz.
March 20: Griesheim to Milan (13 hours)
8:53A … Get to tram platform one block away from the hotel I wanted to print out our train tickets, since there are clear instructions to do so on the ticket itself. Ask the front desk at this "business" hotel if we could print out our ticket. Clerk, with laserjet printer directly behind her says, "sorry, that is not possible, we are only allowed to print out our own stuff, and there is no printer available for the guests. However, please let me see your ticket? *I show her the .pdf*, Ah, yes, you should be fine, you can print out these tickets at the station. I've done so myself. "Okay", I say...and off we go!
9:02A … Tram arrives to bring us close to Darmstadt Hbf station, walk a couple blocks to actual station
9:19A … Get train tickets to Frankfurt Hbf
9:30A … Train to Frankfurt leaves (had planned on taking the 10:30A train, but wanted to get out of Griesheim asap)
9:48A … Arrive at Frankfurt
Ask ticket counter to print our ticket for us. It is against their policy and they suggest an internet cafe at the end of the station. Instead, we walk to a nice-looking hotel across the street and they happily allow us to use their printer. Then back to the station. LYING BITCH! Our hotel couldn't possibly print our ticket for us, yet this random ass hotel right next to the station so kindly lets us print it out...doesn't ask for a charge, and they even ask if we'd like to use their internet for free. Umm, we're staying there next time.
Walk around, check where our platform is, look for lunch
10:15A … Sit down for lunch of bratwurts
10:45A … Get a couple seats at Starbucks and enjoy the 2 hours of free wifi The most productive 2 hours online in the past 2 days. Speed and reliability = less headaches. Props to Starbuxo!
12:42P … Scheduled departure time for our train
12:52P … Actual departure time for our train (10 minutes late) And so the dominoes start to fall.
1:15P … Scheduled arrival time at Mainz Hbf
1:20P … Departure time of next connecting train
1:35P … Actual arrival time at Mainz (20 minutes late)
1:40P … Catch later train at Mainz (20 minutes later)
2:10P … Scheduled arrival in Koblenz Hbf
2:16P … Scheduled train from Koblenz
2:35P … Actual arrival at Koblenz
3:16P … Catch later train from Koblenz to Bonn Hbf (1 hour later) Ugh, what happened to German reliability?
3:59P … Arrive at Bonn Hbf, take overpriced taxi instead of bothering with bus (at this point, who knows if they're reliable?!), 20- to 30-minute ride
4:30Pish … Walk back almost the full length of the terminal because the cab driver missed our airline stop Die, Allied Schweinehund!, check in, go through security, wait at gate
6:25P … Flight departs Eva, auf Wiedersehen!
8:00P … Flight lands and the cabin erupts in applause, head to baggage claim, follow signs to the Malpensa Express, wait in line to purchase tickets, get on train
8:33P … Train departs, direct transit to Cadorna station in Milan
9:02P … Train arrives at Cadorna, make our way to the Metro portion of the station, figure out how to buy tickets, get on train to get 2 stations away
10:00ish … Find and check in at hotel after initially walking in the opposite direction of the hotel (difficult to navigate when you're tired and it's pitch dark out in an unfamiliar city) Fortunately, our room was a lovely oasis. Comfy bed, large bathroom, wifi (not free, but good signal) and switches for everything including the window curtains. Ahhhh
March 16: Sapporo to Osaka (9.5 hours)
7:00A … Leave the hotel and walk 2 blocks up to Sapporo Station
7:49A … Hop on the 36-minute train to New Chitose Airport
8:25A … Go up 2 flights of escalators to the check-in counter
8:35A … Circle around the central gift area for breakfast and settle on a couple fish cakes
9:??A … Head over to our gate and wait for flight, finally buy the Yoshimi Curry Curry Sticks we'd been seeing everywhere (delicious!) A little light to start the day
10:30A … Flight to Haneda (Tokyo) departs Oddly empty flight...just like the flight in, but who knows, maybe people are just avoiding Tokyo?
12:05P … Arrive at Haneda, pick up bags from baggage claim
12:30P … Head down to Keikyu line for the 25-min ride to Shinagawa
1:00P … Arrive at Shinagawa station and make our way to the Shinkansen area
1:07P … Miss the 1:07P train, pick up some unagidon for the ride Beware that unlike most other rail stations, once you pass the gate here, you only have one option for bento...and they were sold out of almost everything when we got to it.
