"There are no foreign lands. It is the traveller only who is foreign."   
 
Robert Louis Stevenson

When we landed at Frankfurt after a good but long flight from Seoul, we were feeling a little jaded, but the good news was that, by now, Stuey decided that he would live after all so that had to be a plus [for Trish, at least]. We were over-nighting there and would travel on to Antwerp by train the next day so had booked into the Airport Holiday Inn which is actually not at the airport but about 15 minutes' drive away

Walking out of the Frankfurt terminal, it was clear skies and about 30[+] ⁰C. We called the hotel shuttle – then waited ... and waited ... and waited for the vehicle to arrive. Eventually, an hour and a half after we called, the shuttle arrived. While the sun did wonders for the suntan, it did little for our patience.

Next challenge for us proved that contrary to popular belief, Italy does not own all of the crazy drivers in Europe and that Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel definitely have a lot to answer for. The shuttle driver [and his counterpart the following morning] were obviously modelling their driving style on that of their heroes and tried to prove that Mike and Seb were really just amateurs. I guess the fact that there are further entries to this blog shows that we survived but we suspect that the hand imprints left in the seat arm rests will be there for years to come.

As far as the Airport Holiday Inn is concerned, we might reconsider that as a stopover option next time because it is a bit of a bunker and there are nicer [albeit more expensive] options closer to the airport/rail station. However, it was at least a bed that did not jump up and down when there was turbulence so that was a bonus, the bed was comfortable [another plus] and the shower hot [another tick].

Both of us grabbed an early night in anticipation of the next day's train trip to Antwerp. We were looking forward to that part of the journey as it would be our first opportunity to reconnect with the European countryside.