After a continental breakfast at Pension Alpha we took our Frankfurt tourist map and headed out for the day. The sun was shining and promised to shine for the day and bring temperatures up to about 15 degrees.
Most of Frankfurt was destroyed during WW II and so there are not many old buildings here. In most of the places we visited, history was everywhere. In Frankfurt, we had to look for it.
We headed towards the Main River and walked across one of the two pedestrian only bridges to discover a giant flea marked along the river. We strolled throught the maze of sellers (mostly African and Middle Eastern) and ended up at the second pedestrian only bridge where we walked back to the other side of the Main.
Our second stop was the Romerbert, Frankfurt's market square which was the location of the birth of this city. After WW II it was rebuilt to look like the timbered houses that stood there before the war. This morning there were several buskers entertaining as well as a group of Asian students singing gospel songs in English.
After the square we strolled towards the archaelological garden where we saw the remains of a Roman encampment including thermal baths. Next to the archaeological site was St. Bartholomew's Cathedral, a church that was the official site (chosen in
1356) for the coronation of kings of the Holy Roman Empire. The artwork was varied with statues, carvings, old documents and plaques that were too old to read.A walk through the shopping district gave us a good look at "trendy" Frankfurters;dressed to the nines and looking to purchase more. When we looked for a coffee shop we noticed that there seemed to be a Starbucks on every corner. A lot of English is spoken here and so I didn't pull out my dictionary at all today.
Frankfurt has lots of skyscrapers and one of them, The Main Tower is open to the public. For 4.60 Euro each we rode the elevator up 54 floors and got a great view of Frankfurt. From the 55th floor viewing area it is easy to see that
Frankfurt is a big city...there is no mistaking that ring of low level pollution that sits over the skyline.We followed our map back to the Main River and walked along, people and boat watching. There were not many boats around, just a couple of river barges and a few rowing teams. We came across the Jewish Museum, went through security, got our money out and noticed a sign that said, "free admission today." The museum takes a look at the history of Jews in Frankfurt and like the other Jewish museums we have visited, it put us in a solemn mood.
Our spirits lifted as we again strolled along the river in the bright sunshine and decided that it was time to head back to the Pension. We found a market, bought some food and were happy to kick off our sneakers for the night.
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