1:20P … Get in line for the 1:37P Nozomi train, 4th in line
1:37P … Train arrives and it's standing room only, we squeeze in shoulder to shoulder
2.5-hour train ride, standing, within arm's reach of the heavily visited restroom
Eat half the unagidon and pass it to AJ who is about 5 people/7 feet away At least I got to sit on my luggage...Steph was totally squished by the b-room. I wanted to kidney punch anyone who climbed over me (and everyone else) more than once. So looking forward to the shinkansen, but it was like a can of sardines in an 225F oven. One school aged dude in front of me was watching Bieber Music vids on his ipod touch the whole time, while his buddy next to him looked at fetishy girly magazines...Pretty sure you can guess which one disgusted me more [ed: As I write this, Steph just asked me "Are you sighing just at remembering this stuff?]
4:06P … Arrive at Shin-Osaka station, head to Midousuji line
4:26P … Arrive at Hommachi station, walk a long detour and then 4 blocks to the hotel
4:40P … Arrive at hotel
We did not have reservations, because the on-line system wasn't working but we did send them an e-mail request. They hadn't looked at our email but were able to give us a room. Score! Highlight of this stretch was our hotel room...too bad we had to use it to be online the whole time to figure out what to do next
March 18: Osaka to Frankfurt (21 hours)
[ Booked flight and hotel the morning prior ]
3:30A … Wake up, shower, pack and head down to lobby MISERABLE
4:35A … Our taxi is ready to take us to Namba Nankai station, quick drive (trains not running at this hour)
4:50A … Buy tickets and wait on the platform/train for departure Clubbing hoes out in full effect waiting for trains home to start up!
5:15A … Train departs for 43-min ride to Kansai Airport
5:58A … Train arrives, walk across skyway to check-in counter
6:10A … Walk around dining courts and realize shops don't open until 7:00A, sit around no place to nap
7:00A … Windowshop our dining options and decide on one with toast on the menu, last minute purchase of Osaka Mini Choco Banana Kuchen
7:30A … Head into gate area and wait
8:35A … Flight to Narita departs
9:55A … Flight lands, walk over to international terminal, dump our full bottle of shikwasa juice (domestic flights allow full-size bottles of liquids through security) that one was whack, luckily we drank all of the good one.
10:??A … Realize we're in Tokyo and can finally buy some Tokyo Banana! buy 2 kinds: original and kurobe (chocolate), wait around gate area for flight
12:30P … Flight to Frankfurt departs
12.5-hour flight, flying mostly over Russia, watch at least 4 movies in a row I watch Battle Ship Yamamoto (again), and Partners: The Movie 2, she watches stuff with Katherine Heigl, we both watch Morning Glory...Harrison Ford is terrible in that.
4:45P … Land at Frankfurt Main, wait in passport line, wait in baggage claim, grab taxi 20- to 30-minute drive to hotel
5:30P … Check in at hotel in the suburb of Griesheim (don't stay there, just don't do it) Don't be fooled by the nice pictures and seemingly nice accommodations, this is as business as it gets, more expensive than our $30/night place in Sapporo, except the combo soap/shampoo is on dispensers bolted to the walls. Internet is free, but hella slow and only in the lobby, and you have to ask for a new login every hour. Eats are pretty limited and a walk, but a local Doner Kebab saves the evening. Oddly, a super high proportion of italian places in the area (we're not that near the border are we?) plus a Thai buffet that looked oh so tempting... We wanted to do laundry, but there are no facilities in the area...to do it we took a tram ride into the city (15min) plus hiked another 35 min to a laundry. It's right next to a super discount grocery store and chinese restaurant that wasn't open. Nothing else in the area. If you ever get stuck there, maybe the russian deli would be a better option? After laundry, wanted to mail some heavy ass books home...but we missed the post office by 30 min. Boo. My hand will continue to be cut by the bag, and I'll have to carry that shit for a few more days. One consolation is that we hit up the local brew house for some delicious beers and tasty meatz.
March 20: Griesheim to Milan (13 hours)
8:53A … Get to tram platform one block away from the hotel I wanted to print out our train tickets, since there are clear instructions to do so on the ticket itself. Ask the front desk at this "business" hotel if we could print out our ticket. Clerk, with laserjet printer directly behind her says, "sorry, that is not possible, we are only allowed to print out our own stuff, and there is no printer available for the guests. However, please let me see your ticket? *I show her the .pdf*, Ah, yes, you should be fine, you can print out these tickets at the station. I've done so myself. "Okay", I say...and off we go!
