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.

back in the fatherland

after taking a bus from central london, i arrived at stansted airport, ready to spend the night...apparently i wasn't the only one, as there were LOTS of other people all around the building..i ended up putting my stuff down near a guy who had a sleeping pad underneath his body and was covered in a sleeping bag..he was definitely prepared for a night in the airprort!
i didn't sleep much that night, but that's been the norm these days..i have had a lot of trouble adjusting to the time difference..i flew ryanair for the first time, not much to say about that airline..as far as budget airlines go, i like air asia better overall..(and i wish there was something cheaper than southwest in the states)..ryanair flys to frankfurt hahn airport, which isn't anywhere close to the other (larger) frankfurt airport..anywho, my friend mandy picked me up at the airport, and we drove around for a while..it's nice to be on good roads again, (in a nice vehicle,) but go figure, they make me carsick!! argh..we saw rivers and castles and all the lovely german architecture i've missed over the last few years..
and then we got to her flat..it's HUGE!! i got to have my own bedroom:)..mandy had to work one of the days i was there, but the other days we just hung out and got caught up with each other..we know each other from my hometown, so we know a lot of the same people..i learned about the existence of apple tv, and we raided a large german grocery store..she had a snowboarding trip planned for american thanksgiving, so we spent a couple hours in an outdoor store figuring out everything she would need..even though i wasn't buying, it was still fun..
from mandy's little village of schopp i took the trains to stuttgart, and met up with jenn..jenn and i met in australia in 2008, near uluru..she also has a huge flat, in the city..surprisingly, (because trains in germany almost always run on time, down to the minute) one of the trains i took was late leaving, so i was an hour later than expected getting to stuttgart, which has a huge hauptbahnhof...thankfully i had jenn's handy number, and we met up quickly enough..after dropping my stuff off in her flat, we went walking downtown..there is an old schloss, an old church, and other stuff to see in stuttgart..plus, since it was november, the christkindlmarkt had started..even though i couldn't drink the gluhwein, it was still pretty to see..a nice walk..
that evening jenn had a birthday party to attend..the birthday boy was american, but his wife was german, and he threw the party in german tradition..that is, he paid for everything..he had reserved a room at a restaurant and had a buffet set up with lots of yummy food...the evening was fun, and i enjoyed meeting new people, even though i felt a bit odd, since i was a complete stranger to anyone else in the room..the next afternoon we went to the tv tower on the outskirts of stuttgart..the city has a great public transport system, each time we wanted to go anywhere we were able to hop on the s-bahn or the u-bahn...yay!! the tv tower is one of the tallest in europe..i think berlin has a taller tower? anywho, you take the elevator up, to your choice of three levels..one is a cafe, with views all around of the entire area, and the other two are entirely open to the elements..jenn and i had joined up with one of her friends, kristina, and all three of us signed the tower..that evening, the three of us went to the flat of more friends, and i got my first experience playing wii..according to the wii, my fit age is 45..hee hee..i got my butt kicked (in 3 rounds) in boxing, and ended up actually being sore a couple days later! eeek!
jenn had to work the next day, so i wandered around downtown stuttgart again, taking pictures, wandering through shops, watching people, etc..jenn and i cooked dinner that night, fun..the next morning i was up early, to take trains to the airport in frankfurt..(thankfully, these trains ran on time)..when i checked in, i received a "coin" worth 2 euro off anything i wanted to purchase in a duty free store..i ended up not using it, given that things in duty free are still pretty expensive, and there wasn't anything i needed..
the end of germany for a couple weeks......................