From Heaven to Hell?

Leaving pristine Dubrovnik Airport to arrive at brooding and dark Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) felt like swapping paradise for an uncertain hell.

Our flight from Dubrovnik was delayed by 50 minutes so we only reached Frankfurt airport at 10pm, Frankfurt station at 11pm. From the station, we huddled under our raincoats then quickly pushed our luggage on bumpy pavements under a cold drizzle to get to the hotel.

Day 13 (8/6) – Weinheim I Heidelberg

Frankfurt (and Germany) felt exceedingly expensive after Croatia.

We bought the Hesse group ticket €38 and the Baden-Württemberg group ticket €39 for flexible, unlimited travel options from Frankfurt to Heidelberg. Figuring out which tickets to procure was a huge challenge (cost us hours of research online). We had to figure out which of these 3 transport associations (NVV, RMV, VRN) cover the cities that we wanted to visit plus all operated websites independently of one another.

To reach Heidelberg, we took a train to the Weinheim (Bergstr.) Station (R60) then transferred to a tram ie the Alter OEG-Bahnhof (RNV 5); we arrived at the Heidelberg Bismarckplatz 2 hours later. From the tram stop, we could just walk into the street that led to the Heidelberg castle.

It was crowded that day; we didn’t count on it being a public holiday and having to deal with crowds and long queues.

We bought our tickets to the castle (€9/pax) not realising that it only provided for the funicular ride up the hill but not down. And we couldn’t purchase a separate (down) ticket at the summit – that’s the German way (very law-by-law).

Having no choice, we hiked down the steep stone steps to the castle grounds (1 hour) then spent another hour exploring the Heidelberg castle grounds.

Lunch was at the Trattoria Toscana which we found quite pricey and food was average. The dessert we had at Puro Gelato was better. We took the tram back at 5:40pm reaching Frankfurt at 7:30pm.

Steps:19,941
Food: Trattoria Toscana, Puro Gelato Eiscafe

Day 14 (9/6) – Bacharach I Bigen I Mainz

We bought a day group ticket (€48) via the RMV mobile app which allowed us unlimited train stops along the Rhine valley route until Bacharach. Unfortunately, the RE2 which we were on disengaged from the main train at Mainz; temporary chaos ensued until we transferred to the RE28. 2 hours later, we finally arrived at Bacharach.

Bacharach is a quaint medieval town located along the banks of the Rhine River in the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany. Nestled amidst lush vineyards and rolling hills, it is known for its pretty half-timbered houses and beautiful private flower gardens.

We soaked in the sunshine at the riverbanks then walked up to Burg Stahleck, a 12-century castle-turned-hostel. After we came down, we crossed the road to the Postentrum, an observatory tower where you can get a excellent view of the town.

Lunch comprised of big servings of schnitzels at Der Krümel. The schnitzels were excellently done, just that they were a tad too salty for our palates.

We then took the train to Bingen am Rhein to see the Burg Klopp (Klopp Castle) since it was on the way back. Last stop was Mainz, to maximise our tickets’ worth.

Dinner was burgers at Der Fette Bulle, a short walk from Frankfurt Main Station. The burgers were unexpectedly quite delish. We tried the Der Fette Bulle and Crispy Chicken and both were good.

After dinner, we hurried back to our hotel because the area outside Frankfurt Central Station was a junkies haven – strewn with rubbish, many homeless lying around and people shaking to music while breathing in narcotics-infused air.

Steps: 20,826
Food: Der Krümel, Der Fette Bulle

Day 15 (10/6) – Frankfurt I Singapore

We were glad to be heading home.

Truthfully, we were disappointed by Frankfurt. We didn’t expect to see

• garbage strewn all over the entrances of main train stations;
• filthy trains with rubbish stacked on tray tables, footprints on seats, wine stains;
• drug addicts, drunks lying carefreely on pavements;
• weird-looking people drifting in and out of trains armed with plastic bags of cheap alcohol;
• trains and planes that were almost always late.

Predictably, our flight back to Singapore was also delayed by 1 hour. We wished we had transited at another city or dedicated all our time to Croatia and Montenegro.

Steps: 6,150

Visited 8-10 June 2023