A Frankfurter At Frankfurt Airport .!!

I reached the IGI Airport at 11 pm .Delhi was getting a bit nippy ,and I had a jacket over the T shirt that I wore .When I reached  ,I was informed that the flight was delayed by 2 hours ,which meant that I would be leaving Delhi at 4.30 am instead of the scheduled time of 2.25 .I checked in ,got my boarding pass ,and strolled through the duty free shops at the airport (I must confess that the international airport in Delhi is very very well stocked and impressive ).I also had a cup of coffee for which I paid 210 rupees .I dabbled with my ipad ,wrote few messages ,exchanged bbms with my son ,and slept off with both the alarms of my cell phones on for 3.30 am ..At the airport ,you have these big curvy seats on which you can lie down with points for your internet connectivity .I did exactly that .

I was carrying a lot of woolens with me .Infact they had been thrust upon me by my sister Kusum who is a old New York hand .She goes in and out of that city and its like her second home .I had resisted her attempts to push a overcoat,a fluffy wind cheater ,a pair of gloves ,a warm cap ,and a pair of boots which had woolen inner linings on them .

“Kullu ,you fool ,you don’t know what you are in for .The winds are icy ,and you might even get snow .You will need them .”

“But Kusum ,I have checked the temperatures at around this time of the year .Does not look all that bad”.I had said .  “Its going to add to my baggage weight “.

“Leave them behind with Shruti in New York .I am going there on the 18^th of December .”,she had reasoned .”You will remember me ,I promise”, she had said as she packed  the stuff into my bag .!!

I left Delhi by a Lufthansa Airline double decker flight .It was roomy ,and it was wonderfully comfortable .The German Air hostesses  were pretty ,and vivacious .I settled down on my window seat ,from where I would take pictures of the places I flew over .It was dark when we took off –we flew over the Punjab,over Afghanistan and as the dawn broke we flew over the Caspian sea We flew over Drozny  which had been so much in the news during the nineties and early 21^st century because of its fight for independence  from Russia .The mountains around it were covered with snow –proving the fact why it was so difficult for the Russians to subjugate the area into submission.We flew over the Caucasian Mountains which were snow clad .We even flew over Mt Elbrus ,the highest mountain peak  in Europe (no –it is not Mt Blanc !).We flew over the Czech Republic which appeared to be covered in snow (see the photos),we flew over Karlovy Vary which is a very pretty town of  which Sangeeta ,Pratique and me have fond memories , having visited it about 5 years back .Infact Karlovy Vary is also famous for a Internationational Film Festival ,which may not be as “branded”  as the Cannes Film Festival –but certainly in the top bracket .

Karlovy Vary From The Air .

And then we flew over Frankfurt .All of a sudden ,there was a  splash of colour –the fields from the air were as if they were patterns of “Rangoli”.It was a fabulous sight ,as  clicked away furiously .The river Main cuts Frankfurt into two halves(the city is called Frankfurt am Main-Frankfurt on Main river .!!) and the buildings and the trees started to get bigger and bigger as we descended over the pretty German town .The Aircraft touched down  softly and as we made our exit ,the aircrew were there to bid us goodbye –with a Toblerone chocolate as a parting gift .!!It was a wonderful gesture and I stood for 5 seconds and told them how nice and hospitable they had been .The food was fabulous ,the drinks were on demand and the warm lavender scented  towels freshened me up whenever I felt a bit drowsy .Infact ,I kept asking them many times for the towels ,which I would swab over my face and eyes  and then apply a bit of Brut Cream .!!It made me feel as if I was going for a party .!

Frankfurt from The Air !!

I made my way through the vestibule , into the Airport .Its a beautiful Airport .I remember a staff member of mine who used to travel to Italy,  ringing me up from the Frankfurt Airport once .She sounded so exicited as she had said “Sir ,the airport is so beautiful ,I cant tell you .Its close to Christmas time and its all decked up –like a bride .Its really nice.And Sir ,I have just had a Frankfurter .Bye Sir”. I remembered her .!!I made my way through the long and sparkling corridors to the place where I could get a Frankfurter .I was full with the sumptuous meal they had served onboard  –but its criminal not to have a Frankfurter in Frankfurt no?The slightly overweight German asked me what I wanted –“A small  beer and a Frankfurter –medium”.The bill was displayed on the monitor .I swiped my travel  card ,signed on the the screen with the electronic stylus and settled down to eat .I was to learn that everywhere ,you swipe  your bill on your own –even in the cabs in New York .!!

I freshened up ,settled my hand baggage ,wrote mails  on my ipad ,and waited .My connecting flight was still 5 hrs away .And it would take me 10.30 hours on non stop flying over the Atlantic  and the Arctic Ocean to reach Vancouver  at the other end of the world  .The journey  had just started .

But more of that in my next blog .!!