A walking tour of Frankfurt

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After disembarking, we cleared Immigration in record time as there was no queue at all when we arrived at the booths. Maybe most of the people on our flight were in the EU queue?? Whatever the reason, we are not complaining about making it through Immigration so quickly. From Immigration to the baggage carousel just in time to haul our bags of the belt - sweet. And then it was straight out the green 'Nothing to Declare' channel as we cleared Customs. There were no Customs staff anywhere to be seen?!

We then took the SkyTrain from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1 to catch the train into the city. With our Frankfurt Cards already purchased we were able to proceed straight to the platform to catch our train. After checking with a local, we established that we could catch the very next train. We were a bit unsure because the destination was not the main railway station, but he assured us that it would travel through Frankfurt's main railway station. He even added that we would need to go up two levels from the platform we arrived at to get to street level.

The train was too easy! No need to validate our tickets or, in fact, show our tickets or scan our tickets anywhere at all. We don't know if the whole system relies on the Germans being generally compliant when it comes to using their public transport system?? Perhaps we were just lucky to not encounter any ticket inspectors on that particular journey?

From the Hauptbahnhof (railway station) it was a short walk around the corner to the Excelsior Hotel. We had requested early check-in if possible and were very pleased that we could go straight to our room at 7.30am. We were very keen to have a shower and freshen up after nearly 24 hours of travel. Hmmn, a very weird electronic door key prevented us from getting into our room straight away. Bernie had to go back down to reception for instructions on how to use the stupid thing. It was so easy - once we knew that the chip was in the dangly bit and that we had to turn the handle anti-clockwise!!

After showering (in a trickle of water hardly worthy of the description, in one of the world's smallest bathrooms!) we changed into fresh clothes and headed off to join a walking tour of the city scheduled for 10.30am. We found the meeting place opposite Starbuck's without any trouble. With half an hour to spare, we found something to eat - we're not sure if it was breakfast, lunch or dinner - but we needed something to eat. We had breakfast on the plane at about 4.30am which was a long time ago! We found some yummy filled rolls at a small cafe and ate them al fresco, because the weather is gorgeous in Frankfurt today!

Our walking tour took in the Roemer and the Roemerplatz (City Hall and town square), the Book Burning Memorial (site of the Nazi book burning), Alt Nikolai Church, Eisener Steg (a pedestrian bridge over the Main River), St Bartholomew (Kaiserdom) Imperial Cathedral, some Roman ruins, the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Wall, Mediaeval Jewish Cemetery and Jewish Ghetto Wall (all commemorating the Jewish citizens of Frankfurt), the Stumble Stones (footpath plaques dedicated to the memory of citizens who lost their lives during the Nazi regime), Klein Markt Halle (where we were plied with samples of food until we weakened and bought some pistachios!), Goethe House and the Jorge Ratgeb wall paintings in the Karmeliter Cloister.

After four hours of walking around Frankfurt it was time to eat again!! This time I think it was definitely lunch! We bought some sausages in rolls from a street vendor because I'm sure that's safe to do in Europe ... unlike in Cambodia! I washed mine down with a large water (with gas) and Bernie washed his down with a large beer ... what else!

With the energy of two lunches (?) we walked back to the Eisener Steg to take some photos of the 'love locks'. We didn't have time during the tour to check them out properly, but our guide told us that couples buy padlocks, have them engraved with their names and then lock them onto the bridge and throw the key into the river to symbolise their commitment to each other. Apparently in this day and age it is acceptable to write your names on the lock with a texta?? Gee, that seems like a really permanent commitment!! The engraved locks did seem pretty romantic, but the ones that had been written on with 'permanent' markers just looked tacky.

We continued over the bridge to the Sachenhausen side of the river and then along the river to the next bridge. We walked back over the river on the Alte Brucke. Definitely flagging by this stage (yeah, despite two lunches) we caught the tram back to the hotel. Much as I hate to admit it, we succumbed to a power nap at about 4.30pm!

Awake again by 6.00pm and off out again. We caught the tram back to Willy-Brandt-Platz where we alighted and went for a stroll through the gardens trying to find our way around to Main Tower so that we could check out the view from its observation deck. It only cost us €5.00 each to go up to the top of the tower to admire the view over Frankfurt from 300 metres on a beautiful evening. Did I already mention how fabulous the weather is here in Frankfurt?!

On the recommendation of today's walking tour guide, we went to dinner at the Klosterhaus restaurant and beer garden beside the Karmeliter Monastery. We enjoyed some classic German fare - pork schnitzels topped with cheese and ham and served with fries!! Washed down with beer and Riesling! Just as well we walked a few Ks today to make up for such a healthy dinner?!

After dinner we walked around the city ... again, but this time with the camera and tripod to see if Bernie could capture a few good night shots. We took a few shots, but there weren't as many buildings lit at we had hoped for. By this stage (10.00pm) I was nearly falling asleep on my feet so we caught the tram back to the hotel. While Bernie copied photos across to the laptop, I cleaned my teeth and fell into bed and pretty much went straight to sleep.

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