Frankfurt was my first experience with an EU airport and I have to say I found it very unsatisfying. To begin with it lacked any kind of local ambiance. While SeaTac has excellent seafood and oozes with Northwest culture, so does Denver with Caribou coffee and nature-minded/outdoor adventure shops and displays. Frankfurt was just grey though. Grey carpet, concrete, and stainless steel covered everything. Apparently in Frankfurt they want their art kept in the museums in the historic area. Smoking rooms littered the walkways to the point that I nearly walked face first into the door of one when coming off a moving walkway. I don't know why I keep harping on smoking rooms in airports, they just seem so out of place to me. My real issue with the Frankfurt airport however was WiFi. Maybe it's because it's more common in America, but I was shocked to find not a single free hotspot in either the airport or Frankfurt during my layover. I finally ended up breaking down and paying 8 Euro's (thats like 12 bucks!) for an hour of WiFi simply so that I could check in with the people I care about and see if I had received any emails from An Najah. Considering that it's an international airport and a major European hub I would have expected a little courtesy in regards to at least having a small niche of WiFi. As I learned from my 10 hour layover in Frankfurt though, nothing is free in Europe or even available at reduced cost.
I'm hardly the type of person who wants everyone in the world to speak English and I do respect the linguistic differences I encounter around the world, but trying to get a train into Frankfurt was a nightmare. If I was catching a train from somewhere besides an international airport I would understand the use of only German on all signs, guides, tickets dispensaries, and announcements. No French? No English? Even America is getting on board with bilingual signs in English and Spanish. Once I had successfully purchased my ticket for the train to Frankfurt, I enjoyed a pleasant ride into town and emerged to find a bustling ancient city full of pedestrians and cyclists enjoying a beautiful fall afternoon. The saddest part about all of the trouble I had trying to catch a regional train is that somehow my three years of German in high school were able to get me around quite easily in airport security, as well as ordering food off a German menu, and conversing with vendors in the farmers market. By no means is my rusty German good, but I did alright. I was truly saddened to learn that the archeology museum was closed on mondays, but busied myself by walking around and finding historic buildings including the city hall, a monastery, and a chapel before heading down to the river. I kept snapping pictures but then I was reminded of a saying from someone very close to me had recently said, sometimes you should put the camera away and just enjoy the moment (that's poorly paraphrased). I tucked down a side alley and found myself at the doorway to the farmers market where I purchased some truffles, and an apple of whose variety was completely unknown to me but quite delicious. I would have purchased more things of all different sorts but I did not have a bag on me since I had left mine in storage at the airport. After walking around a bit more and just enjoying the new surroundings , I sat outside a cafe and enjoyed a beer with some Handkase mit Musik, a cheese and bread platter. The cheese was delicious and the bread was fresh, while the beer was crisp and the surroundings pleasant and peaceful. After a little more confusion with trains I headed back to the airport to gather my bags and await my departure to Tel Aviv for a few hours. If only that damn airport had outlets on the wall for my laptop!
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