The point where the French crossed over the Main
We are still around... sort of.
Last weekend we visited Frankfurt. I was attending a conference Monday - Wednesday, so my Man and I flew there on Friday evening so that we could have a weekend to check out Frankfurt. And if you are wondering about the title of my post, apparently that is where the name of Frankfurt am Main (the actual name of the city, since there is another Frankfurt in Germany near the Polish border, Frankfurt Oder). Fort is for crossing, Frank for the French, and the Main is the river. Now you know...
The days before we left, there was a train strike, again, in Germany. I am really getting fed up with the union workers. At some point at work, while we were having lunch, some of us were discussing the strikes. Most people did not seem to care because they either bike or drive to work, but I really am not interested in biking 18 km from home to my office, so I always suffer with the strikes. I still can make it it work, it just takes me 1 h instead of 30 min. Anyway. At some point somebody said it was democratic, which annoyed me. I mean, nobody asked me if I wanted to support the workers on a strike! Now that would have been democracy. Funnily enough, right after lunch I was reading the news on CNN and there it was: 57% of Germans support the striking workers. So... I guess there is democracy after all.
So we arrived in Frankfurt Airport and had to wait at least one hour to take a train to our hotel (yes, because of the strike). We got in really late and pretty much just went to sleep.
The next morning we got up early, went to the Hauptbahnhof (the main station) and started our walking around Frankfurt. We visited the Goethe House, the Kleinmarkthalle (an amazing produce market near the old center of Frankfurt), walked by the Römer (the City Hall) and marveled at the cute little buildings around the Römerberg - a plaza in front of the City Hall, where they were setting up a huge Christmas tree. We had a very yummy lunch at a Cafe near Liebfrauenkirche (I believe it is the Church of Our Lady). We also visited the Dom (the Cathedral, just like the Dom here in Berlin), then went by the Modern Art Museum. That was weird. I normally do not care much for modern art, but we had gotten a museum ticket that would let us in most of the museums in Frankfurt, and since we were close by, and they would close in the next 40 minutes or so, we figured that would be enough. They did have a very interesting photo exhibit by Taryn Simon, but other than that, it was just random weird "artistic" stuff. One exhibit was a bunch of potato chips on the floor. Right, because that is art. Just as much as that exhibit I saw once at the Contemporary Art Museum in Chicago, with 2 wheelbarrows, one with popcorn and one with Christmas ornaments.
Setting up the Christmas tree in front of the Römer
When we left that museum it was already dark, so we walked by the river, took some nice night pictures, and then headed south to the area by Schweizerplatz / Sachsenhäuser to find dinner. While having lunch, 2 guys sat next to us and started talking to us in Spanish (one of them was Peruvian) and they had recommended that we check out that area. We tried, but it was getting really cold, and we were tired from walking around all day, so we turned back, and started walking back to our hotel. We stopped along the way by a Turkish place to get some grape leaves... then called it a day.
The next morning we checked out of our hotel and went by the hotel where I was going to stay for the conference. Then we went to see some old and pretty furniture at the Applied Art Museum. We ventured again near Schweizerplatz and found a very cute Indian restaurant, then went by the Cultures of the World Museum, where they had a very interesting exhibit about a tribe in New Guinea, where people mainly live from palms, and a flour that they can get from the stems. It was really cool. Then we walked quickly to see the Städel Museum, an art gallery, where we saw some paintings quickly. I really enjoyed the Frankfurter Hauptbahnhof by Max Beckmann. At this point we had barely enough time for my Man to get his bags and go to the airport, so we did that and I just stayed waiting for my lesbian lover to arrive and be ready for the conference the next morning.
The morning went by super quickly. We had to go by the conference place early to put our posters up, then we had to run around to find breakfast. I thought it was weird that even though we were in a hotel / business district, we had a very hard time finding a place to eat that did not belong to a hotel (we ended up eating at a hotel). The conference was interesting. It really was not about my research topic, so I was there to learn and meet people (that hopefully can help me get a job if my other proposal does not work). I met a girl from Uruguay (who got her Ph.D. near Dresden and works now in Austria). It was funny, she kept complaining that people did not really come up and talk to her, so then she would not really meet people. I do not have that problem. Not that I want to be meeting people all the time, but when I'm interested in meeting somebody, I really do not have a problem with going up to them and introducing myself. I did that a couple of times with people that were there from American consulting firms. I was sort of on a quest to get business cards / contacts!
