My Last Meal on Lufthansa is...Curry?

We landed in Frankfurt so early that I had a 4 ½ layover before my flight to Hyderabad. So naturally, Job #1 is to find some ice cream. The airport is HUGE and not lined with shops the way the American airports are. I walk forever down hall after hall before I even come to the first arrival/departure board. Of course, this is in German and because I’m so stinking early my flight number has not been assigned a gate. I start quietly singing the “Pioneer Children” song (pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked…) when I finally come to a food court with a Haagen-Dazs kiosk. After all I had been through over the last 24 hours I needed to just sit and enjoy a nice waffle cone. It is amazing how good few scopes of pralines n’ cream can make me feel.

Now back to finding my gate. Some of the lovely ladies from Lufthansa pointed me in the general direction and I eventually found a gate with a bunch of Indian folks waiting around. Strangely enough, there are no Asians, Europeans, or Americans waiting at this gate, just Indians. Then I notice the Business lounge sign and decide to go check it out. Wow. The business class lounge has a full continental breakfast buffet, fountain drinks and of course a fully stocked (help yourself) bar. It also has sofa’s recliners, workstations and, get this, a private locker room with hot showers (see exhibit A and B below). Hallelujah! Oh yeah, this is also where I find all of the Asians, Europeans and Americans. Kind of sad.

Exhibit A and B

I decide the best plan is to pace the airport until my flight leaves so I’m fully exhausted for the next 12 hour flight. I was pretty tired when I arrived and after 2 ½ hours of pacing (and a few ice cream bars) I’m like a bear ready for hibernation.

I board my plane 30 minutes early (if only Mr. Oil could see me now), fully recline my seat, insert earplugs, put on the Hollywood bind fold, and slept for 9 straight hours. I don’t even remember the plane leaving the gate.

I woke up just in time to watch the newest Harry Potter movie (without Chinese subtitles this time) and eat my last meal before landing in India. Another great meal, but the main course was curry. Come on! I’m going to be living in India for the next month and my last meal on a German airline is curry. It was still pretty good.

Before we land at Shamshabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (I just love the way that rolls off the tongue), we are all given some Indian immigration paper work that must be completed before we can leave the plane. Some of the questions are difficult because they want things like your address and phone number. Street addresses are not precise the way they are in America. There is a lot of estimating in there address system. For example my hotel address is:

Novotel & HICC Complex (Adjacent to Hitec City), P O Bag 1101 Cyberabad Post Office HYDERABAD – 500081 INDIA

I mean, does this look like a real street address to you? The form also has a question asking if you are bringing any beef products into India. This one has me really scared because I packed a full Costco bag of beef jerky in my checked luggage. I packed that stuff for a reason, I want to eat it!

My first thought is to just check the “no” box and then if I get caught try my Steve Martin SNL routine ("Well, excuuuuuuuse me!") on the airport security guards. Then my conscience gets the best of me and I close my eyes and check the “yes” box. As I walk off the plane my spider-sense starts to tingle and I know there’s going to be trouble.