Offset Vacay #3: Frankfurt Solo Jun 3-7th 2022

July 19, 2022

Offset Vacay #3: Frankfurt Solo Jun 3-7th 2022

There are not many direct flights outside of Canada that depart from Halifax. It is actually really depressing. Luckily we do have a few direct flights to Europe; London, Dublin, Glasgow, Paris, and Frankfurt. When someone at work asked if I would switch a shift with them, I was all for it, and when it meant I had six days off, I thought it was the perfect chance to look into another adventure. I had been watching a few Europe flights hoping they would drop in price. When I confirmed I had the six days off the Frankfurt flight was posted for $635. I was so excited, I didn't even wait to get home. I booked the flight through Expedia while on break at work! Can you believe how easy it is to buy flights now? I also find it crazy that I can get to Frankfurt easier and cheaper than I can to B.C. Flights within Canada are disgusting. So anyways, I had my trip to Germany booked, then I booked myself a hostel for $177 for four nights and was all set. I decided not to book a lot of things for this trip. I wanted to have a loose plan, so that I didn't tire myself out too much. I would get home around 2000 Tuesday and have to work 0700 the next morning!

Day 1: the journey to Frankfurt

On the way to the airport I received a notification that said my flight was delayed by 45 minutes. What a great start to my adventure. So now I'd be leaving at 2245 rather than 2200. I tried to not let it get me down. I can't control the flights and it's better to not let it ruin my trip before it even began. I would make the most of my four days! And other than that 45 minute delay, we got off with no issues. The requirement to enter Germany was to either be vaccinated, have a recent PCR test, or proof of recent infection. I don't know about anyone else, but ever since Covid and travel resuming, I am always nervous I'm going to get something wrong and they won't let me on the plane. Thankfully that day was not today. I showed my vaccination and got on with no issues. My flight was with Condor, and they required everyone to wear a medical mask or N95. Cloth would not cut it. I was also pleased to see they provided a pillow and blanket, and even a meal approximately an hour into flight time. Pasta, with gouda cheese, and pudding panna cotta with cream. Almost makes up for giving me false hope of being able to watch a movie. You had to pay for the "premium" movies. So dumb. Never used to have to do that. I was so excited to rewatch Dune too. Or listen to it, as I was hoping to get some sleep. The plane was not full so the guy sitting next to me was able to find a empty row so I got the two seats to myself to try to find a comfortable position to sleep. I don't usually sleep well on planes but I may have gotten an hour or so in of the seven hour-ish flight.

We landed at around 1030. I headed through customs and got myself another Frankfurt stamp (we went through Frankfurt on the way to Barcelona back in 2018) and changed into shorts and a t-shirt. My next task was to find the S-bahn train to take me to Frankfurt main station. The platforms were easy to find with all the signs, unfortunately the machines were not the easiest to use even when in English. I didn't know which ticket to buy. I think I bought the wrong one at first and ended up buying a second one (which I probably didn't have to do as no one checked my ticket). I managed to track down the S-9 heading towards Frankfurt and jumped on. The train ride lasted maybe 15 minutes and then I was in Frankfurt!

Finding my hostel was very easy. I just went down one street; Taunusstrabe and found it off to the left. It was too early for check in but I was able to store my extra bags in their luggage store room. The hostel looked fairly nice at first glance. It was the 5elements hostel. You had to be buzzed in to the building and to go to your room you also had to be buzzed in to the stairwell. Normally your key card would work on the door but it wasn't working at present. Downstairs where I left my luggage there was a pool table, kitchenette, and some games and T.V.

With my bags stored I began my first venture into the city of Frankfurt. Two of my objectives were to locate sunscreen and some toothpaste. I was walking up a street looking through store windows when I came across a store that emulated a pharmacy. I went in and luckily was able to locate a tube of sunscreen. I applied some once I left the store and continued on my exploration. It was a very sunny and hot day.

In an area that seemed like a main square I noted a couple street vendors. One sold Frankfurts "famed" sausages. I purchased one to try. I have never been a huge fan of sausages but it wasn't too bad. I sat for a little scoping out my next direction. There was a giant department store across the street I thought I'd check out. Perhaps they'd have some toothpaste. If they did, I couldn't find any. The store was five or six stories, so it was very difficult to find what I was looking for. No big problem. I'd have time to search other places.

