frankfurt at night (from hotelcristall.com). my helpful cabby tells me frankfurt has germany's biggest skyline.
I’ve been awake for about 34 hours, but right now the only sign of my sleepy brain is that I can’t think of very clever ways to write about my trip. I did manage to build a fire, which is maybe not a great idea when you’re on 33 hours of sleep and engineering isn’t your strong suit and the fireplace is an old, old stone thing with no doors or grate to protect you should an errant log go tumbling. But it’s a dark and stormy night, and I’m in a refinished carriage house all by myself. That calls for a fire.
The carriage house is in Lagen, a lovely little town about 25 minutes outside of Frankfurt. I decided to attend the huge book fair (Buchmesse) at the last minute, and didn’t start thinking about a room until the last fifteen seconds. The fair is one of the biggest events in Europe for the book industry, and rooms have been sold out for months. For a few days, I was worried I’d be without a place to stay, or have to put up 500 euros a night for one of the few remaining places. I went looking for a room on craigslist, and found this. A two-bedroom apartment with a big kitchen and a terrace and a private gate and exposed wood beams criss-crossing the walls. The owners live in a big farmhouse at the top of the drive, and the carriage house has been sectioned into two apartments. It’s way more than I need, but not too expensive – and did I mention the fireplace?
The trip from New York City to Frankfurt was incredibly easy: I was through LaGuardia in twenty minutes, then had a very bumpy flight to Montreal, which was stunning. We landed right before sunset, and the river and the trees and the sky were all different shades of red and gold. In Montreal, I breezed through customs – they had a line specifically for those of us heading to Europe – then tried to take advantage of the weak Canadian dollar by stocking up on magazines. The flight to Berlin went quickly, and thanks to the in-flight entertainment, I was able to see a lot of movies on my list: Recount (good but very wonky), Baby Mama (fine if you’re stuck on a plane above the Atlantic) and the first 45 minutes of "John Adams." (I hope the rest of the miniseries is still there when I fly home).
At the airport, there were minimal lines and my bags were the first to hit the carousel. I found a very friendly cabby who spoke good English but indulged my paltry German. He took me to the apartment, waited while I changed clothes, then drove me to the fair. To be honest, I’m not really sure what I should be doing here and what’s the best way to approach things. I did learn that I shouldn’t attend sessions wherein an older English woman with a low, soothing voice shows slides in the dark – at least, not after I stayed up all night watching crappy Tina Fey comedies (sorry, Tina!).
The best part of my day came when I left the Fair to buy an adapter. Frankfurt is so lovely. The maple trees in the park have the biggest leaves I’ve ever seen – they’re the size of elephant ears, and the brick sidewalks are blanketed in green and gold. The air smelled clean and cool. There were people on bikes and people with big dogs (no toy fox terriers here – I saw one woman sitting at a picnic table with five 100-plus pound dogs). The wide streets meander along the city past gorgeous old houses and parks with small hills and big fountains.
Did I get flustered and pay too much for a train ticket on my way home? Yes. Did I forsake my frugal, bus-taking plans to hop in a cab once the train arrived at my station? Yes. Is German marinara sauce less than spectacular? Oh man, it’s like eating mushy tomatoes. But I found the right subway and made it home with no real problems, and my German is good enough to make small talk with the grocer, who wears a long white coat and has an old fashioned mustache, and there’s a fire in the fireplace.
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