Frankfurt

View of Frankfurt downtown from the river promenade

Trying to avoid the "I almost missed the train" experience I had when traveling to Stuttgart, I got to the train station at 5 o’clock on Friday afternoon: 56 minutes before the train’s schedule departure. I had already told a friend I would meet her at the station at that time to have a coffee and to lend her a couple of German movies I just bought so she could watch them over the weekend. Knowing how time flies I do not want to wait until my last week here to purchase books, music and movies in German so I can continue practicing the language once I’m back home. Last week I went on a small DVD shopping spree and started my collection of German movies: Summer in Berlin, One day in Europe, Die fetten Jahren sind vorbei, Alles aus Zücker, Sophie Scholz, and a couple more. Ok, it was 5 o’clock and Eliana S, Sebastian and I met at the designated time and our designated meeting point every time we meet at the main train station: right in front of the "Service Point" underneath the big screen that displays the train departure information. We walked to a nearby Starbucks -it is amazing how many you see now in Germany and how full they always are- where I had a very good vanilla latte. This was actually the first time I had a Starbucks Coffee since arriving in the old continent. After the coffee, they accompanied me to purchase something to eat for the road, walked me to my train and waited until I went inside the wagon, looked for a place to sit down, and waved a final good-bye. As great of a feeling it is to arrive somewhere (airport or train station) and have someone waiting for you, it is also a great feeling to have people accompany you when you leave, say good-bye and wish you a good trip; especially in a train station. I don’t know why but I love train stations, trains and that entire ambiance that surrounds them. I felt like sticking my head out the window, taking out my white handkerchief and waving it out in the air while they yelled at me "No, please don’t go!!. We will miss you!!" and while the 3 of us had this long and sad face. But I didn’t. I think all the businessmen in my wagon who were commuting back home wouldn’t have appreciated it. And in any case, I don’t even own a handkerchief. I guess I just have been watching too many old movies.

So after kissing that idea good-bye I just sat down and began reading my new book: Caballo de Troya I from J. J. Benitez. This time around I took the ICE (Intercity Express) which is the high-speed train of the German Railway system. It took a total of 3 hours to reach the 397km long stretch between Munich and Frankfurt making only 3-2 minutes stops along the way. As the train moves there is a screen which sporadically displays the traveling speed. In between reading and taking a power nap the highest speed I was able to see was 264 km/h although from what I understand the ICE on this route reaches a speed of up to 300 km/h (199 miles/h) depending on whether the train is a first, second, or third generation ICE. I got to Frankfurt at 9PM where Eliana G, another friend from the German school in Medellin, was waiting for me. From the train station we walked about 10 minutes to her place and with me being tired from only a couple of hours of sleep the previous night and a hectic Friday we decided to stay home chatting and catching up and leave the "tour de Frankfurt" for Saturday and Sunday.

Frankfurt´s Skyline

After having ourselves what I consider to be a true and delicious German breakfast: a variety of breads with butter, marmalade, nutella, cheese and coffee; we left the apartment and went on an all-day walking tour of downtown Frankfurt. The weather during the whole weekend was rather cold. The temperature was around 15 Centigrade during the day, but the good thing is that it never rained although it was always overcastted. Frankfurt (population 660,000) has become the banking and finance center of Germany. All the main banks have a sky-scraper here and therefore the skyline of downtown Frankfurt looks more like a city in the northeastern U.S.A. The Commerze Bank for example, with an altitude of 850 ft, is the tallest building in the European Union. The European Central Bank, the bank responsible for the monetary policy of the European Union, is also located here.

European Central Bank

Old Opera House - "To the true, the beautiful, the good"

From the banking district we walked to the old city passing historical buildings and landmarks such as: Römer Platz (what seems to be the main town square and where the city hall is also located), the Dome or cathedral, and the St. Paul’s Church. We then ended up once again by the river. Just like most of the big cities in Germany, Frankfurt lies between the " River Main" which adds a lot of life to the city. There are multiple boats where you can take a trip up and down the river, several promenades along the river where lots of people jog, bike, roller blade or just simply walk, and I also saw quite a number of groups who were rowing. There are of course a good number of bridges to cross the river. What is particular about them is that each bridge has a different look. Some bridges for example are only pedestrians. And from what I was told there is a one they call the "San Francisco" bridge because it resembles the Golden Gate Bridge in that city and then there is another one that is called the Brooklyn bridge. At around 5PM we stopped for a very late lunch or very early dinner: Flammkuchen. This food is actually a French specialty from the region of Alsace. However it is very popular in Frankfurt. Imagine a very very very thin oven baked bread dough (which looks like a pizza crust) with "fresh cream" (something similar to sour cream), onions and bacon. Mmmmmmm very very good. After dinner we made our way back to the finance district and headed to the English Theater, a theater where plays are presented in English. We had tickets to watch Tennessee William’s Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. I’m no theater connoisseur, none at all, but I enjoyed the play a lot and I think it was good. In my humble opinion I think the performances were very good as well. The play lasted circa 3 hours (plus a 30 minute intercession). After the play we just went for a little bit to a nearby bar to have a drink together with a friend from Eliana who had joined us for the play. But don´t fear, I continued with my Apfel shorle diet (I continue refusing to drink beer….at least until the Oktoberfest)

