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What to do in Frankfurt for one night?
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Eug
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Sep 16, 2010, 08:16 PM
 
I'm going to Kassel for a few days for work, and then will be overnighting it in Frankfurt for one night (Sheraton). (I'll arrive back in Frankfurt late afternoon and my flight leaves the next morning.) What to do? Head to Römerberg and just hang out? I speak no German whatsoever, BTW.

And to head off the usual answers:

1) No massages with extra, or blow answers please.
2) I'm not gonna get drunk either. I hate to fly with a hangover.
3) "Eat a Frankfurter" is not a funny response.
4) I'm not gonna post on MacNN. Well, maybe I will.

Calling cards for North America, I can get them anywhere, right?

P.S. How does tipping work for restaurants? TripAdvisor says 5-10% rounded up to the nearest round number. Do they really not like credit cards for food? I've taken out a few hundred Euros cash just in case for now.
     
Eug  (op)
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Sep 16, 2010, 08:34 PM
 
Also, will I need a 2-prong round plug adapter for my MacBook? Or do most hotels have those combo plugs?

(My AC adapter is 240 V compatible.)
     
olePigeon
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Sep 16, 2010, 08:52 PM
 
Eat a hamburger.
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finboy
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Sep 16, 2010, 09:11 PM
 
Originally Posted by olePigeon View Post
Eat a hamburger.
Don't know what to do in Frankfurt, but got the recipe for Bangkok.
     
Eug  (op)
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Sep 16, 2010, 10:24 PM
 
Originally Posted by olePigeon View Post
Eat a hamburger.
I knew that was coming…
     
amazing
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Sep 17, 2010, 02:16 AM
 
Are you sure you wouldn't rather overnight in Hamburg? Then you could have a Bratwurst! (by any other name?)

Calling United States from Germany international phone cards

the tricky part is the details: some cards charge a $1/month "maintenance fee", as well as a "connection fee."

some of these cards even have an iPhone app:

http://www.callingcards.com/shopping/rate_table1.asp
     
Eug  (op)
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Sep 17, 2010, 02:25 AM
 
Originally Posted by amazing View Post
Are you sure you wouldn't rather overnight in Hamburg? Then you could have a Bratwurst! (by any other name?)
Ouch.

Just to be clear... my flight is out of Frankfurt, and my hotel is at the airport.

Calling United States from Germany international phone cards

the tricky part is the details: some cards charge a $1/month "maintenance fee", as well as a "connection fee."

some of these cards even have an iPhone app:

http://www.callingcards.com/shopping/rate_table1.asp
I'm thinking of using Skype. Apparently my hotel in Kassel has WiFi. Hopefully it works well.

http://forums.macnn.com/110/iphone-a...s/#post4007375
     
amazing
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Sep 17, 2010, 02:35 AM
 
Just be sure the hotel doesn't charge a wifi fee (although your business should pay for that...?)

Skype is probably the best solution, but it does need wifi access, which is tough to find when you're having a Jason Bourne moment...

You've investigated how to sandbox the iPhone so you don't get $2000 data fees, right?

Or do you have an unlocked Canadian iPhone? If so, does Germany have any telcos that offer prepaid iPhone microsims?
     
amazing
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Sep 17, 2010, 02:37 AM
 
Have always had a car in Germany--never done the trains. But it does sound easy enough:
Frankfurt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Airports

The city is accessed from around the world via the Frankfurt Airport (Flughafen Frankfurt am Main) which is located 12 km (7 mi) from the city centre. The airport has three runways and serves 265 non-stop destinations. It ranks among the world's top ten airports and is the biggest cargo airport in Europe. The airport also serves as a hub for Air India, Condor and as the main hub for German flag carrier Lufthansa. Depending on whether total passengers or flights are used, it ranks as the second or third busiest in Europe alongside London Heathrow Airport and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Passenger traffic at Frankfurt Airport in 2009 was 50.9 million. The airport can be reached by car or bus and has two train stations, one for regional and one for long-distance traffic. The S-Bahn lines S8 and S9 (direction "Frankfurt (Main) Hbf", "Offenbach Ost or "Hanau"), departing at the regional traffic station take 10–15 minutes from the airport to the Central Station and the city centre, the IC and ICE trains departing at the long-distance traffic station take as well 10–15 minutes.
     
