FrankfurtEntering Germany was a breeze, and I was at the regional train station within 10 minutes of stepping off the plane (no checked baggage). I found both the S-Bahn (regional rail) and U-Bahn (subway/streetcar) systems easy to navigate. I wasn’t able to use either my CSP or Arrival+ at the ticket machine at the airport, only cash. At other stations I was able to purchase tickets using the Arrival+ with PIN, but not the CSP.
My hotel, the Westin Grand Frankfurt was near a transit hub and the Zeil pedestrian mall. Lively area, even in the cold of winter. My room wasn’t ready for check-in yet when I arrived in the morning so I went for a walk first along and across the Main:
The hotel was nice, standard western-style hotel. Nothing that remarkable, other than the interesting classic cars throughout the lobby, like this 1929 Duesenberg:
Frankfurt is very pedestrian friendly, something that can’t be said for the later cities on my trip. Easy to navigate without a map or directions with the river being so central.
Old town:
Nighttime on the Zeil:
As this was my first time in Germany, obviously I wanted to check out some sites of Jewish interest. Unfortunately, both the
Museum Judengasse and Jewish Museum were closed for renovations. They are scheduled to reopen next month / 2018 respectively. I could only peek into the old cemetery behind the Museum Judengasse and see
the adjacent memorials including one for the Borneplatz synagogue which was destroyed on Kristallnacht. The
Stolpersteins throughout the city were quite moving. I had heard of them but never seen them before and I made sure to stop and read each one.
On my last day, I was hoping to stop by
the Westend synagogue, which mostly survived and was later restored. I rode the U-Bahn out to the neighborhood in the morning. As I was approaching it, I was stopped by a couple of police officers.
Now, a quick digression. I think the presence of police there is a great thing, which demonstrates the commitment of the German state to protection of Jews, especially given recent events across Europe. I am very much glad they were there and appreciate their service to the community.
They said a few things that I didn’t understand as I don’t know any German. I asked them if they spoke English and one said she did. She asked me what I was doing there and I told her I wanted to visit the synagogue. She was terse, not quite hostile, not friendly, but I got the impression that she was asking me to leave, so I did. Now, that wasn’t my only option, I could have pushed and explained that I was Jewish, but in the moment I didn’t feel like that was worth arguing. And it would’ve been quite an odd thing to declare/argue to German police anyways. I left with a mix of emotions, as you might expect.
Later that day I was off to FRA for my flights on Ethiopian Airlines to Johannesburg. I didn’t find FRA too difficult to navigate, as some people have warned. I liked the big old-school flap display – those are always fun to watch:
Next up:A couple of 77L flights on Ethiopian, and Sandton and Soweto in Johannesburg.
