Monday, October 8, 2007

Am Main

Frankfurt an Main:

We arrived in Frankfurt an Main, with the intention of quickly departing for Prague. We soon found that we could not afford a the train tickets. In fact we could not afford ANY train ticket ANYWHERE in Germany, ANYWHERE near Germany or ANYWHERE with a German sounding name. So we went to the one place that near the train station we could afford; The Frankfurt Hostel. Off to explore!

Per usual we were embarking on a new city that we knew nothing about. We came upon the world headquarters of the Euro, We were a bit sad they were not handing out free Euro souvenirs outside. Walking from there we entered the Römer square, built in 1405. We began to be thankful that we could not afford the train, there was so much to see in Frankfurt. We crossed over the Main River along one of the many bridges. The sun was shining. Into an old medieval section of town that has been converted into bars...we are in Germany remember. These amazing buildings have been preserved and are now serving good times to a whole new generation. They just made smoking illegal inside, this bar has a creative solution to how to make it's ashtray money back. We enjoyed the day, the sun, the river, the tallest building in the European union, some good beer, recycling and getting the deposit back! (Germany reuses its beer bottles). We walked for hours. There is such a contrast in this city, you can walk down one street and see some ladies practicing the worlds oldest profession. Two streets down you will find some beggars and drunks, next to that is the Gucci store and a shopping street that looks like 5th ave. You can tell there is money and modern commerce happening a stones throw away from 500 year old buildings.

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