Ulm to Frankfurt (by train)

July 11, 2015

After a family breakfast, Alex drove us and our baggage to the Ulm Hauptbahnhof. This time we had tickets for the direct train, purchased online the evening before with his help navigating the DB website.

We had booked a hotel at the Airport, the Hilton Garden, so we could eliminate travel to the airport in the morning. Alex had suggested that we try to check our bags right when we arrived since Lufthansa allows passengers to check bags 24 hours in advance, but it turned out that Air Canada doesn't do that. Oh well, at least the hotel is essentially attached to the airport.

We checked in and then headed into Frankfurt to see the city centre. The desk staff at the hotel had given us a map and explained which train to take to which stop, but they hadn't explained the automated ticket machine. We joined the line of confused tourists trying to figure out how to buy tickets but were rescued by a local who helped us buy day passes that were less expensive that two one-way tickets and had the bonus of our not having to figure out a ticket machine on our own to come back.

In town we found a place for lunch that reminded me of a high-tech Italian version of the Roundhouse at Whistler. Vapiano is a self-serve restaurant where you are given a swipe card when you enter. You take this card to whichever station is preparing the food you want (salad, pizza, pasta) and you order the item(s) you want. Your card is swiped when you get your food which you take to a table to eat. When you are leaving, you present your card to the cashier and pay up. Good food at a reasonable price.

With our tummies full, we walked around the fancy shopping area, heading to the Alte Oper. On our way we were distracted by a store selling nothing but Nespresso products, beautifully presented. We still prefer to buy beans and grind them ourselves. All those little coffee pods create so much waste!

After a beer for Al and Apfelwein for me (I had to try it) by the river, we walked around some more. For dinner we found a tiny ancient pub by the Römerberg or whatever the square around Alte Nikolaikirche is called. It was quaint; the kitchen seems to be in the cellar and the food is delivered via dumbwaiter. We enjoyed our last meal in Germany.

Supporting a tower crane over a street like this would never be allowed in BC

We saw many groups like this all over the Altstadt on this Saturday evening, pre-wedding parties we think. In most cases all the young women were wearing matching outfits and often there were no men. This group might have been adding a lock to the Eiserner Steg.

The Eiserner Steg is a pedestrian (and cyclist) bridge over the Main connecting Frankfurt and Sachsenhausen. It was erected in 1868-69 and I am quite certain the designers did not account for the weight of all these locks!

Alte Nikolaikirche, Römerberg, Frankfurt

My last beer in Germany was the darkest yet.

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