Walking back on the street I saw someone dressed as a very creepy Mickey Mouse. Probably one of those scams that charge a ridiculous amount if you try to get a photo with them. I snuck a photo from a far and tried not too look too obvious in fear of being caught and harassed for money.

I then found myself walking down a pedestrian only walk way (well, pedestrian/bike/motorized scooter only). On either side there were rows of stores. I must have found myself a shopping district. I went into the mall on the left. I saw they had a Body Shop. I thought maybe they'd have some fancy organic toothpaste. I didn't see any and didn't feel like asking anyone. Down a escalator I found a pharmacy and found myself some toothpaste and also bought some gum. That was enough of the mall for now. I checked out the Adidas store across the walkway. Since Adidas is german, I thought they might have some really cool stuff. I didn't find anything that stood out. I then went into the Primark that I had been wanting to browse as we don't have any in Nova Scotia. They had a small Disney section that piqued my interest. The prices were really good for the sweaters. Going carry on only I didn't feel I had the room to buy a sweater.

My next destination was a used bookstore more North of where I was. The city is very walkable so it only looked to be 40-ish minutes away. I enjoyed the walk as I got to explore a not so touristy area. Walking down streets in Europe is kind of surreal as they all look so picturesque. I felt like I was constantly seeing something I wanted to snap a photo of.

I didn't spend too long in the bookstore. I was the only one in there and I always feel so awkward when no one else is there. Plus, it didn't take long to locate the books I was looking for; German editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. There were a few copies of each, though LOTR appeared to only be available broken into the three parts. Again with carry on as the issue I limited myself to picking just the one edition of The Hobbit. So cool to have one of my favourite books in another language!

Now, for the walk back. I ended up walking through a park like area. It was nice to keep my views fresh and to soak up as much of this beautiful city as I could in the short amount of time I had. The city had so many bike lanes that I often felt envious of the bikers. I wish Halifax was as bike friendly. Sadly I feel like it would be safer to bike here than Halifax. Back to the park, it was really quite lovely with some ponds along the way and a few different dirt paths leading in different directions.

Not too long after the park I found myself walking across a bridge to the other side of Frankfurt and was given a lovely view of the Frankfurt skyline.

I had discovered just before leaving for Frankfurt that I would be there on Whit Monday (a religious holiday), meaning many stores would be closed. There was a gelato shop called: Eissalon Firenze I wanted to try out so if I were to try it, today would have to be the day. I made my way there once crossing the bridge and got myself a chocolate gelato. It was very tasty and refreshing after walking during such a hot day.

I then walked along the river making my way back towards Romerberg and crossed over yet another bridge. This one had many locks attached to it along with a closer view of the skyline.

Next stop once I was across the bridge was to the Archeology Museum. They had some neat artifacts, I particularly enjoyed some of the Greek and Roman vases. It was so cool to see vases with pictures depicting some of my favourite myths. Also crazy to think that those vases are thousands of years older than my own country!

After the museum I made my way to Romerberg to take in the iconic sights. It was so cool to see the classic medieval designed German buildings. There were also many touristy shops, so in that way it was similar feel to Old Quebec. At this point it was nearing 1700 ish. I was a bit hungry again. I found a cute coffee shop; Kaffeehaus Goldene Waage near Romerberg that seemed to have some good reviews. I ordered myself a hot chocolate and chocolate cake. Both were delicious. The shop had a really nice interior. It felt like the fanciest coffee shop I had ever been in. Even my hot chocolate came in a fancy wine looking glass. I had heard before that European culture at restaurants was very different from North America, in the sense that they don't rush you out as much as they do in the latter. This proved to be true. I sat for a good 10-15 minutes after finishing my snack before I eventually got up myself to pay. While nice you don't have to feel rushed, the introvert in me hates it!

As it had been a long day of flying and exploring I decided to slowly make my way back to my hostel. I stopped at a grocery store that I found on the ground level of the mall and bought myself a 2L water and some bread in case I wanted a snack later on. Another thing I soon noticed in Germany is that Pepsi is a rare commodity. There were so many fridges in the grocery store with Coke, but none of Pepsi. I didn't search the whole store so perhaps there was a small shelf somewhere. Throughout my entire trip I was never able to have a single can/bottle of Pepsi!

Now back at the hostel, I showered and rested the rest of the night to prepare myself for a busy day tomorrow in Heidelberg.

