Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Frankfurt in March

No photos for this blog (it was a work trip without many scenic views), but here's a quick recap of a week in Frankfurt.

I had the privilege to attend (and present at) a work conference in Frankfurt in March. I had never really spent time in the city, escaping to Heidelberg on my one out-of-the-airport layover there. We all stayed in a central location and had ample access to lots of amazing food options. I had a few good friends attending the conference and met some other fantastic people while talking/learning about awesome consular issues. It was truly a wonderful experience, all around. I also loved getting to see our Consulate there, especially their consular section; I always love to see how other posts set things up.

Every night was an opportunity for hanging out with fun people while eating copious amounts of good food (mostly pork, since many of the participants were coming from Muslim countries and, it's Germany). We had a fun night at an apfelwine cellar with many, many different parts of the pig, and it was delicious. Plus spaetzle. And apple crepes, sort of. Let's see. There was Thai, and Italian, and Indian, and Chinese, and hearty, delicious German food every day for lunch. So much fun! I stayed a couple extra days and met up with my friend Texpatica from A-100 who is posted in Frankfurt. She very kindly took me to the commissary where we gorged on Taco Bell, and I stocked up on meat and sundries. So. Much. Fun! I'd never been to a military commissary before, and it was a fascinating cultural experience. We spent the afternoon hanging out at her apartment with her adorable cat Amelia and catching up. What a lovely way to spend a day :-). Oh! How could I forget - we also went to the Wiesbaden Easter Market. It was quite a cultural immersion, but I didn't buy anything. The only things I was tempted to buy were made of straw and tree bark, so they didn't really scream I-am-worth-it to me. But fun nonetheless.

It was a short week, but I had a blast in Frankfurt despite the gray, gloomy weather most of the time.

I love direct, short flights to Europe from Beirut!

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