Frankfurt

Brie's last day in Germany was spent in Frankfurt to ensure that we wouldn't have problems getting to the airport due to weather or train delays. We got into the city around lunch time, and checked into our hotel, 25hours hotel by Levi's Frankfurt Main. I was excited because this was not a traditional hotel, more of a boutique hotel. Our room was different to say the least. The room number on the wall next to the door was a Levi's pocket. The lighting was dim inside, without anyway to brighten the room up. The carpet had a raised star in it. There was a coat hook with a pair of Levi's hanging. The oddest thing though, was the bathroom. The toilet was separate from the rest of the area with a closeable door, and there was a painting of Frank Zappa on the toilet in that area. The shower and sink were visible from the bed, and the shower was 100% glass, and there was no door. You read me, no door, no hidden pocket door, nothing. This might be ok if you were staying in the room by yourself, or with a significant other, but still awkward. I don't think I would recommend staying there again (at least not that room type). That being said, the front desk staff were amazing, they were both friendly and helpful.

Yes, our room number really was 501

Good ol' Frank

We left the hotel after dropping our stuff off to go find some lunch. We wandered upon the Alte Oper, which is the local theatre (think plays not movies), and it was gorgeous. In front of it was this fountain that instead of having running water (too cold for it), they had a Christmas light display in it. After taking several photos of it, we continued on our quest for food, settling on Eberts suppen stube where we both got goulash. It hit the spot as it was cold out, with our breath coming out in little puffs of air. Would it snow again like it did the day before? No, but it did rain briefly.

 From there we decided to check out Frankfurt's Christmas market. The first word to describe it that comes to mind as I'm writing this is busy. The second is chaotic. I don't know if it was just because it was a Saturday or what, but there were so many people, we were going at a snails pace trying to get through the crowds. There were tour buses from throughout Europe, the furthest from the Czech Republic, and lots of them. There were people with signs leading these groups. I can safely say I'm glad we saw the other markets before this one.

We wandered about for a little bit (it took forever to get anywhere), and we weren't noticing anything special about this one. We did break down and tried Eier Punsch, which is eggnog, since our mother couldn't try it, we did. It is 100x better than the stuff you get in the states. They put whipped cream on top, and in the eggnog itself, it tasted like they had put a bit of mulled wine in it. The one special thing we did come across was a special art exhibit. Most of the pieces were not exactly my type, but we came across one booth that had these flowers made from peeled leaves (or partially peeled) of some kind of tree or bush (very lightweight). The 'flowers' were hand dyed in various pastel patterns and some of them were scented. This was something that I have never seen before and probably will never see again, and we each bought one.

Eggnog

After checking out the second section of the Christmas market, we walked to the river, so we wouldn't just be sitting in our room so long. We walked up to the pedestrian bridge and it was beautiful to look back at the city. Eventually our fingers went numb from the cold and we headed back to the hotel. I knew the hotel wasn't exactly in the best area, but it was close to the train station which made it convenient. On the way to lunch I saw someone shooting up, and on the way back we managed to walk past someone who used some form of pill, walked past the red light district, and down a not so nice street to our hotel. Yikes.

When we went for dinner, we went to Thai Snack. We even took the longer route to get there to try to avoid the crazies and the junkies. Initially things were going ok, our food was tasty, but the service was way off. We don't know if the server was having an off day or what, but they started treating us oddly. Our food came out much later than other tables, even though we ordered before them, and she kept ignoring us. When we went up to pay like all the other tables before had, she had a hissy fit. Overall it was a bit uncomfortable, and the woman sitting next to Brie kept staring at her or Brie's food the entire meal. It was the most awkward end to an odd day in general. I can honestly say that my first impression of Frankfurt makes me not want to visit there again.

The next morning, we got to the airport, and the clerk at the counter gave Brie the much needed leeway on her suitcase weight (she was 1.5 or 0.5 kilograms over). Luckily her bag was essentially checked through (even though she would have to pick it up post customs and drop it off again for her next flight), which meant the weight would be ok the entire way through. She got back in one piece, although she didn't have the row to herself on this flight (bummer). I'm so glad I got to have her out here while I was here, and to show her a bit of my town.

Who knows what I'll write about next, but if I don't have a chance to write more, happy holidays and have a wonderful new year!