Frankfurt, Germany - Day 32 - 34

old town
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After a few hours on a high speed train from Munich, we finally arrived in Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (main train station). I gotta say…German high speed train system is the best! The seats are comfortable (I paid for a 2^nd class rail pass but I ended up with a 1^st class rail pass….score!), its informative (shows u which stop is next, the speed it is going), clear wayfinding for seats and cabins, etc. I’m getting better at finding my way around the different train systems throughout Europe. Italian’s got their own way…they require u to validate your ticket before boarding. Austrian’s are similar as well where some trains may require reservation. German’s got the best because of its comfort and speed. I really like traveling by train since everything is always on time and u get to choose various time to travel (I like traveling in the morning so I have the rest of the day to site see and relax)

eating escargot
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Anyway, back to Frankfurt. The city has many skyscrapers compared to the rest of the country…but not like HK or NYC. We took a subway to find our Best Western Hotel located near Zell, which is a pedestrian shopping street. We spent our time looking around in shops but didn’t buy anything, looked at many H&M’s (there are so many H&M’s throughout Europe…crazy). I saw a movie theatre advertising American movies but in German…at this point of my trip I REALLY wanted to watch a movie but decided I wasn’t desperate enough to watch Sex and the City in German.

drinking stalls along the street
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We spent our time roaming through the city. Like seeing Romerberg square which is part of the old town that is just north of the main river where it has many cafes clustered around a fountain. We also ventured south of the river to Sachsenhausen where the older part of town is. We went to check out the cafes and pubs but didn’t stay for the night life.

My favourite part of Frankfurt was the night we hung out in an area with many bars which is on a street called Gr. Bockenheimerstrasse, next to the Alte Opera house. The atmosphere was really cool. Many vendors sent up along the street where they sell beer, wine, apple wine (famous in Frankfurt), and strawberry wine (I don’t know the exact name but its strawberries in white wine or apple wine). They also serve food such as a thin crust pizza with light toppings, your usual sausages (cuz it is Germany afterall), and they even had Vietnamese and Indian food. In front of these vendors were long rows of tables and chairs, similar to the feel of a beer hall. People can buy drinks and food anywhere…sit anywhere or even walk around. U pay a deposit for your glass and when u return it, u get 2 euros back. Pretty neat idea. So our plan was to buy a drink from each stall from 1 end of the street to the other end. I think we only went through 2 stalls hahaha! Bars in Europe are generous with their serving of wine…its literally up to the top and not the half glasses we get back home! It was just impossible to sample all 20 different stalls!

post mo archi
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It was time for my mom to go home. I took her to the airport and went back to the city to roam around some more. I stayed at this REALLY DODGEY place near the train station. I had no idea that the area was that bad…bad as in red light district bad. There were so many drug addicts, drug dealers, prostitutes, weirdos in the area. I only picked this hostel based on the photos and comments from other people and it seemed ok. But I guess they won’t advertise the neighborhood. Anyway, the hostel itself was ok…just your regular hostel with a bed, sink and washroom. I couldn’t wait until the morning when I get to leave haha! Something else funny and scary happened…I wont write it here….but I’ll tell u if u ask me hehe