the 4 best things about Frankfurt

Sachsenhausen at night

Frankfurt is a proud home of apfelwein. Where most of Germany is enamored with beer, Frankfurt went its own way on this front. We first tried a taste of it at a café, just to consider it. It was something like an uncarbonated cider. When I say cider, I mean like the proper alcoholic drinks of Europe, not the hot apple tea of the United States.

In Frankfurt, the apfelwein is also commonly served as “ebbelwoi” and the pubs brewing and serving it tend to be located in the beautiful and more picturesque neighborhood of Sachsenhausen, which still preserves many of its older half-timbered houses, served in brew houses called “apfelweinwirtschaft”. The drink also gives Frankfurt another New Yorker appeal, gaining it the name of “the Big Ebbel”.

We found the Kononesteppel restaurant to get the true tipple of ebbelwoi and to stock our stomachs up with some schnitzel. Kononesteppel was in the style of a classic German pub, with long tables filling the room, and stuffing in every person they could, even if it meant sharing a space with an elderly couple—as we did—or a group of partying bachelorettes. The ebbelwoi was cheap and seemingly endless, while the schnitzel also was priced around 10 euros—a real steal in Germany. It came served with the famous Frankfurt “grune sosse”, a slightly bitter green sauce containing as many herbs as Jägermeister and looks like something that's dripped out of my nose during one terrible winter. It tastes at least three times as delicious, albeit.

Sachsenhausen imbiberies

Though there is local beer, it’s not abundant. We did make our way to naiv Bar, which is an attempt at an American style microbrew bar, complete with the faux industrial look so common in all the hip places in the hippest cities that maybe you haven’t heard of yet, and they even served their brews in American sized glasses charging American prices. Very cute. 6 dollars for a thimble. I drank something with “hops” in the name, like “Hopmeister”, but found it not really a master brew of hops, so then we headed on out in search for more of that apfelwein goodness.

Hotels

Being a major business center of the Continent, Frankfurt is overflowing with hotels. But most of them service at a pretty penny, even booking a year ahead of time. There are some hostels, but for the aging folk like myself, one needs something a bit more comfortable than a flea bag roach motel filled with Australian’s in a stag party in order to properly rest ones achy back and such and such.

From the hotel room

We stayed at the Leonardo Royal Hotel. It’s one of the few towers that don’t look miniature and is a bit on the outskirts of town, just across from the South Cemetery, but therefore also being a hotel on the cheaper side for Frankfurt. It’s about a fifteen-minute walk to Sachsenhausen and to the tram lines and subway, and right on a major bus route, with free parking on the street around it. And it’s best to park it in Frankfurt, since they figure one way of keeping their river clean is by cleansing it with all the milk they get from their visitors.

Walkabout

Once upon a time, Frankfurt was known for its huge, sprawling medieval center, and its romance rivaled that of the few towns left like Rothenburg. But then came the Nazis and Frankfurt went the way of Aleppo and Mosul, incinerated into a crumbling bucket of blood and rats. This made way for that miniature skyline, and gives it a look and feel of any American city center, except that it’s clean and has great mass transit, and is somewhat thought out for pedestrians.

Luckily though, the non-medieval center was mostly left alone, and the Sachsenhausen district still preserves the look of the 1800s. It quickly became the financial city of Germany, as its main rival, Berlin, was divided and in part held by people with no sense of budget or business. They also managed to recreate at least the main square, trying to grasp some of the charm the city once had.

A bird taking in the view

It is an extremely walkable city. Sachsenhausen is the best place for a stroll, and the river has a historic-looking bridge with views of the new skyline and the old churches that managed to soldier on through the smoke and dust of worse years. A park stretches all the way up and down the Main River, which is at all times full of joggers and couples. 

Overall, Frankfurt is perhaps not a destination city. At least not these days. But if you've got an overnight layover, or are looking for the world's largest book festival, then it's certainly not a bad city to find yourself in.