Disembarking was smooth, easily followed signs to exit, through electronic EU passport control to the train platform. €9.60 for 2 singles to the main Frankfurt station.  20 minutes later and a short walk to the InterContinental Hotel – priority check-in, up the lift to 21st floor Club lounge and we were sipping a cool Reisling exactly one hour from plane to wine!

Whilst we were in Madrid, I had checked online to see if we had been allocated an upgrade, as I had learnt that these are often displayed on the booking page on the day. I had booked a twin room, but saw that I was down for a 1 King Bed room with a view. As I was travelling with MummyAirmiles I needed the two beds, so sent them an email.

They had replied whilst we were in the air such that on arrival, they had a twin deluxe room with a river view waiting for us. As is my habit, I asked if there was Club access included. The receptionist told me that there wasnt, but that he would be able to fix it for me seeing as it was my first time in Frankfurt. Definitely following in the mantra of MummyAirmiles – “If you don’t ask, you don’t get”!

The room was perfectly adequate, and had the customary Ambassador fruit plate and a welcome gift of some white chocolate sauce – a little random and we didn’t sample it.

We had a drink in the lounge and then headed of to a restaurant about 5 minutes walk away called the Fat Bull.Whilst mainly a burger joint, it had several vegetarian options so suited us both well. Whilst dining the heavens opened and we had to sit around for the best part of 45 minutes after finishing dinner before it had eased off enough to get back to the hotel without being totally soaked. We headed up to the lounge again for a coffee before heading to bed.

Breakfast was laid out in the lounge as expected; there was the classic selection of German breads, cold meats and cheese, as well as hot items and fruit. I opted for scrambled eggs and salmon.

Once again, my greatest pet-hate of breakfast buffets reared its ugly head. Having sat down with my food, the waiter came over to offer a selection of things fresh from the kitchen, including poached eggs, omelette and pancakes. I had a plate of food in front of me, so wasnt going to order more. It bugs me that there was no mention of this option before I had made my choice – it was therefore not an informed choice and I hate being in that situation. At any rate, my eggs were good so I wasn’t missing out. Had we paid for this in the room or restaurant, it would have set us back 30EUR each. Coupled with the drinks and coffees we had in the lounge, we probably saved about 80EUR – not bad when the room rate was less than 110EUR!

We then set out to explore the city in the 5 hours we had.

You can follow the whole journey here:

• Introduction
• Episode 1
• Episode 2
• Episode 2 and a half
• Episode 3
• Episode 4
• Episode 4 and a half
• Episode 5
• Episode 6
• Episode 7
• Episode 8