germany: another layover in frankfurt

When booking my flights between Chicago and Moscow, my return trip got me a daytime layover in Frankfurt. I have to admit that after my last experience with this layover, I was a bit nervous about delays out of Frankfurt, I didn't want to spend another unintended night there.

Frankfurt is big, having almost 750,000 people. Civilization has been there a long time, going all the way back to Roman times; it was one of the most important cities in the Holy Roman Empire. For a while, the kings and emperors of Germany were crowned in Frankfurt, Wikipedia tells me this stopped in 1792, with the coronation of Franz II who was crowned in St. Bartholomaus Cathedral.

Like much of Germany, much of the city was bombed to smithereens during WW2, most of what exists now has been rebuilt.

My flight arrived in the morning, and it didn't take long to go through passport control. I had ideas for a few things to see in the city, but it didn't quite work out that way.

Getting into the city from the airport is easy and fast, it's just an S-bahn ride. Only 20 or 30 minutes. I had just a personal bag, and my pack for carryon so I put them into a luggage locker in the Frankfurt train station. Much less worrying about my pack getting lost!

I was tired though, so very tired. Jet lag gets worse for me the older I get. Even though my head recognized that it was morning, my body was mostly in a fog. I liked seeing the city before too many people were running around, but I was so tired. 

I knew jet lag was going to be an issue, but I just couldn't keep going, no matter how much I wanted to see in the city. 

I saw a few spots familiar from my layover the year before, then I saw a Starbucks. An organization known for letting people sit in comfortable chairs for long periods of time. 

I admit that I spent the next three hours dozing off in a chair on the second level of the cafe. So tired.

I felt better after the sort of nap, or at least better enough to start walking again.

I wound my way through the old city center to find one of the towers that still stands from the old city walls. It was actually a city gate back in the day, but doesn't look very 'gatey' to me. I also found the opera theater, which is gorgeous. I'd love to attend a performance there sometime, but my layovers never seem to be at the right time for that to happen.

I crossed the river, the bridge was quite photogenic. On the other side of the river I stepped into a church, as I knew I wouldn't be seeing many Catholic or Protestant churches in the near future. I love stained glass, and the feel of belief in the buildings of any faith.

I crossed back over the bridge on a different bridge, this one much more modern. Pretty, but not in the same way the other bridge was. It took me back to the same general area, so I was able to get back to the platz that is featured in many of the photos of Frankfurt. The buildings all around the platz have traditional architecture, so it's beautiful. 

Maybe one day I'll sit in the chairs of all the cafes and have an ice cream.

From there I made my way back to the train station, picked up my bags, and caught the next train back to the airport. This visit to Frankfurt wasn't very long, and not very intense, but it left me something to see the next time I'm there.