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Published: July 28th 2013
Time to shop at Handwerkskunst.When I think of our time in Frankfurt, my mouth starts to water. From a friend who lives in Frankfurt I learned that the local favorite dishes are Possman Apfelwein and schnitzel with green sauce. Sampling these and finding a Black Forest cuckoo clock were our travel goals in Frankfurt.
On our first morning in Frankfurt, we took a trolley to the tourist center of the city called Romer. Stepping off the trolley, it felt like we were transported to a postcard scene of Germany. This section was restored to how it looked before WW2 (the entire city was destroyed). Along with the facade, there were lots of quaint shops and restaurants that are worth a visit.
Online research suggested that Handwerkskunst was the place in Frankfurt to buy my cuckoo clock. The store was close to Romer and filled with clocks, hand carved pyramids, windmills, and other German goods. The store associates were very kind while opening and showing all the different cuckoo clocks available. We listened to so many different cuckoos that Alex left the store perfectly imitating the pitch of the cuckoos. After much debate, we bought a Heidi House cuckoo clock with a boy, girl,
Stepping back in time at Romer in Frankfurt.and old man sitting outside the quaint little German house.
While I was researching cuckoo clocks online, I found out that the key to picking one out is to make sure that is it VDS certified. This basically means that it was made in the Black Forest of Germany and is up to quality standards. Buying a cuckoo clock is an investment and if its VDS certified you know what you are getting is authentic. Another important things to look for in a cuckoo clock is a switch that allows you to turn the cuckoo clock off at night, which is a plus for Jason. Finally, make sure to ship it home. Not only do you forego worrying about damage in the overhead bins on the plane (don’t even think about the checked baggage handling), but they will automatically waive the VAT (tax) which is equivalent to the shipping cost. It did take almost 2 months before it arrived but it was worth it to avoid the hassle.
From Romer we walked over the Eiserner Steg Bridge. This bridge was a memory in itself. The trelesses of the bridge were wrapped with thousands of love locks of different
Schnitzel with green saucecolors. Lovers are supposed to place a lock inscribed with their names and throw the key away. The kids kept asking us where our lock was. On the other side of the Main River, we stumbled into a local flea market. Then we walked South through the neighborhood of Sachsenhausen for dinner.
We ordered the locally made favorite Possman Apfelwein. Apfelwein is traditionally served out of a large white and blue porcelain vase called a Bembel into a tall glass. The hard cider surprised us. It was not sweet but had a rather tangy bitter taste, almost like a beer. True, in Germany beer is the cheaper than soda or bottled water, but in Frankfurt the Apfelwein is the drink of choice. It was even common to see parents at the local playgrounds walking around with a glass of Apfelwein in one hand.
We also tried the schnitzel with green sauce. I was anticipating a hot gravy like the ones I grew up on my chicken fried steaks. Instead, the green sauce was a cold cream sauce packed full of different herbs. The flavor that struck me the most was the dill and chives. It paired beautifully with
Love locks on Eiserner Steg Bridgethe thinly pan fried schnitzel.
Other sites we saw on our trip to Frankfurt included the MyZeil mall. This mall has the longest escalator in Europe, but this feature is overwhelmed by the amazing architecture and the glass roof. There is a toroid hole in the glass that cuts its way through the entire building and is prominent from the upper floor of the mall.
There are quite a few interesting malls nearby including Zeilgalerie, which has a beautiful rooftop observation deck to see the city. The design of the mall was also intriguing because you walked up a gently sloping spiral ramp through the entire 10 story mall. There were escalators but no stairs were needed! It was amusing the see the local kids with their scooters racing down the ramp of the mall with their parents trying to keep up.
We also took a 40 minute S-Bahn train to the neighboring city of Mainz for a day trip. It was a Sunday, so many of the stores were closed, but it was apparent that this was another shopper’s paradise with streets full of quaint little stores and boutiques. We were able to tour the Gutenberg
Gutenberg Museum in MainzMuseum and saw many of the original Gutenberg bibles, other historic bibles, and of course, lots of printing presses. The kids were fascinated by the demonstration of a Gutenberg printing press.
We also toured several of the old cathedrals in Mainz. After winding through narrow streets through half of the city, we finally found St. Stephens, a small church atop a hill. This church features blue stained glass windows which took my breath away. The windows were designed by a Jewish artist and was commissioned after World War 2. Appropriately, they showed similarities between Christians and Jews as seen in the Old testament. Of course, you also can’t miss Mainz Cathedral, in the center of the city square.
Frankfurt has the reputation of a business city, but we were able to find great shopping, food, sights, and some local culture - although very different from Berlin.
FYI, Possman Apfelwein can be bought in Texas - one of the ways we relive our adventures even at home.
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