Frankfurt am Main

In July 2014 I was lucky to join my colleagues working in Frankfurt am Main for an end-of-project-party. I stayed in Frankfurt just for three days but totally loved it. I had a little of free time but I used it as much as I could hanging around in the city.

From airport to city center

Frankfurt airport (Frankfurt Flughafen) is one of the busiest airport in Europe. It takes 15 minutes to get from the airport to the city center by regional train (S-Bahn). Alternatively you can use a taxi or a bus.

Running in Frankfurt

Running along Main river is just pleasure. Both river banks are grassy with running tracks. I have never seen so much people running in Prague. When I was running along the river, I found myself in the middle of the Ironman contest and even though I didn’t have a racing number I got cheers from the people sitting alongside the track. 🙂

Not just in Frankfurt but Germany in general, be prepared that some worldwide payment cards – in my case Visa and American Express – are neither accepted or only with order exceeding 40 EUR or similar ridiculously high amount.

Sweets in Frankfurt

Eiscafé Cornetto

I found myself at Eiscafé Cornetto on Kaiserstr. 60 on Sunday by 10 pm when I was looking for some place to hide from the rain. What hit me immediately in the eyes was a vitrine with ice cream and another one with cheesecake and tiramisu inside.

After a little hesitation I picked cheesecake. It was really good, soft and creamy. Homemade… The coffee is run by Italians and love for proper coffee and desserts definitely run in their blood. After I finished my cheesecake I ordered ice cream with a cup of hot cocoa so I could enjoy a little of Italy on my way to the hotel.

Eating in Frankfurt

Paulaner

Paulaner is a Bavarian style restaurant on Mainwasenweg street. You can either sit outside with view of the river or inside in a decent and fresh interior. It’s one of those restaurants where you feel like home and would like to visit again. I visited Paulaner with my colleagues to finish our evening after dragon boat racing on Main river.

I ordered Wiesnhandl, roasted chicken in Bavarian style. Wiesn is a synonym for Octoberfest in German and handl is a Bavarian word for chicken. What can I say? Half a chicken, perfectly roasted. 🙂 I was advised to try local specialty – apple wine (Apfelwein) – sometimes referred to as German hard-cider. It’s being made of pressed apples which are then fermented with yeast. It is damn fast drinkable wine – great for warm summer evenings – make sure to drink the same amount of water as apple wine. 😉

Conclusion

Even though Frankfurt has a population slightly less than 700 000, thanks to local business it is a busy city with its unique vibe. It is a home of European Central Bank and General Federal Bank, Commerzbank, Deutche Bank and many other notable companies. Sometimes Frankfurt is referred to as Bankenstadt (City of banks) or Manhattan.

In general Frankfurt is really worth a visit. Hereafter are some pics I took during my short stay.