Day 2: Heidelberg

I woke early to catch the 0700 train to Heidelberg. The train station was only a five minute or so walk. It was also quite easy to find my platform. I had downloaded the Germany train app the night prior which proved to be helpful in seeing the times available and which platforms they would depart.

The train had two levels and would be about an hour ride to Heidelberg. I had brought my book with me: Thrawn, to read along the journey while admiring the views at times.

Just after 0800 I had arrived in Heidelberg. After exiting the train station I started in my walk towards the main city. Google maps showed it was only about 20-30 minutes to walk. Walking through the city even before the main "medieval" areas was incredible. Every street, every building seemed so photogenic. I stopped at a cafe: Cafe Nomad, along the way and treated myself to a croissant and smoothie with chocolate, peanut butter, and bananas, of which both were delicious.

Now energized with substance I continued my exploration. I decided to cross a bridge to the opposite side of the old town to find the "Philosopher's Walk". With the help of google it was quite easy to find, especially as there was literally a street named "Philosophenweg". In hindsight, I am glad I did this walk first thing, as the day grew to be quite hot later on and there was quite the hill to climb. Nearer to the top the views were sublime. I had fantastic views of the beautiful medieval city of Heidelberg and could see the castle as well. I didn't know this beforehand (or I would have been better prepared) but behind this walk there was a whole system of trails that went up the hill. I explored a little of the trails and got to find a cool old run down watch tower, but there looked to be so much more I could have explored. If I had more than just a day trip in Heidelberg i would have continued to climb up the hill, but alas, I had many more sights to see in this beautiful city.

Back on the main trail I enjoyed my last overview of the city (from this angle) and walked down the cobblestone path to below. The path down was very decrepit and uneven, I definitely did not almost twist my ankle walking down the steps...

Now to go over to Old Town. I walked across the old bridge which appeared to have a statue that resembled Athena or rather Minerva as I believe it would have been Roman influence. I found it so cool to see real statues of Roman influence!

Now in old town, if I thought the newer areas of the city was photogenic, than old town was even more so. Every inch of this city was magnificent in beauty. I could have spent hours just walking up and down the streets. Medieval architecture is just so amazing to see in person.

While perusing the streets towards the old university jail, a store caught my eye as it had figurines in the window. I decided to check it out. There were many t-shirts, figurines, and other geeky merch lining the shelves. So much I would have loved to buy had I more room. I ended up getting a baby yoda shirt for my mom, and a "You shall not pass" Lord of the Rings shirt for my self. They also had a LOTR welcome mat that looked really amazing.

After my purchases I came upon the university store where I could purchase a ticket to see the jail. I was excited to see this jail as it is not too often you hear of a university having a "student jail". Plus, the University of Heidelberg is one of the oldest universities in the world and the oldest in Germany with a founding year of 1386! The jail was really cool. It had multiple flights of stairs leading to the top and the walls were just covered in drawings and writing. unfortunately I can not read German, so I am sure I missed many amusing things the students would have written while in this jail.

Next stop was the castle: Scholss Heidelberg. The walk up was quite steep and was lined with uneven cobblestone. The place was massive and had a stunning pinkish tinge to the architecture you don't often see. The detail in the mouldings was also something to behold. What was really neat about this castle was that a fair bit of it was ruins. Entire sections of the castle had crumbled away or lie on the ground below. Within the castle limits there was a apothecary museum that was free to visit. It showed some history of medicinal plants through the medieval times. I bought some Blueberry soap for my mom that said it was made in Heidelberg. Also within the castle was a giant wine barrel. And it was enormous. There were wooden steps and platform that you could walk up and over just to fully appreciate the enormity.

Just outside the castle were the castle grounds and garden. It was a beautiful place to walk. They had a statue of Poseidon lying on his side, a version of the trojan horse, and views of the city below that were simply magnificent. I stood admiring the view for a good 15 minutes before leaving the castle and returning to the city.

I then took my time exploring the streets again. In a square I found a booth selling crepes. I got one with nutella and vanilla, and sat on a bench to enjoy my "nutritious" lunch. I also decided to check out a few bookstores. One used store had four floors of books. It was amazing to walk through and to climb the spiral staircases leading to more books. I spotted books 2-8 of the Expanse series in English. I joked to my brother that if I had a suitcase I could have bought the rest of the series for him. Another store I browsed contained new books. I also enjoyed looking around. They had a small section of Tolkien books and I wanted to buy all of the volumes. The German editions are so beautiful!

