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Here I am in Frankfurt, more importantly, here I am in Germany
First impressions? It's a lot cleaner and better run, the food is cheaper and (here, at least) more international, and the beer is good.
The French have one annoying habit of letting their dogs crap everywhere and only rarely cleaning that up. Well, they have better wine and bread (any disputes to be had over this issue will be had when I return); I can actually afford to eat in Germany, though. There are two all-you-can-eat sushi joints within spitting distance of the hostel, several curry places, and a lot of bratwurst.
The hostel - Frankfurt Hostel - is one of the 'party hostel' types; the dorms are big and clean, and the coffee is cheap, but the common area can get a little unbearable. It doubles as a bar and the music literally never stops playing. I'm thankfully two floors above the bar, so I don't get overmuch bothered by it, but I can see how that would be trouble. Breakfast includes eggs. That's such a major difference from France - I can't describe it; the Strasbourg hostel charged 1 euro for a second croissant (CAIRUS hostel, if you're interested.)
Frankfurt itself is an interesting city. There's the river main, which is worth a visit; you can get a good view of the skyline, which I'm planning on photographing tonight, and because there's a major football game on right now the place is a carnival grounds - I ran past three separate concerts yesterday (it's also a good place to go for a run or practice gumdo). There are a number of cool museums, like the museum of architecture or the Jewish museum, with reduced prices if you have an ISIC card. I also checked out the Romer - early in the morning to dodge the crowd; it was actually a better cathedral visit than the notre dame in Strasbourg, because it's less commercialized.
The city does feel a little intimidating, however. It's my first time in Germany, so it might be a language thing, but there are a ton of suits rushing everywhere, and the city can have a very unforgiving rhythm during commute or lunchtime.
That said, I don't really need my phrasebook yet, and I could actually buy one in the English-language section of the train station bookstore. And I have had a couple good conversations with people about German buying stuff - just don't go to places with a long line is all. People have the patience to deal with a tourist if they don't have a hundred other customers.
One last observation: there is a large Turkish population in Frankfurt, so you can get a really good kebab if you like here. I'm going to stick with the appelwein though. Tomorrow, I'm moving on to Leipzig to visit with Jennifer for a bit - then we're going to meet the rents in Berlin; I'm planning on staying there for at least a week.
Tschau!
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