Day 14

Waking up to the 4:30am alarm I had asked my roommate to set for me, I tried to finish packing as silently as possible. My gear together, I undid my bed linens and slipped out the door to check out. The ride back through the Chunnel, across France, and into Brussels was uneventful. Despite having hours to kill before the next train to Frankfurt, I looked only for lunch instead of new sights. After the curtain of the Apollo Victoria had closed the night before, I had declared my trip officially over and I no longer had interest in seeing anything else. Sooner or later, the train arrived and I was on my way deeper into the continent.

The train pulled into the station, conveniently attached to the airport but, due to my mishap in leaving the US, I still had nearly a day remaining until my flight back to the states. With so much time, and little desire to explore the city, I wandered the airport a little. Eventually I found an isolated gate in the Lufthansa terminal. Clear plastic sheets hung over the glass windows, making the gate look as though it was under construction. Assuming no one would disturb me, I laid down across a row of seats to nap.

I woke later in the afternoon, and with still more time ahead of me, I took a train into Köln where I walked around for a few minutes before stopping at a Pizza Hut for dinner. After a little while more, I headed back to Frankfurt and my makeshift bed at the Lufthansa gate, to sleep until time to board my plane back to the States.