Since returning from the cycling trip to Mallorca it’s safe to say that the off-season is well and truly upon me. Don’t get me wrong I’m still training as many times during the week as possible but the long runs and long rides are no more. I’ve sacrificed training sessions for cinema trips, Carol concerts, fireworks, flooding and more stupidly, dating (that’s a whole other hopeless story best saved for another day) which is all very unheard of it. In a way its been good to just exercise because I enjoy it but equally I’ve definitely put on weight and at times just got lazy. I’m often asked what I’m training for at the moment and my answer is just life and for myself. Somehow I’ve managed some PBs over the past few months so it can’t all be that bad. Other than when I was so ill I didn’t eat for 48 hours I’ve still not had more than 2 days in a row of no exercising but this was about to change. My first holiday in a long time that wasn’t revolved around exercising but quite the opposite; drinking and eating. Having been avoiding anything christmassy (bar the carol concert) for all of November a trip to the real Frankfurt Christmas Market was sure to get me in the christmas spirit and it didn’t disappoint!
It was an early start, meeting at the airport st 4.15am. Luckily I managed to persuade my ever reliable Dad that he didn’t need his beauty sleep and giving me a lift to the airport at 3.30 in the morning would be much better. This worked in my favour for 2 reasons; 1. I could use his wattbike on Friday night (something I was exceptionally grateful for after 3 days of no exercise and consuming copious amounts of food!) and 2. I didn’t have to fork out for a taxi!
We were of course delayed before we even got on the plane – the announcement being that the fuel tank had been frozen (freezing vehicles in sub zero temperatures…surely this is not an unexpected phenomenon?!) Thankfully they delay was only 15 minutes so we boarded at 6.30am. I was in such a sleep deprived state that it wasn’t long (10 minutes to be precise) before I fell asleep. A good 45 minutes later I awoke fully expecting for us to be in the air and was baffled when I looked out the window to discover we had in fact gone no where. Apparently they had announced just after I fell asleep that we would be leaving “shortly” and nothing had been said since. We finally took off closer to 7.30 and I’m pretty certain I fell straight back to sleep mid take off. In fact I slept for the majority of the flight and felt a lot more refreshed on arrival in Frankfurt as a result.
The next challenge was navigating our way to the train station and then onwards to the city centre. This was more complicated that we first anticipated. Largelt because google maps decided it didn’t want us to get on the train at the train station we were stood at, but instead would prefer us to walk 40 minutes to the next station along the line. In the end we decided to check with the information desk who kindly informed us we just needed to ride 6 stops on the train and directed us to the right platform.
We located a cafe someone had recommended to us for brunch which was right on the river front. Unfortunately it was cold and the only seats available were outside. As it was now basically lunch time and we hadn’t eaten we decided to risk it and sat in the sun wrapped in blankets which we eaten a very traditionally German brunch of bread, meats and cheese, drinking white hot chocolate. For anyone looking to go to Frankfurt then the cafe in question in Mainkai – just make sure you book in advance if it’s a Saturday or Sunday.
The night before I’d actually watched “Game Changers” and for anyone who hasn’t seen or heard of it it’s a documentary looking at the impacts of going plant based on athletic performance. Having only text my vegan friend a mere 16 hours before saying I was thinking of trying to go veggie for at least a week, potentially progressing into avoiding cheese and eggs, the meal we consumed couldn’t have been further from being vegan if we’d tried! I decided the new diet experiment would have to wait for the new year as Christmas season was not the time to try and abstain from meat and dairy, only amplified by what we continued to eat over the next 3 days!
From the cafe we headed towards the Christmas markets; the one and only reason for our trip to Frankfurt! We got our first glass of gluhwein and scooped out all the good food places eyeing up what we wanted to try. At the time the area of the market we walked round didn’t seem all that big but when we returned in the evening and got ourselves completed lost I soon realised it just expanded in every direction, taking over the entire city centre. I’d heard recently that the Birmingham Christmas Market had been ranked higher than the Frankfurt one. I would like to question this statistic and have decided that those who voted hasn’t actually been to both because the Frankfurt one outdoes the Birmingham one anyday. For a start it is significantly cheaper, probably because its not aimed solely at the tourist market but also attracts just as many locals. Each gluhwein is different as each vendor uses their own unique recipe. The food on offer is not just the same stand repeated every other stall but unique selections of German traditions and cuisines along with a variety of alcoholic drinks I’d never even heard of before. The stands selling gift items are all also unique with few of them being repeated unlike the UK where you can buy a scarf every 3 stands.
