Deutschland!! - Frankfurt

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Our “backpacking through Europe” has finally begun!!! …even if it was for just one week.
But it was all unplanned. My (Shailen) family ring me up from Frankfurt, Germany and tell me to come over and meet them so I was on a plane to see mummy and daddy.
That same night I was on the ‘net booking my flights and then left for the airport at midnight. My flight was at 7am so I had to be there at 5am and there’s no public transport that early, so I spent the night at the airport with minimal sleep.
I left Alisa behind in Istanbul while I went to see my family and told her to come meet me on the day they left. I just slept on my flight over and missed breakfast and all.

In Frankfurt's main Train Station

Outside the Train Station

The first thing I noticed when I arrived in Frankfurt was the advertising on the pillars at the airport for South Africa and the 2010 Soccer World Cup.


I surprised my little brother and sister when I arrived at the hotel they were staying at and we soon made our way off to see Frankfurt. The public transport is about the same as it is in Istanbul in terms of reliability and frequency but like Melbourne in terms of paper ticket each time and having to validate a ticket. They are a lot more trusting there!!! The whole system is based on trust that you have a ticket. There are times when there’s officials that walk around looking at tickets but I only saw them 1 day in 9 that I was there.

Germany's Public Transport advertising Turkey!

We got in to the city and walked around and the first thing that greeted us was Sex Shops, great big ones and no black curtain to hide the store inside. I had to shield my little sister’s eyes! The Germans seem to be a lot more open about that sort of thing or maybe we were just in the wrong part of town…

Not much to say about this one......

Frankfurt is divided in two by the river Main into the Northern City, which has a lot of high-rise buildings, and the Southern City, which is older and traditional in its design. As such Frankfurt is nicknamed Main-hattan due to the high-rises.

One of the many Bridges crossing the River Main.

Along the River showing the old and new buildings.

The European Central Bank - the issuing bank of the Euro.

We just followed a route set out by the tourism information and walked through many of the tall buildings and then made to the Alte Oper (Old Opera House). We managed to call my sister for her 21st birthday and wish her well. It was great to talk to her but also sad because I wished I was with her.

The beautiful Old Opera House

The side of the Opera House.

At the Alte Oper we met up with an American Soldier that was stationed just outside of Frankfurt and was about to be deployed to Iraq in April for 15 months. It was about 11am and he just came out from a night clubbing but decided to join us for the rest of the day. So we all made our way to find some traditional German food and drink some German beer!

Shailen's family with their new American friend.

The rest of the day was spent just walking around and then seeing some places at night. We wanted to see some of the old city (Römerberg) but were advised to stay clear of that area because there was apparently a Right-Wing demonstration that was taking place.

One of the many old buildings with the family in front.

Frankfurt's historic Guard Station (Hauptwache), built in 1671 and reconditioned in 1728 until it was finally turned into a downtown cafe in 1904.

The next day we went in to see Römerberg, which is a historic city centre, with magnificent half-timbered houses. In the city centre square there is also the Römer Rathaus (City Hall) that has been Frankfurt’s City Hall since 1405!

Römerberg Square

Römerberg City Hall

Römerberg Square with St. Nicolas Church on the side.

We went in to a few churches and were really taken aback by St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral that was built in 1239. It was selected as an electoral site for kings of the Holy Roman Empire in 1356. This church was huge and also housed a few marvelous statues and paintings of Christ. Out the back of the church were ruins of a second building associated with the church.

St. Catherine's Church.

St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral

Inside the Cathedral is one of the biggest organs I have ever seen!

Showing some of the magnificent art work inside.

The ruins out the back of the Cathedral are remnants of a Roman encampment which included thermal baths.

Showing the plans for the ruined buildings.

The next morning I farewelled my family at the airport, not sure when I will see them next. I had some time to kill before Alisa arrived so I decided to look into our accommodation and what we can do while we are here. We originally planned to stay in Frankfurt for one week but there wasn’t a great deal to see in Frankfurt so when Alisa arrived we decided to buy a German Rail Pass and that entitled us to travel for 4 days in a month.

Our first night was spent in separate dorms as they didn’t allow mixed.

Little alley way out the back of the Hostel.

We then went into the city and I showed Alisa around Frankfurt.

Just another old building floating around!

Shailen and I at Römerberg.

St. Pauls Church as it was after the War. It has since been rebuilt and you can see it below as the orange building with green roof.

We also went up to the Main Tower which gives us a full 360˚ view of the city.

The European Central Bank in the forefront.

Showing the size of the Train Staion!

Well that was Frankfurt so now we were off to explore Berlin!

Shailen looking quite the Backpacker at the train station.