Wir sind hier!

We made it to Germany!

Jakob did so well on the flight! I nursed him during take-off and landing and he had no troubles at all. He also insisted on eating every two hours during the flight. We were assigned seats with bassinet access, so he had a cosy bed for the duration of the flight and slept well. And we knew the family seated next to us!



When we landed at Frankfurt, Werner nipped into the loo to change Jakob and I packed up our copious carry-ons while the rest of the passengers deplaned. Our stroller was waiting on for us, right by the "Frankfurt Airport is a non-smoking airport" sign. We popped him in and took the elevator up to the gate. Surprise to us, it wasn't the usual gate! Slightly disoriented, we made our way through the A pier, gasped through cigarette smoke, went through passport control, took another elevator down, and found bathrooms for us. The pre-security areas of the airport were under renovation on our last visit, and since we had more than 2 hours before our train was due to leave, we explored the new area before making our way to the train station. This, too, meant figuring out where the elevators were; before, we just took the escalators, so we had to ask for directions.

We set ourselves up on a bench in the train station. While I fed Jakob, Werner bought coffees which we had with the Boston cream donuts from the YVR Tim Horton's. It was a sunny and crisp day outside, so we took a very short walk outside the train station. And then a walk inside the station. And found a Babywickleraum for another diaper change. And back to the bench. Eventually, it was time to go to the platform.


Jakob had been awake the whole time, and sitting next to the big window on the train meant even more to see. For Jakob, a wide-eyed trip through the Rhine Valley!

We arrived at Köln Hauptbahnhof in the middle of Cologne's Carnival. Werner Sr and Johannes met us on the platform and helped us down to the concourse. Jakob needed another diaper change, so I gathered up the supplies and the Bärchen and Johannes paid my way into the ladies' while the Werners claimed our luggage at the Lufthansa desk. (Amazing, eh? Who'd have thought that Köln Hauptbahnhof is also an airport??) We gathered the whole lot and caught the S-Bahn out of the city. Since Jakob was in his stroller, when we arrived, Werner and I just walked to his parents' house while Johannes and Werner Sr carted the mountain of luggage by car.

Needless to say, Jakob was the toast of the town. His Oma, Opa, and Onkle were all delighted to meet him at last. And while I was taking a short rest (against my usual rules for coping with jetlag, but not knowing whether Jakob would sleep well that evening, I decided to nap while I could), Tante Katja and Hannah and Jonas came over after attending a Karneval Zug. Jakob enjoyed the attention and loved meeting his family - and nibbling on Hannah's fingers!






Eventually, we all called it a night, and he slept surprisingly well.