This morning was very relaxed, as I got an extra hour of sleep and did some reading for class. Then, around noon, I met up with my tandem partner, Florian, at the train station and we took the train to Frankfurt. As we walked through the city, he told me a lot about the architecture of Frankfurt and how it is laid out. The train station was originally built on the edge of what was the old part of the city, and many of the skyscrapers are also built along this border. One of the tallest skyscrapers in Frankfurt, the Main Tower, has an elevator, open to the public, which can be taken up to the observation platform at the fifty-fourth floor. This offers a great view of both the old and new parts of the city. It was very cool.
After this, we took the S-Bahn (subway) to Sachsenhausen, an old neighbourhood of Frankfurt that is home to many students and traditional businesses. Here, we stopped for a late lunch at a restaurant called “Germania.” This small place was very traditionally decorated, and the food offerings were likewise. Of note was the drink we had: Apfelwein. Frankfurt is famous for their apple wine, which has a very sour and sweet complexion. Popular options include mixing Apfelwein with an orange soda, like Fanta or with a lemon-lime soda. We mixed ours with Fanta, and the added sweetness made it very good, though I think that my taste buds were confused by the mixture of apple and orange flavours. As I mentioned, the food we ordered was very traditional. Florian had Leberklöße with sauerkraut and puréed potatoes. Leberklöße are a type of liver dumpling, very reminiscent of liverwurst. The last time I had sauerkraut was at Disney World in the German section, and, while that was years and years ago, I remember absolutely detesting the flavour (sorry, Germany). I tried a small bite of it today, and, while I found it palatable, I will not be ordering it any time soon. My own plate was delicious: Grilled bratwurst, Bratkartoffeln, and a salad. Bratkartoffeln are sliced, cooked, and griddle-sautéed potatoes.
With our traditional food experience at an end, Florian and I took the S-Bahn back into the city centre and paid a visit to Hugendubel, a glorious, four-level, we-have-everything-you-could-ever-want-to-read bookstore. Having spent far more time there than we had planned, we next turned our steps toward the Frankfurt Christmas market. Frankfurt’s market is very beautiful. Not as large as Nürnberg’s, but bigger than Marburg’s, it was really cool to walk through it and see the differences. I also picked up another souvenir memory in the form of a Frankfurt Christmas market glühwein mug (which will go well with the mugs I have from the Marburg and Nürnberg Christmas markets). This time, I tried something different, based on Florian’s recommendation: Weisserglühwein. Sweeter and not as thick as normal glühwein, this one is made from white wine, and I found it to be very good.
At last, we headed back to the train station and Marburg. It was an awesome day trip.
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