Surprising Frankfurt

This city was the most pleasantly surprising place we have been so far on this trip. With nicknames like 'Mainhattan' and 'Bankfurt' and with the reputation as the largest banking and financial center after London, I was expecting a sleek, gray, corporate city with not much to get excited about. Add to that the fact that 80% of the city was destroyed in two bombing runs during WW2…boy was I mistaken. After the hyper and uber-urban environments of London and Paris, Frankfurt was a wonderful and much needed break. It is a very relaxed and relaxing city with a superb waterfront on the Main (pronounced 'mine') River, some surprisingly interesting and off-beat museums and very lively squares off the old town center. We did see our first real European skyscrapers, but even they were interestingly lit up at night.

We went to the Museum of Communication which was much more interesting than the name might indicate. And there in the lobby was an art piece that Lynn had just found out about from our friend Curt LeMay –

Yes, those are sheep made from old telephones. The bodies are from many old cords, the feet are receivers, and the heads are the whole unit. Quite ingenious and very effective – they really look like sheep – there's even a black one, off all by itself. The museum had much artwork related to communications – there was a Christo piece, a public telephone wrapped in plastic and canvas, several paintings (including a Jawlensky and a Broodthaers) an extensive collection of stamps, some spectacular old televisions – a truly remarkable museum in a beautiful space right along the river.

We had lunch at a traditional Frankfurt apple wine tavern where they serve an alcoholic apple cider called ebbelwoi. I had a version that has lemonade added to it and some just straight. It is a unique taste, better with the lemonade, but it was delicious with the Weiner schnitzel I ordered.
The river walks were just delightful – flocks of geese bedded down in the sun, tour barges cruising up and down the river, lovely rows of linden trees lining the path – it was marvelously relaxing.

We wandered through the remains of the old town – very few buildings survived the bombs and those that did needed extensive rebuilding – but the square does feel quite old world. This is the old town hall which is now used by the mayor and the town council. The stepped roof line is traditional in Frankfurt although there are few examples remaining.

We had a lovely dessert – apple strudel, what else? – in another square before walking back along the Main to our pension. It had been a very lovely day, all the more so because it was so unexpected. And although it was raining the next morning when we headed out to Berlin, Frankfurt is a city I would love to go back to when the world feels too much with me.

I must say something about Pension Aller where we stayed. I choose it because it was very close to the train station and it had some good reviews. It is run by Frau Kraus (insert Young Frankenstein reference here), a lovely elderly woman who will cruise up the three flights of stairs before you've closed the front door and provide you with all the morning conversation you need. She has traveled widely and will tell you that she won't talk politics or religion, usually just before (or after) a long political narrative. She is very interesting to listen to and a very kind host. It was a comfortable room (twin beds, of course) but clean, convenient and relatively quiet, for being close to a busy intersection.