Fromage and Frankfurters

My year abroad in Bordeaux and Frankfurt

[fromageandfrankfurters]

End of an era

Due to the number of posts I’ve done about visiting other cities in Germany, it would be very easy to assume that there’s nothing to do in Frankfurt.

This is of course untrue, in reality, this is the first time I’ve been to Germany aside from two school exchanges, so I wanted to see as much of the country as possible.

So what can you actually do in Frankfurt?

Well, almost everywhere you go you’ll get a nice view of Germany’s financial heartland, comically known as Mainhattan. My favourite views of Frankfurt’s skyline are from the top of Galeria Kaufhof, from the otherside of Eiserner Steg or from the top of Main Tower, which is the tallest building open to the public in the city.

Talking of views, the view from my bedroom in Frankfurt hasn’t been bad at all!

Back to the financial heartland, the Euro sign at the European Central Bank is perhaps Frankfurt’s most recognisable landmark. Despite not being able to visit the bank’s headquarters, you can visit the shop and buy Euros from every Eurozone country if that’s your kind of thing!

You can also sign up for a free guided tour of Frankfurt’s Stock Exchange between 9am and 3pm on weekdays, although don’t expect any Wolf of Wall Street antics, it’s all very tame!

It has to be said Frankfurt is a very international city, but some areas of the city do seem very German. The most striking example is Römerburg, which was rebuilt after WW2.This square is at the centre of the old town, round the corner from where I live, and is where you can find the cities town hall (Römer), along with a number of Fachwerk buildings.

During the weekend you can also take a ride on the Ebbelwei-Expreß, a tourist tram which does a circuit around the city. Ebbelwei is the Hessisch spelling of Apfelwein, which is pretty much just a sour version of cider. Included in your ticket is of course a bottle of the local produce, as well as a bag of pretzels.

Throughout the year, there are a lot of festivals going on in the city, celebrating everything and anything! There are also a number of parades including Parade der Kulturen and for Christopher Street Day.

Today was my last day working in Germany and my Year Abroad officially ends tomorrow, so this will be my final Fromage and Frankfurters blog post. I’ve had an absolutely amazing Year Abroad as a teaching assistant in Bordeaux and working for RS Components in Frankfurt, and there is honestly very little that I would change about both experiences!

[fromageandfrankfurters]

Hamburg

Last weekend I visited Hamburg and it was the last time I'd visit another German city during my Year Abroad.

Hamburg isn't what I see as a typical German city, mainly due to the amount of water there. Living in Frankfurt, I feel like I couldn't be further away from the coast, so visiting Hamburg, a port, was a nice change.

Highlights of my trip:

Speicherstadt, the warehouse district

Landungsbrücken

I got a public transport boat from the Fishmarkt and then spent an afternoon wandering around the St. Pauli piers (Landungsbrücken), eating fish and getting a nice panorama of the port from the U-Bahn station

Alter Elbtunnel

From the St. Pauli piers, I made my way under the Elbe, where I got a great view of the city the other side.

Fish

I probably ate more fish during a weekend in Hamburg than I did during the whole of my Year Abroad in Frankfurt. While on the pier, I had Germany's take on Fish and Chips, followed by a herring sandwich. The next day, I met up with my old flatmate from Frankfurt, where we shared an amazing fish platter.

Football

I managed to go to my first live game while in Germany, where St. Pauli got a last minute winner to beat SV Sandhausen (where even is Sandhausen?)

The Beatles

The Reeperbahn, Hamburg's red light district, is obviously a very different place at night, as when I visited it during the day. I had a look at the former strip clubs along Große Freiheit, where The Beatles played during the early sixties. I still can't decide whether the tramps in the background of my photo of Beatles Platz make or ruin it.

Miniatur Wunderland

I don't think I've visited a museum quite like it. Who'd have thought I'd be able to visit Vegas while in Hamburg? Trust me, this place is a lot more interesting and fun than just an extravagant version of Lego!

[fromageandfrankfurters]

München

Last weekend I went to Munich to visit some family friends and gain an insight into Bavarian life.

