There is a city known for its sausages and Apfelwein in the west of Germany by the name of Frankfurt, which rests on the Main River and sits about two hours from the French border by car.

It’s nearly 5,000 miles from Kansas City, but as I came to quickly understand, these two otherwise completely different places share one somewhat surprising commonality: the presence of the Kansas City Chiefs, and in the case of Frankfurt, an exponentially growing interest in the reigning Super Bowl champions.

My journey to Frankfurt began on a Thursday via a red eye flight across the Atlantic. This was the fourth advance marketing trip to one of Germany’s largest and most important cities since the news broke that Kansas City would play the Miami Dolphins in Frankfurt on Nov. 5.

Our crew consisted of myself, Chiefs legend Dante Hall, our Director of Entertainment Teams Stephanie Judah, two Chiefs Cheerleaders (Cooper and Jordan) and Shawn Emerson, the most tenured lieutenant of Dan Meers – otherwise known as KC Wolf. Meers couldn’t make the trip, so Shawn packed his rather large bag for Frankfurt. We also met up with Katie Kemmerer – the Chiefs Director of Business Operations – once we landed. Katie, who plays a large role in the Chiefs’ international campaigns, was responsible for putting the entire trip together.