Visiting Frankfurt after the Book Fair

After the visit to the Frankfurt book fair on Saturday, I walked around Frankfurt a bit lot (my legs are still sore). My first stop was Römerberg, part of the Altstadt (Old Town). It's a charming square with what look to be 15th/16th century buildings. They are actually modern reproductions as the area was bombed heavily during WWII. The tourist information office is on the right side (or north side) of the square.

Römerberg, Altstadt Frankfurt

I walked north to the next square, which is where Paulskirche (Paul's Church) sits. I was excited to see this church in person because I learned about its importance this summer during my history classes. Paulskirche was the site of the National Assembly's first meetings and where the first constitution of Germany was written. Unfortunately, those efforts in 1848/1849 were not successful because of interference by Prussia, the Austrian Empire, and some of the other German states. Anyway, Paulskirche was also destroyed in WWII and has since been rebuilt and is now a forum for public events instead of church services.

Paulskirche

Road in front of Paulskirche

I didn't go inside the building since it was closed for the day, so I continued north through the pedestrian zone, past tons of stores and restaurants. My next stop was the Kleinmarkthalle, an indoor food market with fabulous offerings. I felt like a country bumpkin brought to the big city as I admired the dried lavender, hummus, and cheeses at various booths. Of course, there are also many vegetables, fruits, and meat available, among other things. I restrained myself and only bought some sort of sheep's cheese spread and some hummus to eat the next day since I planned to go out for dinner.

Kleinmarkthalle, exterior

Kleinmarkthalle, interior

After that, I knew I wanted to try some Frankfurter Apfelwein. It's a local favorite and I was excited, because I generally like wine and I haven't yet found a fruit wine that I didn't like. Well, this was actually more like a cider (alcoholic) and I definitely did not care for it! I kept trying it, just to be fair. I ended up giving the glass almost full back to the waitress when I retrieved my pfand (deposit for the cup). I felt bad about that but I just couldn't drink the slightly bitter drink.

Frankfurter Apfelwein: nicht für mich!

After some more walking around, I decided to head south to Sachsenhausen, a district with many restaurants. There was a Persian restaurant I wanted to try, but alas, even after I made the hike down there, it was closed! I was disappointed, especially after all of the walking. I picked up a falafel/salad plate at a take out place but it just wasn't the same.

However, the upside is that I saw a bar named after the ever creepy Struwwelpeter. Our friend Pete is not a German relative of Edward Scissorhands; instead, he's Shock Headed Peter, who didn't groom himself well enough (hence the long, nasty finger nails) and as a result, was unpopular. Yay for cautionary German tales! Holy crow, are the rest of the Heinrich Hoffman stories freaky and/or super frightening, such as the kid who won't stop sucking his thumb so a tailor cuts it off. Eek!

I thought my legs were done for the day so I finished my meal and walked to grab a train. I saw one station decorated with these statues:

What a way to end the day :)