Römer Platz with its half-timbered façades

On Sunday morning we went out with another friend from Eliana to have brunch. Once again I enjoyed a delicious German breakfast: a variety of breads, an even bigger variety of marmalades, cheese, nutella, coffee, etc etc.. And at the end the best part of it all: a lightly warmed apple strudel with a vanilla sauce to die for. Just writing about it makes me want to have another one: Right Now!. I have to google the recipe as this has definitely become my favorite German dessert. After brunch we walked to Sachsenhausen and Alt-Sachsenhausen (Old-Sachsenhausen): a part of the city we didn’t visit on Saturday. The old part of this neighborhood is an area where you can find a small pedestrian zone filled with bars and restaurants. The small and narrow streets on the pedestrian zone are made out of stone and the restaurants and bars are very old houses with what I just discovered is called half-timbered façades. As we entered the area of Alt-Sachsenhausen I stopped, took a look around and said to Eliana: "Eli!!! This is the place we were when Germany won the 1990 World Cup. This is the place where we watched the final against Argentina and this is the place where we celebrated with all the drunk and euphoric Germans" Well, it so happens that when we came for the student exchange experience seventeen years ago we were all reunited in Frankfurt the day before flying back home to Colombia. On that last night in Frankfurt, Germany was playing in Italy the final of the World Cup (soccer) against Argentina. So you can imagine how the streets of Frankfurt were on that night after the game was over. The youth hostel we stayed in that night (which we also walked by and took pictures of) is located basically behind the zone where the restaurants are located and right in front of the river. The funny thing is that as we walked around this area we made another very interesting discovery: a Colombian Restaurant; Sapo Rey – Fonda Colombiana. Of course we ran to it to look at the menu and see what they had to offer. We did not eat anything there but now I know that if I want a bandeja paisa I have to travel to Frankfurt on Wednesdays or Sundays. So instead we went to a very good Mexican restaurant on another part of the city (Bornheim) where I had a delicious Enchilada de Pollo and where the music being played had the following formula:

A song from Los Diablitos (Heavy Vallenato) + El Combo de las Estrellas.

I can only guess that the "DJ" was also Colombian. There is no other nationality possible for such music selection. But in a city like Frankfurt this all did not catch me by surprise. Frankfurt is a multicultural city. Just by walking by I found for example a lot of restaurants from different countries, something very different from Munich where you basically just find German and Italian restaurants and small fast-food places where to eat a Turkish Döner Kebab.

Alt-Sachsenhausen -- Sapo Rey, Fonda Colombiana

I left Frankfurt at 9 o’clock on Sunday night having had yet another wonderful and unforgettable weekend!!! Once again it was great to spend time with old friends. Even though I see Eli often and talk to her frequently I finally had the chance to see where she lives and let her give me a tour of the city where she has been working for almost a year now. Even tough I have to say I almost asked for my money back: she didn’t know exactly what all the places were or even where they were. For example the only time we took the subway: we took it on the wrong direction and ended up having to get off on the last stop as everyone got off the train and the lights inside the wagon were turned off; and we didn’t visit the Palmen Garten (Palms Garden) because "the palms in there are exactly like the ones in front of her house in Medellin" (even tough I have to agree with her on this one. Everything they find exotic in here and for which you have to pay a premium price –plants, animals, fruits – you can find out in the open anywhere in Latin America. I almost had to fire her but then I realized I was her first customer as a tour guide of Frankfurt. Thank God we had a book that helped us identify the most relevant places. It included a walking tour which we completed about 80-90%. But nevertheless, this gave us a lot of good material to laugh about. I had a scheduled 10 minute train connection in Würzburg but the arriving train was delayed so I had to wait about 25 minutes. I got to Munich’s central station 10 minutes before 1 o’clock in the morning and ran to catch the second to last subway for the day at 1 o’clock. By the time I got home, unpacked, and got everything ready for the next day I ended up getting only about five and half hours of sleep. But it was all worth it!! I planned it so that I would leave in one of the last trains to be able and spend as much time as possible in Frankfurt!!!!