We landed at Frankfurt airport and after clearing customs went to the information desk to get some directions to our hotel. The lady was very helpful and told us that we had to catch a train to Ostenstrasse station and the hotel shouldn't be too far from there. We followed her directions and once we got out of the station we both thought that this didn't really look like the area that we had read about on the internet. We must have looked a real site as some locals that had got off our train asked us if we were lost and we both said 'Yes!' They hadn't heard of the hotel nor the area that is was in but they knew there was nothing of that name anywhere close to where we were. 
So one of them offered to ring the hotel on their cell phone and made enquiries on our behalf. Eventually they told us that we had to catch the train back to Frankfurt Hautbanhoff (the main station) and we would find the hotel pretty much right there. After thanking them for being so helpful we did just that and found Hotel Europa around the corner from the station. It was a lovely little place and was right in the middle of the city.
We had a pleasant surprise the next morning as we found out that continental breakfast was included with our room. What was even better was that there was REAL COFFEE (as opposed to most of the stuff we dared to try in Asia) and real bread too. The food was so different from what we had gotten used to in Asia (i.e noodles and dumplings) and absolultely delicious. After a scrumptuous breakfast we set off to explore Frankfurt for the day.
The first stop was outside the train station which was gorgeous. From there we walked through the city streets and really noticed the difference between a city whose population is 600,000 (Frankfurt) compared to 20 million (Shanghai). Of course the architecture was very different to that in Asia too. We spent a few hours that morning just strolling around adjusting back to Western culture, people, everything! We went it to the town church, had photos with fountains, buildings and sculptures and wandered around the town squares and shopping malls. 
It was also great to finally be able to go to shoe stores and find some that would fit as this was night on impossible in Asia. We were pleasantly suprised to see that things weren't as expensive we had thought they were going to be and in a lot of cases totally comparable to those back home.
For lunch we got a Bratwurst hot dog with fritz (fries) and mayonnaise and a gyros (otherwise known as kebabs in NZ) - not that healthy but oh soooooooo good - we got one of each and shared so not too many carbs!!!!
I had been hanging out for these treats since I lived in Cologne and wanted Liv to try them and as we were only there for one day we had to get them both - oh well someone had to do it.
We had some trouble trying to get one of the filters off the lens of Liv's camera and took it a shop to get fixed. The old man that was there couldn't speak any English but was so nice and had it off in a jiffy and refused to take any money for it. His shop was full of every type of camera you could think of and Liv loved it. After that we were walking through a mall and came across this incredible cafe/ restaurant. There were crystal chandeliers, velvet curtains and stunning furniture. The bartender showed us a back dining room that was amazing.
So one of them offered to ring the hotel on their cell phone and made enquiries on our behalf. Eventually they told us that we had to catch the train back to Frankfurt Hautbanhoff (the main station) and we would find the hotel pretty much right there. After thanking them for being so helpful we did just that and found Hotel Europa around the corner from the station. It was a lovely little place and was right in the middle of the city.
We had a pleasant surprise the next morning as we found out that continental breakfast was included with our room. What was even better was that there was REAL COFFEE (as opposed to most of the stuff we dared to try in Asia) and real bread too. The food was so different from what we had gotten used to in Asia (i.e noodles and dumplings) and absolultely delicious. After a scrumptuous breakfast we set off to explore Frankfurt for the day.
The first stop was outside the train station which was gorgeous. From there we walked through the city streets and really noticed the difference between a city whose population is 600,000 (Frankfurt) compared to 20 million (Shanghai). Of course the architecture was very different to that in Asia too. We spent a few hours that morning just strolling around adjusting back to Western culture, people, everything! We went it to the town church, had photos with fountains, buildings and sculptures and wandered around the town squares and shopping malls. It was also great to finally be able to go to shoe stores and find some that would fit as this was night on impossible in Asia. We were pleasantly suprised to see that things weren't as expensive we had thought they were going to be and in a lot of cases totally comparable to those back home.For lunch we got a Bratwurst hot dog with fritz (fries) and mayonnaise and a gyros (otherwise known as kebabs in NZ) - not that healthy but oh soooooooo good - we got one of each and shared so not too many carbs!!!!
I had been hanging out for these treats since I lived in Cologne and wanted Liv to try them and as we were only there for one day we had to get them both - oh well someone had to do it.We had some trouble trying to get one of the filters off the lens of Liv's camera and took it a shop to get fixed. The old man that was there couldn't speak any English but was so nice and had it off in a jiffy and refused to take any money for it. His shop was full of every type of camera you could think of and Liv loved it. After that we were walking through a mall and came across this incredible cafe/ restaurant. There were crystal chandeliers, velvet curtains and stunning furniture. The bartender showed us a back dining room that was amazing.
We then walked slowly back through the city to our hotel where we got refreshed and headed out for dinner. The guy at the front desk recommended we take a walk to a place called St.Peter's square and there we would find a nice place to have a meal. The walk was gorgeous and eventually we found a small little pizzeria where we decided to eat. 
Ordering was quite funny as the people behind the counter couldn't speak any English at all, but luckily for us there was a man and his daughter there who helped us place our order. The man then explained that this shop (that was run by an elderly couple) only opened for the first two weeks of every month and then would close. He also told us that it was extremely popular with locals and the constant stream of people coming was evidence of that too. We had to wait half an hour so for the pizza's so we had a glass of red each to pass the time. It was so worth the wait as the pizza's were astounding. There was a bowl of chilli sauce that we went to add and the old man warned us that it was very hot. We had been eating chilli sauce throughout Asia and were not worried at all - we were so wrong. IT WAS SOOOOO HOT! The hottest chilli sauce I think we both have ever had. We had a good laugh as did the man behind the counter and it typified a brilliant night out.
Ordering was quite funny as the people behind the counter couldn't speak any English at all, but luckily for us there was a man and his daughter there who helped us place our order. The man then explained that this shop (that was run by an elderly couple) only opened for the first two weeks of every month and then would close. He also told us that it was extremely popular with locals and the constant stream of people coming was evidence of that too. We had to wait half an hour so for the pizza's so we had a glass of red each to pass the time. It was so worth the wait as the pizza's were astounding. There was a bowl of chilli sauce that we went to add and the old man warned us that it was very hot. We had been eating chilli sauce throughout Asia and were not worried at all - we were so wrong. IT WAS SOOOOO HOT! The hottest chilli sauce I think we both have ever had. We had a good laugh as did the man behind the counter and it typified a brilliant night out. On the way home we took some photos of the riverside buildings which were all lit up and then went back to the hotel for a well earned sleep. 
The next morning we had another amazing continental breakfast checked out of our room and caught the train to Frankfurt airport to get our plane to Paris. 
Arohanui
Livi and Tama xx
The next morning we had another amazing continental breakfast checked out of our room and caught the train to Frankfurt airport to get our plane to Paris. Arohanui
Livi and Tama xx
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