Frankfurt - July 3, 2012

On the way to Calgary, when
the plane wasn't full yet.

Frankfurt is a city of contrasts. Old brick buildings surround the main train station, with the skyline punctured by modern metal and glass skyscrapers. We made our way there from the airport by regional train without too much trouble; though, I had to puzzle out what kind of train ticket to buy from 6 different options labelled in German and figure out which station and platform to wait at from the wall-sized departure schedule, again labelled only in German.

View from the hostel room. Train station
is just around the corner.

We'd prebooked two nights in a hostel near the station. The room was small but had a private bathroom. It was clean and the place was run like a 5 star hotel. We walked in to a gleaming tiled lobby and professional uniformed staff manning the front desk 24/7, an extensive continental breakfast with linen tablecloths and freshly made cappuccinos. Not bad for 50 euros a night. We like it so much we booked another night there for the end of our trip.

Just a 13th century cathedral.

Monday night we wandered through the red light district near the central station. It's such a multicultural city - restaurants from China, Japan, Turkey, Iran, all kinds of European bakeries and delis and produce stands. People speaking half a dozen different languages all within earshot. We got cheap pizza and a $4 bottle of wine and went back to crash and adjust to the 9 hour time difference.

Mmm, french pastries...

Very narrow building!

Tuesday was the touring day. We walked 8 or 10km around the city, up to Bornheim which is an older district of Frankfurt. Lunch was chocolate croissants, pretzels, German pastries, and gelato. We saw a gothic cathedral used to crown the German emperors in the 16th and 17th centuries, and Romer square which used to be the medival town square. It was destroyed during WWII and rebuilt in the classic style. We also found a huge park in the middle of the city, with playgrounds and a waterpark. Tons of kids running around - I guess they have the summers off here too.

Happy hour - with Apfelwine, the local specialty.

Wednesday we get up early and hop on the 11:30 train to...hmm... how about Amsterdam! We'll be there for a few nights, maybe.