Getting started in Frankfurt

Our first few days were in Frankfurt — staying with Maike’s family. Five years ago, Maike spent 12 months as an exchange student in Australia. She didn’t live with us, but I was her coordinator, and she had quite a few stays at our house. Her family welcomed us so warmly, and we were more than surprised to discover that we arrived in the midst of an afternoon tea for Maike’s 20th birthday. No doubt, Facebook reminded me that it was her birthday, but I was airborne when that message came through. So we shared the limelight and met all her immediate family, as well as her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, boyfriend and boyfriend’s family. We also were able to sample an impressive array of the cakes! There were at least six different cakes on offer, and I don’t mean simple, thrown-together cakes. There was a huge Black Forest Cake (made by Maike and her grandmother) along with other huge delicacies laden with butter, dried fruit, custard, almonds, cream, chocolate and much more. Apparently it is a German tradition to have a variety of cakes on one’s birthday. Nice custom. Sorry the cakes went by so fast that I didn’t get a chance to photograph any of them.

Of course, the sheer volume of cake meant it was easy to decide what to have for breakfast. So in addition to the get-some-visas challenge, we had the get-rid-of-all-the-cake-calories challenge.

Frankfurt made that quite easy. It may be Germany’s commercial centre, but it’s also really, really flat. A true heaven for walkers and cyclists! It’s also a manageable size. Even though the population is more than 650,000 (according to a 10-year-old guide book), it feels much smaller. From the top of the 200-metre-tall, 56-storey Main (pronounced Mine) Tower, we were struck by how compact the city is. We could easily see surrounding satellite cities such as Darmstadt. Trivia — the Main Tower has 250 underground parking places and 2500 windows.

Sweeping (if cloudy) views from Frankfurt's Main Tower

We walked across the Main River to Sachsenhausen, Frankfurt’s entertainment area. It’s full of taverns and eateries, but they must rely on the nightlife — in mid-afternoon there were only a handful of places open for lunch. We also visited Goethe’s House and the Old Opera House. Another Frankfurt highlight is the My Zeil Shopping Centre. No, I’m not a shopaholic, but the architecture is stunning. In two places the glass exterior turns on itself and funnels into and down through the centre of the mall. We rode the long-haul escalator (in one continuous stretch) to the fourth floor for a closer look at this remarkable structure. And Poor John had to spend quite a while visiting Saturn, an electronic/electrical gadget-type shop that covered who whole floors of the mall and reminded me of a giant Dick Smith’s or the Good Guys. He didn’t buy anything and neither did I. Also made obligatory stops at all the camping stores — Columbia, The North Face etc.

Ride the four-story escalator for a close up look at the glass funnels in the My Zeil Shopping Centre.

After the mall, we kept on walking. The problem is that you can overdo it. From the very first day, we have been on our feet for anywhere from five to nine hours. I’m foot sore. My feet hurt, my calves hurt, my hips hurt. I don’t really have any blisters, but my legs are complaining. Those of you who know me also know that my legs are pretty robust — every now and then complete strangers will tell me that I have ‘great calves’! Right now they aren’t the happiest of calves, but my attitude is okay.

Once we had exhausted the highlights of Frankfurt, we decided to explore the neighbouring areas while we waited for the Uzbek visas to be ready.