Entschuldigen sie, Sprechen sie Englisch?

Our first day honeymooning has been a very long one. After navigating our way through the Flughafen (airport) to the Regional Bahnhof (train station) we managed to embarrass ourselves trying to buy tickets to the Hauptbahnhof (Central station). Of course everything was in Deutsch (German) and although the main station is known as Hauptbahnhof, has a massive sign on the front saying Hauptbahnhof and is listed on the map as Hauptbahnhof, the ticket machine had no listing for that! After we had been fretting about this for some time a man offered to help us and suggested we simply buy tickets for Frankfurt am Mein. We finally got on the train which took us through beautiful woodlands, past tiny little houses that almost looked like models, and into the city. Did we have the right tickets? Who knows. This clean, efficient city has no ticket gates and only a small fine threat for those without tickets. It basically works on an honour system. There is virtually no graffiti or public drunkenness despite the fact that beer is sold in every general store for a couple of dollars a litre next to all the soft drinks and you can sit and drink it anywhere. Bicycles nearly outnumber cars, the tram system goes everywhere, and bikes are left in random locations around the city with a phone number attached so that you can call, rent the bike for a number of hours, get the combination to unchain the wheel and then put it back when you are done. None of these bikes were the least bit damaged or stripped either. I had been told the Germans were polite. Frankfurt is downright civilized! We could definitely take some tips from them back home! Electric cars sit charging at the station, the air is clear, and despite the fact that you can pretty much light up a cigarette anywhere we never stepped into smoke – if you walk past people are very careful to move their cigarette away and blow away from any other people. Our room is at the Ibis Centrum – obviously a cheap and cheerful choice, but well located, very clean and newly renovated. We even got a room with a view of the beautiful Mein River! Determined not to allow jetlag to set in we explored the city for several hours. We probably walked for five hours in all, resulting in blistered feet but a lot of sight seeing and a good feel for the city. Lunch was a shared selection of white sausages, sauerkraut, mash, schnitzel and an interesting salad with German cream cheeses and meats. They were absolutely delicious and so were the beers we enjoyed with them! It was pretty amazing – we ate at a traditional Bavarian café directly opposite the Dom Cathedral. Our thanks go to Raini and Tom for this special meal which was a wedding gift to us. The Dom is magnificent, with the largest organ we have ever seen and incredible intricate wood carvings, statues and stained glass windows. The ceilings are incredibly tall and the walls are red stone. We also went to the Romer, the old town square which looks so unreal it is almost like a movie set. We had intended to check out some museums but were just so content exploring the city together and taking in the atmosphere that we decided to leave the museums for less perfect, beautiful, sunshiny days. Other sights were the nightlife area – all fantastic old fashioned pubs on a network of cobblestoned streets and alleyways; the traditional bakeries which we experienced through taste as well as sight; various fountains and statues; and many shops, old churches and beautiful buildings along the way. Our highlight of all these sights however, was walking across the bridge over the River Mein. The sun was shining, rowboats passed beneath us, an old man was playing an accordion, we were holding hands and it felt like our holiday had truly begun.