Guten tag!

Thanks to a combination of an unbelievably low airfare and a practically free Hilton January special I spent the last weekend of January in Mainz, Germany on the banks of the Rhine River. This opportunity is a direct result of the current financial crisis. January is always a low travel time but this year hotels and planes are barren and they’re desperate to fill them at any cost.

The trip was part mileage run, part mattress run but more a fun weekend adventure. I arrived in Frankfurt and was on a Mainz bound train by 11am. The Deutsch Bahn (Germany Railroad) is easy to negotiate even jetlagged and seriously lacking language skills. The E3.80 ticket

Mainz sits on the banks of the Rhine River and is a center of the German wine trade. It’s been a wine growing region since Roman times.. The Haus des Deutschen Weines (House of the German Wine). There are also several wineries in the old town. I thought the Gutenberg Museum was amazing. It sits across from the cathedral and gives you more information than you thoguht possible about the “father” of the printing press
The highlight of my Mainz weekend was a 14 mile Sunday walk along the Rhine. Undeterred by freezing temperatures and snow flurries I shared the path with bicyclists and walkers young and old. Finding the appropriate bus to take me back was a little tricky but part of the adventure.

I took advantage of the same airfare a month later when John & I connected to Vienna, Austria through Frankfurt. Our layover during our return travel allowed just enough time to stash our bags at the Admirals Club and take a train to downtown Frankfurt. This was John’s first visit to actual Germany and he reveled in explore a smidgeon of his German heritage. Frankfurt was decimated during WWII and has been rebuilt as a financial capital but lacks many the historic buildings of other European destinations. Some say it lacks the charm and culture of Berlin or Munich but I definitely recommend a visit. We ducked under awnings to keep dry as we walked to the Opern- und Schauspielhaus Frankfurt (someday we’ll see the inside of this opera house!) and then to Goethe Museum & House. This museum and home the German man of letters was intriguing and well worth the E5 admission. We quickly headed to the St. Bartholomew Cathedral before hopping our train back to FRA for our Chicago bound flight. Not a bad three hour introduction!