This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. 

Friday October 23, 2015

Egypt: Day 2 – Sick in Frankfurt

I arrived in Frankfurt a little after 11 AM. Feeling very sick, my dream of wandering the city was slowly dying. I exited, and found myself in Z Terminal. I knew that the bag holding station was outside Terminal A. But more importantly I knew there was supposed to be an attached hotel at Terminal A. I figured instead of paying to leave my bags at the bag check, I’d get a hotel, rest for a little bit and then spend an afternoon in Frankfurt. After making a quick stop to buy some kinder eggs, I went off in search of Terminal A.

But…Frankfurt’s airport is massive, and I found neither signs or staff to tell me where to go. I didn’t want to exit and go through immigration at Terminal Z. I wanted to find Terminal A. After wandering a long time through darken hallways, I was lost. On and on I continued, hoping I’d find a sign, or some signal on how to get out. I followed the people in front of me. They made there way onto a tram. I remembered these from the last few times I flew through Frankfurt. I got on one, hoping it went to all terminals. It didn’t. I found myself in terminal B. I was starting to feel very bad. I hadn’t gone through customs yet, so was likely in terminals meant for international connections. I decided to go through the first customs section I found and figure out things on the other side.

“What is your final destination?” the board guard asked. “Cairo.” I stupidly responded. His eyes snapped wide and looked at me. “You’re in the wrong place. Get out of line.” “I have a 12 hour layover, I want to get a hotel to sleep before my next flight!” I pleaded. The agent considered me and then stamped my passport and let me out. I had been wandering the airport for an hour now. I found myself in a large shopping area. I shopped a bit while looking for information. When I did find it, I asked how I could get a hotel room. I was told to take the escalator down and there would be a desk.

I took the escalator down…and it was to the train station. Nope. I went back up, and asked again. I wandered and finally found a different escalator that didn’t go down so far. Down there were smaller quick food cafes. I grabbed some orange juice, but forgot to grab food. I found myself in the first class lounge for Lufthansa, and asked them for help. They pointed me finally in the right direction, and I found the hotel desk. I knew that they were able to offer “day rates” for local hotels that were cheaper than a full nights stay. But a man was auguring with the clerk. I felt like I was going to pass out while I waited my turn. It seemed to take forever, and then when it was my turn, a man ran up and cut me, asking quick questions of the man.

Finally, it was my turn. I said I wanted a nearby hotel, but he showed me the rates for the nearby hotels and there were 200 plus euro. I couldn’t afford that. I asked for something in the 75 euro range (still way to expensive but I wanted a nice hotel since I was feeling so poorly). I also said I wanted there to be food or stuff I could walk to, to “explore”. Or if there were trees with beautiful fall leaves. He considered a moment, and suggested a hotel for me, called Steigenberger Hotel Frankfurt-Langen. I paid a small portion to the man, and he told me to go two doors down and wait for the free shuttle to take me to the hotel. He warned me there was a Steigenberger Hotel Frankfurt-Langen and a Steigenberger Hotel Frankfurt, and I needed to get on the right shuttle. (I didn’t know it at the time, but I was not going to be staying in Frankfurt, but the smaller town of Langen, Germany.) I went outside…and waited..and waited. It was 45 degrees. I should have been cold. But it was obvious now I had a fever. I laughed at myself. I had brought a scarf, a thick sweatshirt, I had been wearing multiple layers. All for my day trip in a cool fall day in Frankfurt. Like that was going to happen now!

I didn’t exactly know where my shuttle would stop, and I kept having to move around to get out of people’s way, or to check up and down the road for my shuttle. I waited a full hour before it arrived. I wanted to scream as we then stopped at all the other terminal entrances to check for anyone else needing a ride to the hotel. But once we got onto the autobahn, I relaxed a bit. I could see the lovely fall leaves, and we quickly got off the autobahn and went down a delightful small road with tree branches overhead. It reminded me of the small roads in the movie Furry. When we pulled into the town of Langen I realized I had a big problem.

While the hotel was near the walking path to the beautiful forest…it wasn’t near the town center where food was available. And I was starting to fade quickly. Not wanting to have to pay for a taxi (and unable to walk) when I checked in and paid the remainder of my bill I asked if the hotel had a restaurant. “Yes but it is closing in 10 minutes.” And she told me most of the restaurants in town would be closing until dinner as well. Great… I was dead on my feet, feeling like crap, but hungry. I dropped my bags in my room and headed back to the restaurant.  Locals chatted in the lobby. It was obvious that no one else was staying at the hotel. I had to wander into the kitchen to find someone to bring me a menu.