Despite both being big German cities, Munich and Frankfurt couldn't be more different. Due to the number of major banks here, Frankfurt is very international. Munich just felt so German in comparison, maybe due to the amount of people in lederhosen. I don't think I've ever seen anyone in Frankfurt wearing lederhosen, something I explained when taking this picture. I'm sure they thought I was very weird for asking for one nonetheless!

Beer is a major part of Munich, and Oktoberfest isn't the only acceptable time of the year to drink in the city. I visited Hofbräuhaus, Munich's most famous beer hall, which was understandably full of tourists, everyone was drinking a Maß or two and listening to the Oompah band. It was hard to believe when visiting that this beer hall was the location for the first large Nazi party meeting.

In every city I visit, I like to see it from above. In Munich, I went up St Peterskirche, where you get a great view of Marienplatz, the Neues Rathaus and its famous glockenspiel. Whilst in Marienplatz, I overheard a walking tour guide say that this glockenspiel is the second most overrated tourist attraction in Europe! I'm sure that's exactly what all the people on his tour wanted to hear!

Something I really didn't expect to see in a German city was surfers! However in the Englischer Garten, there is a man made river where you can go surfing. I guess there really is more to Munich than just Oktoberfest!

[fromageandfrankfurters]

Cultural Observations in Germany

It's almost a month until my Year Abroad finishes and it's made me think of some of the biggest culture shocks I've found in Germany.

Pfand

Really good idea, yet very hard to get used to. In Germany you pay pfand for plastic and glass bottles, and then receive this money back when you return them. Of course it's a fantastic way to encourage recycling, but the pfand being added at the till is a hindrance. The amount of times I've had my money perfectly ready to buy a bottle of Binding, and then have to rummage through my wallet for an extra 8 cent is worrying.

Pfand also has a huge impact on German society. There are 'professional' pfand collectors everywhere, rifling through bins and adding yet another bottle to their umpteen bulging bags full of them. It also means you can't drink anything with peace, there will always be someone hanging over you, waiting for you to finish your drink and grab your bottle.

Pedestrian Crossings

Even if there is no traffic, law abiding Germans will always wait for the green man before crossing. This has resulted in receiving evils on a number of occasions, where I've not given a care in the world when crossing.

'Efficiency'

British people see Germany has this extremely hard working and efficient country. Well believe it or not, Germany isn't really that efficient! Buses and trains don't always run on time. People turn up late to work. It can take about 4 hours just to register as a citizen of a German city!

Mezzo Mix

I'm sure everyone's done it. Deciding to mix Coke and Fanta from a drinks machine and immediately regretted it, realising that there's a reason why such a mix doesn't exist. Right? Wrong, in German it actually does. Very weird!

Visa

Germany, the banking powerhouse of Europe. It's also the country, which pretty much doesn't accept Visa anywhere.

An international language

The two words I've heard more than any other during my time in Germany are 'sorry' and 'ciao'. Something I am very surprised hadn't been taught to be during almost 10 years of studying the language!

[fromageandfrankfurters]

Vienna and the World Cup Final

Last weekend I headed to Vienna with Georgie and here are 5 discoveries:

1. Always take the flight you've booked

If an airline offers you €150 to catch a later flight, don't take it. Mine and Georgie's flights were pretty much in sync, the difference was that hers from the UK landed on time and mine from Germany didn't. 

My flight with Austrian Airlines was overbooked, so I could have received €150 for getting a plane a few hours later. Not wanting to annoy Georgie, I decided to stick to my original flight. Wise move! 

Frankfurt was hit by a massive thunderstorm, my flight was delayed for almost 2 hours and the later one was cancelled!

2. When it rains in Vienna, it rains

Friday - all day rain. Saturday - all day sun. Sunday - a bit of everything!

Not wanting to waste our time on the Friday, we went to the Leopold Museum and MUMOK, which were both really fun!

3. Stephansdom has a cooler roof than any cathedral I've visited

4. Vienna has some amazing palaces

Hofburg:

Schönbrunn:

Belvedere: 

5. If you're desperate enough for a flight to be on time, it will be

I don't know how, but I managed to book a flight during the World Cup Final. What's worse is that Germany were in it. Let's face it, being English the chances are me being in a country while they're in the World Cup Final again is pretty slim. 

