Vienna, Austria and Bangkok, Thailand

Vienna Airport Lounge was quite nice and very relaxing.  It had an exceptional buffet of soups and light fare as well as the typical full operational Bar.  The chairs were a nice place to sleep fora few hours while waiting for my flight.

Nice Light Fare at the Vienna Airport Lounge.  If you travel frequently you MUST buy the

Priority-Pass Lounge Access Membership

 @  www.prioritypass.com

Typical Vienna Airport Lounge Bar Scene... Same as in most International Airports throughout the world.

Now A Shameless Plug for Austrian Airlines
In a computer glitch Austrian Airlines lost my seat reservation on my flight to Bangkok from Vienna, and instead of delaying me until the next flight (the next day) and without even so much as a mention of it to me, they upgraded me to First Class on a 9.5 hour international flight. so use them if you have the need:

THEY ARE AN AWESOME EXAMPLE OF HOW AIRLINES SHOULD BE RUN! http://www.austrian.com/

Bangkok Airport

Bangkok Airport is known as the "Airport of Smiles" it is more aptly described as the "Airport of Miles" with huge expanses of ultra modern halls between gates without easy access to refreshment, restroom or shopping. Also be ready for the bureaucracy and random ticketing requirements.

A Little About Frankfurt

 

First off, a little about Frankfurt.  It’s one of the easiest cities to get around in. The airport (flughaffen) is very well laid out and full of people who live to help.  If you even speak a gurgling of German you can easily get by, but not to worry most here speak two or three other languages including English (Shame on us) Everybody  seems happy here, probably due to the ready availability of good sausage and beer, because everything is better with good sausage and beer.

As far as getting around... its a blast... As you clear immigrations and customs, so fast you wont believe it.  There is a train station (bahnhof) in the basement of the airport.  The station has ticket machines which have touchpads that work in numerous languages including English and if you're too stupid to work the maching there will be a uniformed person standing by who will also speak English.  The machines take smaller Euro currency so if you have a card or a large denomination bill you will need to go to the service/ticket desk and deal with a human... dont worry they speak English too... (are you getting the feeling that everybody learns our launguage, then maybe we should learn a few others too)

Buy a day pass for the trains and explore the city and surrounding... You can go to Weisbaden and Hanau also.

Even someone with a childs understanding of German can get around here

In fact if you get on the wrong platform you wont have much choice other than to explore.  Most trains into Frankfurt Main Hbf are approximately 5 stops from the train station.  Just look at the overhead sign on the trainplatform to see which train you are getting on and make sure it is correct for your destination.


Geographically and Historically

 

 

Geographically and Historically, Frankfurt am Main , (Frankfurt on the Main River) commonly known as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2011 population of 695,624 . Frankfurt is the financial and transport center of Germany and the largest financial center in continental Europe. It is the seat of the European Central Bank, the German Federal Bank, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and the Frankfurt Trade Fair. 

In the area of the Römer, Roman settlements were established, probably in the 1st century; (the FIRST FREAKING CENTURY) some artifacts from that era are found even to this day. The city district Bonames has a name dating back to Roman times—it is thought to be derived from bona me(n)sa. Nida (Heddernheim) was also a Roman civitas capital.

 

The name of Frankfurt on Main is derived from the Franconofurd of the Germanic tribe of the Franks; Furt (cf. English ford) where the river was shallow enough to be crossed by wading. Alemanni and Franks lived there and by 794 Charlemagne presided over an imperial assembly and church synod, at which Franconofurd (-furt -vurd) was first mentioned.

Frankfurt was one of the most important cities in the following Holy Roman Empire. From 855 the German kings and emperors were elected in Frankfurt and crowned in Aachen. From 1562 the kings/emperors were also crowned in Frankfurt, Maximilian II being the first. This tradition ended in 1792, when Franz II was elected. His coronation was deliberately held on Bastille Day, 14 July, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. The elections and coronations took place in St. Bartholomäus cathedral, known as the Kaiserdom (en: Emperor's Cathedral), or in its predecessors.

The Frankfurter Messe (Frankfurt Trade Fair) was first mentioned in 1150. In 1240, Emperor Friedrich II granted an Imperial privilege to its visitors, meaning they would be protected by the Empire. The fair became particularly important when similar fairs in French Beaucaire lost attraction around 1380. Book trade fairs have been held in Frankfurt since 1478.

In 1372 Frankfurt became a Reichsstadt (en: Imperial city), i.e. directly subordinate to the Holy Roman Emperor and not to a regional ruler or a local nobleman.

Franfurt survivied virtually untouched until the Second World War where it was subjected to extensive aerial bombardment followed by an allied ground campaign which was reflected upon as some of the most fierce urban fighting of the war.  The damages of the allied incursion and subsequent occupation left all but a few of the historical buildings in ruins.

First, Why do I do this... A little culture to explain... Ewwww, I know Right!?

"All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea -- whether it is to sail or to watch it -- we are going back from whence we came."- John F Kennedy

Sea Fever

By John Masefield

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking,

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

So then

    Getting to the sea is often the fun part... This time, although tedious, the trip was set as, Starkville, MS, USA to Atlanta, GA, USA to Frankfurt, Germany, To Vienna, Austria to Bangkok, Thailand, to Yangon (Rangoon) Myanmar then onto the boat (Nadia)... whew that's a trip!

First Stop FRANKFURT

The Christmas Festival from Above.  There is not much better than a German Festival, but add in Christmas and nice cool weather and it becomes AWESOME!

Romer Square in Frankfurt, is really an awesome place... The Römer (German surname, "Roman") is a medieval building in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and one of the city's most important landmarks. It has been the city hall (Rathaus) for 600 years.

Of Course I Ate Sausage... are you freaking kidding me!? Let me assure you I had at least one of each from each stand I passed, plus bread and Gulashen Suppe.

 

And I discovered a new local bier...

Probably the best Weizen Bier I've ever had, ever, in my life, like really!