Day 2 - Frankfurt & Mainz

February 15 -

I slept like a brick, waking early so we could get out and explore the city. Time was short, but this day was spent really getting around. Our only problem was that it was freezing cold, but we managed this by popping into cafes for hot beverages once in awhile. It worked and saved our fingers and toes!

On our way to tour the area of Romer, we approached an old Jewish cemetery. I learned later that most of it had been destroyed by the Nazis. It was a sad reminder of the history of this country. Outside the cemetery, attached to the old brick wall that surrounded it were thousands upon thousands of steel boxes, each with the name of a Jewish resident of Frankfurt who perished in the Holocaust. Their name, date of birth, date of death (if available), and the concentration camp they were murdered in were listed on these boxes.

Toured more of the old section of Frankfurt, finally seeing the Romer and Alstadt areas. It was amazing until we learned that all of the buildings had been rebuilt after WWII, then it dropped a few notches and just became pretty. Stopped into a tourist shop, turning our nose up at the lack of proper souvenirs. I walked away with a postcard to add to my collection. We ended up walking the bridge over the Rhine to visit the neighborhood of Sachsenhausen, which looked as if it was teaming with louts the night before because of the presence of the street cleaners picking up tons of litter. One could tell it was the drinking quarters for the town from all the bars in the vicinity, but there were tons of cool half timber houses which kept our attention.

My friend suggested we take the train to the town of Mainz for most of the day. Mainz turned out to be just the place we needed. The Alstadt area was amazing, with a bit of the new mixed in. Looking back, I can't believe how much we saw in a relatively short amount of time. We stumbled upon a wind turbine on a steep hill that doubled as a super long slide for kids. The views from the top here afforded us a nice panorama of the old part of the city.

The architecture in Mainz turned out to be a nice distraction. There was such an eclectic mix of old and new, statues, and what appeared to be icons or shrines on the corners of several buildings (will need to look into the correct name and reasons for this). Overall, I was impressed, and happy to have added another town to my travels.

Back in Frankfurt for the evening and on to dinner near the hotel. For the first time I actually liked the beer my friend recommended to me. I'm definitely not a beer drinker in any sense, but the specific type of Weiss beer I drank was softer on the palate than most, with a hint of sweetness. Dinner was again, on the sub-par side, but much better than the previous night's abomination. We both ordered chili con carne and were surprised it wasn't served over rice or pasta, just a plain bowl of meat and beans. My entire trip to Germany seriously lacked any culinary treasures. The only exceptions were the pretzels and pastries, but a person cannot subside on these items alone.

I had to leave the next day, early afternoon. It was a shame, I was really getting into my visit, but that's what long weekend trips are for. This would be my shortest European trip to date, and it was getting difficult coming to grips with this fact.