April, 2012: Lagos, Nigeria to Frankfurt, Germany

On the way to the airport, my driver for the last few weeks in Lagos, Tony, told me he would like to invite me to his house the next time I am in Nigeria. His wife and kids would like to meet me. Sounds good. But I told him, I might not be back anytime soon.

I guess I have had enough of Nigeria.....for the time being.

A family man and a Jehovah Witness, it was always good conversation with Tony in the cars on our way between the hotel and the office.

It was the same on this trip out of the city on this road leading to the airport.

What both of us would not have guess is that about a month later, a Macdonell Douglas plane would crash near the airport, killing everyone on the plane.

 Luckily, my flight out to Frankfurt was rather more uneventful.

And I wouldn't have  like it any other way.

April, 2012: Singapore to Nigeria, via Frankfurt

The last time I transited in Frankfurt, it was for a SIN to USA trip.
That time, it was the tail end of winter and there were still snow on the pavement outside the airport. This round, it is April, but a morning shower brought the mercury down quite a bit. So it was pleasantly chilly outside the airport.

Took a short train ride from the Frankfurt airport to the Frankfurt am Main station (Main being the river that runs through the city.) It was a Easter Monday and the train station was quite quiet for a city of Frankfurt's size.

Not far from the station is the red light district. It was equally quiet. Probably too early for the action to start.

Before long, my 1.5 hours in the city was up and I double back to the airport. As the bird landed in Lagos airport, it was once more into the fray: another few weeks of work in Nigeria.