First Impressions are not Always Accurate

On October 8, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany15 Comments

When we first arrived here in Frankfurt and took a taxi to our hotel, we weren’t sure what to expect of our stay here. First of all, living in Colorado, we are used to over 300 days of sunshine per year. When it rains, it is an afternoon thunderstorm, sometimes with hail, but then the sun comes back out. We didn’t see the sun for our first 48 hours in our new city. As we were flying in, we saw lovely little hamlets with old homes and gorgeous churches, but when we awoke from a night of sleep after a long day travelling, we were greeted with bleak buildings, an American style mall, and a large convention center just outside of our window.

Another View from the Front of the Hotel

We are now a week into our new adventure and have obviously found parts of Frankfurt to be charming, although busy, and with the old-world charm that we were hoping to find. Certainly it is a modern city and was badly damaged during the end of WWII, so it isn’t surprising that many of the historical buildings have been destroyed and replaced with modern buildings. In the end, what you get a juxtaposition between new and old, which is to be expected. There are some cities that have doggedly held on to the historical sections of the city and others where the sands of time have transformed them into an interesting blend of new and old.

There is a Wonderful French Bistro in this Building

Now that we have narrowed our search for an apartment and hope to have found one by end of day on Monday. This has given us the chance to see some of the different areas of Frankfurt and we have decided to get an apartment in the Innenstadt (Downtown) and within a few minutes walking distance to the Altstadt (Old Town). We love the idea of being able to have a short walk to all of the shopping, restaurants, and street cafes. We are still getting used to days without sun, but the warmth and friendliness of the people more than makes up for the somewhat dreary atmosphere. Wish us luck on our apartment search and hopefully our next post will find us having found a place to call our home.

We Have Made Friends with the Bartenders Here

Apfelwein – A Perfect Drink for the Season

On October 5, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany, Recipes6 Comments

As we toured through the old city, called Altstadt in German, we came across a wonderful little festival that is going on through next weekend. Besides the food vendors and vendors selling art, clothing, and souvenirs, there were also booths for wine and even better, Apfelwein, or apple wine. It isn’t actually a wine, but is actually a hard cider fermented from pressed apples. Unlike hard ciders that you find in the United States, this wasn’t as fruity, but rather more like a mild beer and quite delicious. It is always served in a lattice-patterned glass called a Gerippte and for larger groups you can get blue and gray pitchers called Bembels.

Although we have already had our fair share of local beers already, trying the Apfelwein was truly enjoyable, especially with the cool brisk autumn air and the leaves changing on the trees around us. Nothing seems to bring out the taste of autumn like apple and what better way to get that than an outstanding adult beverage. Not that we aren’t going to get our fill of apple strudel as well. Sitting in the old pubs, like the one in the town square called Alten Limpburg, is a great way to people watch, chat with the locals, and enjoy a nice pint of beer or refreshing glass of wine.

We have learned a lot about the local Riesling wines as well as beers like Hefeweizen, which actually comes in more varieties that just light wheat, but we’ll share more about those another post. For now, sit back and imagine yourself enjoying a refreshing, fizzly, cider that will make you feel relaxed and ready for the upcoming winter. We have had a long day today as we went back to work for this first time since we moved to Frankfurt, so the vacation is over, but the explorations are not. We will enjoy the free time that we have, but for now we don’t have to imagine a glass of Apfelwien, we will go and relax with one to end our day and recuperate for tomorrow. 😀

Frankfurt am Main

On October 3, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany3 Comments

After a couple of rainy days, we were finally able to get out and get our first real look at Frankfurt’s old city. We have started our search for an apartment, but have not found anything yet, but we think we know which area in the city we would like to live. There is a festival going on through next weekend, so things were rather busy, but we are definitely still adjusting to the local time as all of the shops were closed since it was Sunday. It was definitely the taste of Germany that we were expecting.

We will definitely be learning more about the history of Frankfurt over the next several weeks, so we simply enjoyed seeing the beautiful architecture and eating and drinking at the local restaurants. Oddly enough, we ended up eating at French restaurants for both lunch and dinner as the German restaurant that we tried to go to for dinner was booked for a private party. Today is a holiday in Germany, so we are expecting it to be a slow day, but that will give us the chance to do some more exploring and getting acquainted with the city until we have to go to work later this week. It is very strange to be moving here as opposed to just visiting on vacation, so we are still getting adjusted and learning a little German.

We are already planning our first trip out of the city and will be getting our rail passes and local transit passes tomorrow. Everyone has been extremely friendly as well as helpful, so it won’t take us long to feel at home in this wonderful mid-size city. Most places that we want to visit seem to be within walking distance, but when we need to take a taxi, the prices have been very reasonable. We are only three days into our adventure, but the excitement just continues to build. We should be able to settle into a normal routine over the next couple of days and will be able to share our adventures much more regularly now that we are in country.