Phileas
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Sep 17, 2010, 07:20 AM
 
Frankfurt has a nice old town. Worth taking a stroll there, grab a beer and a bite. The rest is pretty nondescript, the way financial centers often are. Having said that, it's been over 20 years that I've been there.
     
Eug  (op)
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Sep 17, 2010, 08:14 AM
 
Originally Posted by amazing View Post
Just be sure the hotel doesn't charge a wifi fee (although your business should pay for that...?)

Skype is probably the best solution, but it does need wifi access, which is tough to find when you're having a Jason Bourne moment...

You've investigated how to sandbox the iPhone so you don't get $2000 data fees, right?

Or do you have an unlocked Canadian iPhone? If so, does Germany have any telcos that offer prepaid iPhone microsims?
My iPhone is not unlocked. However, there is a setting to turn off data roaming in the network preferences. I always keep it off.
     
Doc HM
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Sep 17, 2010, 09:27 AM
 
Do what I did last time I had to overnight in Frankfurt. Spend the night on a chair in the airport departure lounge. Really it's about the best you can hope for. Frankfurt is a hateful city.
This space for Hire! Reasonable rates. Reach an audience of literally dozens!
     
Spheric Harlot
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Sep 17, 2010, 09:45 AM
 
Originally Posted by Doc HM View Post
Do what I did last time I had to overnight in Frankfurt. Spend the night on a chair in the airport departure lounge. Really it's about the best you can hope for. Frankfurt is a hateful city.
Ah, so it hasn't changed since the last time I visited.
     
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Sep 17, 2010, 10:25 AM
 
Panhandle for a few hours, see what you can collect.
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Phileas
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Sep 17, 2010, 10:27 AM
 
From what I know about Frankfurt, probably a smack in the face and a night in a cell.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Sep 17, 2010, 10:33 AM
 
Really?

Have they started cleaning up?

I swear, I've never seen so many junkies trying to bum 15 DM "for a train ticket home" as in Frankfurt main station. That was years ago, though, and to be fair, Hamburg main station was in bad shape as well fifteen years ago, until they started blaring classical music at the junkies.
     
amazing
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Sep 17, 2010, 12:46 PM
 
Same could be said of many another city center 15 years ago...of course further back, we could mention how the entire city center was bombed out during the war, and how it's better to spend the night at the airport rather than plow thru the rubble.

Anybody been there recently?
     
thibaulthalpern
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Sep 17, 2010, 02:16 PM
 
Originally Posted by Phileas View Post
Frankfurt has a nice old town. Worth taking a stroll there, grab a beer and a bite. The rest is pretty nondescript, the way financial centers often are. Having said that, it's been over 20 years that I've been there.
I would agree with Phileas.

I stayed on Sophienstrasse Frankfurt University (more properly known as Goethe University Frankfurt). You're a bit far from the city centre. I was lucky that a German professor picked me up at the airport and sent me to my hotel. City centre is nice to walk around. Knowing German is not necessary. Folks I encountered in Frankfurt were happy to speak what they could in English.
     
thibaulthalpern
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Sep 17, 2010, 02:17 PM
 
Originally Posted by amazing View Post
Same could be said of many another city center 15 years ago...of course further back, we could mention how the entire city center was bombed out during the war, and how it's better to spend the night at the airport rather than plow thru the rubble.

Anybody been there recently?
It's exactly why today Frankfurt is not all that exciting. It was bombed out in the war. But having said that, the city centre is still a nice stroll around if your'e the kind of person who likes poking their head here and there (as I do).
     
Spheric Harlot
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Sep 17, 2010, 02:20 PM
 
Originally Posted by thibaulthalpern View Post
It's exactly why today Frankfurt is not all that exciting. It was bombed out in the war.
ALL major German cities were more or less completely bombed out in the war.

Many of them are teeming with life and actually fun to live in - just not Frankfurt.
     
olePigeon
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Sep 17, 2010, 02:25 PM
 
I hear Germany has plumbing and everything.
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Spheric Harlot
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Sep 17, 2010, 02:46 PM
 
Yah we import our fast food and beer though.
     
amazing
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Sep 17, 2010, 05:53 PM
 
But I did hear that Frankfurt gave the Roman Legions a bad time.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Sep 17, 2010, 06:07 PM
 
Yeah, but what have the Romans ever done for us?
     
imitchellg5
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Sep 17, 2010, 06:41 PM
 
They made some viaducts. And flushing toilets.
     
turtle777
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Sep 17, 2010, 07:22 PM
 
Meh, Frankfurt ?

