Like many flights out of Africa, my flight to Frankfurt departed in the middle of the night. I was ready for serious napping, and boarded with a belly full of kitfo (Ethiopian steak tartare) so a full dinner service wasn't an option. Honestly, I was still waiting to see how my "steel" stomach would hold up after devouring a bowlful of raw beef in downtown Addis Ababa. Thankfully, it held up well.

I used Star Alliance miles to purchase the Lufthansa legs of my journey, and due to ...

On my way back from Kiev on Sunday afternoon I sat behind a man who was either very vindictive or very ignorant.

As I settled into my seat shortly before pushback, I noticed that the man had placed his satchel under his seat, rather than under the seat in front of him where personal carry-on items are supposed to be placed. I stretched my legs under the seat in front of me and gently nudged out the man's bag, hoping he would get the hint that he had placed it in the wrong ...

I would not necessarily label it a rookie mistake, but I arrived back in Frankfurt from Kiev this afternoon to find my well-wrapped and padded bottle of red wine shattered and all over my blue jeans in my checked bag.

Thankfully this was not a rare bottle of Ukrainian wine, but it was a very nice bottle of Italian red wine that had been waiting for me in my room at the Hyatt Regency in Kiev—a bottle that retails for about EU20. I had planned to use it as part of a wedding gift ...

After another particularly stressful week at work, I was looking forward to relaxing at home this weekend and catching up on things I have neglected over the last week, including this blog. As I mentioned earlier in the week, my plan was to remain in Germany until the end of the busy summer travel season. That was my plan...

I received an offer from a colleague with a spare buddy pass to go traveling this weekend--I could pick the location, as long as it was a non-stop Lufthansa ...

This spring, Lufthansa enlisted New York celeb chef David Burke to design innovative menus for First and Business class passengers on long haul routes from Germany. David Burke is most famous for his eclectic, Willy Wonka-like visions of candy floss and cheesecake lollipops, wild savory flavor combinations and eye-popping culinary colors. With a string of namesake eateries in New York, David Burke rules the roost in a funky high-concept foodie empire. 

The path between ...

My Iran story is not quite over: there remained the unresolved matter of my ticket back to Europe on Lufthansa. If you did not read about my adventure in Iran, an overbooked flight back from Kish Island to Dubai forced an unplanned overnight in Iran and a missed connection back to Frankfurt (and on to Dublin). Recall that I was able to phone Lufthansa about four hours before my flight was scheduled to leave and relay to them that I was trapped in Iran and would be unable to travel that night. ...