Europe Backpackers on budget :D

Finally reached Frankfurt after 7 hrs. To go to the city centre/hauptbahnhof, we took an airport shuttle to terminal one. Both terminals are separated by other many other misc buildings. The weather was super niceeee at 16 deg cel!!!

Bahn tickets have to be bought at ticket machines. No english so gonna get someone to help for the first time. Here are some tips:
1. Enter the station number e.g. Hbf is 50.
2. Select the type of ticket e.g. Einzelfahrt= single person, single trip. The rest are day trip or group ticket options.
3. Pay the price indicated. Small change needed so change from the bank or some geldatm counters.
4. Check the train schedule table at the platform for the train to take.
 

Our first mistake surfaced when we boarded the bahn... We alighted at the first stop named Frankfurt am main Stadion. The station is super small and the surroundings look like a countryside. The bahn closed its doors and sped off, leaving us stranded at the weird place. At that time, we noticed an off-duty policeman smiling at us - obviously knew that we had alighted at the wrong stop. We approached him and he told us to wait for the next train and alight at hbf. The next train took a long time to arrive and it was getting colder. Es ist kalt!

Finally got to hbf which isn't very far from the station we were stranded at. The hbf is big and cool^.^ Free city maps can be grabbed at the information counter. There are many small stalls selling crossiants, brezels.... etc and best of all - a sandwich shop selling bratwurst! The famous frankfurter in bread! LOVES <3

Our hostel is just walking distance from the hbf and located in the middle of the erotic district. Sex shops, peep shows.... Actually the red light district is safe except that it can get really noisy - we
can hear people shouting and ambulance sirens from our 4th storey room. Five elements hostel is really a must stay with affordable private twin rooms and free laptop rentals which is restricted to using them
at the reception/cafeteria area. Although free wifi is provided, we were unable to connect to it in any way with our ipods. :( the rooms and toilets are very clean - like a mini 3-star budget hotel!

In fact, we discovered that it is possible to stay free at the hostel. There are couches at the games and luggage storage area at the basement. So you can lock your luggage in one of the luggage cages for free and sleep on the couch for free! Remember to bring your own big lock otherwise you'll have to rent.
 
The next morning we proceeded to check out but to our shock, we were charged 2 euros for not using the bed sheets provided - deemed as unhygenic. Mistake #2: didn't read the terms and conditions carefully.

Then, we made our way to the Alte Oper - theatre square. It is walkable from the hostel. Nothing special here.

Then we moved on to the Römer. It was a long walk from the alte oper or maybe it was due to the fact that we couldnt find our way there :S anyway the Römer is opposite the river which houses a beautiful park with sakura look alike trees and a pretty bridge. After much effort, we finally found the romer/city hall area. IT IS REALLY very beautiful and the streets are piled with shophouses. We also met a couple holding their wedding at the romer square.

We bought some pastries - apfelkuchen, apfelpasteren and a pizza look alike for lunch. They were rather yummy(: After lunch we continue to stroll along the streets and realised that there was a wien festival going on. There were much more fantasic food than our pastries. We got ourselves apple wine from POSSMANN which was supposedly some famous brand in frankfurt. It comes in small or big glasses and it is VERY cold which made us shiver instead of keeping us warm. -.- 

 

We had about 3 hrs left before we have to catch the bus to Brussels. Decided to move on to the FREE geldmuseum which is in the outskirts. However, when we reach dornbusch station where the museum is supposed to be near, we were unable to find the museum. According to a pharmacist that we approached, the museum is a 1km walk from the station. In view of the lack of time, we decided to forgo and go back to the hbf. 

THUMBS UP for Römer and apple wine! And remember to bag some RITTER SPORT chocolates back!