9:02A … Tram arrives to bring us close to Darmstadt Hbf station, walk a couple blocks to actual station
9:19A … Get train tickets to Frankfurt Hbf
9:30A … Train to Frankfurt leaves (had planned on taking the 10:30A train, but wanted to get out of Griesheim asap)
9:48A … Arrive at Frankfurt
Ask ticket counter to print our ticket for us. It is against their policy and they suggest an internet cafe at the end of the station. Instead, we walk to a nice-looking hotel across the street and they happily allow us to use their printer. Then back to the station. LYING BITCH! Our hotel couldn't possibly print our ticket for us, yet this random ass hotel right next to the station so kindly lets us print it out...doesn't ask for a charge, and they even ask if we'd like to use their internet for free. Umm, we're staying there next time.
Walk around, check where our platform is, look for lunch
10:15A … Sit down for lunch of bratwurts
10:45A … Get a couple seats at Starbucks and enjoy the 2 hours of free wifi The most productive 2 hours online in the past 2 days. Speed and reliability = less headaches. Props to Starbuxo!
12:42P … Scheduled departure time for our train
12:52P … Actual departure time for our train (10 minutes late) And so the dominoes start to fall.
1:15P … Scheduled arrival time at Mainz Hbf
1:20P … Departure time of next connecting train
1:35P … Actual arrival time at Mainz (20 minutes late)
1:40P … Catch later train at Mainz (20 minutes later)
2:10P … Scheduled arrival in Koblenz Hbf
2:16P … Scheduled train from Koblenz
2:35P … Actual arrival at Koblenz
3:16P … Catch later train from Koblenz to Bonn Hbf (1 hour later) Ugh, what happened to German reliability?
3:59P … Arrive at Bonn Hbf, take overpriced taxi instead of bothering with bus (at this point, who knows if they're reliable?!), 20- to 30-minute ride
4:30Pish … Walk back almost the full length of the terminal because the cab driver missed our airline stop Die, Allied Schweinehund!, check in, go through security, wait at gate
6:25P … Flight departs Eva, auf Wiedersehen!
8:00P … Flight lands and the cabin erupts in applause, head to baggage claim, follow signs to the Malpensa Express, wait in line to purchase tickets, get on train
8:33P … Train departs, direct transit to Cadorna station in Milan
9:02P … Train arrives at Cadorna, make our way to the Metro portion of the station, figure out how to buy tickets, get on train to get 2 stations away
10:00ish … Find and check in at hotel after initially walking in the opposite direction of the hotel (difficult to navigate when you're tired and it's pitch dark out in an unfamiliar city) Fortunately, our room was a lovely oasis. Comfy bed, large bathroom, wifi (not free, but good signal) and switches for everything including the window curtains. Ahhhh
3.26.2011
In Transit
You know how during job interviews or small talk, people usually ask what you like to do? Well, I usually respond that I like to travel. And what do you know, I've been mistaken the whole time … Traveling is not fun, especially when you do it for 3 long days within a 5-day span. So correction, I like to discover and enjoy other interesting cities. Please let me know when someone figures out the whole teleporting thing.
March 16: Sapporo to Osaka (9.5 hours)
7:00A … Leave the hotel and walk 2 blocks up to Sapporo Station
7:49A … Hop on the 36-minute train to New Chitose Airport
8:25A … Go up 2 flights of escalators to the check-in counter
8:35A … Circle around the central gift area for breakfast and settle on a couple fish cakes
9:??A … Head over to our gate and wait for flight, finally buy the Yoshimi Curry Curry Sticks we'd been seeing everywhere (delicious!)
10:30A … Flight to Haneda (Tokyo) departs
12:05P … Arrive at Haneda, pick up bags from baggage claim
12:30P … Head down to Keikyu line for the 25-min ride to Shinagawa
1:00P … Arrive at Shinagawa station and make our way to the Shinkansen area
1:07P … Miss the 1:07P train, pick up some unagidon for the ride
1:20P … Get in line for the 1:37P Nozomi train, 4th in line
1:37P … Train arrives and it's standing room only, we squeeze in shoulder to shoulder
2.5-hour train ride, standing, within arm's reach of the heavily visited restroom
Eat half the unagidon and pass it to AJ who is about 5 people/7 feet away
4:06P … Arrive at Shin-Osaka station, head to Midousuji line
4:26P … Arrive at Hommachi station, walk a long detour and then 4 blocks to the hotel
4:40P … Arrive at hotel
We did not have reservations, because the on-line system wasn't working but we did send them an e-mail request. They hadn't looked at our email but were able to give us a room. Score!
