New Year in Frankfurt

On 30.12.07 from Alghero airport at 9.20 with the Ryanair flight company we depart for Frankfurt Am Main. As usual the flight is on time and as soon as we arrive at Hahn airport we head to Hertz to pick up the car booked (and already paid for) long ago. We're assigned a Ford Focus C-max equipped, as requested, with a satellite navigator. The car is brand new (only 10 KM); we're the first to drive it... We program the navigator with destination HOTEL VICTORIA ( And we enjoy the landscape along the road (about 120 km) — little villages made up of houses with steep black roofs and churches with Gothic-style bell towers catch our attention... Soon the landscape gives way to the outskirts of Frankfurt; we recognize the Radisson hotel by its particular shape and we soon reach our destination..

The hotel (booked from the highly reliable website ) is small but nice; the triple room is very large with three wide windows overlooking the intersection between Elbestrasse and Kaiserstrasse. After setting down our luggage and grabbing our umbrellas (because you never know), we go to discover the city... We were expecting a noticeably lower temperature; in fact the cold we feared so much isn't that extreme... we stop for a sandwich at one of the many fast food places; the sandwich is super spicy but hunger wins out!! We head toward the ZEIL, the great avenue at the center of commercial Frankfurt surrounded by skyscrapers and full of shops and shopping centers; too bad it's Sunday and everything is closed except for a few little souvenir shops.

After consulting the city map taken from the hotel, we decide to go visit the historic center; along the way — which is quite short by the way — passing through Fahrgasse street and then we spot the RISTORANTE SARDEGNA ( We feel at home... a photo is a must... and we note down the address!!!!! We arrive at the RÖMERBERG, a characteristic and beautiful little square in the historic center with the town hall (RÖMER). We take a few photos and visit the KAISERDOM; not far from the square you can see the remains of an ancient Roman bath; on the other side we see the long river and the various bridges that cross it. It's only 4.00 pm and it's already getting dark.

We decide, still along the Zeil, to go up to the top floor of a shopping center, complete with a multiplex cinema, where at a bar with a panoramic terrace we order a hot chocolate, a choice that turns out a bit disappointing, since the chocolate isn't what we expected but is just hot water with a bit of cocoa powder for the modest sum of €2.60!!!! We return to the hotel to get the car and take a drive on the other side of the river, to get an idea of what the rest of the city offers. There are many houses and buildings with large apartments; the city is orderly, clean... for dinner we decide to pay a little visit to the Ristorante Sardegna.

True, it would be better to enjoy the typical dishes, but on the other hand we see that in all the menus written in German, which is incomprehensible to us, it's the Italians who rule with pizza, carpaccio, Parma ham, fiorentina, spaghetti, mozzarella, lasagna, etc... After dinner the cold has become more intense and, now tired, we return to the hotel; we park 2 blocks away where parking is free (almost everywhere in the city parking costs €2 an hour). The doorman, very kindly, gives us some useful information in English for the next day: on the 31st, the last day of the year, the shops will close at 14.00 and at night there will be fireworks toward the RÖMERBERG on the nearby bridge.

On 31/12/07 we get up early, have breakfast and go out for a little walk; we go poke around the central station, and take a few photos with the skyscrapers in the background — the contrast between the ancient and the modern is astonishing!!! The salt spreader truck has already been at work for a while when at 9.30 the shops open; we're already ready on the Zeil to browse. Nothing strikes us in any particularly special way, even though there are lots of shops; a stop at Kaufhof (a big shopping center) is a must. Soon 14.00 comes and all the shops close, so all that's left is to go to lunch. Not finding any typical places open, MAREDO attracts us — typical Spanish cuisine.

