...to Authenticity

We arrived in Frankfurt early last week.  Our apartment required more maintenance so we spent four nights at the Adina Hotel in the downtown area.  WW II bombings leveled the city in the 1940s, but the Germans rebuilt it into the financial powerhouse and center it is today.  People call it "Main-hatten" due to its small section of skyscrapers and its loaction on the Main River.  Our hotel sits a block from the riverfront which houses over eleven museums, a 40 mile long bike and walking trail, and several playgrounds.

Our first night, we ventured out on the U-bahn, Frankfurt's equivalent to the Metro.  We wanted to see the section of the city in which we would be living.  As we struggled with the ticket machine, three people stopped to show us how to use it.  When we realized that it would not take a 20 euro bill, one man offered us his 5 euro bill.  The willingness of strangers to help us astounded me.

In the evenings, we took advantage of our central location and visited the sites around us.  We walked along the Zeil, Frankfurt's main shopping street.  Closed off to cars, people packed the street on the hot evening.  Stores such as Adidas, H&M, and Foot Locker stand beside German departments stores and restaurants.  We  walked to Germany's busiest train station which opened in the 1890's, and stopped at my favorite coffee store on Kaiserstrasse, the once grand 19th-century boulevard.

The hot sticky weather, very unusual for Frankfurt, drove us to a playground on the Main with water structures in which the kids could play.

As we relaxed at the playground, Dave commented on how similar life is here at first glance - after work, parents at the playground, staying cool with their kids.