Not only did we make it there, but we made it back too 12/3/07

In thirteen hours. Projected time to get back? Eight-ish hours. So what were the hold-ups, you ask? Well, let me tell you.

First, since it was Sunday, there was a limited shuttle service to the airport, so we had to leave the hostel two and a half hours before our flight left. The shuttle took all of 20 minutes. That was actually okay though, because I got some Jewish Life homework done. Really rough flight (I slept through it anyway) with a group of, shall we say, dipstick boys who dinged the flight attendants every two and a half minutes. Still, this is all fairly reasonable.

Until we land. It's so windy in Frankfurt (Hähn) that the plane is moving on the ground, and it's drizzling too. Basically a miserable day. So we get off the plane and walk towards the building, only to be stopped outside in a ridiculous line. Our flight was detained by passport inspection, and instead of working it out so that we could at least be indoors, we were stuck outside in the elements. Not the nice ones, either. So half an hour later, we finally get our passports checked. By this point, I'm relatively annoyed, and the nice passport checker person making fun of my German language skills did not really help. But he seemed to have a good sense of humor, so I belayed the minor hissy fit that they soooo deserved. As it turns out, we were left out in the cold because Ireland and the UK do not have the full EU Mobility that Amanda and I have grown to know and love. We're planning on writing a protest letter.

Anyway, this lovely adventure caused us to miss our bus, and have to wait another hour or so. This was followed by a two hour bus ride, only to find that we had missed our train to Marburg by mere minutes. So we had another 45 minutes of waiting. And an hour long train ride. Followed by a bus ride. Might I just say that as much as I love traveling (and I do), it will be quite nice to go back to the half-hour rides to Richmond, followed by the hour and a half flight that does not require a passport, followed by an hour drive home. That will be nice. Absolutely loved Ireland though!