h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*fingers in ears*

lalalalala I can't hear anything about the london meet

Sho
What do you mean, how are we getting there ? Getting there with BA, getting back with BA, but from Heathrow. How much does your flight cost ? ( the one you've found now)

The one I just found is €194.82 including all taxes.

The one I've found for April is £90.80, plus I have a £10 discount offer if I book before end of January.

RF

£133.86, according to BA's currency converter.

RF

Oh, ok, that's a bit more than what we pay for both of us now - perhaps that was why I went for a flight from Heathrow ? Because I searched for the cheapest flights only ? That must be it.

It would probably have been cheaper if you'd booked it in November? Anyway, no use worrying about it now...the vagaries of on-line booking systems are beyond me. I used to have the same problems booking flights to Luxembourg.

RF

Not only were they probably cheaper, but available, too.
when I looked for a flight for the first meet, LH didn't have any flight under 800€, and the BA flight was 140 €, and that was three months in advance.

Possibly...

This is the only date I can make - for work reasons too complicated and unnecessary to expand on here.

Can make or can't make...I thought you were against this date earlier?

RF

Did you get my mail, TC ?

*confused*

Hi all, thought I'd give you a quick update:
MMF will arrive on Easter Sunday, so TC, Sho MMF and me could do a day activity on Tuesday before RF arrives ( do you know when that will be, RF ? )And to give you an impression of what you'll miss because the meet isn't on a weekend, I've done this little entry here : <./>A9093404</.>

Sounds like fun. Can you turn the music off if you want?

Sorry about confusing you RF. Generally I can't do Tuesdays, but I think I might manage half a day. As I have to alternate with a colleague who has long booked a holiday I can't take any whole days off while he's not there. He is actually away on the 18th, and may be away for the rest of the week, so I'm just going to steal the Tuesday afternoon and come on the 18th, staying overnight and taking a commuter train back on the Wednesday morning.

So B'Elana - what I'd really like to know is: what area of Frankfurt shall we look for hotels in. Does everyone want to stay at the same hotel?

Hmmm, difficult. I want to go to see the 'Brotfabrik' with my friend, so in case we go there, Hausen would be a good place to stay. Have a look here : http://www.brotfabrik.de/
Mind, nearly any place would be ok, frankfurt is a small city, really. Aslong as you don't book a hotel in the surroundings, you should be fine.
Btw, I guess you can turn the music off on a hired tour, not too sure aoput the other tours, ut I can't recall any music, so either, there wasn't any, or, my memory is faulty, or, it wasn't loud enough tobe disturbing

Hi B'Elana. I've been looking round h2g2 to see if there's an entry on Frankfurt.

There is, of course, but it's in guideml and the writer has gone away leaving the tags in lower case for us to disentangle.

Can you settle this argument?

F42515?thread=481623

The Frankfurt entry is here: A367535

It tells you where to go boozing and so on.

Actually Frankfurt's main claims to fame are more of an abstract nature: the stock exchange, the centre of banking, business and finance for the whole of Germany are there.

It was a big centre for the American occupying forces (I've been told off for calling them that, but occupation is occupation and that's what the Americans, British, Russians, Canadians and French did from 1945 to 1989).

It has developed into a cultural centre (as mentioned in the entry) but doesn't really have a famous ballet or theatre. If I went to Frankfurt for anything cultural, it would be for a pop concert, most probably, or possibly to see a TV show in the Maintower.

Another claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of the most famous of German poets, Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Which, as he wrote in German, isn't really an international tourist attraction.

It is going to be one of the host towns for the World Cup this year.

It is very central and has always been the main airport for Western Germany (at least since WWII, not sure about before)

Being on the Main (pronounced "mine"), at a point where it is already wide enough to take large freight carriers, the port is also of not inconsiderable importance with a turnover of 2m tonnes of freight p.a. I found that little tidbit of information on the port's own site, which has a rather nice picture showing the Frankfurt skyline:
http://www.hafen-frankfurt.de/www.hafen-frankfurt.de/Wir_ueber_uns/Zahlen_und_Fakten/index.phtml
(might get removed because it's in German, but it's mainly facts and figures on that page - anyway it's a semi-official site published by the port authorities so it's not likely to contain any politically or other undesirable content)

The Ebbelwoi, which is not quite like cider, is practically the only other thing that occurs to me in connection with Frankfurt, but you know all about that now.

They do have their own beer, Henninger, and a cycling race (round the
Henninger tower - I'll come to the "towers" in a minute).



So it's not as if there's something you could buy a postcard of and send home, so that people can immediately see where you've been.



In fact, the most striking thing about the town is its skyline, which has only appeared over the past four decades. In the early 60s, the tallest building was the Cathedral (I was reading in the Sunday paper this morning) - now it's hidden by all those skyscrapers. They are grouped on the banks of the Main and can be seen from the train as you pass.

So it looks like our day there should include a pub crawl, a trip to the top of the Maintower and a walk around the shopping centre. If anyone's interested in the Stock Exchange, we could see if there are ways of visiting it.



Exhibitions on at the moment (or rather on 18 April) are:

"Your Money or your life" - an exhibition of robbery from Highwaymen to computer frauds.

An exhibition of photos (stereophotography - apparently that means 3D and you have to look through 3d-glasses at it) - only recently discovered among the legacy of a chappie who explored the Congo in 1904.

From what I have found on the Frankfurt site, the rest are very obscure art and architectural exhibitions.

Hi TC, I had found the Frankfurt entry, but as far as I'm aware, you only link to edited guide entries, which is why I linked to the website
I searched for it, but I couldn't find a Japanese Garden in Frankfurt, but the Chinese Garden lies within the Bethmann Park, as indicated. I think the stock exchange has a gallery for visitors, I've seen it mentioned somewhere, but I am told that nothing much happens there nowadays, so it could be rather boring.

Update...

I can get a cheap (taxes only) flight on 18th April, arriving at Frankfurt at 10:30 am, return from Frankfurt at 6pm on Wednesday...

So, who else will be arriving and when?

I have it on good authority that fords & Percy can't make it after all, who does that leave from the UK?

Should I go ahead and book this?

Does this mean we can do something in the afternoon of 18th in or around Frankfurt (other than the airport)?

Questions, questions!

RF

Great, go and book this, now MMF will arrive on Easter Sunday, and i haven't heard back from Roymondo, so if Percy and fords can't come after all , then that leaves you We can go up the Maintower, and,and,and, I'll find something.

Right, I've booked it.

Flight details:
BA 8732 (Operated by BA CONNECT), Economy
Departure: Tue 18 Apr 2006 8:00 AM, London City Apt
Destination: Tue 18 Apr 2006 10:30 AM, Frankfurt Intl Apt

BA 8735 (Operated by BA CONNECT), Economy
Departure: Wed 19 Apr 2006 6:00 PM, Frankfurt Intl Apt
Destination: Wed 19 Apr 2006 6:40 PM, London City Apt

RF