MONDAY 9th JULY 2012

FRANKFURT

Leisurely start this morning - packed up and checked out, a bit of a choke at the bar and washing costs on the bill! - then got a ten minute taxi ride to the station where we had some breakfast and went to the DB lounge (similar to the Qantas Club) where we relaxed and used the free wifi while we waited for our train! Our online purchased train tickets were for reserved seats in first class (38 Euros each - a steal) and we were allowed into a special part of the lounge along with a few traveling businessmen! Very swish!
We stayed there until about twenty minutes before departure, then went up a level to our platform and stood by the numbered sign that signified our carriage! There were several announcements in German and all of a sudden our train appeared at the next platform! So we grabbed the cases and rushed over only to find our carriage was at the other end of the train - the mad rush that followed found us on the train somewhere (thank goodness) as the whistle blew and it took off!
We managed to find our seats eventually and settled in, just wondering what happened to the usual German order and efficiency! Never mind we had our seats and were on the right train, so it was all ok - the four seats around a table - but our cases were stacked at the end of the carriage!
The trip was great! We sped along a breakneck speed through some of the prettiest country we have seen! Rolling hills with cereal crops for as far as you could see, little valleys with small streams flowing through and lots of small rural villages with steeply peaked, brown roofed houses! Absolutely wonderful!
We stopped a few times - once at Wolfsburg where there was a huge Volkswagen factory, a massive place stretching for half a kilometre with huge car parks packed with new vehicles and long trains carrying them too!
It was a good trip and we arrived in Frankfurt a little late but way more relaxed and way better off in the pocket than had we flown!
Our hotel was located only a couple of hundred metres from the station and we lugged the cases there to find an old building that was completely renovated inside and looking really good! We checked in and our rooms were great, modern decor, all amenities and very clean! Free wifi throughout and aircon!
Although it was located in the rail station area - notoriously a grotty area in any city - our immediate surroundings were not bad as we took a walk later to see what Frankfurt was all about! But wait, there's more!!! As we walked a couple of blocks towards the city centre we came into a very seedy area with sex shops, brothels and all sorts of funny stuff!! With lots of very odd people hanging about we hurried on and eventually found a nice area with shops, bars, cafes etc. and with a thunderstorm imminent we found a likely looking place with a five till seven happy hour and sat to have a few drinks while the rain belted down!
We had some tapas and when the rain finally stopped we wandered on just amazed at how un-German this city is! In the locality we have seen so far we have barely seen a real German - every other race and creed you can think of but the people we saw in Berlin!!! - and the city is a bit dirty and grotty! Hopefully tomorrow when we explore a little more we will find out why this is such a different place and maybe we can discover what goes on here as there are no real local attractions and the hop-on hop-off bus tour only takes an hour!!!
After spending an hour or so walking we were no further advanced in our quest for answers, so it was back to the hotel, where we had a nightcap and a chat before heading for bed!