I then crossed the bridge again and made my way to the University of Heidelberg to check out this old university. I then realized I think all of the old buildings were probably some of the ones I passed in the Old Town and around the jail. All the building on the main campus seemed new. Oh well, it was still a nice walk and allowed me to explore more of the city and have some room away from other tourists.

Then back across the bridge I jumped back on the train to return to Frankfurt.

Back at the train station I felt too lazy to find a place to eat so I grabbed some McDonald's to take back to the hostel. After eating I retired for the night to rest up for another busy day planned.

Day 3: Burg Eltz

One thing I knew I wanted to do on my short Germany adventure was to see a castle. Or rather, another one since I did see one in Heidelberg. In Germany there are hundreds to choose from. One that caught my eye during my research was Burg Eltz. From the photos in looked like a fairytale castle. It did not appear easy to get to, but I was determined to see it!

I woke up around 0530 to catch a 0600 train to Koblenz. This was the first and only high speed train I ended up on in Germany. I love high speed trains, they are so smooth and have more comfortable seats. Once the train started along the Rhine River the views were incredible. The contrast of the river, rolling hills, and villages was aweinsping. I saw so many towns I wish I could have had the time to explore. Many of the towns appeared to have ruins of their own castles. Explains why there are so many in Germany. This was definitely the most scenic train ride I had on the trip. I had my book with me but it was difficult to read with such amazing views.

In Koblenz, they must have been working on the tracks. My train was delayed docking. I feared I was going to miss my next train but luckily the my next platform was right across from where I got off. Then I was off again towards the castle. This next town: Moselkern was the closest town I could get to Burg Eltz. The fact that it is isolated in the woods in both a pro and con. Makes for an amazing fairytale esque atmosphere but also makes it harder to get to if you don't have your own car. But like I mentioned earlier, I was determined.

When I arrived it was raining. Not down pouring, but not a sprinkle either. I was so saddened at this, but I had already travelled this far. All that stood between me and this castle was a 5k walk.

The first kilometer or so took me through the village. The rain went back and forth between a steady rain and no rain at all. Since this was a early Sunday morning, there were not many other people around. There were also many signs pointing to "Burg Eltz" along they way, reassuring that I was indeed heading the correct way.

Eventually the path took me into a forest trail. At times I walked along the edge of a steep drop but the trail was always wide enough to not fear falling. It was a fairly well groomed trail. At one point I heard rustling in the woods. I feared a bear, though I wasn't sure Germany had bears. Turns out it was just a weasel type of animal. Kind of cute really.

When I first spotted the castle I got really excited. I approached from the bottom left so it wasn't the best view but still breathtaking. Then I climbed the stairs to the bridge leading to the castle entrance to await the opening. At 0930 the castle opened and I went inside to purchase my ticket. In about a half hour they would hold an English guided tour of the castle. Before than I explored the grounds and went into the treasury. The treasury was really awesome as it had many medieval artifacts such as suits of armour, swords, and golden goblets and pieces of art. I particularly enjoyed the armour and swords. If I was allowed to take a sword on a plane I definitely would have bought a sword from the gift shop!

The tour was really great. We first entered a armory containing a large collection of weapons from swords, Lance's, hammers, and crossbows. Some belonged to the Eltz family and some were taken from the battlefield of fallen enemies. I learned the the Eltz family had stayed fairly neutral in many of the battles that occurred over the many years so the castle itself was one of the most intact in the country. Not too much renovation had occurred so I was seeing a very accurate representation of a medieval castle. We saw dining rooms and master bedrooms, a children's room, a receiving room, and kitchen. The bedroom was really interesting as the bed had steps to get into and and had a full wooden canopy. During the winter you would be completely enclosed as to protect from the cold. They knew the children's room because most windows in the castle had seats built into the wall by the windows to read from the daylight. The seats in the children's room were much smaller than the others. Sadly I was not allowed to take any photos inside. In the room where the Eltz family welcomed guests, there was a stove in the room to heat it in the winter. To prevent servants from disrupting their conversations the opening to the stove to place more wood was on the other side of the wall on the kitchen. That way the servants could keep the fire going without the Eltz family being bothered. So interesting how things used to work hundreds of years ago.

After the tour I grabbed a bite to eat from the cafe; chicken nuggets and a pretzel. The pretzel had butter on the inside which made it taste really good. I had never had a pretzel like that.