Fortunately, my flight landed early and managed to get myself in a bar around the 60 minute mark, in time for all the excitement, nerves, and celebrations which followed!

[fromageandfrankfurters]

Ostdeutschland

Last week to mark yet another bank holiday I headed East to visit Dresden and Leipzig.

Both cities were part of the former DDR and subsequently there were quite a few noticeable and not so noticeable signs of this.

One big sign in the Ampelmann which is completely different in the East and West. This is obviously something that is incredibly interesting and important. There is however an Ampelfrau at some crossings in Dresden, how progressive of the East Germans!

Dresden also has probably the newest church I've ever visited. The Frauenkirche was destroyed in WW2 but rather than rebuilding it, the East Germans decided to keep its rubble as a war memorial.

After the reunification, rebuilding began and was completed in 2005. If I'm honest I would have much rather visited it thirty years ago!

An other sign of the East was a giant mosaic called Der Weg der roten Fahne (The way of the red flag) which was unfortunately and potentially conveniently blocked by scaffolding

Reminders of the East were also apparent in Leipzig through possibly two of the best museums I've been to, which were also both free!

First was the Stasi Museum which is about the East German Secret Police who used to spy on East Germans and the second was the Zeitgeschichtliches Forum which has a permanent exhibit about the DDR and an exhibition on the relationship between the US and Germany.

There is also Nikolaikirche which is where the peace prayers and peaceful protests against the DDR took place, which in turn lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the regime!

And to finish things off is some DDR advertising

[fromageandfrankfurters]

Less than 48 hours in Berlin

Spending less than 48 hours in any city can be too little. Spending less than 48 hours in a capital city is even harder. And spending less than 48 hours in a city with as much history as Berlin is almost impossible!

Two weeks ago the 'lads' came to visit Frankfurt for a night (which was included sharing a single bed between 5 boys) and then we made our way to Berlin.

Our first day was a sightseeing filled affair! We decided to hire bikes, which meant we were able to cover so much ground. Here's the route we took:

We left Baxpax Downtown Hostel and started our day at the Reichstag. You can visit the German Parliament Building for free, if you book about a month in advance. We unfortunately missed out on this opportunity due to being unaware of this!

Next up was the Brandenburger Tor which was right round the corner

Shortly after a massive rip in my crotch appeared after getting on my bike. Very inappropriate timing as we then made our way to the Holocaust Memorial

We decided to then cycle through the Tiergarten

And stopped off at a beer garden for a well earned rest 

After we climbed up Siegessäule, where you get stunning views of the Tiergarten and beyond

We left the Tiergarten afterwards and then cycled to Potsdamer Platz, where we saw some chunks of the Berlin Wall

Next up was the incredibly touristy Checkpoint Charlie

We then decided to cycle aimlessly into Kreuzberg, the Shoreditch of Berlin, in search of cool things to see but ended up getting distracted by the Fernsehturm glowing in the sun

That was our sightseeing done for the day! Our night out had everything you'd want from the world famous night life of Berlin.We got rejected from an edgy club and then moved onto somewhere heaving with tourists!

Wanting to make the most of my final half a day in Berlin, we got out of the hostel at a fairly decent time and headed to the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall, East Side Gallery.

The final stop on my trip before heading back to Frankfurt was Berlin Cathedral. One of the highlights of the weekend ended up being watching a pug fall into the fountain and then attempting to swim!

[fromageandfrankfurters]

Baden-Württemberg

One major advantage of working in Germany in Summer is that there are so many bank holidays here.

Last Thursday it was Christi Himmelfahrt and I then took the Friday off work to visit Joe in Stuttgart with George. 

What started off being a long weekend in Stuttgart, ended up being a tour of Baden-Württemberg!

Stuttgart

A busy city, which is pretty different from city. Stuttgart has a Mercedes and Porsche museum, although we didn't end up visiting either. We had a little tour of the city on Friday, but the highlight was going for a drink at the top of Karlshöhe on the Saturday

Reutlingen 

Went to Reutlingen for a house party on the Saturday night and then had a little explore round the town the next day. It literally felt like we'd gone back in time. There appeared to be some sort of festival going on to celebrate the 1st June, but who knows, this sort of this could go on every Sunday!

