02 – Frankfurt, Germany
Day 1: First Day in Europe
We were up at 4:00 am this morning. At least we got 5 good hours of sleep. After yesterday’s long flight and chaotic airport experience, this is an accomplishment. As you can see, I was finally able to upload some photos. Here’s a photo of the security line at the airport yesterday so you can see what we went through. Notice how far away the entrance to the terminal is and that was when we were more than halfway through!
Our first day in Europe was a success! We arrived at Frankfurt early in the morning and soon discovered that we had packed way too much. Some of it is due to the fact that we’ll be living in the camper for a time. We planned to ship some of the stuff but did not have time. All the baggage meant that we had to take a Taxi to the hotel (one that was a minivan as the cars would not take us). In the end it wasn’t too bad since it was just a 25 euro ride and we did not have to figure out how to buy tickets for the train from the machine (more on that later).
I was surprised at the speeds our cab driver was doing on the way to the hotel. I was expecting to see aggressive driving in Italy but not so much in Germany. At one point I saw him going up to 160 Km/h in the highway. We arrived at the hotel too early and our room was not ready, so we went for a walk. The hotel is in a very trendy neighborhood and there are many funky hotels and bars around. Without knowing, we wandered into the main train station, which is the hub of activity in Frankfurt. It is not only a station but also a mall and an arcade. We roamed the shops for a while looking for a place to have lunch and sit for a while. BTW: The food here is wonderful and very cheap! We had a couple of bratwurst and a soda and I think we paid less than 5 euros. Later that night, we had a home cooked German meal for 10 euros. (There was a 2 euro deposit to make sure we brought the plate back!)Feeling tired and jet-lagged, we headed back for the hotel around noon hoping that our room was ready. (And it was!) We went up to our room which was small (bigger than most rooms in New York City, though) but quite cozy and stylish:
We woke up around 3:00 pm and decided to go looking for a place to have dinner and walk around. We asked at the front desk and they told us that everything was near the historic center so we went back to the station. We were told that the U2 would take us directly there but using the machine to buy tickets proved more challenging than we though. After long periods of staring at the machine like idiots and a couple of trips to the information desk, we finally had our tickets. After all that work we were surprised to learn that the transport seems to run mostly on the honor system since we were never challenged for our tickets.
At the city center, we were greeted by a fairy tale scene of half-timbered houses and domed buildings around a cobblestone plaza. Exploring further down the street, we came onto the city’s main shopping area where upscale department stores and boutiques flanked a street where stalls selling traditional fare and German beer were mixed in with small corrals containing handfuls of farm animals. (I still don’t know what the animals were for.) There were also stalls with portable wood-burning ovens where fresh bread was being baked as well as a street-corner preacher shouting loudly in German while holding a sign with the name Jesus in bold red letters. We had dinner in outside by one of the stalls served by a German lady who spoke “poquito” Spanish. In fact, we were amazed at the large number of Spanish-speakers we heard in the streets. And it wasn’t only Spaniards but people from all over the Spanish-speaking world, many of who looked like residents and not tourists. After dinner we browsed the shops until closing time at 8:00 pm. Brenda, always the fashionista, was impressed by the selection and quality of the clothes in the stores. All in all it was a great first day!
Here are some more pictures of the area around the town center:
Day 2: Sightseeing in Frankfurt
Our day began at the hotel where we enjoyed a wonderful complementary breakfast in a dining room with Asian inspired decor with a great view of a lush garden. We relaxed for a while in the cowhide living room chairs before heading out for a day of sightseeing. It will be hard to get use to the austerity of the van after all this luxury even if does mean that we will not have to pack and unpack everything every couple of nights. I am a bit nervous about driving and finding our way in strange country. Staying in hotels like this would be the comfortable thing to do; however, this trip isn’t about being comfortable. It’s about getting over our fears and insecurities and experiencing Europe to the fullest!
We again took the U2 to the historic town center, the Romberg, where we visited the Cathedral or the Dom. The Dom happened to be closed so we peered at the altar from behind the gate and tried to snap a few pictures that did not come out too good. We then walked around trying unsuccesfully to find the Romer, which has been city hall since 1405, and the entrance to the Kaisserhal or “Emperor’s Hall”, where there are portraits of the 52 emperors from Chalemagne to Franz II. Instead we arrived at the waterfront where we were awed by the wonderful vistas.
We crossed a bridge to other side where we strolled down the tree-lined pedestrian path looking for the Stadel museum, which houses many works by master like Monet, Degas, Renoir Picaso, Beckmann and Kandinski. The walk to the museum was pleasant and we passed many other museums like the Communications, Architecture and Film Museum. The Stadel museum was excellent and we took our time browsing the exhibitions. A word of advice to budget travelers in order: most of the museums and attractions have an entrance fee and it can be expensive to visit all the sights. Some sights may be a better “value” than others depending on your interests. For example, given the volume of master works contained within, the Stadel was in our opinion and excellent value at 2 euros per person; however, the Kaisserhall costs the same but it is basically one room with 52 portraits. The Frankfurt history museum was even pricier at 4 euros per person.
After visiting the museum we walked back across the river on the suspension bridege, which rocked noticeably when the wind blew. The long walk back to the Romerberg left us tired and hungry and we sat down at the first cafe we encountered besides the plaza, which turned out to be twice what we paid for dinner the night before for less food plus a tip for the waitress. Another tip to budget travelers: stay away from Restaurants near major attractions. After lunch we visited de Kaisserhall, which added to food and transportation expenses blew the budget for the day.
After lunch, we visited the Museum of History of Frankfurt where we learned about the origins of the city which has been a crossroads since medieval times. We also saw a model of how the city was completely destroyed by allied bombing during World War II. Only the church spire remained standing. It was impressive! Considering the destruction of the city it is incredible how they’ve managed to recreate and preserve the area around the Romber.
One of the most intriguing things about the Frankfurt History Museum was this exhibit dedicated to the works of a local author. In it was included a book about the traditional music of our native land of Puerto Rico. I am often amazed at how far reaching the music and culture of such a small Caribbean island can be. Today, a new generation of performers from all over Latin America are breaking new ground worldwide. So far we’ve heard works from Shakira and Juanes blaring over the loudspeakers at department stores and on German television and Puerto Rican rappers like Daddy Yankee and Don Omar are busting on the scene in the US and elsewhere.
We hiked several blocks to the shopping area where we had dinner the night before. The streets seemed even more chaotic although most of the farm animals were gone (only the bunnies were left) and we saw a craftsman carving a huge owl right on the street.
Next we wandered into Kaufhof, a giant department store where one can find anything and everything. Kaufhof has something like six floors packed with everything from clothes to electronics to jewelry, groceries and an excellent cafeteria. The cafeteria has a terrace that offers an amazing view of the city so Brenda and I had dessert as we marveled at the sights.
From the terrace one could appreciate the size of the Esprit store across the street. Esprit is one of Brenda’s favorite boutiques and she took great pleasure in browsing there the night before. I all her years as a retail manager and avid shopper she had never seen a Esprit store that big. They even had men’s clothes, which is not available in the ‘States.
All the walking left us so tired that we stayed in tonight but the wonderful vistas of the city of Frankfurt will remain with us forever and we hope to see more when we return at the end of October.
