Monday, Aug. 29, was spent doing laundry and packing, and that evening, Martha and I drove to the airport to pick up Patty and Ben when they returned from Salt Lake City.
Tuesday morning, I went out for several walks, making sure I got in extra steps to make my goal for the month of August (average 25,000 steps per or 775,000 steps for the month; I ended up with 776,486 or 380 miles). On one of the walks, I went past one of my favorite gardens about a block east of the northeast corner of Laurelhurst Park. I do no know the family who lives there, but they certainly have a green thumb.
Patty drove me to the airport at 11:30, I did some more walking there and then boarded the 1:45 flight to San Francisco. When there, I did some more walking, and then stood in awe as I watched the Boeing 747 being prepped for the flight to Frankfurt. We left San Francisco at 7:00 p.m. and arrived eleven hours later at 3:00 p.m. in Frankfurt.
There had been some kind of security breach at Frankfurt and 90 minutes before we landed, the pilot told us that we might be diverted. That was finally cleared up and we were allowed to land. The airport was a zoo, with hundreds or maybe thousands of people in customer service lines to be rebooked after they missed scheduled flights. The good news for me was that there were exceedingly short lines to get through immigration. I stopped at an ATM in the airport, then took the S8 train into Frankfurt, and walked the final half mile to the hotel. On the way, I stopped to get a photo of the riverwalk along the Main River looking east and a photo looking west and the city skyline. My hotel was in the Sachsenhausen District on the south side of the river, but within easy walking distance of downtown Frankfurt.
After getting settled in my room, I went out for a walk in the neighborhood and found a traditional German Gasthaus for dinner. Based on the waiter's suggestion, I avoided the wienerschnitzel and instead had an excellent grilled pork chop.
Thursday morning, I talked to the guy at the front desk of the hotel. He pointed out the three closest bridges and suggested I take the Iron Bridge, or Eiserner Steg (http://www.frankfurt.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=317578&_ffmpar[_id_inhalt]=177740). This is a pedestrian and bicycle bridge only and has an interesting history going back more than a century.
Much like the Via de Amore bridges in Italy, this bridge had many locks from couples who wanted to demonstrate their commitment to each other.
Once in the city center, I had coffee, orange juice and yogurt with muesli at a sidewalk cafe. Then it was on to the Main Tower. The observation deck at the top has a 360 degree view of the city and is quite spectacular. The elevator has a speedometer which shows how fast you are going, and it is fast, going up 54 floors in about 30 seconds.
As with many European cities, there are many great cathedrals, usually belonging to the Catholic church. I came across this medium sized Protestant church which was open to the public.
As I continued to walk around and explore, I came across the port of Frankfurt on the east side of the city - it is hard to imagine that a city this far inland is a major port, but that is because of the river. I saw many barges being moved by tugs as well as small cruise ships from companies such as Viking River Cruises.
The new European Central Bank (ECB) building is in Frankfurt and is quite spectacular. I stopped by to see if they had a visitor center and was told that they did not, but they are planning to add one.
The ECB and Hafen Park are on land once housed the Großmarkthalle or Wholesale Market Hall. This is where the Gestapo in WWII sent Jews off to concentration and extermination camps. There were several markers to commemorate this history, plus the sidewalk had quotes every 100 feet about things related to the Holocaust.
Finally, on my way back to the hotel, I passed the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, got one of their brochures and learned a little bit about the school and Bachelor's degree programs.
Thursday evening, I went out from the hotel and this time found an Italian restaurant where I had an excellent Erdinger draft beer with spinach ravioli della casa.
And on Friday, after doing my classes and having a breakfast of coffee and a croissant, I packed and got ready to head to Barcelona.
Tuesday morning, I went out for several walks, making sure I got in extra steps to make my goal for the month of August (average 25,000 steps per or 775,000 steps for the month; I ended up with 776,486 or 380 miles). On one of the walks, I went past one of my favorite gardens about a block east of the northeast corner of Laurelhurst Park. I do no know the family who lives there, but they certainly have a green thumb.
Patty drove me to the airport at 11:30, I did some more walking there and then boarded the 1:45 flight to San Francisco. When there, I did some more walking, and then stood in awe as I watched the Boeing 747 being prepped for the flight to Frankfurt. We left San Francisco at 7:00 p.m. and arrived eleven hours later at 3:00 p.m. in Frankfurt.
There had been some kind of security breach at Frankfurt and 90 minutes before we landed, the pilot told us that we might be diverted. That was finally cleared up and we were allowed to land. The airport was a zoo, with hundreds or maybe thousands of people in customer service lines to be rebooked after they missed scheduled flights. The good news for me was that there were exceedingly short lines to get through immigration. I stopped at an ATM in the airport, then took the S8 train into Frankfurt, and walked the final half mile to the hotel. On the way, I stopped to get a photo of the riverwalk along the Main River looking east and a photo looking west and the city skyline. My hotel was in the Sachsenhausen District on the south side of the river, but within easy walking distance of downtown Frankfurt.
After getting settled in my room, I went out for a walk in the neighborhood and found a traditional German Gasthaus for dinner. Based on the waiter's suggestion, I avoided the wienerschnitzel and instead had an excellent grilled pork chop.
Thursday morning, I talked to the guy at the front desk of the hotel. He pointed out the three closest bridges and suggested I take the Iron Bridge, or Eiserner Steg (http://www.frankfurt.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=317578&_ffmpar[_id_inhalt]=177740). This is a pedestrian and bicycle bridge only and has an interesting history going back more than a century.
Much like the Via de Amore bridges in Italy, this bridge had many locks from couples who wanted to demonstrate their commitment to each other.
Once in the city center, I had coffee, orange juice and yogurt with muesli at a sidewalk cafe. Then it was on to the Main Tower. The observation deck at the top has a 360 degree view of the city and is quite spectacular. The elevator has a speedometer which shows how fast you are going, and it is fast, going up 54 floors in about 30 seconds.
As with many European cities, there are many great cathedrals, usually belonging to the Catholic church. I came across this medium sized Protestant church which was open to the public.
As I continued to walk around and explore, I came across the port of Frankfurt on the east side of the city - it is hard to imagine that a city this far inland is a major port, but that is because of the river. I saw many barges being moved by tugs as well as small cruise ships from companies such as Viking River Cruises.
The new European Central Bank (ECB) building is in Frankfurt and is quite spectacular. I stopped by to see if they had a visitor center and was told that they did not, but they are planning to add one.
The ECB and Hafen Park are on land once housed the Großmarkthalle or Wholesale Market Hall. This is where the Gestapo in WWII sent Jews off to concentration and extermination camps. There were several markers to commemorate this history, plus the sidewalk had quotes every 100 feet about things related to the Holocaust.
Finally, on my way back to the hotel, I passed the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, got one of their brochures and learned a little bit about the school and Bachelor's degree programs.
Thursday evening, I went out from the hotel and this time found an Italian restaurant where I had an excellent Erdinger draft beer with spinach ravioli della casa.
And on Friday, after doing my classes and having a breakfast of coffee and a croissant, I packed and got ready to head to Barcelona.
No comments:
Post a Comment