Tübingen

Our last stop was Tübingen, which has to be the most German place I've visited so far! Enjoyed an Apfelschorle in a square and then rented out a boat to row along the river!

[fromageandfrankfurters]

Nacht der Museen

One major difference between France and Germany is the benefits you get if you're under the age of 26. In France, you get free access to most museums and a lot of monuments. In Germany, you still have to pay.

Last Saturday was the Nacht der Museen in Frankfurt which meant that 46 museums were open from 7pm to 2am. All you needed was a €14 ticket to visit them all!

First up was the Polizeipräsidium, which is only open one day a year. It was a lot better than I expected! It included a museum with crime reenactments and confiscated substances, police vehicles which you could sit in outside and a dog show!

You could also go to the Zoo, which was quite a strange experience at night. I didn't try and see any of the animals outside, but those that I did see indoors were either asleep or getting to know each other!

After going to a few other museums to shelter from the rain, next up was the Städel, which is the art museum to visit in Frankfurt. Due to the aspect of the night, there wasn't enough time to properly look around. I did, however, see the famous painting of Goethe by Tischbein.

My final stop was the Schirn Kunsthalle, which I went to at 1.30 on my way home. It had a really good temporary exhibition about Montmarte which included pieces by Toulouse-Lautrec, van Gogh and Picasso.

My first evening of culture was definitely a good one, especially as you could get a beer at each one! I guess the only flaw is that there's only so many museums you can remain interested in at that time of day!

[fromageandfrankfurters]

Frankfurt

I've finally entered the Frankfurt stage of my Year Abroad. This is now my second weekend in Germany and so far everything has gone so quickly since arriving here. 

My Year Abroad in Frankfurt couldn't be more different from Bordeaux. I've gone from living in a beautiful French city, which just looked so traditionally French, to living in a very much international city, with bankers absolutely everywhere. 

Mainhattan

Unfortunately 80% of the medieval city centre was destroyed in WW2 but there does still remain some traditional German buildings to help remind me that I am living in Germany.

Römerberg

I'm no longer a Teaching Assistant too, which means no longer working 12 hours a week. I'm doing a work placement instead, which means working almost 40 hours a week. As a result, I, like most real life adults, live for the weekend and also the upcoming bank holidays!

One final thing is food. I no longer go to the Boulangerie everyday to get a baguette for lunch, nor can I enter a supermarket and admire such a wide yet cheap selection of cheese and wine. I've left a country with a world famous cuisine and arrived in the land of Wurst. In fact I had my first Bratwurst today, I can't say I was disappointed at all.

I'm yet to have a Frankfurter though.

[fromageandfrankfurters]

Eating in Bordeaux (Part 2)

It's now my last week in Bordeaux which I'm finding very hard to believe. Since coming back after the Christmas holidays time has absolutely flown by.

I've decided to attempt to be a food critique again and talk about some restaurants I've been to since my initial restaurant post here - http://fromageandfrankfurters.tumblr.com/post/66606720948/eating-in-bordeaux

L'Entrepôte - Rue du Mirail

Known for having the best ribs in Bordeaux, it didn't disappoint.  I went there ages ago with some of the assistants. The owner of the restaurant starred in one of the Rambo movies and showed us a picture of him and Stallone. Pretty cool.

Funky Burger - Rue du Loup

Really cool burger restaurant. All the burgers are named after film lines, I had a Je suis ton père. Every Friday and Saturday they choose someone at random, pretend it's their birthday and they get to eat for free. Unfortunately they didn't choose me.

La Cassucia - Rue Saint-Rémi

So far none of the restaurants I've mentioned in this post have been French. Well this is a really nice Italian Georgie and I went to. I did have foie gras as a starter though!

Lou Grill - Rue Saint-Rémi

Really good traditional French menu - a classic combination of snails and steak and chips from a really good value for money set menu.

La Cheminée Royale - Rue Saint-Rémi

The last time my parents came to visit there was no room for us to eat here. We booked this time around and were greeted by really friendly waiters and a really interesting menu. I had a skewer of duck hearts which was so nice despite being quite strange concept.

