After we never managed to organise a German meet last year, this year's meet was decided upon without many problems. It was agreed that Tuesday, 18 April would be the date to meet and the location should be Frankfurt/Main. The usual problems arose — getting time off, having the money for the train tickets and hotel, being able to offer accommodation for some people — but in the end, all worked out very well. As MazinMadFiddler (MMF) had never been to Germany before, he decided to make the most of it and come for a couple of days and not only for the meet.

I fetched MMF from the airport on Sunday afternoon. We went to my place to leave his luggage and have a coffee and then went into town. As it was too late to visit the Paulskirche or the Frankfurter Dom (they close to visitors at 5.00pm), we took a stroll across the Eiserner Steg, an iron pedestrian bridge across the river Main which Frankfurter citizens had built in the 19th century . This led us to the museum embankment and to Sachsenhausen, with its apple wine taverns. I then suggested to do the traditional thing Frankfurters do on a Sunday afternoon: going to one of the most well-known taverns, the Gemaltes Haus¹, for an apple wine and a traditional Frankfurter dish, namely Handkäs mit Musik: a round cheese with a dressing of vinegar and chopped raw onions, served with a slice of rye bread and butter². In contradiction to the German custom to search for a free table, you just sit down on a vacant seat on a bench at one of the long wooden tables and can easily get drawn into a conversation with total strangers you're unlikely to ever meet again. The waiter was brilliant, friendly, quick and didn't even have to write down the orders, although I corrected ours twice. We spent quite a while there, enjoying the meal, the apple wine, the atmosphere and talking to each other before we eventually headed home, where we continued talking till about 3.00am.

We got up relatively early in the morning. Considering that German time is an hour ahead of British time, it was in fact very early for MMF, but he did not complain.

After breakfast we took the bus and underground to go to the town centre, where we decided to do a short boat trip on the Main. The boat took us to the lock at Griesheim and back, a tour of about 50 minutes. The weather was nice and even warm enough to allow sitting on the open deck of the boat, enjoying the landscape while having a cup of coffee.

We then headed to the next stop for the regular tour of the Ebbelwei-Express. MMF had an apple wine and I had an apple juice — and each of us had a bag of pretzels. The tour took us to the Frankfurt Zoo, where we had a break of 15 minutes, which enabled MMF to take some photos of the EE. We then asked the driver to take a photo of us in front of the tram.

After we had completed the tour, we went to see the exhibition in the Paulskirche³, where the first German national assembly convened in 1848. Unfortunately, we couldn't explore much of it because I desperately needed to go to a toilet (all the coffee took its toll), so we went to one of the many restaurants and had — a coffee. From there, it was only a few steps to the Dom — which, according to the definition of what makes a real dome, isn't a dome, but was called so because this is where the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire were elected and crowned. Upon entering, we were greeted by the deafening sound of the huge organ, which soon stopped. The interior of the dome is impressive: we spent quite a while sight-seeing and were even lucky enough to find a guide who told us about the history of the Dom and was well-informed about the Anglican Church, so she could point out the differences between the reforms under King Henry VIII and the Lutheran reformation.

I then decided to show the Goethe Haus to MMF — only trouble was, I didn't quite recall where it is located, and to my big surprise there's not a single sign indicating where it is. After a bit of trial and error, we found it. (I had more luck than brains.) Once again, we were too late to visit the museum — it was nearly closing time — so we decided to head home. My husband uploaded the photos which MMF had taken to his PC, while I cooked supper. Another night was spent chatting and we eventually went to bed at 2.00am.

We had to get up very early (at 8.00am) in order to fetch Sho from her train, which was due to arrive at Frankfurt Airport station at 9.50am.

We made it well in time, but no Sho was on the train she should have been on. As you can bet, I had left her mobile number at home, so was a bit panicky because I wasn't sure if I'd reach somebody at home to have him read me the number. I was lucky: my husband was still at home and not yet on his way to the shopping and he found the sheet where I had scribbled down the number. I then called Sho, who was on another train, which was just arriving at the station but on a different platform. She recognised us immediately (I was wearing the official h2g2 t-shirt and MMF was wearing his badge), which was good because I hadn't seen Sho's last posting on h2g2 where she told how she'd be dressed.

We then took the shuttle bus to Terminal II to await the arrival of Reddyfreddy. Due to fog in Frankfurt in the early morning, all planes were delayed for about 90 minutes, so we had several cups of coffee in a restaurant near the gate where RF was due to arrive. Big hello, hugs and smooches when RF passed the gate, then we went to my place where we had Frankfurter Grüne Sauce, which my husband had prepared with the assistance of my youngest son. After lunch and coffee, we went back to the town center, taking a short stroll along the Zeil, the shopping mile of Frankfurt City, before going to the Main Station to fetch Trillian's Child and husband.

