This is getting to be a bit of a habit. Friday morning at the airport again, this time heading for Frankfurt and beyond.

We used to come here quite a lot but in recent years, that hasn’t been the case and it felt surprisingly unfamiliar. I didn’t really expect to find ourselves climbing out of the plane onto the tarmac and having to get onto a bus to the terminal, where we had to walk for miles. At last, we reached the baggage claim, where bags from our flight were already arriving, so we stood and waited hopefully. At least a long walk means that our bags usually get there first.

But it was not the case this time. I’d say about half the bags from our flight arrived before the belt stopped. An announcement with an apology for the late arrival came after ten or fifteen minutes and still we waited. Thankfully, it wasn’t only us, but quite a few others - if something had gone wrong, it had gone very wrong indeed.

About three quarters of an hour after landing, the belt cranked into action again and our bags came into view - thank goodness for that.

The fun was only just beginning though. A notice on the AVIS rental car counter said (in German) that it was closed and that all business was being done at the Terminal 1 office. What? After a (very) long and convoluted process involving finding people to ask directions, two or three lifts and escalators, a shuttle train and a very long walk through a food court, we reached the counter.

As you can see, there was a queue. It was almost another hour before we were on our way.

Our little BMW X1 zipped along the autobahn in the wake of its big brothers who zoomed past us at breakneck speeds. German autobahns are not for the faint of heart.

We finally reached our destination and checked into our hotel here in Weimar, heading out almost immediately in search of food and drink. Our German friends are already in town and our Swiss friends will arrive tomorrow.

Whilst I came back for an early night, my Hero met up wtih Volker, who had been at the opera rehearsal in the theatre all day and was buzzing with excitement.

After two hundred years, I think it’s about time it was heard!