Frankfurtion Excursion

Touristy things I did yesterday:

Run out of cash

Make a detour to my bank to get more

Miss a train to Frankfurt by a few minutes

Notice the atm for the same bank across the station

Miss another train because I was writing in my journal on the wrong platform

Wear a money belt

Eat Häagen Daas for lunch

Went to the zoo

Took a gazillion pictures

Less touristy things I did yesterday:

Did not get s**t stolen

Got a student discount

Admired ants

Got something to eat having realized I just missed a train home instead of waiting an hour for the next

Did not go the wrong direction or get off at the wrong station on any train

Did not get lost walking home in the rain

Most of Germany has the small town feel.  Only three cities have a population higher than 1 million, and only Berlin has more than 3 million people.  According to one website, Mainz rolls in at 41 among Germany's most populated towns, with a crowd of about 187,000.  Ithaca, NY has a population just over 30,000.  Ithaca, NY has a population just over 60,000 if you include the students at Ithaca College and Cornell.  Frankfurt is Germany's 5th largest city at about 690,000.

To get to the zoo, I exited at the Zeil, Frankfurt's shopping street and hearsay says it's the busiest in Germany, when things are open.  So relatively, the Zeil on Sunday afternoon vs. the Zeil on Saturday must be like Valhalla on Sunday night vs. Valhalla on Tuesday at lunch, undercrowded and enjoyable, even if the main features are not available.  (That's Valhalla in Houston, not Walhalla in Germany.)

 

They build the sidewalk over the trees

You know it's touristy when all the flavors are in English.

Chocolate with chocolate cookies

The zoo on the way to the zoo.  Must be cold, the animals are not out to play. 

 The Frankfurt Zoo impressed me with its extensive collection of primates and the best developed farm of giant ants with giant heart shaped heads.  These ants were worthy of starring in 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kid'. On occasion, I watched one carry a pile of its decommissioned comrades off the leaf pile.

Those tubes are ant highways with meters of ant traffic

Social animals give fascinating insight into the origins of group psychology.  The monkeys (I think) shown in the following series were either all sitting at the same time or all walking at the same time, with the exception of the one that pauses in the video.  In addition, the indignant alpha male leapt at every piece of bread and fruit thrown by the children next to me (no, they were not supposed to).  Although the leaner members of the monkey became alert and ready for something to land their way, they only twitched as alpha male jumped in front of the precipitating edibles, often first shrieking in the face of another before eating the food.  When the children stopped, he still sat at the bottom of the 'gulch' eyeing any visitor's hand movement, a greedy watch dog glaring into cameras.  Nonetheless, as alpha male began to pace circularly around the hill top, others, almost all, joined.

They all sat

Until Alpha Male set the pace

Other things I admired:

Colorful locust-like insects

Some colorful birds:

A shoebill walks by extending it's one leg a little bit forward, then letting the other one catch up, then it rocks back and forth a little on its stilts as it rebalances.  Think 'Ministry of Silly Walks' by Monty Python.

Some folks I didn't want to mess with:

And a high aspect ratio animal:

Lastly, this bird was really pecking away:

On my walk on the Zeil toward the zoo, I smelled greasy Hong Kong like wok fry, then turned to see I had passed 'China Box'.  I returned there having missed a train back to Mainz by 10 minutes, not wanting to wait 50 minutes in the station or outside in the rain.  I'm pretty sure they were not Chinese, I recognized the language as neither Cantonese nor Mandarin, and ruled out any northern dialects based on the food and the lack of stringency in the tones.  The curry, flavorful, decently spiced, with the veggies and slices of pork both perfectly cooked, would point me toward Vietnamese, which I typically identify.  At this point I'm thinking Laotian, but not Thai.  Nonetheless, handfuls of lean young men would come in and wolf down whole mountains of fried rice or lo mein served on plates the same size as the one I had below, half of which I took to go.   FYI - Flying Goose Brand Sriracha sauce disappoints - stick with the real thing!

Pork with vegetables in a curry sauce.  

Coming soon: My tiny kitchen episodes 3 and 4.

Tschau!

