Friday, August 12th around 3:20pm Frankfurt time
Boarding was suppose to start around 3:35pm so I headed to the gate. The gate area was different than in the US. To get in the specific gate for your flight you had to show your boarding pass and get into this area that was separated from the rest of the terminal. The gate area all ready looked pretty packed when I got there and there was a long line to get in. I waited in the line and finally got in. It was so crowded you were standing way to close to people - and there were definitely some body odor smells around me. It was almost 4pm before they let us board the plane. Unlike the US where you board by section - here they just let everyone go at once. It is almost like everyone is fighting for the best seat (even though seats are assigned) because everyone pushes and shoves to get through the gate first. It was pretty bad, there was even this one guy that felt people weren't moving fast enough - even though you really couldn't move any faster - he started trying to excuse himself through the crowd. I had to just laugh. I would say 85% of the crowd was Indian. Luckily (as I thought at first) there were separate tunnels for Business/First Class and Economy once you went down these stairs. Unfortunate for me as I got to the door it started raining so hard that they had to close the door and I had to head back and board with the Economy class group. Which was a long line by the time I headed back up the tunnel.
Once I got on, the flight wasn't to bad. I saw Monster and Law and some scary movie with Robert Dinero and Dakota Fanning (sp?). The guy that sat next to me on the plane was an older gentleman from India. At first I felt like he was staring at me a little to much but once we started talking it wasn't so bad. He currently lived in Toronto and had some business there - I think he said an Auto Parts business but I'm not 100% sure. From what I could tell it was an extension of the business he had in India. He gave me his contact information and said I should call him so he could show me the city or he could send his driver for me to take me shopping. I'm sure his intension were purely friendly but I don't want to take that chance.
Saturday, August 13th 12:35am
Once we got off the plane I was a little pleasantly surprised. The airport was nicer than I expected. Baggage claim took forever and then some but we finally got our bags and headed to find our driver. When I say we I mean Natalie. She was on my flight from Frankfurt to India. She is from the Lincoln office and is on her second trip over to train for DB. I just happen to run into her while I was boarding the plane in Frankfurt she was talking to some guy behind me saying she was staying at the Taj - I took a chance and asked if she was Natalie and thankfully she was!! Anyways we found our driver with no problem and head for the hotel.
As soon as we walked outside the heat and humidity hit me. It was a little after 1am at this point but it was still very warm. The roads were not very smooth out by the airport. They were paved but very dusty and full of pot holes or uneven asphalt. There were a lot more cars on the road than I expected for 1am. Especially a lot of trucks. There were no real lanes - everyone was jockeying for space and we were trying to pass the slower cars. I would say in this area we were never able to go any more than 35 mph and this was how it was for a majority of the way.
We finally made it to the hotel and it wasn't what I was expecting. For some reason I thought it would be more in the city - like something like you would see in the Perimeter or Buckhead area. However, it was more off on its own in this compound type area. As we pulled up there were about six people out there to greet us. All of them were asking us how are flight was - it was a little overwhelming. As we waked into the hotel they gave us flower lays (as seen in the picture below) and put a red smear on our forehead b/w our eyes. I checked in and made my way up to my room. I was really tired but excited and wide awake at the same time. I walked into my room and was a little over come with emotion. I had been traveling for about 24 hours at this point and had only about 6 hours of total sleep. I had been disappointed that I wasn't able to connect to the internet when I was in Frankfurt so I was feeling a little out of touch and alone at this point. The room was a little small and disappointing at first. It was nice but my thought was 'I have to live here for 3 months'! Now that I'm settled in and a little bit better rested it really isn't that bad. As you can see from the pictures below the bathroom is a little small. It really is about the size of my bathroom at home it is just arranged a little less user friendly!!
My bathroom!
The room!
Me! If you look real closely you can see the red smear (dot) b/w my eyes. Sorry the picture is a little blurry!
The pool. The next day I spent about 1 1/2 out here before I thought I was going to die of heat! It was about 100 degrees out there that day. The rest of the day I spent unpacking, exploring the hotel, and relaxing. I was in bed around 9:15pm Saturday night.
Entrance to the hotel.
Lobby of the hotel.
Kind of hard to see but this is the hot tub in the woman's spa. It looked so inviting I had to take a picture. The room was dark and very cool and the hot tub was nice and warm.
