Family travel,  Frankfurt,  Germany,  TRAVEL/HOLIDAYS

Day 2 – Around Frankfurt

Frankfurt, October 8th, 2013

The boys were hungry and they wanted rice, so off we went to Frankfurt city taking the train from Offenbach OST to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. Paid €15 for the fare. We had Arabic rice at Al Rafedain Restaurant, Baseler Straße 15, Frankfurt. It is near to the hotel I stayed last year.

alrafedainDuring lunch, I read the Frankfurt City Guide that I bought from Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof earlier on. On the last page, I read about super-saver card. We could actually buy a group ticket for €28! What a saver. And there we were already spending €45 for one and a half day. Bummer. We later got to the hauptbanhof (station) and went strait to the tourist info counter and bought the super-saver card.

supersavercard

The super-saver card includes unlimited use of public transport system for a maximum of 5 persons as well as 50% discount on admission to selected spots in Frankfurt city. Later we went to buy Ortel data plan prepaid card at a phone shop (operated by Pakistanis) on Kaiserstraße, just across the station. We got the simcard for €15 and dataplan for €14.90. Alles war gut. So off we went to our next destination: Hauptwache.

Hauptwache

Hauptwache

The Hauptwache (Main Guard) is a central point of Frankfurt am Main and named after the baroque building (above photo) in 1730. It was the headquarters of the city’s Stadtwehr militia when Frankfurt was an independent city state and also contained a prison. In 1866, the Hauptwache became a police station. In 1904, the building was used as a café and remains one to this day. Heavily burned in World War II bombing, it was reopened in a provisional form with an altered roof in 1954. In 1967, with the building of the U-Bahn tunnel through the city, it was dismantled so it could be moved and rebuilt over the new underground U-Bahn station. The plaza has undergone another major renovation when the S-Bahn station for suburban trains was opened in 1978.

Today, Hauptwache station serves as one of the most important crosspoints of the Frankfurt public transport system. Eight of nine S-Bahn lines serve the station as well as five of seven U-Bahn lines.

From Hauptwache, we later walked about 10 minutes to Römer via Liebfrauenstraße and Neue Kräme.

Walk-to-RomerSomewhere at Liebfrauenstraße.

Maggi-shopYassin in front of Maggi shop at Neue Kräme. Yassin loves Maggi noodles, and asked me to snap this photo. MAggi came into existence in 1872 in Switzerland, when Julius Maggi took over his father’s mill. He quickly became a pioneer of industrial food production, aiming to improve the nutritional intake of worker families. Maggi was the first to bring protein-rich legume meal to the market, and followed up with a ready-made soup based on legume meal in 1886. In 1897, Julius Maggi founded the company Maggi GmbH in the German town of Singen, where it is still based today.

Starbucks“Ibu, you like Starbucks, right? Take my photo here. Peace!” said Yassin.

Römer

The Römer is the city’s most important landmarks. The Römer is dominated by the Lutheran Old St. Nicholas church and it has been the city hall (Rathaus) for 600 years. The Römer merchant family sold it together with a second building, the Goldener Schwan (Golden Swan), to the city council on March 11, 1405 and it was converted for use as the city hall.

Romer01At Römer. Posing with a golden lady. Paid few Euros for this photo opportunity.

Romer02Yassin in front of buildings at Römer.

Artist-at-workArtist at work: Rudin Serge.

JUmp-to-joyYassin jumping with joy. Seen behind is The Römer’s famous three-peaked façade with medieval design. 

Having-coffeeHaving coffee at  Römer.

After having coffee, we moved on to visit the Historisches Museum Frankfurt (Frankfurt History Museum).

museum01Azmi busy snapping pictures in front of Historisches Museum Frankfurt.

Historisches Museum Frankfurt

The Historisches Museum Frankfurt has its origins in collections of the city and its citizens dating back to the fifteenth century. Founded in 1877/78 on the basis of civil initiatives, it is the oldest museum in Frankfurt to be financed by the municipality. Since its founding, its mission has been the preservation, scientific investigation and mediation of historical objects and images of the trade-fair town. Today the museum has at its disposal the most extensive collections pertaining to the history of culture and art in the city and region of Frankfurt am Main.

Azmi-at-museumAzmi reading about The Cellar of the Burnitz Building.

dioramaAzmi and his dad watching Frankfurt City diorama.

YassinYassin mimicking the militaria armour suit behind him.

We had great fun visiting this city museum which offers great insight about the background of the city’s past with its vast exhibits of architecture, photography, paintings, ceramics, metal, militaria, furniture, sculpture and many more.

We later walked across the road in front of the museum to get to River Main.

fallwomanA woman enjoying the weather by the Mainkai riverside.

River Main

The Main is a river in Germany, with a length of 527 km. The Main flows through the German states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg (forming the border with Bavaria for some distance) and Hesse. The largest cities along the Main are Frankfurt am Main and Würzburg.

River-MainView of River Main.

Eiserner-StegOn Eiserner Steg; pedestrian iron bridge built in 1868 that connects Mainkai and Schaumainkai.

padlock

The iron bridge has become on of the locations where loving couples attached their locks – inscribed with names or initials – onto bridge railings and then throw away the key into the river, to ‘lock’ in their union and to symbolise their everlasting love for each other. 

After crossing the river, we walked to the nearest station and got back to Frankfurt Hauptbanhof and went for dinner before making our way to our temporary home. It was 7°C when we reached Offenbach and we were walking fast to get home and turn the heater on.

Reference: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauptwache_(Frankfurt_am_Main)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B6mer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggi
http://www.historisches-museum.frankfurt.de/index.php?article_id=28&clang=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_(river)

 

 

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