Looking through the menu, it was again so expensive, and nothing that was “normal” or would help settle my stomach. I asked if I could only order french fries, but they said no. So I opted for what appeared to be a hamburger and french fries. It had a weird name but I figured it was just their local take on a hamburger. While I waited for it to arrive I tried to will myself into feeling better.

I noticed they had Apple Wine on the menu, and so ordered a half tonic water half apple wine. I figured if I wasn’t making it back to Frankfurt at least I could check off one thing I had on my to do list. When the burger arrived it was covered in multiple types of mustard and the meat had a lot of spices. After scraping off what I could, removing the pickles, I tried to eat. But with each bite I could tell I was getting worse. I bearly ate half before I flagged them back down for the bill, and a box for the fries. (I figured I’d eat these later.) It also seem like it took forever for them to run my card. I eventually went up to them and handed them cash (I had pulled out some Euro for emergencies prior to leaving) just to hurry up the process.

I then went back to my room. To my dismay it was so hot in the room (or I had a fever) and so I stripped down and laid on top of the covers with a small ceiling fan going. I set the alarm and tried to rest. I started to get the chills, shaking violently, as the entire world spun. The stress of knowing I had a handful of hours before needing to head back to the airport didn’t help. I kept imagining myself sick in this room…missing my flight. Faster and faster the room turned. Hours passed and I was still huddled on the bed, wishing that my mother was there to take care of me. I stumbled to find a trash can. I was going to be sick from both ends. I tried taking a cool shower, but I ended up just crying while sitting on the tiled floor.

I had 30 minutes before I had to catch the shuttle back to the airport. I still felt awful. And I did something I’m not proud of. I walked over to the sink, and put my entire hand down my throat, trying to throw up. I knew they wouldn’t let me on the plane like this, but somewhere in the back of my mind I knew if I threw up the burger and apple wine, I’d be better off. About the third time it worked, and everything I had eaten in the last 12 hours came out, and into the sink. It smelled awful, and I tried to somehow move it from the sink into the toilet, but then the toilet started acting up. Giving up, I took a shower, put my clothes back on, left the fries in the trash and some money on the counter for the poor housekeeper, and made my way outside, trying not to meet the eye of the loan hotel employee at the front desk, and wishing I had paid in cash instead of my credit card as I didn’t want this episode tied back to me. I was so embarrassed.

As I waited outside I could see the lovely walking path (the entire reason I chose this hotel) and it looked lovely. But all I really cared about in that moment was that outside it was quite cold, and the cold (and empty stomach) was making me feel better. By the time the shuttle arrived I felt more like myself, and by the time I reached the airport I was only feeling a little unwell. But I could tell I’d be better soon. I snapped some photos of the fall leaves as we went along the road, and I wished this day had turned out better.

Security was another nightmare. I expected my liquids and my snorkel mask to set everything off again. But I was still to sick to read the signs that all tablets, phones, cameras, or anything electrical and their wires needed to be removed from your bags and sent through a tray by themselves. I was carrying a lot of electronics (Tablet, phone, camera, kindle, lots of spare chargers, power cords, power adapters.) The stern German woman security agent scolded me when she saw the display. She said my entire bags would need to be checked now. Again I was early to the airport, and again it took over an hour to re-scan everything in my bag, and then repack it. All of the agents were mad at me, but I was just happy I was feeling better.

I bought a sandwich, some more OJ, lots of water, and some more kinder eggs before going through customs. It was smart as the area where my gate was, had nothing open that late in the night. I tried to find a power plug, but none fit my charger. Still not feeling 100% I propped myself up and rested until it was time to board. Still feeling like crap I realized that I’d need to walk down a lot of stairs to reach the busses taking me to my airplane. I asked the gate agent if there was an elevator or escalator. She said no, but offered to let me go early so I could slowly walk down the stairs. She also pointed out this was a much smaller plane, and had my main bag gate checked (that is, after I lugged it down onto the bus.)

After walking up the stairs and taking my seat, I found that it was a full flight and the overhead bins miniscule. Dinner was beef stew, and I chatted with the younger woman sitting next to me. She asked if I spoke Arabic (since I was finally reviewing the language guide I brought with me) she laughed with me as I explained I knew nothing and was “scanning it” before arriving in Egypt. She told me of her trip that she was heading to the Siwa Oasis to visit friends working at a non-profit school. She had been to Egypt before so she told me of all the yummy food I should try (like Kurshari) and we had a fun time talking. Eventually it was late and we rested as the plane flew onto Cairo.