Sorry to hear.

Get a STD, that's probably the most fun you can have.

-t
     
amazing
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Sep 18, 2010, 12:07 AM
 
Just heard this evening: my daughter has to frequently switch planes in Frankfurt. She says there's an old-fashioned German restaurant in the main portion of the main terminal, just on the left as you come out of the int'l concourses. Good beers, good food...
     
Doc HM
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Sep 18, 2010, 12:03 PM
 
Originally Posted by amazing View Post
Just heard this evening: my daughter has to frequently switch planes in Frankfurt. She says there's an old-fashioned German restaurant in the main portion of the main terminal, just on the left as you come out of the int'l concourses. Good beers, good food...
WIN.

Food and drink without having to experience all the Frankfurt has to offer.
This space for Hire! Reasonable rates. Reach an audience of literally dozens!
     
nonhuman
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Sep 18, 2010, 04:07 PM
 
I was in the exact same position about two years ago. Ended up hitting a Korean restaurant/bar and then watching football with the staff.
     
Eug  (op)
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Sep 19, 2010, 06:19 AM
 
The driver that took us from Frankfurt to Kassel was going probably around 160 kmh on the highway, but a couple of Porsches zoomed past us, as did a couple of higher end Audis etc. Very well maintained highway though, so 160 kmh felt smooth as silk in our Opel station wagon.

Now I need to find a proper power adapter. The hotel-provided ones are the right size, but don't work with the outlets in the hotel, because they're all recessed. Too bad the entire town is closed on Sunday.

Oh and internet access is 12€ a day. Ouch! Fortunately, this $2.99 / month Skype works well for long distance to Canada over WiFi from my iPhone 3G. It did crash the app on my 3G though mid-call - had to call back. The app navigation is sluggish too - I suspect it really wants an iPhone 4 for a snappy® Skype experience.

EDIT:

Sweet. Found a dumb plug converter in the hotel's converter bin. Luckily Apple's power adapters work fine with 240V. With some PC computer adapters, this would be a recipe for a nice little bonfire in the room.
( Last edited by Eug; Sep 19, 2010 at 06:51 AM. )
     
Phileas
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Sep 19, 2010, 09:47 AM
 
Really? I haven't seen a single voltage power brick in a decade. Much cheaper to manufacture one device for all markets.
     
Eug  (op)
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Sep 19, 2010, 10:20 AM
 
Well, single voltage power for portable devices definitely still does exist. I just returned a Remington shaver I bought last month because it only had single voltage support. I would have thought a shaver is just about the last thing you'd want with just single voltage support, since it's small, portable, and a necessity when you travel. There was no mention of the lack of multi voltage support on the packaging, so someone not paying attention could have had a disaster on his hands on a trip overseas.

However, I can't truthfully say I've seen a single voltage power adapter for new laptops recently, as I haven't bought a PC laptop either for myself or work in many, many years. I do know however, that some of the older laptops my friends had were single voltage only.
     
turtle777
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Sep 19, 2010, 05:48 PM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
Oh and internet access is 12€ a day. Ouch!
Unfortunately, that's the reality in Germany. They nickel and dime you on that, it's really annoying.

I'm going to Germany on business about 10 times a year. I don't think I have yet been in a hotel that offered free internet.

-t
     
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Sep 19, 2010, 11:33 PM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
1) No massages with extra, or blow answers please.
2) I'm not gonna get drunk either. I hate to fly with a hangover.
You might as well stay home.
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Eug  (op)
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Sep 23, 2010, 09:16 PM
 
OK. So, I had a Frankfurter in Frankfurt, and drank some beer. Oh, and I climbed to top of the tallest church in Romerberg. Dunno, but probably 15 stories up.

P.S. Weirdly enough, even though in Canada the Mercedes-Benz TV commercial has the house maid speaking in German "Herr Daimler…" with English subtitles...



...in Germany on CNN, it's dubbed into English. "Mr. Daimler…". It looks really stupid in English.
     
   
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