Boarding was suppose to start around 3:35pm so I headed to the gate. The gate area was different than in the US. To get in the specific gate for your flight you had to show your boarding pass and get into this area that was separated from the rest of the terminal. The gate area all ready looked pretty packed when I got there and there was a long line to get in. I waited in the line and finally got in. It was so crowded you were standing way to close to people - and there were definitely some body odor smells around me. It was almost 4pm before they let us board the plane. Unlike the US where you board by section - here they just let everyone go at once. It is almost like everyone is fighting for the best seat (even though seats are assigned) because everyone pushes and shoves to get through the gate first. It was pretty bad, there was even this one guy that felt people weren't moving fast enough - even though you really couldn't move any faster - he started trying to excuse himself through the crowd. I had to just laugh. I would say 85% of the crowd was Indian. Luckily (as I thought at first) there were separate tunnels for Business/First Class and Economy once you went down these stairs. Unfortunate for me as I got to the door it started raining so hard that they had to close the door and I had to head back and board with the Economy class group. Which was a long line by the time I headed back up the tunnel.
Once I got on, the flight wasn't to bad. I saw Monster and Law and some scary movie with Robert Dinero and Dakota Fanning (sp?). The guy that sat next to me on the plane was an older gentleman from India. At first I felt like he was staring at me a little to much but once we started talking it wasn't so bad. He currently lived in Toronto and had some business there - I think he said an Auto Parts business but I'm not 100% sure. From what I could tell it was an extension of the business he had in India. He gave me his contact information and said I should call him so he could show me the city or he could send his driver for me to take me shopping. I'm sure his intension were purely friendly but I don't want to take that chance.
Saturday, August 13th 12:35am
Once we got off the plane I was a little pleasantly surprised. The airport was nicer than I expected. Baggage claim took forever and then some but we finally got our bags and headed to find our driver. When I say we I mean Natalie. She was on my flight from Frankfurt to India. She is from the Lincoln office and is on her second trip over to train for DB. I just happen to run into her while I was boarding the plane in Frankfurt she was talking to some guy behind me saying she was staying at the Taj - I took a chance and asked if she was Natalie and thankfully she was!! Anyways we found our driver with no problem and head for the hotel.
As soon as we walked outside the heat and humidity hit me. It was a little after 1am at this point but it was still very warm. The roads were not very smooth out by the airport. They were paved but very dusty and full of pot holes or uneven asphalt. There were a lot more cars on the road than I expected for 1am. Especially a lot of trucks. There were no real lanes - everyone was jockeying for space and we were trying to pass the slower cars. I would say in this area we were never able to go any more than 35 mph and this was how it was for a majority of the way.
We finally made it to the hotel and it wasn't what I was expecting. For some reason I thought it would be more in the city - like something like you would see in the Perimeter or Buckhead area. However, it was more off on its own in this compound type area. As we pulled up there were about six people out there to greet us. All of them were asking us how are flight was - it was a little overwhelming. As we waked into the hotel they gave us flower lays (as seen in the picture below) and put a red smear on our forehead b/w our eyes. I checked in and made my way up to my room. I was really tired but excited and wide awake at the same time. I walked into my room and was a little over come with emotion. I had been traveling for about 24 hours at this point and had only about 6 hours of total sleep. I had been disappointed that I wasn't able to connect to the internet when I was in Frankfurt so I was feeling a little out of touch and alone at this point. The room was a little small and disappointing at first. It was nice but my thought was 'I have to live here for 3 months'! Now that I'm settled in and a little bit better rested it really isn't that bad. As you can see from the pictures below the bathroom is a little small. It really is about the size of my bathroom at home it is just arranged a little less user friendly!!
My bathroom!
The room!
Me! If you look real closely you can see the red smear (dot) b/w my eyes. Sorry the picture is a little blurry!
The pool. The next day I spent about 1 1/2 out here before I thought I was going to die of heat! It was about 100 degrees out there that day. The rest of the day I spent unpacking, exploring the hotel, and relaxing. I was in bed around 9:15pm Saturday night.
Entrance to the hotel.
Lobby of the hotel.
Kind of hard to see but this is the hot tub in the woman's spa. It looked so inviting I had to take a picture. The room was dark and very cool and the hot tub was nice and warm.
posted by Angela Cooley at 9:38 PM
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