Le Bistro Regent - Cours Georges Clémenceau 

I read an article in the newspaper Sud Ouest about how L’entrecôte felt Le Bistro Regent had stolen their idea. I therefore decided to try it out with my parents. It's not quite the same experience that you get with L’entrecôte but you get a lot more choice. Unlike at L’entrecôte you don't have to get steak and chips so instead I went for the magret de canard. 

Café du Port - Quai Deschamps

American Jim's mum treated us to a meal here. Really good food and a set menu which is completely different to any other restaurant I've been to in Bordeaux. The menu included having guinea fowl, which I ate for the first time.

La Brasserie Bordelaise - Rue Saint-Rémi

Jim's mum treated us for a second time and took us to Brasserie Bordelaise where I had the nicest margret de canard I've ever had (and trust me, I've had a lot of them as it's become my favourite French dish). The only problem was that they told us they'd ran out of oysters and then served the table next to us a dozen about an hour later!

Le Vieux Chaudron - Rue du Pas Saint-Georges

Went here for lunch with Kieran when he came to visit, mainly because they had the football on. Really reasonable lunch menu and cheap glasses of wine!

Vacher Burger - Cours Portal

Another hip burger restaurant, this one just round the corner from my flat. I had the Basque burger to at least try and be a little bit French!

[fromageandfrankfurters]

La Teste and Barèges

One tip for anyone who is visiting Bordeaux in the future. Try and make friends with a 37 year old doctor called Thomas because he will look after you and he will show you a good time.

Two weekends ago some assistants and I went to visit Thomas in La Teste-de-Buch where he lives. We spent the weekend eating some really good food and drinking some really good Belgian beers and English ales (not a single Kro in sight). 

On the Sunday we went to the beach to all try paddle boarding for the first time and then Thomas took us to La Dune du Pyla.

This weekend Thomas took Jim, Ryan and I to Barèges to go skiing. This was my first time skiing. Fortunately I managed to survive the weekend without any injuries but it's safe to say that I probably spent just as much time on the floor as I did skiing.

Ryan and I had some lessons fortunately. Our instructor got a bit frustrated with us at times but deep down she loved us.

We spent the Saturday afternoon skiing with Jim which ended up being very eventful. We ended up skiing to the other side of the mountain to a place called La Mongie. The problem was the ski lifts had closed by the time we got there.

Foolishly we didn't know the geography of the mountain at all. La Mongie (bottom left) is 2 hours by car from Barèges (bottom right), where we were staying.

After exploring a lot of options we ended up getting a snowmobile back to the top of the mountain to try and ski back to Barèges before it got dark.

That was easier said than done for someone who had never skied before when the route back was almost purely blues. After spending a lot of time trying to slide down the slopes on my bum, I was spotted by a piste maintenance man who took by back to Barèges, leaving the others to ski back.

It's safe to say my first time skiing will remain very memorable.

[fromageandfrankfurters]

Les Vacances d'hiver

The past two weeks have been the school holidays in France. Not wanting to waste what little time I have left here, I spent some time travelling around the country with Joe before being joined by James.

Marseille

First stop on my travels was Marseille. A city which doesn't have the best of reputations but one which I loved. Highlights included the views from Notre Dame de la Garde, the very cheap food that can be found throughout the city - kebabs, tagines and €1 pizza slices, and also a really fun jazz and blues club.

Aix-en-Provence

While in Marseille, Joe and I thought it would be good to see some more of the area and went on a day trip to Aix-en-Provence.

Aix is a Provençal town full of culture, particularly because Paul Cézanne is from here. We therefore had a pretty Cézanne filled day, which included having lunch at Terrain des Peintres, overlooking Mont Sainte Victoire. We also went to Musée Granet, which is better than any museum I've been to in Bordeaux.

Montpellier

Next stop was Montpellier where we met up with James. We went to Montpellier Zoo which according to Lonely Planet is the second biggest in France. It's also free which was great for 3 assistants wanting to travel around France as cheaply as possible!

I received some very strange looks from toddlers after climbing on this rhino.

Toulouse

The final destination on this trip and somewhere I've visited before on my Year Abroad. I preferred Toulouse a lot more this time around, probably due to the weather. We spent a lot of time walking around the city but also went to Jardin des Plantes, which was particularly nice.

