Thursday 19 February
It was a brave move, leaving the comforts of Barcelona with our AirBnB, washing machine, decent internet and an infinitesimal array of shops, cafes, restaurants and things to do. But we had places to see and things to do.
We farewelled Hayden and Andrea with a dinner for my birthday, and flew out.
We had Cuba on our mind, but I was finding it difficult to get there. USA sanctions meant that our trusty booking sites such as Expedia, booking.com and others didn’t even know that Cuba existed.
So that is how we arrived in Frankfurt on a cold winter’s day, en route to the Caribbean – Dominican Republic and Cuba, with a 12 hour lay over.
A friendly customer service gentleman at Frankfurt airport suggested we check in our luggage and take a tram into the city; where we would surely find wonderful sightseeing, nice shops and a decent place for lunch.
Unfortunately we were not dressed for 0C weather, so the sightseeing was limited to the bare minimum.
We coffeed for a while in a quaint cafe near Paulskircher. We malled for a while in the new MyZeil shopping complex with it’s wonderful glass roof. And then we went to find something to eat. After a long walk across the river, we found a very decent local pub with some very warming German food and wine.
Unfortunately we had to go out in the cold again, to walk to the tram, ride to the station and then back to the airport.
Still it was worth the trip, and a reminder that we were escaping the cold winter weather.