From the market we wandered down the river to our hotel where we checked in (after a few minor issues) and sat down for what was meant to be 10 minutes and soon turned into a few hours after an exhausting day.
That evening we decided to go up the Main Tower where we got some amazing views of the Frankfurt skyline at night. From up here it was easy to see how vast the Christmas market was and how little we had explored. We didn’t stay up there very long as it was Baltic! Getting up to the top had been traumatic enough considering I’m scared of lifts. Coming down was another matter altogether. Firstly another lift arrived first which was boarded up inside and looked like it could collapse at any given moment. I was very firm with my decision that we wouldn’t be stepping foot in there whatsoever, highlighted only seconds later when those who had got in it reappeared on our floor. Then when we finally got in the decent lift some idiots decided to over fill in meaning we only made it one floor down when the doors opened. In my panicked state I jumped out with anna following behind. Now we were left in a predicament as anytime we called the lift it tried to pick us up on its way down from collecting everyone else from the top floor. Our initial thoughts were to walk the stairs back up onw floor but there were no stairs so we were well and truly trapped. We kept calling the lift in the hope that eventually it would arrive with enough space to let us in. Finally it stopped on it’s way up and everyone piled out thinking they’d reached the top (like I was going to tell them otherwise; I wanted to get the hell out of there fast!) So we jumped in and pressed zero and to our surprise it took us straight down, with a lift to ourselves; freedom at last!
Our next stop for the evening was the Lindt shop where we stocked up on a wide variety of Lindt Lindors which I’ve never seen in the UK, the ones I liked the look of at least (which was 95% of them).
The rest of the evening was spent at the Christmas market where we drank many a glass of gluhwein and hot chocolate with Baileys. For dinner we opted for the traditional German sausage with a twist; it also had cheese oozing out of it. A bit like a melt in the middle fish cake, this cheesy sausage was like no other. But I put the warning out there now; do be careful as when you bite into it there is a high chance that the pressure of the cheese inside can cause it to explode out in every direction possible…
Our dessert of choice on this day was a crepe with biscoff spread (my latest weakness). As we arrived at the one and only crepe stand we’d spotted that had the amazing biscoff spread I noticed the lady behind the counter empty the last bit of biscoff spread onto the crepe the lady in front of us had ordered. When we placed our order we were met with a look of confusion and an illustration of the empty jar asking us to wait a moment. Anyone who knows me well will know that this was a somewhat painful wait which lasted more than a few seconds! I wish I’d been able to fill the joy on mine and Anna’s face when she walked back out with a brand new jar of biscoff and dolopped it onto our pancakes. It was incredible, and exceptionally filling at the same time.
As the market closes at 9pm and we were well and truly frozen to the core we headed back when all the stalls started to close. The 20 minute walk back to the hotel and subsequent 6 flights of stairs was much needed to just walk off all the food and drink. Having got up at 3am an early night was in order.
After the best and longest sleep I’ve had in a long time I woke up very refreshed on Sunday morning. We headed out to get breakfast to discover the temperature had plummeted over night and the sun had disappeared to go with it. We’d decided to join a free walking tour in the morning. As geeky as this may sound I discovered these free walking tours for the first time when I was in South America 6 years ago and have done many since. They are a great way to learn about the city from someone who knows and is passionate about the city that her/she lives in. They are also great for giving you local tips on restaurants and bars other than the ones in the guide books.
The tour was surprisingly busy with over 20 people on it. We walked round Frankfurt for 2 and a half hours learning about its history, culture and quirks. Something which we found quite interesting was the “Frankfurt Way” – the law by which the use of drugs is ruled in Frankfurt, and the consumption centres they have in place to give drug addicts a safe place to tale their drugs. I was shocked to hear that most heroin sold on the black market has only around 9% of actual heroin! To add to the shocking facts were the legalisation of brothels, the amount of money they generate (the ones in Frankfurt contribute €550m to the economy each year), that the most frequented floor in the biggest brothel is the transvestite one and that the most popular time in the brothels is at lunch time during the week…. What I also learnt from the tour is that both prostitution and Frankfurts drug problem were as a direct result of the America soldiers who came over in WW2; when in doubt blame the Americans! We did of course learn some less crude information on Frankfurts history and current economy as well. The Commerce bank building is the tallest skyscraper in Germany and the New Old Town is in fact very new, opening only a year ago!
