After packing up we decided to take the S-Bahn over to SavignyPlatz where we had previously discovered a most excellent pizza place right beside the S-Bahn station. As an added bonus they have an enclosed outside seating area. This is a bonus because, in Germany, the law is no smoking inside or within enclosed outside areas of restaurants (or so one of the guys there had told us on our first visit when we said we would sit inside to avoid cigarette smoke). The enclosed area was very nice and smoke free. Outside along the sidewalk is another matter...people are free to smoke there since it is not enclosed.
We decided to bust out of our pizza habit of normally having the favorite "ham and pineapple" and ordered a "salmon with fresh cream" pizza. This place made only very thin crust pizza in only one size which is about right for two people. What a pleasant surprise! The taste of this pizza was simply incredible. Bite sized chunks of salmon with dollops of fresh cream. Mouths are watering again already.
Our apartment landlord had agreed to arrange a taxi for us for 8:00 am Monday morning. We got up a bit early, got ready and finished packing and at about 7:45 moved our luggage outside. The taxi arrived at about 7:55. Love it!
Fairly uneventful train ride to Frankfurt, although we did end up sitting on a siding for a while at one point with an explanation provided in German with the rest of us left guessing. It must have been for some silly reason though as the delay caused the fellow across the aisle from us to get very frustrated to the point where we thought he might blow a gasket. Luckily he survived but sure got off the train in a hurry when we arrived in Frankfurt. We hoped that if he had an important meeting or something that he was able to get there in enough time. The train route from Berlin to Frankfurt went through some lush forest areas and lots of green as well as through some hillier and even mountainous areas as we travelled through some substantially long tunnels.
Not a great hotel in Frankfurt but in a great location which meant we didn't have to walk very far to get to the main Frankfurt shopping district, the Zeil. The hotel was probably about a 3 star at best but when there is a fair or trade show on in Frankfurt (which there always seems to be) the hotels fill up well in advance and at very high prices. The room we had in Frankfurt was maybe of Motel 6 quality and cost us 320 euro (nearly $500 CDN) for two nights. Compare that with the 850 euro we paid for our nice one bedroom apartment in Berlin for 19 nights. On the positive side, the hotel rate did include breakfast and it was quite good.
Anyway, did some shopping in Frankfurt where Kris found some additions to her wardrobe. Tuesday evening we went to a place near the hotel for a "flammenkuchen" and a couple of glasses of wine. A flammenkuchen is like a very very thin crust pizza. We decided to follow up on our recent finding in Berlin and ordered a "salmon and onion" flammenkuchen but told them to go light on the onions (they tend to overload on them). This flavor was absolutely delicious, so much so that we decided to try another one. This time we chose "turkey, mushroom and onion" (again light on the onion). After ordering, Brian commented that he hoped the mushrooms were not whole with Kris replying that she rather hoped the turkey was not whole... had a good laugh... and the sliced turkey and sliced mushrooms on the flammenkuchen was just an excellent combination.
We like to arrive at the airport early in case of unexpected issues (always a consideration with Air Canada) and maybe even more so these days what with the Iceland volcano causing disruption in northern Europe. So we called a taxi and arrived at the Frankfurt airport about 4 hours early. We went directly to the Air Canada checkin where we were surprised when we got through pretty quick and then off to the VAT refund counter.
NOTE... If you have items in your checked luggage for which you want to claim a VAT refund then do not let the airline folks take your luggage at check in. You must take your checked in luggage to the VAT counter. The customs folks there have the right to check your luggage to make sure you are taking the goods out of the country. After they approve (ie stamp) your VAT refund papers you leave off your luggage with them for delivery to the airline then go to the actual refund counter. The other thing to note is to keep your receipts for your carry on purchases separate because they must be processed after you go through security. Same procedure. The other thing is to be organized. We have been through this process in Frankfurt a few times now and know that if you are organized it makes their job easier and they tend to just stamp away on your receipts and off you go with your refund. Easy-peasy... we saw some folks who apparently were not organized and the customs guys went through their luggage demanding to see each item for each receipt. That's a hassle you definitely do not need!
Anyway, we ended up with over 200 euro refunded to us and we were through the process in a matter of minutes. Then it was simply a matter of grabbing a coffee and waiting for the flight. The flight from Frankfurt to Calgary is normally just over 9 hours but (we think) because of the volcanic ash over Iceland, the flight path changed with the result being about 10.5 hours. Flying east to west the flight follows the sun so we were in bright daylight the entire way making it harder to sleep, especially if you find it hard to sleep on a plane anyway. We arrived in Calgary at about 6:00 pm which for our body's Berlin time was about 2:00 am, so we were quite flagged by the time we got home.
However, home we are now and this trip is done.
| Back to Week 8 |
No comments:
Post a Comment