Finally boarded our flight to Frankfurt at 8:30am Friday morning. We met with some of our newfound friends at the airport so the wait was not so bad. Once we boarded the flight we realised that this time we had the very first (cattle class) seat, as opposed to the last flight in which we had the very last (number 71).

Breakfast on the plane was a choice of omelette or seafood noodles. Teresa had the noodles… and Michele had two bread rolls with butter. Michele’s personal tv screen was broken so we called for air staff to help. We were left waiting for 20 mins before finally flagging someone down who reset it. Again it didn’t work so after another long wait and having to flag someone down again it was once again reset. We found the lack of service pretty disappointing actually but hopefully this was just a minor set back. After about 5 hours in the air we once again managed to flag down an air hostess and asked when the next meal would be. She told us not for another 5 hours. We were dumbfounded. Teresa explained to her that because of our delay we really hadn’t eaten that much and the lady took pity and snavelled us some pretzels (which were going to be served with drinks in a hour) and some pastries from first class. This then triggered a wave of other people wanting pretzels…and who could blame them really. Michele’s tv screen finally started working about 6 hours into the flight and we just battled it out trying to sleep.

We reached Frankfurt at around 2pm local time. Scott was watching for us and we were all happy to have the family together again. Our hotel was a short train ride away. The weather was drizzly but unseasonably warm at 8 degrees. Scott then walked us to his apartment, only 5 mins from where we are staying, and provided us with amazing nibbles. We began with local brot (bread) with schmaltz (pork fat with fried bacon, apple and red onion), followed by a traditional Polish rye soup, żurek ….it was sour and delicious. All was washed down with German reisling and apfel wein (apple wine). Next stop, Christmas markets!

The markets were brightly lit and packed with people. This was the last night and everybody was getting one last fix of gluwein, a delicious mix of red wine, cloves and spices served warm. We filled our cups and walked around looking at the stalls selling everything from Christmas ornaments to chocolate covered fruit and hot nuts. As we continued to fill our cups and take in the sites, the crowd grew. The gluwein took effect and we may or may not have broken into song a couple of times…Maria Carey would have been proud of our rendition of “All I Want For Christmas”.

On the way back to our hotel we went through the pink Christmas markets, which was the LGBTI version. As you could imagine this was fabulously decorated and lit, with a wonderful atmosphere.

The combination of gluwein and jet lag set in and we retired to our hotel room for our first night in. Guten nacht!