Trip beginning
The German train system used to have a stellar reputation but that is now tarnished and I have a 4-hour trip with one change of trains in Nürnberg and since the ICE express trains only run on an hourly basis, I chose to travel early to give myself sufficient buffer time for expected delays. So the day started early for me, departing my place at 09:55. I walked to the train station and caught my 10:35 local express. It was on-time and arrived in Nürnberg only 2 minutes late, giving me a full 8 minutes to walk down the stairs and up another set on the correct track. I’m now comfortably seated on the ICE and have 2 stops before arriving at Frankfurt airport. I checked in online this morning, so I’ll have a lot of time at the airport prior to boarding my flight for the USA.
Frankfurt
My ICE arrived in Frankfurt station on time but the train ends here. The conductor just announced a “Medical Emergency” on the stretch, which I’m assuming is the code-text for a suicide. I’ll have to catch another train or switch to the S-Bahn to get to the airport. Luckily I’ve still got that buffer.
Airport
I caught the S8 tram from Frankfurt main train station to the airport and it was packed with people continuing on to the ICE station to continue their trip north. Check-in was fast since I only needed to drop off my bag. Security took a while as they didn’t like my belt… or shoes (the Red Wing Iron Rangers) or the contents of my backpack but I was in no hurry anymore.
I’m at the gate now, but they’ve just announced a 30-minute delay before boarding commences. Then another 30-minute delay. But then we started the boarding process on the full flight to Chicago.
It’s 4328 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses,” is followed by Jake Blues saying “Hit it.”
Chicago O’Hare
We made up much of the lost time on the flight over, but when I saw the long line to immigration snaking its way through the arrival hall I knew I was in for a wait. A significant number of the passengers on my flight were Russian, and I assumed they would take time to get processed, and the bulk of the remaining non-citizens were students clutching paperwork and passports. From past experience, when I was one such foreign student, I knew that processing them would a take a while.
After 1 1/2 hours I finally made it to an immigration officer. It took less than a minute, I gave him my 2 passports (the old one has my US Visa) and when I said I was just in overnight transit he waved me through.
My hotel shuttle was right at the curb when I arrived, and I’d already done a remote check-in so within minutes of clearing customs and immigration I was in my hotel room and soon thereafter went to sleep. A short 5-hour sleep, but much better than waiting at the airport 🙂
Canned Heat – On The Road Again [HQ] – YouTube