Trip Report: SAN-ORD-FRA-AMS part III
We landed in Frankfurt in rather heavy snow. It was a surprisingly painless connection in FRA; go through a very fast passport control and go directly to the gate. Customs would be handled in Amsterdam. It was a long walk to the Lufthansa Lounges closest to my gate in the A concourse though.
I was invited into the Senator Lounge, but had to go to the Business Lounge first because all of the toilets and showers were there. There was quite a long waiting list for the shower suites (I think I was #12, and there are only three showers). But the attendant was very kind, and for whatever reason bumped me up so I only had to wait about 5 minutes.
The shower suite was clean and had a toilet and sink (sometimes they don't have these). But the ambience was definitely a 2-star hotel, complete with wall-mounted combination shampoo/body wash and combination face/body moisturizer. Compare to, say, the Red Carpet Club in Narita, where the shower suites are finished in marble and you get an amenity kit with body moisturizer, face moisturizer, toothpaste, toothbrush, shaving cream, razor, face wash, etc. Still, nothing beats a hot shower and change of clothes after about 15 hours on the road, with 6 more ahead.
I went back to the Senator Lounge side where I can confirm the eating options are superior. Business Lounge had bread and rolls with cream cheese, and muesli. The Senator Lounge had the muesli and yogurt in individual cups, as well as cheese, those nice smoothies I had on my outbound, and what looked like an omelette bar from afar. When I got closer, it turned out to be a sandwich bar, but not like Subway. You had a choice of 5 different kinds of breads (arranged on slanted racks like a bakery), and like 5 different cream cheese spreads. I got tomato spread, and on top I got diced cucumber and tomato (chopped scallions was the only other topping). Tasted pretty nice. I thought it was amusing how the sandwich was served on a plate advertising the Business Lounge.
I was told at the connection counter that boarding would take place an hour before departure, so I went to the gate quite early. Of course, boarding didn't start until 30 minutes before, but the extra time gave me a chance to have a cup of tea at the coffee/tea/newspaper station that Lufthansa has on all of the European flights. A really nice touch! Plus, I could find pure green tea here, which I couldn't find in the Senator Lounge.
It was snowing quite hard now, so we were a bit delayed getting off the ground (first had to wait in the shuttle bus at the foot of the boarding stairs, and then had to wait for deicing). But I was surprised we were able to take off at all; it turns out that later in the morning many flights were diverted coming in, or significantly delayed since FRA closed its runways due to weather.
On board there was a beverage and sandwich service (cheese and seed bread with cheese, butter, and diced bell peppers inside).
We landed in a surprisingly snow-free and sunny Amsterdam! Only a train and bus ride come between me and home.
