// JSpot //

Tuesday had arrived. The last day for me in Frankfurt, and in fact, all of Europe. The thought made me a little sad as I woke up, freezing on the floor of Philipp’s apartment. What a night.

Of course I owe Philipp a great deal of gratitude, so I hope that if he’s reading this he takes no offense. But the floor was cold, and as Philipp left for work in the morning, I realized that I had spent more time in the night trying to stay warm than actually sleeping. And then I realized I was lying on - and not in - a sleeping bag Philipp had left out for me. Ha!

Well I still owe you many thanks, Philipp, for your hospitality.

Following an extra hour of sleep under the warmth of the other sleep sack, I got the day started at the early hour of 11:00. I felt guilty for having slept in the extra time, but I couldn’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be, so I just enjoyed it. I’m on vacation, after all.

I have to admit, though, that I was a bit stumped by the shower. Jessy’s shower had only one wall and no curtain, but at least the shower head was mounted high on the wall. Here, there were no walls, and the hand held sprayer only reached about shoulder height. So I guess I’ll be squatting for my shower? How do Germans usually do this?!?

My first order of business was to get things packed up and stowed away. In doing so, I discovered an extra set of.. “essentials” stashed in my back pack (in the event of lost luggage). Great! That would save me the trouble of washing clothes.

So on to my second task instead - the grocery. I needed some food stuffs to bring home to the states, and there was a REWE just across the street, and since Philipp had left me a key, I made for it. I picked up as much candy, chocolate, wine, and whatever else I thought I could carry home and pack into my luggage.

Next, I was hungry. I reasoned that this might be my last chance at a real, authentic Döner Kebab, and this was probably the best place to get it, so I headed for the international cuisines of the Hauptbahnhof. There I found “Max & Moritz” and had myself a Kebob. Sorry you missed that one, Brian, but I’m sure you’re enjoying your €70 company lunch in Göttingen, too.

Read the rest of this entry »

When I last wrote, I had been in a Starbucks bu the Hauptbahnhof, thinking of what to do next. I had checked my bags at a locker in the station and gone on for the day in the city.

Since it was about lunch time, I decided to find food, and proximity to the Hauptbahnhof should provide a multitude of options. So I just began walking in some non-particular direction. I should have a GPS log to look at later.

The search quickly made me realize how different Frankfurt is than other towns I’ve seen on this trip and in past trips.

For one, it’s an understatement that this is a commuter town. The population nearly doubles by day, from what I hear. This also, unfortunately, means it has one of the most complex public transportation systems imaginable. They have Regional and Regional Express trains, S-Bahn and S-Bahn Express trains, U-Bahn subway trains, tram cars on the street, buses, and even public taxis! The network map looked like a bowl of spaghetti, dropped carelessly on the floor.

And that is exactly what I found for lunch - Spaghetti alla Matriciana - but not dropped on the floor. It seemed to be a reasonably authentic Italian restaurant (who’s name I cannot remember). I believe it was just north west of the train station. It was delicious, but even better was the beer. A private label, I gathered, called Pfugstäder.

After eating, I decided to tackle the transit system and go find the Christkindlmarkt - Frankfurt is supposed to have one of the biggest and best.

This long exposure of the market in Frankfurt pleases me

The market was (predictably) in the squares in and around Römer Platz - or just Dom. I walked through it a bit and was disappointed at how small it was, and filled only with food and drinks, which I did not want. I ventured down to the river and over the bridge to take some photos.

On my way back through the market, I realized my error. I should have gone left at Albuquerque. To the other side of the street was an incredibly expansive street market weaving in and down every side street for blocks! Wow! I had previously found only a small tributary of this enormous market. It was a kind of bendy, twisty, shopping mall, with tastes, smells, and sights everywhere. A man could spend hours visiting all the carts and examining all the wares for sale.

So that’s exactly what I did. But unfortunately, by this time, my phone was beginning to run low on power, so I couldn’t leave it on to track my whereabouts. Although I literally walked around the same three-block market for over three hours and almost never saw anything twice!

Beautiful sunset

As the sun began to set, the beautifully restored medieval architecture glowed with a bright orange light, caused by the city’s pollution - not entirely unlike suburban Atlanta. I helped myself to a few “artsy” photos.

Not long after the sun had set, I made back for the train station. It was time to meet up with Philipp, who would be offering me his floor for a free stay tonight. I took the S-Bahn train to Niederrad Bahnhof, where Philipp picked me up in his black Ford Focus “Caravan”, as he called it. I guess that’s the fancy German term for hatchback.