Constantly stopping and starting in temperatures barely above zero meant we were so cold it was actually becoming painful. After the tour ended and we got out recommendation for an Apfelwein Tavern for that evening we located the closest cafe we could find for a cup of hot chocolate in an attempt to warm up. We were so frozen that even this did little to get the feeling back in our feet.
Finally we decided to brave the cold again to get some food. Today’s menu at the Christmas market was fondue, a cheese and bacon pretzel followed by a sugar and cinnamon pretzel (all of which we shared just to clarify). Of course this was accompanied by a mug of gluhwein, although we branched out this time as anna tried a white version and I tried a rose version. Safe to say the original is the better one.
Next on the agenda was a boat trip down tbe river Main where we finally started to warm up. Back on land we did some shopping at the market, accompanied by yet more gluhwein of course, before a quick pit stop back at the hotel.
We crossed the river to explore the other side on route to Daub Schneider, the Apfelwein Tavern recommended by Jonas earlier in the day. It did not disappoint! Lined with traditional German long tables and benches we tried some local delicacies starting with “Handkaas mit musik” which is basically a jelly like cheese served in an oil, vinegar and onion sauce with bread and butter. This was interesting to say the least. For main we opted for schnitzel with fried potatoe and the apparently famous Frankfurt green sauce, made of 7 local herbs. All of this was of course accompanied by a glass of Apfelwein; a slightly sour and less fizzy version of cider. The highlight was by far the main course!
Of course we couldn’t finish the evening without a trip to the Christmas market for a drink! We collected some chocolate covered strawberries and grapes to take back to the hotel with us. Once again we tried something new; Feuerzangenbowle which is gluhwein with rum and caramelised sugar. It was good but still couldn’t compete with a good old traditional gluhwein in my opinion.
On Monday we ventured over to the zoo. Visiting a zoo on a weekday when the schools aren’t off is one on my favourite things to do. Along with sport and travel, animals are up there as one of my favourite things. It was a decent zoo with a good collection of animals although some of the cages were of questionable sizes.
Lunch was of course at the Christmas market this time sampling the raclette which was insanely good; melted cheese on top of a bacon covered bread roll = heaven! Followed by our last cheesy sausage (we shared the raclette), we finished our final trip to the market with a few mugs of gluhwein and a chimney cake. This ones hard to explain but it’s kind of like a hollow pastry covered in cinnamon sugar with white chocolate covering the inside. We definitely finished on a high food wise!
This unfortunately concluded our trip to Frankfurt and it was time to say good bye. We had had a great few days and were now well and truly in the Cheistmas spirit. Let’s just hoped this continued through what was inevitably going to greet us at work over the coming weeks. If we could keep up this Christmas high this year would be a good ‘un.
We arrived at the airport ridiculously early, 5 hours before our flight to be precise! But having spent 3 days on our feet we were glad of the downtime. We got through security relatively quickly and swiftly, although the true fatality of the security procedure was yet to be discovered.
For such a large airport the restaurant options were distinctly limited and somewhat overpriced. Eventually we settled on one of the 3 and treated ourselves to our final German meal; currywurst with chips. On route to the gate we decided to top up on water but with our cash in limited supplies we could only afford one bottle of water between us at €5 for 500ml!! Typically we then walked past a drinking fountain where we could top up our empty bottles we’d brought through security. To make this price even more outrageous we discovered in duty free you could buy a litre of German Gluhwein for €4.90; so they’d rather you got smashed for €5 than stay hydrated….obviously I bought 2!
At our gate we decided to treat ourselves to the marshmallowy goods we’d bought earlier in the day. It was here that we discovered Anna’s had taken a turn for the worst on their trip through security when the security guard had flipped her bag onto its side with the marshmallows at the bottom….luckily mine had survived unscathed!
Defying the Stereotypes of an Accountant 