March 18: Osaka to Frankfurt (21 hours)
[ Booked flight and hotel the morning prior ]
3:30A … Wake up, shower, pack and head down to lobby
4:35A … Our taxi is ready to take us to Namba Nankai station, quick drive (trains not running at this hour)
4:50A … Buy tickets and wait on the platform/train for departure
5:15A … Train departs for 43-min ride to Kansai Airport
5:58A … Train arrives, walk across skyway to check-in counter
6:10A … Walk around dining courts and realize shops don't open until 7:00A, sit around
7:00A … Windowshop our dining options and decide on one with toast on the menu, last minute purchase of Osaka Mini Choco Banana Kuchen
7:30A … Head into gate area and wait
8:35A … Flight to Narita departs
9:55A … Flight lands, walk over to international terminal, dump our full bottle of shikwasa juice (domestic flights allow full-size bottles of liquids through security)
10:??A … Realize we're in Tokyo and can finally buy some Tokyo Banana! buy 2 kinds: original and kurobe (chocolate), wait around gate area for flight
12:30P … Flight to Frankfurt departs
12.5-hour flight, flying mostly over Russia, watch at least 4 movies in a row
4:45P … Land at Frankfurt Main, wait in passport line, wait in baggage claim, grab taxi 20- to 30-minute drive to hotel
5:30P … Check in at hotel in the suburb of Griesheim (don't stay there, just don't do it)
March 20: Griesheim to Milan (13 hours)
8:53A … Get to tram platform one block away from the hotel
9:02A … Tram arrives to bring us close to Darmstadt Hbf station, walk a couple blocks to actual station
9:19A … Get train tickets to Frankfurt Hbf
9:30A … Train to Frankfurt leaves (had planned on taking the 10:30A train, but wanted to get out of Griesheim asap)
9:48A … Arrive at Frankfurt
Ask ticket counter to print our ticket for us. It is against their policy and they suggest an internet cafe at the end of the station. Instead, we walk to a nice-looking hotel across the street and they happily allow us to use their printer. Then back to the station.
Walk around, check where our platform is, look for lunch
10:15A … Sit down for lunch of bratwurts
10:45A … Get a couple seats at Starbucks and enjoy the 2 hours of free wifi
12:42P … Scheduled departure time for our train
12:52P … Actual departure time for our train (10 minutes late)
1:15P … Scheduled arrival time at Mainz Hbf
1:20P … Departure time of next connecting train
1:35P … Actual arrival time at Mainz (20 minutes late)
1:40P … Catch later train at Mainz (20 minutes later)
2:10P … Scheduled arrival in Koblenz Hbf
2:16P … Scheduled train from Koblenz
2:35P … Actual arrival at Koblenz
3:16P … Catch later train from Koblenz to Bonn Hbf (1 hour later)
3:59P … Arrive at Bonn Hbf, take overpriced taxi instead of bothering with bus (at this point, who knows if they're reliable?!), 20- to 30-minute ride
4:30Pish … Walk back almost the full length of the terminal because the cab driver missed our airline stop, check in, go through security, wait at gate
6:25P … Flight departs
8:00P … Flight lands and the cabin erupts in applause, head to baggage claim, follow signs to the Malpensa Express, wait in line to purchase tickets, get on train
8:33P … Train departs, direct transit to Cadorna station in Milan
9:02P … Train arrives at Cadorna, make our way to the Metro portion of the station, figure out how to buy tickets, get on train to get 2 stations away
10:00ish … Find and check in at hotel after initially walking in the opposite direction of the hotel (difficult to navigate when you're tired and it's pitch dark out in an unfamiliar city) Fortunately, our room was a lovely oasis. Comfy bed, large bathroom, wifi (not free, but good signal) and switches for everything including the window curtains.
March 16: Sapporo to Osaka (9.5 hours)
7:00A … Leave the hotel and walk 2 blocks up to Sapporo Station
7:49A … Hop on the 36-minute train to New Chitose Airport
8:25A … Go up 2 flights of escalators to the check-in counter
8:35A … Circle around the central gift area for breakfast and settle on a couple fish cakes
9:??A … Head over to our gate and wait for flight, finally buy the Yoshimi Curry Curry Sticks we'd been seeing everywhere (delicious!)