At the gift shop like I mentioned earlier had some really cool swords that I would not

have been able to take on the plane. I ended up buying some magnets. There were also some really cool steins here and at other shops that in hindsight would have been really neat souvenirs. Especially the Game of Thrones themed one.

On the way back I walked another kilometer or so through the forest toward the parking lot. This path gave me one last spectacular glimpse of the fairytale castle. At the parking lot I was able to take a free bus to the town Hatzenport. From there I walked around for a few minutes admiring this cute little town before taking the train back to Koblenz and then Frankfurt.

Back in Frankfurt before returning to the hostel I explored into the financial district. I ended up at a Ramen restaurant and had some really tasty Tonkatsu (this is turning into my favourite meal). Afterwards I walked by the hammering man and found the statue of Mercury before resting for the night.

Day 4: Frankfurt

Today, I was staying in Frankfurt. Somethings I would be unable to do as it was Whit Monday, but it turned out alright. First, I had walked north towards the garden. Turns out I was too early a riser, so it had not yet opened. Not wanting to wait around I continued my walk towards Romerberg. Along the way I was able to stop and see the Old Opera house. It was a beautiful building. European architecture it always stunning.

Then continued on my walk to return to Romerberg to enjoy the sights without as many tourists, which was enjoyable. I then headed across the bridge towards Sachsenhausen, where there were many museums. The museum I decided to do today was the Sculpture Museum. It turned out to be well worth the visit. It contained sculptures from Egypt such as mummy sarcophagus, and from Greece/Rome such as statues of Athena/Minerva. Just those two exhibits alone made this my favourite museum. The other more modern exhibits were also neat, but could not hold a candle to a legitimate Athena statue!

Across the bridge again I bought myself a ticket to take a 90 minute boat tour along the river. This proved to be a relaxing way to spend the afternoon while seeing more of Frankfurt.

I then decided to slowly take my way back to the hostel. All the other bookstores I may have wanted to check out were of course closed. So I walked back through Romerberg. I found this one store that had bracelets, necklaces, scarves, headbands, and just about everything but ties (the souvenir I usually get my dad). So I did find a nice leather bracelet for my brother but unfortunately came up nil for my dad. I then treated myself to an ice cream with brownies since I had missed lunch (I ate so healthy on this trip). Then rested for an hour at the hostel.

Before my final stop of the day, I decided I wanted a nice cold Pepsi. What better way to find one, than going to Subway. The closest subway took me past the Old Opera house and towards the cool looking castle building. To my dismay, Subways in Germany must not sell Pepsi. It only had Coke products. So disappointing. I ended up just getting a sandwich and threw it in my bag to save for later. I did soon after leaving see someone lugging a few crates full of Pepsi. Where they were taking it to, I am not sure. Probably to the only store that actually sells Pepsi.

Then finally, I found myself at the Main Tower. Like many other cities I have visited; Toronto, Calgary, New York, to be a real city you must have an observation deck... apparently. I've done the ones in the cities I mentioned earlier so of course I had to do the one here in Frankfurt. Seeing cities from above is always fun. I liked that I could see the river and Romerberg. And seeing the main train station from above with all the many tracks leading out was really neat to see.

Afterwards I walked back to my hostel to enjoy my Pepsi less Subway meal and retired for the night.

Day 5: returning home

My flight did not leave until 1700 and the check out was at 1200. That left me some time to do some last minute exploring. I slept in a little that morning as I had been getting up before 0600 every other day. My first stop was to the bookstore: Hugendubel which sounds like Germnay's version of Chapters. It was ginormous. Four floors of books and the floors were quite large. They also had an entire wall of board games. I ended up buying myself a German edition of two manga; Hunter x Hunter and One Piece as these are two of my favourites. I also got a pack of playing cards Lord of the Rings themed and a tin of Pokemon cards in German featuring my favourite pokemon Umbreon.

From there I went to T3 Terminal Comics and Games which had two stores side by side. The first was specialized in board games. My dad would have loved it. The store was jam packed. Hardly any space to walk as the aisles were piled with games. I thought it would be neat to find a pack of cards from Arkham Horror in German but I didn't see any to my dismay. Next door was the comic/collectible store. They had some really cool figures and collectibles. They had some Lord of the Rings figures that I wish I could have bought. I ended up getting a German edition of The Killing Joke for my dad and a collectible Lord of The Rings pin that had Gimli's helmet and said: "No one tosses a dwarf".