Frankfurt, Germany Journal & Photos - Holland America Westerdam Baltic Cruise - August 9 - 11, 2005
Frankfurt, Germany Post Cruise August 9 - 11, 2005
Bar Hopping In Frankfurt, Germany August 9, 2005 (6 Pictures) European Central Bank Area (9 Pictures) Frankfurt, Germany Town Hall (8 Pictures) Multiple Film Crews Using Roemerberg As A Backdrop (6 Pictures) Frankfurt, Germany Marriott Area (12 Pictures) Hauptwache Platz (6 Pictures) Roemerberg - Frankfurt Town Square (15 Pictures) Main River Area (3 Pictures)The flight to Frankfurt was only about one hour. I exchanged my last traveler’s check and we went to the subway to get to downtown Frankfurt. I knew the hotel was about 1.5 kilometers away from the train station but didn’t know exactly where it was so we caught a cab to the Frankfurt Marriott. It cost about 6 Euros and ended up being on the same road and on the tramline three stops from the train station. The tram would have cost just about the same as a cab.
We chilled out a little bit then headed out for something to eat. Matt got directions for where the bars and restaurants were. He chose poorly we would find out the next night as everything was down near the train station. We walked for a few blocks and stopped for a beer at Extrablatt. Matt wanted some type of German food so we kept walking and all we could find was Greek/Turkish food. We were screwing with each other and wouldn’t stop to eat anything. We kept walking and having beers at a couple of bars, Excil and Heck Meck. After fake fighting about eating we started to head back to the hotel, which was easy to find since it was 40+ stories high with the red Marriott sign at the top.
A couple of blocks from the hotel and only a few blocks from where Matt had been told to turn we ran into Unnerm Fido. It was a German bar with a tiny beer garden that served German food with huge liter beers like Oktoberfest. There were 3 flight attendants from United Airlines finishing dinner who Snap Judgment Matt decided he didn’t like because they were fake. They might have been a bit air headed but I argued with Hangover Man that they weren’t fake. This was mostly because I could tell Matt was getting a little drunk and heading for a hangover.
The meal hit the spot since we hadn’t eaten since the cruise ship this morning. We both had schnitzel. I can’t remember what type Matt had but it had a bunch of stuff I’d never eat on it. I had my schnitzel with a cream sauce and fries. It was very good. That was pretty much the end of August 9 as we walked home and called it an evening after dinner. It was a Tuesday night and there weren’t many people out anyways. This would hold true for Wednesday also.
Frankfurt was very much like Berlin in that it’s a huge city but there doesn’t seem to be enough people to justify the size of the city. I could only figure that it was August and I know that is the big vacation month for Europeans.
We started our last day by sleeping in. I really didn’t have much planned for Frankfurt. I would have just as easily like to have left for home but I could only reserved frequent flyer seats returning on Thursday. We started our touring by buying a 24-hour transportation pass for 4.50 Euros. We got on the tram outside the Marriott and just rode the tram until the end of the line then headed back to the city.
I’m really sold on the trams. I’ve never been in a European city that had trams and also had traffic problems. Some cities have so many trams running, like Amsterdam, that they are almost like a moving sidewalk through the city. The tram took us pretty far outside of town and on the way back we stopped at the South Train Station. Matt was looking for a bank to get money and thought he had seen some at this station when we went through originally on the tram. He was wrong. We walked the whole square the train station was on then walked to the other side of the station where we found a bank. Of course, when we walked back to the train station we noticed we had walked right by an ATM in the station.We took the subway from the train station back into the heart of town. We walked around aimlessly like always and found the café district that was also surrounded by the red light district. Matt finally stopped and got his Turkish Domer that he had seen all over Berlin. It was a German gyro. I wasn’t that hungry and made a recon circle around the block. There were lots of cafes along with the red light district staples of strip clubs and peep shows. There were a couple of interesting twists that I’d never seen. One was an Internet Café porn lounge. Another was the subtle difference between Frankfurt and Amsterdam with the ladies of the evening. In Frankfurt all the girls are inside “hotelsâ€