We passed a shop called 'Promod' which caused immediate hilarity, promod being seen as the next higher level to 'premod', so we took a photo of the shop with us in front of it.

A quick detour to the Römerberg, then searching for the entrance of the next underground station. I knew it was there somewhere, but we couldn't find it. We walked down to the river and a sign told us that the next U was 100m away, but it felt more like 1,000m when we eventually arrived there. Made it to the main station the very last minute, so there was no time left to check at which platform TC and husband were due to arrive. So Sho called TC, who turned out to be only 10 metres away. Hugs and smooches all around, then we headed for the hotel. I had a rough idea in which direction we should go, and we were lucky — the hotel was only a few yards from the station. TC and Sho checked in, then Sho offered to go to her room to 'come up and see how bouncy the bed is'. After we had sufficiently done so, we headed down to the lounge where we met the others. We agreed to go up the Maintower, so I 'led' our group in the direction of it. As usual, I had no idea where exactly it was, but this only turned out to be a problem once we were near enough — I wasn't able anymore to see the antenna on the roof and all the buildings looked more or less alike from the front. So, we ended up entering the European Central Bank, where I asked for the entrance of the Maintower. We weren't far, so eventually we reached our destination. After having paid the fee to go up to the platform, our bags were searched and we had to pass through a detector device which beeped every time somebody went through it. MMF was the only one not to cause a beep.

There were two lifts: one with and one without a lift boy, and we took the one with lift boy — it was the first to arrive, anyway. It only took us up to the 52nd floor, where we had to take yet another lift for one additional floor, and the last floor (the platform) could only be accessed via a flight of stairs. MMF and TC decided to stay at the 53rd floor, but the rest of us went up to the platform, where the local TV station was just filming the weather forecast for the daily boulevard show Maintower. The view was fantastic and many photos were taken.

We then went two floors down to the Maintower restaurant where all tables were booked, but we could sit at the bar to have some cocktails. After about an hour, we left and went to the next underground, which took us to our destination, the Brotfabrik in Frankfurt Hausen, an old factory for bread production. It is now well-known for its events with bands and artists. We didn't go to the main building, though, as there wasn't any event that evening, but we went to the smaller pub where we had delicious food and many drinks (28 Pils⁴ between 5 of us; TC had red wine). At about midnight, it was time to leave to get the last underground home. The connections were ok for that time of night and we didn't have to wait too long. We dropped Sho, TC and her husband at the station and then went to my home, where MMF, RF and I had a nightcap and some more talking until we finally went to bed at about 3.00am.

After breakfast the next morning, MMF and RF took their luggage and we went to town to meet Sho. Unfortunately, TC had to work on Wednesday, so had left with a very early train. MMF wanted to buy a Bembel — a traditional earthenware jug to serve apple wine. On the way to the shop, we passed a shop for sewing machines and accessories, so Sho went to buy some needles she needed for her sewing machine. Apparently the shop assistant was very unfriendly, but the two little old ladies at the earthenware shop where MMF bought the jug made more than up for it — they were really cute.

It was then agreed that we should have another typical German dish, so we found a restaurant with Bavarian specialities on the Freßgass⁵. We all had a huge glass of apple wine and everybody had sausages with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes — except for me, because I wasn't hungry that 'shortly' after breakfast.

We were so engrossed in conversation that I didn't notice the time until MMF suddenly said that he'd have to go to the airport. RF and Sho wanted to stay on the Zeil, so MMF and I hurried to the airport, where we arrived very late. The woman at the check-in counter said the gates were already closed, but didn't make any trouble and let MMF check in after all. Quick goodbye at the security check (the woman there told us that the gate wasn't yet closed anyway), and then he was off on his way back to London.

I took the S-Bahn back to town, where Sho and RF were still near the place we had parted before, having a beer and a coffee. I, too, had a coffee, then we had to go to the airport again, this time to see RF off. Sho and I talked a bit in German, until RF 'yikesed' us for 'posting in a foreign language'. After we had left RF at the security check, Sho and I went to a restaurant for some more drinks and talk until her train arrived and she, too, had to leave. Due to technical problems, my S-Bahn was delayed, so it took me nearly two hours to get home, but I was quite happy. I had had a great time which will hopefully be repeated in October, when we want to have the next German meet.

Photos by B'Elana

h2g2 Meet Reports Archive

B'Elana

04.05.06 Front Page

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