Friends in Frankfurt (and elsewhere)

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Once again I'm blogging from a bus, this time en route to Berlin from Frankfurt. Since my last post, I have been traveling around Germany; I first spent a day and a half in Munich (München in German, a much more fun name in my opinion). I traveled there via overnight train--no, it wasn't one of those nice sleeper cars. It took about 5 different cable cars, buses, and trains to get there from Gimmelwald, and I had a lousy layover in Karlsruhe from midnight to 2am. At least I didn't have to pay for a hostel! As soon as I got to Munich, I noticed it had much more industry than anywhere I had been in France and Switzerland. Home to the headquarters of the BMW group, whose brands include BMW, Mini, and Rolls Royce, it's not just the beer gardens that make money in this city. Despite being such a bustling city, there were quite a few urban parks that I spent the morning wandering through--at one of them, there is a river where surfers ride an artificially created swell throughout the year (according to one of my German friends, since the country doesn't have a nice coastline people are desperate to get their fill of water sports however they can). Another was the site of the 1972 Olympics, where visitors can stroll among the gigantic, funky-looking stadiums. I remember being more depressed when visiting the crumbling, cheaply built facilities and gardens of the 1992 games in Barcelona; I think Munich did a better job of making space that could be repurposed after the games were over. I also visited the spectacular gardens and palace of Nymphenburg; it's essentially the Versailles of the Bavarian kings (it's a crime not to have a sprawling summer palace, you know). The soaring, distinctly Baroque entrance hall in the palace was most interesting part of the building. I think I liked the gardens even better. Unlike Versailles's massive gardens, which were highly manicured and deliberately planned everywhere, the Nymphenburg gardens were used as recreational hunting grounds of the royalty and so left more natural. There was, of course, still the grand canal lined with statuary but the other landscaping in the gardens was more functional. There were several dramatic outbuildings (usually nestled picturesquely around one of several lakes on the grounds) that were also architectural delights. My favorite was a small chapel built for one of the Bavarian kings who developed a religious streak in his old age--it was styled after a grotto, and used actual marine elements like shells and coral to decorate the interior. Finally, the last thing I did before my traditional German dinner was popping into the BMW headquarters to see some exhibits and the latest cars on display. The complex itself if quite splashy, and they were preparing for the VIP exhibition of the new BMW i8 (all electric, carbon fiber construction, etc.). Something different and worth the quick visit.

For the last 4 days, though, I've been in Frankfurt and not on my own for the first time in the past 4 weeks! One of my friends from OU is attending grad school in Frankfurt, so I stayed at her place and hung out with her friends for the extended weekend. I also got a ton of great local experiences this way, from lounging around a lake in the countryside to eating a sumptuous German barbecue feast at my friend's boyfriend's parents' house (how's that for possessives and degrees of separation). German BBQ is definitely different than the American version; different cuts of meat are marinated and grilled, not eaten with sauce. Since it's so different I can't really make a fair comparison to saw which kind is my favorite, but needless to say I gobbled up my share of salads, barbecue, and dessert. I also got a crash course in German urban public transportation--in addition to the main train station (Hosbanhof, hub for long journeys), there are buses, trams (run on tracks on the roads), the U-bahns (underground trains for longer journeys in the metro area) and S-bahns (underground trains for local trips). The moral of the story is that one can get basically anywhere they want to go, but I was very glad to have someone who knew how to navigate the system, considering there were about 8 S-bahn lines alone. And Frankfurt isn't even that big of a city! It is one of Europe's main financial hubs, though, so I saw my first true skyscrapers of the trip and noticed a more international, business-minded flavor (as well as lots of high-end stores and hotels that bankers tend to prefer). We took an elevator ride to the top of one of the tallest buildings (only cost 6 euros; I think it'll set you back around $20 to do it in Chicago or New York) and were able to see how the modern downtown sits alongside Old Town. While the buildings there did look quite old, an exhibit in the Frankfurt museum reminded me that hardly anything was original owing to the damage sustained during World War II. Overall, I had a very authentic-feeling weekend and made some great new friends from all over the world--coincidentally, Sam's boyfriend is also going to be in Scotland next weekend running a Tough Mudder, so I jumped into their team since I've been wanting to do one of those anyway (and where better than on a Scottish estate?!). But it's first to Berlin if this bus ride will ever end. Which reminds me that when in the country, Germany looks just like Wisconsin: rolling hills, neat parcels of farmland and forests, a church spire in every small town. The picture of Mannheim gets the general idea (although Wisconsin certainly doesn't have any castles perched on the hills). I guess I can understand why a ton of Germans ended up settling in the upper Midwest--it looks just like home!

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Photos

Nymphenburg entrance hall
[insert pun about room being Baroque here]

Frankfurt skyline over River Main
Big banks=>big buildings

Old Town Selfie
Short but sweet skyline over here.

Train station gelato
Continuing the legacy of great European dairy products.

Mannheim from Autobahn
Riding on the autobahn is quite the experience (but it sure beats needing to worry about speeding tickets). The castles are barely visible on the brow of the hill.