Finally I got some time off from work and got a chance to travel to Frankfurt to visit friends:) -Cause when you travel, you get friends all over the world! Vanessa, whom I stayed at, I got to know while we were both studying in Sydney and that also goes for Alex who also lives in Frankfurt.
This was my first visit to the city, of course I have been on the airport before, but only to rush from one plane to an other. So it was a bit odd to look for the exit and don't stress anywhere. I did not have any problems at the airport, but I must say it is one of the slowest ones I have been to. It took forever to get my luggage! When I finally got it, it was time for sightseeing and lots of catching up=)
The first place we visited was the Main tower, the only skyscraper with a public viewing platform. Funny that at they want to do the weather forecast from this one. You have to pay to get up, but it is worth it to get an overview of the city. It really comes in handy for the rest of the sightseeing. If you have a student card you get a discount, I even got one with my Norwegian card.
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| The weather forecast, notice the many air planes in the sky |
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| Me and Vanessa on the top of Frankfurt |
I visited Frankfurt just before the election so there were politicians and speeches everywhere. One day it was crowded with police before a demonstration. I couldn't understand why there were so many police present for an election campaign, but it turned out it was the right wing party having a demonstration and some of their opinions are a bit on edge I guess.
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| The demonstration coming closer |
Even though Frankfurt is a very modern city being the financial centre of Germany and populated with several skyscrapers, there are a lot of history in the city. A lot of Frankfurt was destroyed during the second world war, but at the town hall square, Römerberg, some of the original buildings have been reconstructed so you can get an impression of how the city ones was like. This is also an historical place: This is where the book burning started in 1933.
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| The reconstruction |
Everywhere I travel there are many religious buildings, and Frankfurt was no exception. Within a short walking distance I visited to very different churches. I am always amazed by the decorations and the architecture, nothing is ever the same. Dom St. Bartholomäus and Alte Nikolaikirche are worth a visit if you like visiting religious buildings.
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| Scary art in one of the curches |
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| From Dom
St. Bartholomäus
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| From Alte Nikolaikirche |
In Frankfurt there are several bridges crossing the Main. One of them is Eisener Steg, a footbridge filled with padlocks. Couples come here to put there locks together and drop the key in the river. I guess it is for good luck. The effort people have put into it is very different, some have their names in-scripted while others doesn't have anything on them. There is also a trend to put a little lock onto the "couple locks" once the couple have had a baby.
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| On the bridge filled with padlocks |
One of the days I visited Vanessa, she was invited to a birthday party, I was invited to come along. This was a totally new experience to me: Not having to bring any alcohol when I'm going to a party. I was so stressed minutes before we had to leave because I had not bought any alcohol, Vanessa of course did not understand what I was stressing about. It was lovely being at a party like that, I think I can get used to it. I could also get used to their popular drink Hugo:)
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| A lovely cake:) |
Just outside Frankfurt lies Mainz a beautiful city that was rather different from Frankfurt ,kind of more German-like, even though it was just a short train ride away. Much more quiet and calm. We just wandered the streets and relaxed. We also payed a visit to the Roman ruins of a theatre. The city was actually founded by Romans
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| Some of the Roman ruins |
An Australian pub in Frankfurt?? Of course we have to visit:) Drinking the Aussie beer again the good memories came flooding.
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| It's all good:) |
Frankfurt is famous for its fairs and luckily the IAA was on when I visited. Who knew I could spend a whole day checking out cars and the likes. Al though the best part must have been the expression the men from Mitsubishi got when I asked questions about their generator technology. There was a lot to see and to at the fair, and I would recommend more than one day if you're really interested!
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| Where to begin? |
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| The Norwegian flag? |
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| hmmm, what am I looking at? |
Some of the big car producers even had shows that were really entertaining. The message from BMW was: The future is here, and it is electric. We have to take care of our environment. The message from Mercedes was more about the new smart cars, really cool demonstrations.
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| Is VW big in Germany? |
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| VW put on a dance show and even some from Mercedes were inspired and joined:) |
In Germany it is a lot cheaper to eat out than in Norway, and my friend said she hardly cooked at home during weekdays. But I convinced her to make a proper German dinner while I was there:) Sauerkrat and meat tastes as if it could have been made back in Norway actually. Thank you, Vanessa:)
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| Sauerkraut |
I simply love markets:) They are filled with all sorts of delicacies with good quality and the atmosphere is lovely. There are always someone offering a sample and of course I want to taste, with the usual outcome that I buy some afterwards:p There are several markets in Frankfurt and Vanessa was so kind that she showed me one of them. It was not easy to spot if you did not know what you were looking for. My expectations were met.
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| So much to see and buy, if only we had this at home instead of supermarkets...! |
Goethe Uniserity Frankfurt is also filled with history. Here you find IG Farbenhaus that during the second world war was used by the Nazis for production of bad things and ironically after the war was used as headquarters for the Supreme Allied Command. The university had amazing buildings and sculptures and since the students were on holiday there were non to remind me of the struggle of being a student.
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| Sculptures doing heavy thinking |
I love everything that can be helpful to save our planet from the climate crises, so when we found this bookshelf on the street I was happy. I hope we can get something similar in Norway. Here people can leave books they do not want any more and others can pick them up if they want one. Just like at hostels. There were several of these bookshelves spread around the city.
The old stock market(and the new one) is located in Frankfurt and since Frankfurt has this financial status it was worth to learn a bit more about it, in German of course:) Visiting the stock market is popular so you have to sign up for a tour in advance. Then you get an introduction to the stock market before you are allowed into a viewing platform where you can see the floor of the exchange. Educational.
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| The floor of the stock market |
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| The floor of the viewing platform: green lights=rise, red lights=decline |
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| The terms bull market and bear market describe upward and downward market trends |
Just outside the city centre lies an old Jewish cemetery with graves back to year 1272. Around the cemetery is a huge wall with metal stones sticking out of it. Each stone has a Jewish name of someone who died during the second world war who came from Frankfurt.
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| And it goes on and on and on |
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| A creepy cemetery, I wouldn't like to be here after dark |
Vanessa showed me a party street where we did not get a chance to visit, and claimed it was chaos. I have to go back and check it out because I doubt it can be any worse than a normal pub area in Norway.
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| Party street |
The food in Germany was easy to like. Even though I tried to eat typical German food, a lot of it was very similar to Norwegian food. The huge difference was the price and the size of the portions. I don't ever think I haven't been able to finish a plate in Norway, but in Germany that was more the rule than the exception.
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| The green sauce was lovely, a visit to a traditional Frankfurt restaurant |
Soccer is obiously very big in Germany, and we saw several games on the TV while I was there. I think a visit to a match would be fun to do the next time I visit Germany because the emotions just sitting at home were heavy.
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| Vanessa is not very satisfied with her team... |
