And finally, I bring you Bratwurst

How did it get to be past midnight without an update? Tonight’s story shall be short since it’s already late.

We went to an older part of Frankfurt (Sachsenhauser) for dinner so I could finally have Bratwurst. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten this and I’ve not found any of the sausage around here too appealing, but I was told that this was the area to go to try it.

Of course we went by train, but we stopped at the front desk to ask about where might be the best place to try traditional local food. We didn’t get much help there but one thing we did learn was that we didn’t have to buy new train tickets when we changed trains. It’s all very confusing the way the system works here. Apparently if you select a destination at a terminal, it doesn’t matter if you change trains and continue to ride to a different destination. The one ticket covers the whole journey. I hate to think how much money we’ve wasted so far!

When we got to Sachsenhauser we quickly realized this was a party place! Sandwich boards out front of the pubs advertised things like “sex on the beach” and shots. And I do mean pubs. There must have been 6 Irish pubs. Also about as many sushi bars. This was not what I was looking for! Once we cleared the maze of narrow cobblestone streets and dark, loud, empty bars we began to look for something less trendy/touristy and more local/traditional. I stopped in a convenience store thinking I might get a good recommendation. The proprietor (some sort of arabic individual) indicated I should ask someone who might know. I have to admit, this threw me. I was under the impression that I was asking someone. Without asking, how can I tell if they might know? It’s all very perplexing. I should’ve sic’ed EOE on him.

Fast forward past the dinner of Bratwurst and beer (we did find a fabulous local place with 4 tables – and I’ve attached a photo I took with EOE’s iPhone because I’d left my camera’s memory card in my computer). It was getting dark, I knew I had work waiting in my room, I’d promised Mom I’d stay safe, which meant I had to limit my time with my companions (maybe to keep them safe), so I vetoed any discussion about wandering around that part of town and we agreed to head back to the hotel.

I never know if the google map links will work properly when you open them up, but I’m hoping you can get the general idea that this part of town is not laid out on a grid. On our return to the depot, we turned about a block short of the train station and had to make a healthy loop to get to where we needed to board. In our rush to the platform we neglected to purchase a ticket. “That’s okay,” we agreed. “We’ll by a ticket when we change trains at Ostendstrausse”. However when we got to Ostendstrausse to make our train-change, the train to Frankfurt Airport pulled in while we were still processing what train we needed to take. We ran and caught the train, then telling ourselves we’d purchase our ticket when we got to the Airport. It was a quiet ride (Alleluia!) with only one debate (about whether or not people live in the clusters of small homes about on the scale of the houses E’s visiting in Ghana), which gave us plenty of time to contemplate our options regarding our tickets for the return trip. Apparently we all concluded we’d already paid more than our fair share of support for Germany’s mass transit system. Once we arrived at the airport the subject never really came up again.

So, Mom, unless there were cameras or scanners I’m going to have to trust that we got away with tonight’s minor shenanigans and I’ll count myself safe.

And with that, I bid you Auf Wiedersehen!

Love,
Fran