Hi, this is Adda! I’m the social media coordinator on this trip and I’ll be giving you an update on our trip today and boy are you in for a treat!
I was in the group that left from Newark earlier, so we landed in Frankfurt around 8am. While we all tried to at least get some sleep on the plane, it was technically our 2am. We were tired but cheery that we made it!
We all wanted to explore Frankfurt, since our flight wasn’t until 10pm tonight and we NEEDED to get out of the airport. We decided to go to Hudson’s great aunt’s place to drop off our bags and they kindly offered us a few places to shop and eat and we are extremely grateful for their kindness and willingness to help us in a city that 5/6 of us had never been to.
After we all took quick showers, I decided I was too smelly to walk around a European city with pajamas on. Natasha let me borrow a shirt but it was my shorts that smelled the most to me… Everybody said they couldn’t smell it but I was self conscious so we decided to go to a food court/ shopping epicenter. It was about a 30min walk but we got to see the city from the ground! It was really amazing just being in a whole other continent exploring.
We got food from a bakery (I got a quiche and we shared many pastries and pretzels). Then we went to H&M and I picked up some cute on-sale pants.
I also like to get a tattoo everywhere I travel (as long as I am referred by someone to a trustworthy parlor and it feels safe). Since we had the time, I decided, why not get a memento of this trip? I am most definitely not going to get a tattoo in Malawi, so I thought I might as well just get one here! I got a little tattoo of a Frankfurter in a bun (even thought that’s not how they eat frankfurters) — pictured below! I’m so happy with it!
Finally, Annie and Gordon arrived from their later flight and we all met back at Hudson’s aunt’s place. We learned that Annie and Gordon were delayed 5 HOURS due to the hurricane. We then headed to a restaurant with promised good German food. We drank apple wine (a common drink from Frankfurt), which was essentially like apple cider. We ate weiner schnitzel, frankfurts, and bratwurst. It was a delicious way to end the day in Frankfurt. Even though we kept getting bothered by bees, we were happy to be all together and enjoying new foods (for most of us).
We then said goodbye to Hudson’s great aunt and uncle, thanked them for their generosity, and told them about the mission on our trip. We headed to the airport with the same train we came in on, and had a little bump in the road with a fine for not having a ticket, even though we did have a ticket we just couldn’t find it at the time…
Most of us got stopped through airport security mostly to check our power banks. I, however, was informed that my power bank exceeded the limit of a battery, as it is 111 WHr. The security guy told me I needed to go to my gate and ask for permission from the airline and could then come back and get it. Unfortunately, when we got to the gate, which was over a 10 minute walk past security, the woman at the desk informed us that she could not grant permission, and that we would have to go back to the check-in area to get it. We had 40 mins until boarding and a long race in front of us…
Annie agreed to run with me back through security and immigration to grab the power bank and bring it to the Lufthanasia attendant at the check-in counter. The attendant got us the required slip in less than 5 minutes and I swore I could kiss her. We then ran back through immigration, and security and we made it! (With 10 minutes to spare). Truly a scene out of a movie.
So, while everyone’s legs and feet are sore and blistered, we are all, safely, on our way to Johannesburg. I feel honored to have guided most of our trip today, so thank you travelers for being so patient and supportive of me! Thank you also to all the characters of this story today. We are currently less than 24hrs to Malawi and super excited!