Teaching has restarted again in Bordeaux. I now only have 42 days left in France. The Year Abroad is flying by.

[fromageandfrankfurters]

Allez les bleus

Last Sunday I went to the Stade de France to see France play against Italy in the Six Nations.

I went with Walshy, his brother Alex and both of our dads. My dad decided to bring berets to try and hide the fact we were English and therefore avoid any French people mentioning the score between the two teams the week before.

The first half of the game was pretty dull. Even a couple of journalists were joining in with the countless Mexican waves going on round the stadium. 

The second half was a lot better. France scored 3 tries and won the game 30-10.

[fromageandfrankfurters]

Barcelona

A couple of weekends ago I went to visit Barcelona. I flew with Ross to then meet Joe and Jenny who had driven there from Toulouse.

Here are my 5 highlights of the trip:

1. The flight there - it was a really clear journey so the views of the Pyrenees were amazing

2. I couldn't believe how cheap Barcelona was considering it's Spain's second most expensive city. We went to a tapas place the first night and got two dishes each to share and two beers which only came to €10 each! We also went to another place where it was 5 beers for €3!

3. The Hostel - We stayed at Urbany BCN Go which was really cheap and in a good location. The man on reception was really helpful and the 'social sec' of the hostel created probably one of the most difficult quizzes in the world. Questions included 'What is the capital of Spain?'

4. Park Güell - despite having to now pay for entry, it's hard not to admire Gaudi's work and the views of the city

5. The weather - the past few days it hasn't stopped raining in Bordeaux. On the day I left Barcelona it was 17 degrees. I know where I'd rather be right now.

[fromageandfrankfurters]

"The nicest smelling city I've been to" - Joe Silverman

One of the big advantages of being a Teaching Assistant is only working 12 hours a week. My timetable changed last week which means that I now have Wednesdays and Fridays off. To make the most of this I went to Toulouse and Barcelona last week. 

I went to Toulouse last week with Joe and Jenny to accompany her on part one of her road trip from Bordeaux to Malaga.

Toulouse is a really nice city, there are driveless metros! I definitely wouldn't feel safe if the trams were driverless in Bordeaux.

We also went to Capitole, the big square in Toulouse

We also spent the afternoon in the Jardin Japonais and cycling along the Canal du Midi

I'll do another posting in a couple of days to fill you in on Barcelona!

[fromageandfrankfurters]

Halfway Through

After spending the past two weeks at home I'm back in Bordeaux. My contract as a teaching assistant here finishes in April meaning that I'm about halfway through my time here.

I thought now would be a good time to reflect a bit about living in France and give you some likes and dislikes.

Likes

Bordeaux - One of the best things about living in France is that I'm lucky to be living in such a nice city

Red wine - After previously not being the biggest fan, living in Bordeaux has completely changed this. It's also extremely cheap (unlike most things in France).

The Tram - I use it everyday to get to work and it's really efficient. I think there's only been problems twice whereas when I was working in London over the summer, I'd be delayed about twice a month

School lunches - Significantly better than in England. You also get at least three courses which is a luxury. No Jamie Oliver equivalent has had an impact here too meaning I had burger and chips for lunch yesterday!

The British Council Teaching Assistantship - I'm really glad I chose to be a teaching assistant on my year abroad. It's been really good to have an insight into teaching. The fact my contract is 12 hours a week and getting school holidays off, I've been able to see a lot of the country.

Utopia - Really nice art house cinema in Bordeaux which only charges €4 for the first showing of the day, and there aren't 20 minutes of adverts before the film starts!

La Mie Câline - Cheap meal deal which includes a really nice chicken and mustard baguette and a can of raspberry Oasis 

Dislikes

€6 pints

Banking - My bank is closed on Monday, which is annoying. It closes for about an hour and a half at lunch, which is also annoying. You also can't pay money in and withdraw money from a cashier in the afternoon, which is even more annoying. I also have to pay €7 a quarter just to keep my account open.

Sundays - Everything is closed

Dog poo - French people don't tend to pick it up which has meant I've trodden in it about 4 times since moving here

Cooking Facilties - I don't have an oven and I only have two hobs

Supermarkets - A jar of a Patak's jar of curry is €4 in Carrefour compared to £1 in the UK.