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.