Flying In
Don’t leave the window open. So we take the bicycles to the airport and the explosive swab comes back as a positive on Mandy’s bike…..Twice. Grrrrrr. Pull the bike box apart, unload everything, have it inspected, retape the box with dental floss (the airport tape was very thin) and move on with life. We believe that due to the cycle boxes being stored next to an open window; some fertiliser dust settled on Mandy’s gear. Bucket loads of anxious sweat, and an uncomfortable hour lost with a large man with no sense of humor. But he was nice.
Building the bikes
Very German and very smooth. Customs was an easy event, baggage handlers extremely helpful and all our gear arrived exactly the same time that we did. No waiting, WOW. Finding a quiet corner was never going to be achievable, so in the middle of all the action, we extracted our ‘everything’ and started to build the bikes.
Warm Showers host
A massive thankyou and shout out to Ogla and Andreas for hosting us for two nights. A place to sleep, get over jet lag and refresh. Their hospitality was endless. From meeting us at the airport, cycling through Frankfurt centre. Showing us the sites and offering us amazing food and hospitality. Thankyou.
New Old Town
A new, old town was reborn. Frankfurt has a little ‘Romerberg’ corner, a delightful court where you can jump back in time and reflect on what was. Back in the day, a substantial part of the centre of Frankfurt was flattened. Quite literally. Buildings were reconstructed with what materials they had and with what little resources were available. Moving forward some 40ish years to 1986, it was time to redevelop the centre of town, using original period building plans and maintaining the character of that time. What a magnificent corner of the world has been created.
Frankfurt – a Traditional Dinner.
One must eat. When in Rome …. err or Frankfurt …. you may as well eat like a local and experience traditionally local foods. Fray Rauscher was the name of the restaurant/bar of choice. She is a lovely lady, although didn’t say a lot, perhaps that is due to being a statue. The atmosphere was jovial, twisting through the caverns of rooms we find our table set, our eyes on the extensive menu, engage Google Translate and ready ourselves for the culinary delights. Ogla and Andreas, our warm showers hosts, guide us through traditional cuisine selections. YUM.
Frankfurt at night
Thankyou Frankfurt.
The city is much bigger than I imagined and looks gorgeous. It is great that they went to the effort of keeping the original look.
Interesting different airports approaches to bike tourists; NZ the big airports have bike ‘building’ stations in the airports, with bike stands, tools, pumps everything! They will also take your bike box and sell them as second hand boxes to the next person who needs them… Saved me in Queenstown when the airline wouldn’t sell me one!
Hey Col. They let us set up the bikes anywhere. They were really OK about it and happy to take the boxes. Was fun.
What a great start!
Makes me homesick – but I just have to wait another 79 days.
Continue to have a brilliant time, Guys.
Geoff this place is truly amazing. I love the temperature, the people and the Beer.
What a great life you are having ! stay safe and don’t mention the war!
LOL —- Reg….. It’s all good.
Wonderful & amazing that they could find craftsmen/or women with the expertise to rebuild.
Hi mum. It is really built beautifully. A serious wonderland.
Loved the bike building in the airport!!!
LOL, yep do it where you can. We were cycling out of the airport, so it was as good of a place as any. 🙂