That night we went to the center of Frankfurt to have dinner with the Uruguayan girl and a German friend of hers that lives in Frankfurt. We chose a Mexican (Spanish, Tex-Mex, Argentinian, you know... it is all the same) where my LL and I could find something to eat. It was good. My LL and I went back to the hotel after dinner and called it a day.
The next day was good too. Conference stuff was ok. After the conference we ventured to Römerberg so that my LL could see it, and we walked around some by the old center of Frankfurt. Then we had to go see Schweizerplatz, since it is close to my LL's heart. While we were there, we decided to have dinner at the same Indian place my Man and I had had dinner 2 days before. When we got back to the hotel we got our stuff ready to check out the next morning, as the conference was ending at noon.
Eiserner Steg over the river Main and Sachsenhäuser on the other side
That morning was kind of boring and long, I guess everybody was just getting ready to leave. We had heard that there was a possibility of another strike (since the workers did not get anything special offered to them after the previous' week strike), but thankfully there was not. We had lunch at an Australian place where I had a delicious veggie burger (really veggie, you could see the chunks of broccoli and peas in it!) and then went by the hotel to get our bags, and headed to the airport, where, after some waiting (and reading), we got on a plane to get back to Berlin.
On Thanksgiving day (Thursday), I took the afternoon off so that I could have lunch with my LL. We discovered a really cool vegan place near our house, that I am sure we will be going to often. Then we went to the airport to pick up her boyfriend. By the time we got back home, it was pretty much time for me to go meet my Man at our German class, so I sent my friends to see the Museumsinsel and check out the Ishtar gate at the Pergamon Museum. When we got back home it was already kind of late, so we did not do anything special other than talk for a while. Friday they had scheduled a bike tour, so I came home early and was able to go to the gym. I missed it, since I was lazy when packing for our trip and did not take my running stuff with me. Running again felt good. Then we met them for African dinner at Massai. That never disappoints.
Yesterday we went to Potsdam, had lunch at our usual Turkish spot, then went to the Sanssouci Park and visited the Neues Palais. When we got out from the tour, it was already kind of late, so we walked through the park back to the main street of Potsdam, found a place to have tea, then got to the station to get back to Berlin. We had planned to do our belated Thanksgiving dinner that day, but our plans had to be changed at the last minute, since we were not able to find squash in the supermarkets near our house. We ended up having apple and nut stuffing that my Man wanted, and my LL made a really good dish with sweet potatoes and curry. Then she made squash and sweet potato pie. After dinner, and while waiting for the pies to cook, we played Siedler von Catan. I think Brian liked it.
Getting some garlic, onions, and celery ready for the stuffing
This morning everything went by kind of quick. I woke up with an unhappy belly, probably from all the eating in the past days, so I was not feeling very touristy. My LL and Brian had tickets to go see the Fernsehturm, so they went out, went by the Reichstag, then the tower, and got back just in time to get on a train and make it to the airport (sort of). And that was pretty much it. We did manage to make it to the gym and then made a yummy dinner with some Quorn products Brian brought from the UK (they also sell them in the US). They are meat-free and not made from soy, but a fungus instead, so they are high on protein and fiber. They were delicious. My Man said that if he could have that often, he would not eat meat ever again. It is a shame they do not sell them here in Germany.
Click here to see the Frankfurt pictures, here to see the Potsdam pictures, and here to see pictures from our outings with my LL and Brian. You can also click here and here to see videos from Frankfurt and here to see a video of our Thanksgiving dinner in the making.
Oh well. But yes, that has been my life in the last weeks. The next 2 and a half weeks will be totally insane. I have 3 papers to finish, some modeling to do, and a report to review... At least all that will take my mind off from worrying about the other proposal. Keep your fingers crossed.
