June 26, 2023

Frankfurt is known as the “Mainhattan” of Europe—“main” because the Main River flows through the city. A financial powerhouse with soaring skyscrapers as well as traditional Old Town architecture, Frankfurt is a city full of energy and culture.

It is the home to one of the world’s largest stock exchanges and the gleaming headquarters of the European Central Bank. Also famously hosts some of the world’s most important trade fairs, attracting thousands of business travellers.

Much of Frankfurt was destroyed during WWII. They reconstructed many of the old town to resemble what the original architecture was like, but you will now see quite a mixture of “old” and new.

We had a brand new local guide today, in fact this was the first tour she had lead. She was personable, friendly and trying, but became flustered several times when unable to answer our questions. Luckily we had a patient, encouraging and understanding group that realized that we all have to start somewhere.

I overheard Piet, our tour manager, discussing with another passenger the challenges the travel industry is having right now in obtaining local guides as well as local drivers. So many experienced guides left the shut-down industry during Covid and never returned. Sadly, this turnover has effected the quality of some aspects of what we had experienced and grown to expect in the past.

Our final stop on our walking tour was at a local market (Kleinmarkthalle). It is always interesting to me to see how food and produce is displayed.

Before we left home, I had read that Frankfurt was known for a “Green Sauce” and I was curious to try it. As luck would have it, the annual Green Sauce Festival was happening only a few blocks from where our tour ended.

The Festival runs for a couple weeks and is used as a fund raiser to help support local charities. A different one is selected each day. We happened to be there on the Gay Pride Day.

The sauce is made up from a combination of seven different herbs. We also tried the local apple wine. I think Brenda enjoyed the sauce and Steve the apple wine (beer), but I’m not sure either would be ordered again. Still, we were pleased that we got to try local specialties.

A charming entertainer was on stage singing, while playing both the guitar and harmonica. He spoke to the crowd in German, but sang in English with a bit of an Irish/Scottish lilt.

On our walk back to the ship we passed large groups of geese. Our guide earlier had told us that there are both Egyptian Geese and Canadian Geese that pass through.

Dinner once again was enjoyable. A new friend we met on board, Christy, joined us. We often laugh about how small the world is. She lives in West Hills, California, which is the same city that Tim and I lived in until we sold our home in 2013 so we could travel. I find it fascinating that we lived only a mile or so apart, ate at the same local restaurant and now end up meeting half-way around the world in France.

And the final highlight of our day (and the entire cruise) was the evening entertainment. Marta Kovalova is a refuge from Ukraine and a concert violinist. Her playing had the audience captured. Several of us (me included) were wiping an occasional tear away. At the end of her performance, she got a very long standing ovation

Here is a short clip of her playing, just to give you a tiny taste. She played several styles of music and took us on a journey around the world .

And if you are still looking for things to see and do in Frankfurt, here is a list of the top 25 suggestions that was put together by “The Crazy Tourist”

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GRATITUDE MOMENT: Another great day on the books! I especially enjoyed wandering around a little on our own, doing a bit of shopping at Jack Wolfskin where Brenda and I found jackets that we decided we could not live without 😇. Attending the Green Festival for about an hour – eating/drinking a bit of the local cuisine, listening to local music and supporting a local cause was another hit. But the true highlight of the day was listening to our concert violinist. What a moving way to top off our day. ❤️