DAY 0 - I check my bags at the Tom Bradley International Building for a rare business trip...the first international trip of my career. This will also be my first solo transcontinental flight, first time in Germany, and only the second time I have ever visited Europe.

Though I have been on a Boeing 747 before, I cannot remember the last time I have flown on one. That said, this will be my first time flying with Lufthansa...so I am not sure what to expect.

Boarding starts in just over an hour, so I have time to kill.

There is not much worth photographing within this wing of the airport...perhaps that will change when the new international terminal is completed.

I swap to the long lens, but have run out of things to photograph. Guess I will be on my smartphone until I board.

The flight boards on schedule

Taxiing to the runway

Just a few more planes ahead of us

Liftoff!

The new international terminal

Dockweiler Beach

One of the engines blocks the sun as our plane turns towards the east

Sunset over the United States

Sunset over the United States

DAY 1 - Dreis-Brück and Walsdorf, Germany...getting really close to Nürburg

Büchel Air Base? Dang...the plane is now south and east of the Nürburgring (the Nordschleife was likely visible from the OTHER side of the aircraft a minute ago)

Wind power

Arrival at Frankfurt International Airport. I could not take pictures of our landing because I was shooting directly into the sun...and my windows are covered with scratches and ice

Finally at the gate...arriving earlier than scheduled has its disadvantages

Hanno and I take the train to Dom / Römer Station. And what do I see when I arrive? Starbucks!

Of course, I do not plan to drink Starbucks Coffee while I am here

Something new and something old, Commerzbank Tower and Saint Paul's Church (Paulskirche)