A very early start to get to the airport on time to get back to Frankfurt. Flying KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (as we had to Amsterdam) in a Fokker 100, a rather differently configured plane, not least of which is the position of the engines attached to the main body itself. That was the seventh plane journey out of the total of fourteen during this trip (half way!). Also KLM is part of Air France (which we didn’t know) so its good that those flights are over without incident.
It has been shockingly easy to get entry to countries in Europe after we first got here. Upon arrival we go straight to the baggage hall and then exit. No passport control, no customs, nothing.
We arrived in Frankfurt for our third time here (its like our second home). Language is still proving a problem as the signs and the train ticket machine were in parts only in German, but the people seem helpful enough. So we caught the train to central station and our hotel was directly outside. A nice hotel, part-way between an ordinary hotel room and an all inclusive, that is, had free mini bar in room, free breakfast, free wi-fi & internet computers, free telephone calls, free newspapers, free ironing service and free tea, coffee and cakes/pastries all day.
Michael Jackson died - we managed to find one TV station (BBC) in English.
We went for a wander around the area and walked down by the river Main, which is a huge river that runs through the middle of the city. We got frankfurters for lunch (we had to, we are in Frankfurt) and discovered that they are better in Christchurch. What is with the bread in Europe? Not even the birds eat it, due to it being so hard. We then went for a scenic cruise down the river with (English!) commentary, which was quite good, but not anywhere near as scenic as the Amsterdam canals. We saw a few of the main sights to see in Frankfurt, although there aren’t a lot. We then sat in the blistering sun and enjoyed an ice-cream sundae at a dessert restaurant that had no English whatsoever on their menus. We went out in the evening to have a look at the German nightlife, which in the area around the central station is mainly a huge red light district. No girls in windows on the street this time, but they have the exact same concept but in huge buildings dedicated for this purpose.
The bizarre thing about Frankfurt is that it has all these magnificent old buildings, however, not many of them are actually old. They have simply been rebuilt in the same style after being destroyed in the war.
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