A Hot Dog in Frankfurt

No, not the thing on the plate...that's a bratwurst. In this scenario, I'm the hot dog. A real "L-7 weenie," to quote Squints from The Sandlot. 

Let me explain.

Frankfurt is a big biking city. Great, right? Bike lanes everywhere, it's super environmentally friendly, it's good exercise...win-win-win!

Well, I'm not really a big biker. I mean, sure, I'll go for the occasional ride around Howard County on those nice, quiet, well-maintained paths. But city biking is a whole different can of worms.

Picture this: me, on a bike that's made for someone at least 4 inches taller than me. Then jack that seat up another couple of inches and get it stuck there. Then drop me in the middle of a major city, one that I don't know my way around, one with a lot of narrow cobblestone streets, one with lots of pedestrians and rush-hour traffic to look out for.

My complete and utter lack of poise under pressure ensured that I traveled the streets of Frankfurt without a shred of dignity. I was a menace among the native Frankfurters, swerving to avoid one person, and causing three others to dive for cover. Stopping at busy intersections was easily the most harrowing and difficult experience that I have had thus far on my trip.

Miraculously, I never once crashed. Shout-out to my guardian angel for making sure I didn't end up smeared on some poor German's windshield.

I lied. I crashed once. But it was a tactical maneuver to keep from skidding into four lanes of oncoming traffic.

Aside from all this, I was happy to be in a city I hadn't planned on visiting. I went to Frankfurt to see a friend, one who I hadn't realized had just moved to Frankfurt two weeks before I arrived.

I had never really been to Frankfurt before. Yes, I've arrived in the Frankfurt airport every time I've come to Germany, but I've never really spent any time in the city.

As soon as I arrived, we hopped on the bikes (well, she hopped. I clambered) and got going.

Frankfurt, I was surprised to learn, is actually a very nice city. There are lots of museums along the river, which is criss-crossed by bridges of all different shapes and sizes. There are a lot of modern buildings (such as the striking European Union building), as well as buildings with more history to them (like the beautiful Alte Oper, or old opera house).

Since my friend was still new to the city, we ended up seeing more of it than we had intended on our way to dinner. We consulted a map several times, but still managed to take two hours to complete a (theoretically) 25-minute ride to the restaurant.

Upon finally arriving at Apfelwein Solzer, we collapsed onto the benches and ordered the specialty drink: apple wine. It was incredibly refreshing. So fresh, as if the apples had just been picked that morning, and a bit more tart than sweet--I think it's safe to say that American hard cider has been ruined for me now.

This is also where I got that bratwurst in the picture above. The other things on the plate were cheesy mashed potatoes (yum), sauerkraut (sweeter than in the States; also yum), and what I discovered, by taking a huge forkful, was some very potent horseradish sauce.

After dinner, we listened to the soothing voice of the Google Maps lady to get to one of the bridges, which had a great view of the city. (The picture doesn't really do it justice at all.)

We then made our way back across town to my friend's apartment. Since we'd taken so long to get to the restaurant, and then taken time over dinner, the streets were pretty quiet by this time, and the ride back was much easier and much shorter than the first.

I woke up very sore, and very glad that we were driving, rather than biking, to school. (Yes, I said school. More on that in the next post.)

Early afternoon, we got back on the dreaded bikes and wound our way through the streets, stopping for Eis at the main plaza (dark chocolate and Yogurelle flavored). It was also at that plaza where I made the rookie mistake of going into the first souvenir shop that I saw. I was in pursuit of postcards (my favorite souvenir), and was very satisfied with my purchases, until I caught sight of identical postcards in the shop next door for 20 cents cheaper each. Scheiße.

We also biked around the old part of town, where there are lots of Biergarten-style restaurants, most of which were getting ready to open as we cruised by. We once again braved rush-hour traffic to get back to my friend's apartment, where we ditched the bikes and had dinner at the café next door.

She then had to go to Back-to-School Night, and I wandered down the street in search of a grocery store. To celebrate successfully purchasing apple juice, I got my second Eis of the day (lemon and raspberry...yum). We then went back to the café for a drink before bed. She ordered a watermelon-basil concoction, and I went for iced tea with citrus and mint, which I would be happy drinking for the rest of my life. The owner of the restaurant has taken a liking to my friend since she moved in, and he suggested that he make us a dessert. We initially declined, citing the Eis we'd eaten earlier as our excuse, but relented when he suggested crêpes with Nutella.

This is the "small dessert" that he brought us.

Somehow we muscled through and finished it, then collapsed in a near-comatose state to watch the soccer games on TV. We struck up a conversation with the guy whose table we were sharing; he was glad to have the chance to practice his English, and I was glad to have someone else upon which to inflict my less-than-stellar German. Occasionally interrupting the conversation was our friendly neighborhood restaurantuer, bearing gifts of Schnapps.

The first one he brought was easily the most intimidating: a flaming combination of Bailey's and Kahlua, plus the German equivalent of Everclear, called a B-52. Our tablemate had to coach us through the process of consuming the drink; it is no easy task to knock that back through a straw (which you do without extinguishing the flame).

The next was a far more friendly strawberry drink that we actually sipped from our shot glasses. Since we had to be at school again today (Thursday), we said good night and got a solid 8 hours.

Before leaving town this morning, we had a breakfast of croissants (always a winner in my heart...or, rather, stomach) and to-go coffee. To-go coffee is not common in Europe, and for good reason: it's terrible. I will always opt to stay and savor an espresso, latte macchiato, or cappucino here rather than suffer through another to-go coffee.

Anyway, big thanks to my friend for hosting me in Frankfurt!

Keep your eyes open for the recap of my school days!