Last weekend we visited Frankfurt. I was attending a conference Monday - Wednesday, so my Man and I flew there on Friday evening so that we could have a weekend to check out Frankfurt. And if you are wondering about the title of my post, apparently that is where the name of Frankfurt am Main (the actual name of the city, since there is another Frankfurt in Germany near the Polish border, Frankfurt Oder). Fort is for crossing, Frank for the French, and the Main is the river. Now you know...
The days before we left, there was a train strike, again, in Germany. I am really getting fed up with the union workers. At some point at work, while we were having lunch, some of us were discussing the strikes. Most people did not seem to care because they either bike or drive to work, but I really am not interested in biking 18 km from home to my office, so I always suffer with the strikes. I still can make it it work, it just takes me 1 h instead of 30 min. Anyway. At some point somebody said it was democratic, which annoyed me. I mean, nobody asked me if I wanted to support the workers on a strike! Now that would have been democracy. Funnily enough, right after lunch I was reading the news on CNN and there it was: 57% of Germans support the striking workers. So... I guess there is democracy after all.
So we arrived in Frankfurt Airport and had to wait at least one hour to take a train to our hotel (yes, because of the strike). We got in really late and pretty much just went to sleep.
The next morning we got up early, went to the Hauptbahnhof (the main station) and started our walking around Frankfurt. We visited the Goethe House, the Kleinmarkthalle (an amazing produce market near the old center of Frankfurt), walked by the Römer (the City Hall) and marveled at the cute little buildings around the Römerberg - a plaza in front of the City Hall, where they were setting up a huge Christmas tree. We had a very yummy lunch at a Cafe near Liebfrauenkirche (I believe it is the Church of Our Lady). We also visited the Dom (the Cathedral, just like the Dom here in Berlin), then went by the Modern Art Museum. That was weird. I normally do not care much for modern art, but we had gotten a museum ticket that would let us in most of the museums in Frankfurt, and since we were close by, and they would close in the next 40 minutes or so, we figured that would be enough. They did have a very interesting photo exhibit by Taryn Simon, but other than that, it was just random weird "artistic" stuff. One exhibit was a bunch of potato chips on the floor. Right, because that is art. Just as much as that exhibit I saw once at the Contemporary Art Museum in Chicago, with 2 wheelbarrows, one with popcorn and one with Christmas ornaments.
Setting up the Christmas tree in front of the RömerWhen we left that museum it was already dark, so we walked by the river, took some nice night pictures, and then headed south to the area by Schweizerplatz / Sachsenhäuser to find dinner. While having lunch, 2 guys sat next to us and started talking to us in Spanish (one of them was Peruvian) and they had recommended that we check out that area. We tried, but it was getting really cold, and we were tired from walking around all day, so we turned back, and started walking back to our hotel. We stopped along the way by a Turkish place to get some grape leaves... then called it a day.
The next morning we checked out of our hotel and went by the hotel where I was going to stay for the conference. Then we went to see some old and pretty furniture at the Applied Art Museum. We ventured again near Schweizerplatz and found a very cute Indian restaurant, then went by the Cultures of the World Museum, where they had a very interesting exhibit about a tribe in New Guinea, where people mainly live from palms, and a flour that they can get from the stems. It was really cool. Then we walked quickly to see the Städel Museum, an art gallery, where we saw some paintings quickly. I really enjoyed the Frankfurter Hauptbahnhof by Max Beckmann. At this point we had barely enough time for my Man to get his bags and go to the airport, so we did that and I just stayed waiting for my lesbian lover to arrive and be ready for the conference the next morning.
The morning went by super quickly. We had to go by the conference place early to put our posters up, then we had to run around to find breakfast. I thought it was weird that even though we were in a hotel / business district, we had a very hard time finding a place to eat that did not belong to a hotel (we ended up eating at a hotel). The conference was interesting. It really was not about my research topic, so I was there to learn and meet people (that hopefully can help me get a job if my other proposal does not work). I met a girl from Uruguay (who got her Ph.D. near Dresden and works now in Austria). It was funny, she kept complaining that people did not really come up and talk to her, so then she would not really meet people. I do not have that problem. Not that I want to be meeting people all the time, but when I'm interested in meeting somebody, I really do not have a problem with going up to them and introducing myself. I did that a couple of times with people that were there from American consulting firms. I was sort of on a quest to get business cards / contacts!