Excellent lunch!! After lunch another walk among the skyscrapers, but the temperature dropping (3°C) forces us into a bar for a coffee (an espresso that isn't an espresso but a long coffee) or a chocolate (which is again hot water with cocoa). One thing leads to another and time passes, and before going to dinner we go up the MAINTOWER, a 200-meter-high skyscraper, where from the platform on the 55th floor you enjoy a spectacular panoramic view of Frankfurt. Then we go back to the hotel for a refresh (or rather a warm-up!!!) and to bundle up a bit more to face the freezing cold of the night. Already from 10.00 pm the first firecracker shots can be heard, bidding farewell to the old year. It amazes me to see a rocket whizzing past our room's window; it seemed a tad too big... oh well... We go out at 10.45 pm and the bangs become more and more frequent.

We head toward the RÖMERBERG, but on approaching the square we see real firing positions from which some people launch actual fireworks — it looks like a theater of war!!! All of this fills us with a certain astonishment because we were expecting organized fireworks, but as we slowly move forward through the crowd, with rockets whizzing over our heads, we realize that there the tradition is for everyone to set off "their own fireworks." Trying to reach the bridge, we notice still more boys, men and women with a bundle of mega-rockets fixed to a wooden stick ready to be launched. We stop close to a wall, and as midnight approaches the explosions become more and more frequent. The pyrotechnic display is beautiful, but I won't deny that I was a little scared; the crowd was growing on the bridge, where everyone was crowding in without forgetting to fire off their own rockets.

It felt like being in Iraq; all around there was smoke and a very strong smell of sulfur while people kept walking toward the river with rockets in hand... we weren't the only ones who were surprised and also a little frightened... Some even had a bottle of sparkling wine to toast with, but there was no countdown and no shouts of good wishes, only firecrackers, rockets and beautiful fireworks. At midnight we wish each other well; we wait a bit and after that, around 12.45 am, we decide to leave. The last stragglers keep firing off the last of their ammunition; we cross the square warily and wonder why all this is allowed without the slightest police presence, but no matter... The night is still long; before going to sleep HAPPY 2008!!!

On 01/01/2008 obviously we wake up a little later and after a good breakfast we go for a walk along the river, also visiting the Sachsenhausen district. Everywhere there are the "remains" of the past night; teams of street cleaners are cleaning the streets of the billions of firecrackers and rockets fired. The sight isn't the best, but we're sure that soon everything will be neat and clean. On this first day of 2008 the temperature has dropped even more; our hands, despite our gloves, are freezing, so we decide to have a boiling hot tea in a characteristic bar in the RÖMERBERG where we're asked whether we want green, white or black tea (!!!),... a simple lemon tea, no, huh? One of us opts for the white tea but careful: the white tea turns out to be a relaxing "chamomile"... One thing leads to another and it's lunchtime.

There aren't many places open, so we return to the so-called "Fressgass" where we find another "MAREDO" restaurant, very welcoming. In the early afternoon we leave Frankfurt to make a quick trip to WIESBADEN, about 30 km away; the navigator leads us near the historic center, which is nothing short of spectacular. We take a quick tour, also because all the shops are closed; we can only snap a few photos to enjoy the beautiful Gothic-style facades of the buildings and cross the splendid square. We get back in the car and head to MAINZ (MAGONZA), another beautiful little town on the other side of the river Main compared to Wiesbaden, also with a lovely historic center and a beautiful cathedral and castle. Even though it's only about 5 pm, it's gotten dark and it's time to head toward HAHN, where we've booked a room in a hotel near the airport since our flight leaves at 7.10 am on 02/01/08.

During the trip we see the temperature drop further — 2°C!!! Our trusty navigator takes us right in front of the Hotel Alexander ( ); the little hotel is nice and brand new, family-run. A very friendly gentleman welcomes us and shows us the room, nice, clean and spacious with all the comforts. We set down our luggage and go out to have dinner in a restaurant not far away, where we quickly eat a pizza, then back to the hotel for a shower and to prepare the suitcases; tomorrow the alarm is set for 5.30.

02/01/08 all that's left is to return the car as per the instructions received and board to return to our warm island of Sardinia.

We bring with us the memory of a New Year's Eve different from the usual, truly crackling!!!!!!

Bianca