Back to Frankfurt

I got back to Frankfurt on Saturday afternoon. My flight was set for mid day Monday. So I had a couple days to kill it the big city. I hadn't been that impressed with the place on my way in.  Part of that was my jet-lagged state of incoherence and part was because I was more focused on the upcoming bike trip and wanted to get out of town. I decided I would give the place a second chance.

I spent Saturday night in the Banhofsviertel--the trainstation district, a kind of raunchy but lively area full of eateries, hostels, junkies and drunks. Sunday was my museum day.  I bought a city-wide museum pass and started off in the Jewish Museum which told the story of Jews in Frankfurt/Germany from Roman times through to the holocaust and beyond. Next it was off to the Stadel Museum--Frankfurt's world-class art collection. And finally to the city's modern art museum.

Sunday afternoon I went back to the hotel where I spent my first night after arrival in Germany.  The hotel had held my suitcase.  I folded my bike and carried it up to the room where I spent an hour or two sipping beer while cleaning, breaking down and packing away my bike.

All in all it was a good trip.  Traveling alone can be both exciting and lonely. On one hand, I get to meet more people traveling this way--because I have to.  The downside is that there's often no one there to share experiences with you when you stumble across things that are memorable.

Germany is a lovely country and it's pretty clear that I'm descended from Germans. They like order and so do I. These are my people. But I also missed my people at home.

Would I do anything different? Not too much. I think I might have done the trip a week or two earlier in the year and mixed things up a bit--perhaps doing a week tour in Southern Germany in the alps and then doing the Saar-Moselle-Rhine portion.

I lucked out on the weather--the first two weeks were perfect.  And Germany is definitely set up for bike touring.  If I come back, I'd like to visit the south on the Austrian border and the far north near Lubbeck.