That night we went to the center of Frankfurt to have dinner with the Uruguayan girl and a German friend of hers that lives in Frankfurt. We chose a Mexican (Spanish, Tex-Mex, Argentinian, you know... it is all the same) where my LL and I could find something to eat. It was good. My LL and I went back to the hotel after dinner and called it a day.
The next day was good too. Conference stuff was ok. After the conference we ventured to Römerberg so that my LL could see it, and we walked around some by the old center of Frankfurt. Then we had to go see Schweizerplatz, since it is close to my LL's heart. While we were there, we decided to have dinner at the same Indian place my Man and I had had dinner 2 days before. When we got back to the hotel we got our stuff ready to check out the next morning, as the conference was ending at noon.
Eiserner Steg over the river Main and Sachsenhäuser on the other sideThat morning was kind of boring and long, I guess everybody was just getting ready to leave. We had heard that there was a possibility of another strike (since the workers did not get anything special offered to them after the previous' week strike), but thankfully there was not. We had lunch at an Australian place where I had a delicious veggie burger (really veggie, you could see the chunks of broccoli and peas in it!) and then went by the hotel to get our bags, and headed to the airport, where, after some waiting (and reading), we got on a plane to get back to Berlin.
On Thanksgiving day (Thursday), I took the afternoon off so that I could have lunch with my LL. We discovered a really cool vegan place near our house, that I am sure we will be going to often. Then we went to the airport to pick up her boyfriend. By the time we got back home, it was pretty much time for me to go meet my Man at our German class, so I sent my friends to see the Museumsinsel and check out the Ishtar gate at the Pergamon Museum. When we got back home it was already kind of late, so we did not do anything special other than talk for a while. Friday they had scheduled a bike tour, so I came home early and was able to go to the gym. I missed it, since I was lazy when packing for our trip and did not take my running stuff with me. Running again felt good. Then we met them for African dinner at Massai. That never disappoints.
Yesterday we went to Potsdam, had lunch at our usual Turkish spot, then went to the Sanssouci Park and visited the Neues Palais. When we got out from the tour, it was already kind of late, so we walked through the park back to the main street of Potsdam, found a place to have tea, then got to the station to get back to Berlin. We had planned to do our belated Thanksgiving dinner that day, but our plans had to be changed at the last minute, since we were not able to find squash in the supermarkets near our house. We ended up having apple and nut stuffing that my Man wanted, and my LL made a really good dish with sweet potatoes and curry. Then she made squash and sweet potato pie. After dinner, and while waiting for the pies to cook, we played Siedler von Catan. I think Brian liked it.
Getting some garlic, onions, and celery ready for the stuffingThis morning everything went by kind of quick. I woke up with an unhappy belly, probably from all the eating in the past days, so I was not feeling very touristy. My LL and Brian had tickets to go see the Fernsehturm, so they went out, went by the Reichstag, then the tower, and got back just in time to get on a train and make it to the airport (sort of). And that was pretty much it. We did manage to make it to the gym and then made a yummy dinner with some Quorn products Brian brought from the UK (they also sell them in the US). They are meat-free and not made from soy, but a fungus instead, so they are high on protein and fiber. They were delicious. My Man said that if he could have that often, he would not eat meat ever again. It is a shame they do not sell them here in Germany.
Click here to see the Frankfurt pictures, here to see the Potsdam pictures, and here to see pictures from our outings with my LL and Brian. You can also click here and here to see videos from Frankfurt and here to see a video of our Thanksgiving dinner in the making.
Oh well. But yes, that has been my life in the last weeks. The next 2 and a half weeks will be totally insane. I have 3 papers to finish, some modeling to do, and a report to review... At least all that will take my mind off from worrying about the other proposal. Keep your fingers crossed.
posted by Super Babe at 1:04 PM
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