So I went to Frankfurt and Munich last weekend (I know, good timing with Springfest happening THIS weekend...).
Thursday: I landed in Frankfurt Hahn Airport really confused. They say that English is Germanic, so I had assumed I'd be able to understand at least the gist of what someone was saying. False. My first impression of the German written language was somebody got frustrated and slammed their fist on a keyboard. So, I asked a lady working at the airport where I need to go to get to Frankfurt. It's around 2:30PM. Oh, what now? I have to take a 2 hour bus ride into the city. So I get on the bus, which cost 13 Euro. A sweltering coach bus, so hot that the fuzzy seats stuck to the backs of my calves. The sun beaming brightly through the wide windows added to the heat; I understood what green-housed plants must feel like...
The bus drops me off by the train station, Houfbanouf....I think I spelled that wrong. My hotel is on the other side of the train station but do I know that? Not really, no, mainly because I'm just fried and an idiot at this point. I grab a schnitzel sandwhich (yeah!) and then realize where I am and where I need to go. The Adler hotel is in a shifty part of town, across the street from the train station and near the financial district (you have to walk through the strip clubs and casinos, though), so I'm assuming the digs won't be that great. I am surprised by a few things:
1. The receptionist and reception area is spotless.
2. There is a bowl of free candy.
3. The minibar (which only has water, but still in theory this is awesome) is free.
4. Our room is adorable.
So then I settled in and walked around the area, exploring the modern architecture in Frankfurt's outer area before Annie and Nicole arrives at midnight.
Friday: We walked a lot. We walked into the center of the city where most of the touristy things are. There are a few cool beer gardens and shops. We almost got hit by the tram. Nicole got so tired she was laughing at everything. We sat at a beer garden on the south side of the river and drank apfelwein (apple wine), which was okay, but not terrific. What else....
Bess and Laura came in the late afternoon and we saw them! Happy Birthday Laura!
Saturday: We go to the Frankfurt Modern Museum, which is fucking weird. The theme was photography and I've never seen so many pictures of naked people. That's what modern art is, I guess, photographs of naked people... and portraits of girls, piles of candy, and hanging lights... Afterwards the trio, Annie-Nicole-Peter, trained it to Munich. Annie then went to Venice while Nicole and I stayed in Munich.
Sunday: Munich is amazing. I love Munich. Our hotels was funky and modern, but that wasn't the best part. The best part was that we were right across the street from a family bakery (Bäkerei in German). We were near the English Garden an the Hofgarten, at the bottom of one of the universities there.
We ventured into Marienplatz, the center, which had some choice Bavarian architecture. There were people walking around in leiderhosen! Did I spell that right? We had lunch at Hofbrauhaus, a touristy beer house, but still really great. I'm not the biggest beer-drinker, but the beer I had in Munich was quite yummy.
Speaking of beer, Nicole and I went to a solid German food place for dinner and got delicious pints there. And then Nicole had the great idea to walk around and find a bar, which we did. We found a beer garden near our hotel and sat down outside. We ordered just two beers, "what most people get," we told the server. Enter two gigantic liter mugs of beer. My tolerance is not what it used to be back in freshmen year, I'm actually an old woman when it comes to alcohol. In my wine tasting class I'm sleepy after one third-glass... So needless to day this was a lot of beer.
On the way home Nicole and I laughed about a store called, "Futon Futon."
Monday: If you asked me what I expected about Germany I would not have said gardens. In fact, there's a cold and industrial depiction I get when I think about Germany, which I guess is what Berlin is like (says Nicole and Annie), and then there's a whole Bavarian Germany that comes to mind too. I think of gardens as being French or English. That being said, Nicole and I walked around the English Garden and I was really surprised at how cool it is. There are beer gardens, statues, rivers, a pond to paddleboat in! There's even a spot near the end of the garden where surfers practice their moves in the river!
After the garden, we went to a Japanese Fashion exhibit at the contemporary art museum. It's kind of mind-blowing to think that we were so close to some of the greatest and most iconic pieces by Yoji Yamamoto, Juniya Watanabe, Rei Kawabuko, and Issei Miyaki!
At our hotel we got free pastries and then went to take a night train from Munich to Florence.
Tuesday: 6:30AM we arrived in Florence Santa Maria Novella Station. I am exhausted and hungry. But the night train was totally worth it. We even had a stowaway in our room. Some German girl who didn't know where she was going and didn't want to tell anybody where she was from. But the other people in our room didn't seem worried by her. Yeah, it was an experience that I'm glad I had.