Weekend in the rain: Part II

Blogductivity has decreased this week due to both minor illness and a treaty reach by the Houstonian and German within this blogger prohibiting further blogging until achieving adequate progress on an unfinished manuscript.  The Chinese and Canadian were witnesses.  Hopefully you gained more time with less time on the internet.

Last Saturday, I tunneled back through the paths of old city and found the markets by Mainzer Dom, the giant central Cathedral.  The temperature was about 10 degrees C cooler than it is today, perfect temperature for long strolls without breaking a sweat, and I donned my rubber-soled clogs, with my sneakers still saturated from the rain storm in Wiesbaden the previous night.  Dozens of stands showcased ripe and colorful produce and flowers in the large open area in front of the big tower.  Around a bend were the denser foods: breads, cheese, meats, fish, spices, oil and vinegar, and of course, a wine tent.

Vinegar tap, many oils available as well

Purple beans!

Irene's boyfriend's favorite vegetable!

Now there's a spice!

Mainzer Dom

Mainzer Dom at night, by Matthias from the previous week's roaming

A big store full of yarn for you, Mom!

Most sidewalks and intersections have bike lanes.  NYC , pay attention, see Casey Neistat's video on youtube. 

Mainz Hauptbahnhoff, or Main Station for buses and trains

Most of the meat trucks served breakfast and lunch.  Why did I eat breakfast?  I asked myself.  I did walk about an hour to get there.  I helped myself first to a glass of Riesling, trocken, or dry, and then to a brötchen mit Bismarckherring.  It's a simple roll with a barely cooked fillet of bismarkherring with lots of lemon and some onion slices.  The acidity of the wine and lemon with the fish oils mingled so well together!

Brötchen mit Bismarkherring mit ein Glas Riesling trocken

I finished my wine in the company of some good music.  Turns out I was also next to the Gutenberg Museum.

Too cute for me

The Gutenberg Museum, the view 90 degrees to my left from the previous cute picture.  

Cool things by the Gutenberg Museum.  Ya, there you can see the Gutenberg Bible called B42.

While playing foodie paparazzi, I purchased a beautiful head of radichio, some neat looking mushrooms, berries, and a delicious ziegenkäse, goat cheese, with tiny flower buds that added both aroma and nuttyness that smoothed the flavor.

I was already close to the river and my affinity for scenery and wandering didn't let this excursion end.  Another 5 minutes toward the river I found myself at Rheingoldhalle, a hall where I meant to go for an exhibit 3 weeks ago.  A few rain drops fell.  I passed by 'beaches', basically sand plots created next to the river with rows of lounge chairs arranged almost theater like facing the river where people can buy a drink and tan.  There is no swimming in the Rhine, you don't want to compete with barges.  The obsession with tanning here is bad.

I saw this in a postcard.

Art by the river

More art by the river.  Sweet boat back there.

Another 5-10 minutes later, I crossed the bridge going over the Rhine.  My father recently asked me how wide the Rhine was here.  On the way back, I counted 710 paces from where the water started to where the water ends.  At approximately 50 cm per pace, that's about 35500 cm, or 355 meters, let's give that a plus or minus 20 meters.

A bridge!

I think I should cross it, she said

This tractor full of hay came toward me.  The next 5 minutes smelled of freshly hacked grass.

This boat went under me.

'Bad' weather is more interesting that 'good' weather

As our heroine docked again onto Mainz's solid ground the rain picked up and she meandered among playgrounds, statues, and museums, to eventually find herself back in the old city and hungry again.  After chowing down on at a Lebanese shop, she stopped at a supermarket for some spices she didn't have the foresight to get at the market, then at a bakery for bread she also neglected earlier, to find Yuriy and a friend finishing lunch.

Back on land

The swing on the right is dry because our heroine decided swinging in the rain would be fun

Sweet tree by the playground

The caption to the previous photo

Including the street name in the photo means I can find it again

Sandwich with spiced (mildly, for Germans) ground lamb and vegetables and  a yogurt sauce and a spicy sauce and a cup of good strong tea.  

Indeed, following Yuriy's previous comment, a group of us went to Wein Markt that night, ein groß Wein Fest.  This part of Germany is wine country, and this part of the year is for wine festivals, opening from the earlier afternoon until 2 am on the weekends.  More on wine later, mwah!