Arriving In Time For White Asparagus Season (Spargelzeit)
A Week in Frankfurt with our 9-month old baby
After our long haul flight from Melbourne to Frankfurt, via Ho Chi Minh City, we were so keen to have a good rest. Having family who live in Frankfurt has its pluses, so it was easy to choose Frankfurt as our first stop on our 2-month backpacking trip of Europe.
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Miss Adventure barely slept on the flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Frankfurt, which was almost 13 hours. We got her to sleep in the bassinet on the plane for about 1 hour and then she also fell asleep during landing. We were both absolutely exhausted having hardly slept the nights leading up to this international flight, as we had a sick baby to care for. In order to survive, Mike and I took it in shifts to rest, it was the only way to get through it. 20-30 minutes here and there pushed us over the line until the relief of landing swept over us.
We landed in Frankfurt early in the morning and were so glad we had the forethought of booking our AirBnB for the night before our arrival so that we could check-in before 10am.
Happy to be using European public transport again, which always feels far more efficient than Australia's transit systems. We took a 15 minute train ride to the Frankfurt City Hauptbahnhof, from there, we were to catch a tram to the suburbs where we would be staying for a week.
The tram ride through Frankfurt-Süd to our accomodation was a real treat as it ran through a lush green forest that felt like something from a fairy tale. It must have possessed some magic as a little rush of excitement flowed through us as we gained some energy back.
We did so well that first day - Mike and I didn't have a nap, we instead went out for a walk in the sunshine with Miss Adventure happily bopping away in her stroller - maybe the lack of sleep from the days prior was a good thing; it set us up so that we didn't get wiped from jet lag.
We wasted no time in trying the local cuisine heading straight to a fantastic traditional German pub for dinner - Apfelwein-Föhl. We ate giant plates of delicious, golden weinerschnitzel, which came with a large portion of Grüne Soße (green sauce), a speciality of the region.
We woke up the next day feeling adventurous, so we caught a tram into the city centre of Frankfurt. We hopped off the tram and walked along the Main River through an avenue lined with Plane trees. Our first stop was Römerberg, the central square surrounded by a traditional style of German frame houses. These houses were rebuilt in 1986, however, the historic detailing makes them seem as if they had been standing for centuries - it was the perfect spot to stop and have snack time for Miss Adventure.
The Römer had us wanting more German culture and we were hungry, so it was time to hunt out some Wurst (sausage). Working our way through the streets we marvelled at the Kaiserdom St. Bartholomäus, a Gothic styled church, before arriving at the Kleinmarkethalle.
The Kleinmarkethalle is a central market that has a variety of different food vendors. One particular food vendor, the one we were in search of, Schreiber, is a small kiosk run by two elderly women who were serving up simple plates of delicious Wurst that was sold by weight. We opted for two different varieties, the Fleischwurst (Bologna style beef and pork sausage) and the Rindwurst (beef sausage) that was served with a bread roll and a big dollop of housemade mustard. The ladies working the shop were very smitten by Miss Adventure and used the little English they knew to ask us how old she was and tell her that she was beautiful.
The highlight and reason we chose to stop in Frankfurt was to visit family. We spent much of the following days hanging out, eating and playing. It was a relaxing start to the trip and a great way to rejuvenate after the flight to the other side of the world.
Having ridden the tram through the forest a few times when travelling to and from the city, it was time for us to explore it on foot. The Stadtwald Frankfurt (Frankfurt City Forest) is the largest inner-city forest in Germany that covers almost 5,000 hectres. Within is a series of connecting paths and trails that lead to various landmarks under the stunning canopy of green foliage. With Miss Adventure strapped into the baby carrier, we ventured into the fairytale-like woods aiming to walk around the lakes and finish at Oberschweinstiege, a rustic German inn set in a building from the 1500’s. We ate Hessian Sauerbraten marinated in apfelwein, potato dumplings and fried apple ring. Homemade Beef Roulade with buttered spaetzle and apple red cabbage. The walk was calming and refreshing, it felt like we were worlds away from a city when, in fact, we were only a couple of kilometres from the centre of Frankfurt.
We had our nature fix, so the following day, we were back into the heart of Frankfurt. What we hadn't had enough of was Wurst, so we hunted down another store selling German sausage. This time, we had currywurst. Whilst not traditional in the Frankfurt area, unfortunately we weren't going to Berlin on this trip, but we still wanted to eat this delicious German treat. Most people would put the Stadt Museum of Frankfurt high on the list of top things to do, but we chose instead to head to the Deutsche Film Museum. Being old-film heads, we couldn't pass it up. It was a fun museum detailing the history of cinema with a few interactive exhibits - it was wonderful seeing Miss Adventures' amazement at the old-fashioned zoetrope, rather than the CGI grasshopper that was trying to eat her mum in the green screen exhibit.
For us, Frankfurt was a fantastic visit and we'll definitely be returning to see the family. There was far more of the city to explore and we loved the blend of green and urban spaces. It's not the most tourist-centric city, but this sets it apart from other big cities if you're looking for a place where you can see the culture in everyday life.
Our last night in Frankfurt had come too soon, we had our final meal with the family before heading back to our accommodation to start packing up our bags, something we would have to do many times over the next two months. All was well and we were in high spirits, ready to move onto our next destination and continue the adventure.
It was 4am when Mike rolled over in bed, waking slightly as he must have gotten the sense that something was wrong. Then I said the words that he didn't want to hear only one week into the trip, "I think I need to see a doctor."
[The adventure continues soon.]
See you on the road!