Frankfurt
Instead of the customary after-IC-euphoria-posting I think I'd rather catch up on some reflections and favourite pictures from two other cities I visited in July - starting with Frankfurt. A place I stopped over at on my way to NYC for a meeting, and then again on the way back.
My brief but eventful journey started on one of these trains. The trip from the airport into Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (main train station) cost me E$3.50 each way which is pretty damn expensive for a 15 minute ride but these trains were worth it. They were like long-distance trains, super fast, super smooth, super comfortable with reclining seats, tray tables and magazines.
The train station itself is very cool looking and reminded me a lot of Flinders St station in Melbourne - in terms of looks, positioning in the city, and the clock thing...
One thing I love about Frankfurt is the juxtaposition of really cool shiny skyscraper glass towers like this one...
... with beautiful European-style cobblestoned streets, parks, benches and many places to relax and watch the world go by.
In addition, Frankfurt has a very interesting historic precinct (that was flooded with tourists of course) which includes this very German-style looking building with the roofs that look like steps.
My favourite part of my day in Frankfurt (thats the first day I mean, on the way to NYC, I didn't take any pictures on the second) would have to be the time I spent at this little cafe on their Fressgasse (a street affectionally nicknamed so, after the amount of eating one can do on it). Sipping an espresso and reading Kafka in the morning made me feel very European... and the espresso was the best one I'd had since leaving Melbourne a month before... I returned to the cafe on my second day in Frankfurt (which was on the way back to Bahrain from NYC) and partook in some more coffee and reading...
Generally it was really nice to be able to walk around the city freely, look at things and bask in the German-ness of it all. There is something about travelling alone with no agenda in particular that makes you feel like you have the world at your feet...
Labels: architecture, food+drink, Frankfurt, travel
Frankfurt, NYC + Bad Air Travel
I feel an update post on what's been happening in Bahrain is in order but first I wanna post about some stuff that's been on my mind of late. So I found out on Wednesday night that 24 hours later I was meant to be on a plane to NYC, cool. Took Lufthansa Bahrain - Frankfurt and sat next to this great guy from Minsk (near my hometown) who was working for Citigroup in NYC and was on a business trip to Bahrain. He told me some interesting stuff, told me to visit Brighton Beach in NYC, the Russian area, and that I could get by there without speaking a word of English... so excited about that. He also told me he was really scared of going to Bahrain initially for the business trip and tried to get out of it. It's amazing, the level of ignorance that exists in the world, as Bahrain is surely one of the safest countries ever and, when compared to NYC, is basically like a church safety-wise. He was Assistant VP of Emerging Markets for Citigroup, which sounds like a really cool job! We spent time complaining about how bad Lufthansa was...
All my days of flying Asian airlines had not prepared me for the air travel world outside. Lufthansa had no personal TVs, no free eye masks, no free toothbrushes, pretty bad food and NO LEGROOM AT ALL (unlike Gulf Air which had all those things and heaps of legroom, by the way, so what if it's going broke). Lufthansa did, however, have Recaro seats... nice.
My 6 hour stopover in Frankfurt was eventful. Thank you Australian passport, I got to go and hang out in Frankfurt, check the place, snap heaps of photos and all that... and still get back to the airport in due time to get my connecting flight. Poor Sahar with the Bahraini passport had to stay in the airport due to lack of visa. Boohoo. Frankfurt is a hell of a town. Plenty of nice gleaming skyscrapers, great period architecture that is unique to Deutchland, nice cafes (had a GREAT coffee there), cobblestoned streets and Turkish people (very friendly too). Had a great chillout with an espresso and my book there, had a great sandwich in the airport and the best part, spent all morning speaking nothing but German... great practice :D
I thought it couldn't get worse after Lufthansa but it did. United Airlines was terrible. Flew 7+ hours from Frankfurt to DC on of their OLD jumbos which rattled and shook. Not only did it not have personal TVs but it only had one projector which I couldn't even see (at least Lufthansa had a few TVs in the cabin). The food was even worse, the legroom was comparably bad, the plane sat on the runway at Frankfurt for an hour while we sweated it out because the plane had... get this... NO CLIMATE CONTROL. Just those little AC vents in the ceiling. Great. The staff were friendly and helpful though, can't fault their service, just shitty at everything else. Sat next to a nice old lady who was going to miss her connection to Tampa, Florida and probably have to stay overnight in DC, damn. I made my connection - just - because it was delayed. Phew. DC to NY was good, a small Brasillian jet, kinda like the domestic flights on Virgin Blue back home.
My general first impressions of NYC are just the same as off the TV. The place is big, brash, covered in skyscrapers and full of people with swagger. New Yorkers swagger around because they think their city is the best in the world. They talk to absolutely anyone and are very "confident" (see also, 'aggresive') in their style. Good people though, happy to help... just don't pussyfoot around in NYC or you'll get stepped on. There's heaps of stuff to do here. Great (and cheap, thankyou weak USD) fashion, good bookstores, cafes, bars... yet to see the big sights though - tomorrow. Spent the day walking around Soho. Aiming to do more touristy stuff + chilling tomorrow.
Chilling in a bar called "Underground" near my hotel with a beer right now, it has free wireless. I'm staying on the Upper West Side, 102nd + Broadway... word. Starting meetings on Monday.
One thing I've realised today, as I've been walking around NYC with all the peple, cars and buildings everywhere, with all the smells of food and dirty things, with all the swagger and all the multiculturalism, with the myriad of things to do... I miss Bahrain. Like Lyna said, sometimes you know you have a second home...
Labels: Frankfurt, New York, travel