10:30A … Flight to Haneda (Tokyo) departs
12:05P … Arrive at Haneda, pick up bags from baggage claim
12:30P … Head down to Keikyu line for the 25-min ride to Shinagawa
1:00P … Arrive at Shinagawa station and make our way to the Shinkansen area
1:07P … Miss the 1:07P train, pick up some unagidon for the ride
1:20P … Get in line for the 1:37P Nozomi train, 4th in line
1:37P … Train arrives and it's standing room only, we squeeze in shoulder to shoulder
2.5-hour train ride, standing, within arm's reach of the heavily visited restroom
Eat half the unagidon and pass it to AJ who is about 5 people/7 feet away
4:06P … Arrive at Shin-Osaka station, head to Midousuji line
4:26P … Arrive at Hommachi station, walk a long detour and then 4 blocks to the hotel
4:40P … Arrive at hotel
We did not have reservations, because the on-line system wasn't working but we did send them an e-mail request. They hadn't looked at our email but were able to give us a room. Score!
March 18: Osaka to Frankfurt (21 hours)
[ Booked flight and hotel the morning prior ]
3:30A … Wake up, shower, pack and head down to lobby
4:35A … Our taxi is ready to take us to Namba Nankai station, quick drive (trains not running at this hour)
4:50A … Buy tickets and wait on the platform/train for departure
5:15A … Train departs for 43-min ride to Kansai Airport
5:58A … Train arrives, walk across skyway to check-in counter
6:10A … Walk around dining courts and realize shops don't open until 7:00A, sit around
7:00A … Windowshop our dining options and decide on one with toast on the menu, last minute purchase of Osaka Mini Choco Banana Kuchen
7:30A … Head into gate area and wait
8:35A … Flight to Narita departs
9:55A … Flight lands, walk over to international terminal, dump our full bottle of shikwasa juice (domestic flights allow full-size bottles of liquids through security)
10:??A … Realize we're in Tokyo and can finally buy some Tokyo Banana! buy 2 kinds: original and kurobe (chocolate), wait around gate area for flight
12:30P … Flight to Frankfurt departs
12.5-hour flight, flying mostly over Russia, watch at least 4 movies in a row
4:45P … Land at Frankfurt Main, wait in passport line, wait in baggage claim, grab taxi 20- to 30-minute drive to hotel
5:30P … Check in at hotel in the suburb of Griesheim (don't stay there, just don't do it)
March 20: Griesheim to Milan (13 hours)
8:53A … Get to tram platform one block away from the hotel
9:02A … Tram arrives to bring us close to Darmstadt Hbf station, walk a couple blocks to actual station
9:19A … Get train tickets to Frankfurt Hbf
9:30A … Train to Frankfurt leaves (had planned on taking the 10:30A train, but wanted to get out of Griesheim asap)
9:48A … Arrive at Frankfurt
Ask ticket counter to print our ticket for us. It is against their policy and they suggest an internet cafe at the end of the station. Instead, we walk to a nice-looking hotel across the street and they happily allow us to use their printer. Then back to the station.
Walk around, check where our platform is, look for lunch
10:15A … Sit down for lunch of bratwurts
10:45A … Get a couple seats at Starbucks and enjoy the 2 hours of free wifi
12:42P … Scheduled departure time for our train
12:52P … Actual departure time for our train (10 minutes late)
1:15P … Scheduled arrival time at Mainz Hbf
1:20P … Departure time of next connecting train
1:35P … Actual arrival time at Mainz (20 minutes late)
1:40P … Catch later train at Mainz (20 minutes later)
2:10P … Scheduled arrival in Koblenz Hbf
2:16P … Scheduled train from Koblenz
2:35P … Actual arrival at Koblenz
3:16P … Catch later train from Koblenz to Bonn Hbf (1 hour later)
3:59P … Arrive at Bonn Hbf, take overpriced taxi instead of bothering with bus (at this point, who knows if they're reliable?!), 20- to 30-minute ride
4:30Pish … Walk back almost the full length of the terminal because the cab driver missed our airline stop, check in, go through security, wait at gate
6:25P … Flight departs
8:00P … Flight lands and the cabin erupts in applause, head to baggage claim, follow signs to the Malpensa Express, wait in line to purchase tickets, get on train
8:33P … Train departs, direct transit to Cadorna station in Milan
9:02P … Train arrives at Cadorna, make our way to the Metro portion of the station, figure out how to buy tickets, get on train to get 2 stations away
10:00ish … Find and check in at hotel after initially walking in the opposite direction of the hotel (difficult to navigate when you're tired and it's pitch dark out in an unfamiliar city) Fortunately, our room was a lovely oasis. Comfy bed, large bathroom, wifi (not free, but good signal) and switches for everything including the window curtains.
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