Frankfurt

I decided t go into Frankfurt today and have a look around. I caught a train from Darmstadt to Frankfurt and got a map from the tourist information at the station. There was a sightseeing walk that was estimated to take three hours so I decided to do that.

It started by crossing the river Main and walking along the river path. The river sides and path were really well maintained and full of trees and cut lawns. A little way along, I came across a type of flea market, I walked around for a while and then the smell of cooking food drew me towards it. There are stall that have a large fire in the inside with sausages and steak being cooked above. I bought a bratwurst roll which was really nice.

I went to the Roemerberg, which is the historic city centre with beautiful houses that have wooden supports and window and door frames. In the centre is Frankfurts City hall which has been the city hall since 1405. There were quite a few churches and cathedrals which are always exquisitively done.

I also went to the birthplace of Johann Wolfgang Goethe, who is a famous German writer and is seen as a key figure in German literature.

I did get a little lost at one point but managed to work my way back onto the route. I walked to the Fressgass, a pedestrian promenade which is full of restaurants and coffee shops. I bought a cappaccino and sat down to enjoy watching people going by. It is a pity that I am here on my own, it would have been nice to walk around and have lunch and a glass of wine with Carla, maybe next time ...

I headed to the main offices of the State Bank of Hesse which has an observation platform 200m above the streets of Frankfurt but when I saw the queue to go up I decided continue on the tour.

I carried on to the European Central Bank (ECB), which has been in the news quite a bit lately with everything going on in the financial world. It was a really nice building, but the large Euro sign outside I thought was a bit much.

After this I slowly wondered back to the river and then headed back to the station. Their timing was pretty accurate, just on three hours.