Saturday, May 23, 2009

Every Expat an Ambassador

God and the U-Bahn

On my way into the city right after landing, I asked this guy if I had the right ticket for the subway.  He told me I did, then went on to ask me about God.  Who says Europeans aren't religious anymore?

Friday, May 22, 2009

Some Frankfurt Street Art

Found this ghost on my way from Nordend to Bornheim.

Code of the Streets

That's a piece of an Olde-E box underneath the shorts (click to enlarge).  There are also a few Welch's cans and A&W, Canada Dry, Chips Ahoy, Arizona Ice-T and Ben & Jerry's.  The name of the store is "Roots."  I'm not kidding.

Underneath the tank-top is an ad for the coffee that's on display in the lower right-hand corner.  It's named Gorrilla.  Again, not kidding.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

More Photos






Here are some more photos from my first day.

The First Day



The terminal buildings at Frankfurt airport feature huge signs in multiple languages saying, "Hesse - You can't go around it."  Hesse is the name of Frankfurt's state and while I understand that Frankfurt is a huge transportation hub on the continent and beyond it seems a bit belligerant for a regional motto.

My flat is in a neighborhood called Nordend - North End - just north of the old city center.  That old city center was bombed flat in World War II.  The current buildings are almost entirely post-war.  The olde tyme buildings in the photo above are post-war reconstructions, part of a city effort to rebuild a small portion of its old center.  The reconstructed area is pretty small and would never trick you into thinking it is anything but an ersatz Old Town but it does make the rest of the center's decidedly mid-century bent even more striking.

My neighborhood, on the other hand, is mostly older buildings on tree lined streets with a lot of little shops, cafes and bars.