I have been blessed with meeting wonderful kind-hearted friends from Germany before coming here. Julia and Jan invited me to visit them in Frankfurt for a day while in Mainz. Frankfurt is not far from Mainz. You can take the S-Bahn and it takes about 45 minutes from the Mainz Hbf to Frankfurt Hauptwasche (~7,30€). Frankfurt Hauptwasche is the central station downtown and was the place we decided to meet at since we have never met before. We met at My Language Exchange as I wanted find someone I can write to in German and Julia wanted to find someone she can write to in English - in particular in Canada as she and her husband wanted to live there for a few years.
When we first walked out of the station and into the plaza, I was just in love with the city. There was just something about it that just took my breath away. It had a mixture of old and new like any other city - churches here and there and then your stores and restaurants, but there was this international vibe to it. Everywhere you went, you would hear different languages. You can also feel like everyone here wanted to be here and not just here because they had to go to school or work. It was lively with everyone Christmas shopping and enjoying themselves at the Christmas market. This was a massive Christmas market and as the day went on, it became packed with people. By the time 6pm hit, there were some areas where you would be pushing your way through just so you can go the the fries stand with all the different kinds of mayo sauces :) And the shopping ... oh the shopping! There were so many brand name shops from all over the world. All I can say is good thing I was only here for a few hours and that Julia was showing the city or else I would be in trouble. She did mention that Frankfurt would have smaller sizes compared to other cities in Germany.
The most wonderful thing was how walkable it was. We were able to walk by the river where it was busy with boats and freights being moved along the river and the swans swimming about at the edge. Julia mentioned how in the summer, both sides of the river would be lined up with markets. Until summer comes, there is an small indoor market that you can go to to get good eats or hard to find ingredients for a dish you are cooking or baking. Here, you can get different kinds of meats, cheeses, pastries, chocolates, sweets, spices, herbs, flowers, and even live fish! Frankfurt is a city that is a must to see and reminds me a little of Barcelona (one of my favourite cities in Spain) for some reason. Hmmm....
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