Thursday, July 31st, 2008

Parks in Frankfurt Frankfurt is not only a busy town where people are rushing down the streets, it is also a green city with many parks and green areas to chill out!

So if you just had enough people around you and need some hours to relax, Frankfurt is the place for you. Even in the city centre, you can find green areas; it is called Grüngürtel (the green belt) and is just next to the Zeil.

The Palmengarten in Bockenheim is also worth a visit; here, a lot of exotic plants in greenhouses show visitors the diversity of the world’s flora with various and changing topics. Outside, the park is very beautifully decorated with flowers all around the year and in summer, beach cairs invite you to lay down and enjoy the peace of the park.

The Günthersburgpark is another park in the north of Frankfurt that should be mentioned here: with its wide green areas, it is especially nice for sportsmen who like to play football together. For kids, there is a water playground in summer and of course a “normal” playground for the colder days.

The Ostpark near the Ostbahnhof is amazing in summer! This is the only park where you are allowed to barbecue and on warm days, one barbecue party is next to each other. With large green areas, the park attracts football players and it is also frequented a lot by joggers who run their rounds around the park; in the middle, a small lake shelters the Frankfurter ducks. These are just three of the many parks in the town, just check the green spots on the city map and enjoy the other ones as well; you can’t go wrong!

 
 
Monday, May 19th, 2008

in the afternoon the staff there advised us to take advantage of the sunny weather and stroll down to the river and relax. On the way we came through some surprisingly shabby but colourful streets, passed drunk but friendly people sitting on benches on the sidewalk in front of some bars.

Only a few minutes later we came to the beautiful public green that stretches all along the river banks in Frankfurt. People were sitting on the lawn or on benches eating, drinking and partying. We had a chat with some of them, they even gave us a glass of their wine since alcohol is really cheap in Germany.

Then we crossed the river on a modern suspension bridge from where you have an impressive panoramic view on both the river banks where most of the city´s museums are in a line. On the other side we came straight toward the art school and gallery Stadel.

We decided not to go in for now but kept walking along the river until we got to a riverside café called Main Café. Apparently this is where everybody meets in summer. We got us some drinks and sat down on deckchairs that are provided by the café people. We met some nice German girls and after a while they asked us to come along to a little street festival in a lane called Bruckenstrasse, just off the river. This seems to be a neighbourhood for trendy art and fashion people. At that street party we had local food, and there was even live music and other art performances. Simply perfect for meeting local people. An hour or two later we walked on, down to the river again. By chance we discovered an apparently newly opened combined café and club on a boat next to a little island in the river. At first sight its makeshift style did not look trustworthy but we ended up dancing and drinking there till late.