Journey back to the States :(

We left Athens for our first leg of our journey back to the States.  Our first stop was to Frankfurt, Germany.  

We flew on Lufthansa...Just another airlines that we wanted to fly on.  It is a German airline and it was fit flying to Germany on it.  Our flight was delayed an hour because of course we flew on the first day of the Ground Crew Strike in Frankfurt.  Luckily, we had a 7 hour layover before our flight to Dublin, Ireland.

We found that every international flight/airlines except for British Midlands Inter from Dublin to London provides free food and soft drinks.  Lufthansa does you one better they also give you free alcohol!  We both got trays of rice and meatballs, a roll, cheese, brownies, and water.

We also both had a bottle of German beer.  You could get beer, wine, or soft drinks for FREE!!! 

We also got coke and apple juice.  They are really generous on this airlines.  They give you two drinks if you want them.

This is a view of the Swiss Alps that we flew over to Germany!

We had great seats for all the flights in Europe.  We were always towards the front of coach in front of the wings.

Here is our Lufthansa airplane.

We arrived in Frankfurt Flughagen (airport)!

We had about a 6 hour layover by the time we got off the plane so we hurried to the post office to get some stamps and jumped on a Metro to the city to get some dinner.

There is still a Woolworth's in Germany!!!

We went to dinner at Adolf Wagner off of the Schweitzer Platz metro stop.  

This restaurant is located down a lit alley through a small courtyard.  

This place was packed with locals and we happened to come on a day they were celebrating Carnivale so a lot of people were dressed up.

They are known for their Apple wine (Apfelwein) so we had a couple.  For a 1.80 euros a piece!

We ordered two meals that came with salad.

We also ordered the Schnitzel (Breaded pork) with fried potatoes...It was so good and filling!

We also ordered Frankfurt style Grilled Pork Shoulder with potatoes and brown gravy.

Both of these dishes were hearty and delicious and a very welcome meal for our brief stop in Germany.

Wela and I are professional metro riders after this trip to Europe.  This is our train back.  Although everything is in German it was nothing compared to French, Italian, and Greek.

We found our way back to Frankfurt Terminal 1

Our tickets from Frankfurt, Germany to Dublin, Ireland

On our flight from Frankfurt to Dublin we were fed again with this delightfully refreshing Greek style salad and crostini.  We also both got white wine, apple juice, and coke :)

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We had an 11 hour overnight layover in Dublin so we booked a room at the airport hotel the Clarion hotel.  It was a nice room that I didn't get a picture of because I collapsed on the bed.

We were starving when we got to the airport so we bought a Full Irish Breakfast at the airport restaurant Harvest Market.  It was a huge breakfast: Fried or Scrambled eggs, steamed tomato, grilled mushrooms, black and white pudding (blood sausage), two pork sausages, and a huge mound of ham,  and two slices of toast...It comes with a drink for 11.50 euros.

Wela wants me to mention that he had scrambled eggs not a fried egg.  Of course, we both chose tea because it is delicious here!

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We got through security, US pre clearance, and more security in time for our flight.  We cut it close because we got to the airport late, sent out a few more postcards, and had to get our Irish breakfast on...

Here are our tickets for our flight back

Our Aer Lingus place back :(

Our last glimpse of Ireland before heading over the clouds.  We can't wait to make the journey back.

In our comfy seats getting ready for our 8 hour flight back.

We had more Brit Vic Ginger Ale!!! We also saved a couple to bring back...muwhahaha!

Wela chose the Chicken casserole for lunch/dinner and it came with a tomato pasta salad, a roll, a brownie, water, and a cup of more tea!

I had the Beef Bolognese Pasta.

Delicious tea before the cream and sugar is added.

Flying over Ice floats along the bottom of the Arctic circle between Ireland and North America

It was a beautiful deep blue sky that faded into white

We had some snacks on the plane.  We got these Nutella Schoko Bons at a vending machine in Germany for 1 euro.  We thought they were like Whoppers but they are filled with a nutty creamy mixture.  So good!

Before landing they passed out this little snack of a Fruit Scone with jam and butter and more tea!

We finally got below the clouds over Lake Michigan.  The sunbeams coming through were amazing.

The Chicago shoreline

After arriving at O'Hare we had about 7 hours to kill before boarding the Mega Bus to Iowa City at 11pm.  We caught the hour long train into the city and stopped at Giordano's for dinner.  We tried to milk our time there as much as we could but the waitress was antsy and we realized that no one does two hour + dinners here.  

We had a Greek salad.  Not really what a Greek salad is though.  But good.

We also had a Traditional Giordano's stuffed pizza half sausage half black olive.  It was so much food and I was exhausted I at only one and a half slices.

We ate very slowly and kept refilling our drinks trying to prolong our time there.  Our waitress came over a lot to check on us.  It was definitely different from Europe where you have to flag them down if you want to leave.  It is nice to be back but part of me wishes that I was still in Europe, having another adventure with Wela by my side.  

Here's to our next adventure!