We arrived in Frankfurt this morning at 6:00 am after a great flight on "China Southern",  having taken the precaution of booking Business Class, an extravagance which on this occasion proved to be worthwhile. I had a few reservations leading up to the flight but in the end they were groundless, the seats comfortable, the meals excellent and the staff (cabin attendants) great. The only drawback lay in the fact that the flight did not go direct from Guangzhou to Frankfurt but went instead via Changsha and because of this and the fact that for some passengers this is as far as they went it is regarded as a domestic flight and for one to be on a domestic flight one must be in China and not just in transit. This means full entry and exit procedures, security customs the lot. Fortunately we were given an escort to guide us through this minefield and fortunately a few short cuts. This was one of the bonuses of being Business Class, poor old Cattle Class are left to fend for themselves and we saw them lined up in fairly substantial queues. Oh well never mind. This all took less than half an hour to complete and then we were deposited in the VIP lounge for refreshments and a most welcome shower, it being 32C and this was late afternoon. The flight from Guangzhou to Changsha is only an hour and many passengers left us at this stage and the majority of Bus. Class passengers were now German. The Chinese Cabin Crew could not speak German and the Germans could not speak Mandarin so English came to the rescue and everyone was happy.

As a result of all this we arrived in Frankfurt, as I have already said, at 6:00 am and having rested well on the flight were ready for a full day seeing what sights Frankfurt and surrounds have to offer. Alas being rested does not negate the effects of jet lag and about mid afternoon it set in so an hotel was sought and found. Unfortunately my dear wife had the misfortune of not having seen a step upon which she was about to descend and is now sporting a rather swollen joint as a result. The nice man at our hotel was kind enough to provide a bag of ice and a cup of Darjeeling so hopefully  all will be better tomorrow.

Oh, I forgot, taxiing in at Frankfurt this morning I switched on my cellphone - message from Jill, they had just checked in on their cruise ship and had been upgraded, not sure what to but any upgrade is always nice. Murray will be a very happy chappy.

I shall bore you no more until I have some particularly good material with which to do it, no photos either (they'll come)     well ok just one.

Just To Prove That We Got to Frankfurt