After reaching his place and dropping my bags, it was dinner time. Philipp suggested the Paulaner Haus am Dom, and I couldn’t refuse. This place was essentially the Hofbrauhaus, but for Paulaner. So that is where we went. I ordered a round of tall Paulaner Hefeweizen for the two of us and for myself the Wienerschnitzel. God it was tasty! Maybe it was all the walking around… Philipp ordered something resembling the entire hind leg of a pig - Schweinsaxen I think.

After dinner, it was time to retire. I made up my spot on the floor and settled in for a cold night - the heat had been off in Philipp’s apartment all weekend! Read the rest of this entry »

Tonight was our last night in München, so we had to make it good!

We started with a few drinks at Jessy’s apartment, and some YouTube. From what I have gathered on this trip, these crazy Germans just like to get drunk and watch YouTube all night! And Mario Barth seems to be the video of choice. Sorry Nicole, Jessy.

Hello.

Once the YouTubing was complete, we made for town. First on our itinerary was a revisit to Tollwood. On a cold Saturday night, the big music tent (Tief-im-Wald) was absolutely packed. We once again managed to arrive at the end of the band’s set, but nonetheless we got a few pints of beer down before they finished with a polka rendition of “We Didn’t Start the Fire”. How great.

With us again were Jessy’s brother Patrick and entourage of ladies. I know they were all 19, but in some way, they looked much older. I have no idea what they thought, but I kept glancing up at the three of them - and sometimes catching at least one of them in particular glancing back. Her hair was beautifully sheen with all the colors of the tent lighting. I tried to tell her how sexy it was, but I guess it got lost in translation. Anyway, I snapped some photos and she gave me her email address so I could send her the photos.

While deciding what to do, the girls “borrowed” my camera, and I wound up with a few shots I don’t remember taking - because I didn’t take them. They turned into a good laugh anyway.

Once we departed Tollwood, we headed for a night club called Max und Moritz. This is what Ted would have wanted. Two (or three) huge rooms of face melting, heart pounding, blindingly loud music. Actually, I can’t remember the last time I was in a club with this much power in the audio system. The dance room absolutely throbbed with every thump of the kick drum into the depths of your chest, and even at high volumes, the music was clean and never distorted - it just got louder!

We danced here for an especially longs time, but like the stiff American I am, I never really quite got into it. I don’t think the Germans are really into that hideous close grinding we call “dance” anyway.

Many stupid pictures were taken, some still funny enough to post

I took a few pictures, but I guess bars and clubs are ultimately all the same. However, I did do, for the second time this trip, something stupid. I swore up and down when we left the club that I had lost my GPS receiver. Why did I have it with me in the first place? But second, where was it? After some frantic searching of all my pockets, I gave up. If it had fallen out at the club, or in the cab, then it was surely gone. I would not even know how to describe the little black gadget to someone in the hopes that they’d found it. So I began readying myself for bed when I remembered the secret pocket on my undershirt. A zippered pocket for runners. And there it was. Tucked safely into the secret pocket!

Finding the receiver was a relief, and so we resumed watching YouTube videos until Benny’s train was running again. At 04:30.

We go for sushi in Munich. L-R: Brian, Jessy, Me, Natalia.

By 20:00, we met Jessy back at her place to gather ourselves for the evening. Sushi tonight! I didn’t take the GPS, so I have no idea where we were, but we found a little sushi joint and ate sushi, drank sake, and had a great time. Jessy’s friend Nataliya joined us up for dinner as well.

After sushi, it was bar time. Another friend of G’s, Benny, met up with up with us and came along for the evening. We made our way to a bar, but I don’t remember the name of it. We didn’t stay long, and instead went to a salsa bar called Cohibar. There we drank mojitos and other such “exotic” drinks and I pretended to be a good dancer. Being a stiff American, this of course consisted of an awkward shuffle, and little else. It’s hard to hide your lack of talent when you’re surrounded by a country full of people who dance regularly for fun and don’t care what they look like. Maybe I should take a lesson. My pictures here tell the story.

Brian and Jessy at Cohibar

It has been fantastic seeing München with a native who can show us all the great places to go and party - it’s nice not feeling like a total tourist the entire time and just relax like I have nothing to do - because I don’t. Naturally, Jessy is the best guide in all of Germany!

We left the bar around 03:30 and it was still hopping like mad. When we reached home, I convinced Benny to cap the night with a round of the Glenlivet that I had brought from duty-free in Atlanta. Thereafter, I didn’t last long and called it a night.