Annie - just saw your comment elsewhere -hope all is well and you have a great trip!

We are dragging the kids to Norway and Sweden this year - after another trip to London and Paris last year.

: )

Mainhattengirl - I just wanted to follow-up now that I am back :-)

Thanks very much for your help back in the spring. I stayed for two nights at the Hotel Am Berg - which was perfect for me. I took the Frankfurt on Foot walking tour on Saturday morning which was great. The weather was gorgeous for the walking tour, for the afternoon spent in a park with my 'stuff I picked up at the market' lunch and my book.
Saturday night was night of the museums, which was a perfect opportunity for me to feel comfortable wandering the streets at night - popping in the occasional museum (usually looking for a musical act - my favourite was a quartet doing german language versions of Van Morrison songs at the characature museum :-) ). Had a great wander along and across the river.

Sunday was gorgeous again, and so I sat in a cafe, read my book, people watched and had an iced coffee - trammed around a bit - then had a 'green sauce with eggs and potatoes' lunch at a cafe in the Romer before heading for my plane.

The weather definitely helped, but I had a really nice coda to my business trip :-)

Thaks for your help!

Glad to hear you enjoyed your stay in Frankfurt.

We did have perfect weather for the Night of the Museums. Everyone was having such a good time walking along the river and visiting all the museums. I got to go hear Anne Franks' cousin Buddy speak, which was a real treat for me. Then went in the underground vaults along the river, next to the Alte Brucke. That was pretty cool. Had fun watching the artists paint graffit over on the Historic museum while others tried their hand at jack-hammering chunks off to take home for a souvenir. There was so much more I wanted to see and do that night, but one just runs out of time. It is one of my favorite fests of the year, so am glad you liked it too.

<i>Mainhattengirl on Jun 8, 11 at 2:12pm
I got to go hear Anne Franks' cousin Buddy speak, which was a real treat for me.</i>

That is interesting. Most people do not know that the Frank family was German and had moved to Amsterdam in the 1930s to avoid the Nazis. They didn't have time or didn't want to move again when the German army invaded Holland in May 1940 and had the whole country in their grip in five days.

Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt on 12 June, 1929 and her sister Margot was born here in 1926. They left Frankfurt in 1933. There are 2 houses here in Frankfurt where they lived. The Frank family had been here since at least the 1500's, living in the Jewish Ghetto that existed here from 1462-1810.

So, it is almost her birthday and we can pause for a moment and remember her words and her lost life.

Anne Frank was one of tens of millions of passive innocents who suffered and died in WWII. Real heroes of the Netherlands' struggle against the Nazis were Corrie ten Boom and her family. Their home was a few blocks from where I lived in Haarlem in the 1970s. My landlord told me stories of how the underground saved Jews and Allied flyers who had ditched in Holland on their way back to England from raids over Germany. He and many others put themselves in harm's way to momentarily hold back the Gestapo. Corrie's book *The Hiding Place* is a gripper. It is far more meaningful than Anne Frank's book.

Cool - i am in almost exactly the same situation as Annie, with a couple of days to spend in the Frankfurt area after my work - only difference being the date/weather. I will be in the area next week, anything different i should expect or be prepared for, given the colder weather? Or any events going on this time of year?

I haven't yet made my final plans. I will be free Thursday evening. A friend told me to check out Heidelberg - maybe Thursday night? One day i would like to try the Rhine river attractions either by train or boat. Saw another thread on this.

Any suggestions welcome!

Thank you,
Vince

Here are some events going on in Frankfurt and the surrounding area for the next 2 weeks. I wasn't quite sure what dates you meant when you said next week. Weather lately has been fairly cold at night once the sun starts setting, but clear, beautiful days with no rain. Next week could be different of course.

* 21-23 Oct. & 28-30 Oct. - Young Wine (Federwiessen) Festival, Ruedesheim
* 22-23 Oct. - Fall Market, Frankfurt Burgerhaus Bornheim (benefits MS) Sat. 11-18:00, Sun. 10-18:00
* 22-23 Oct. . Edelstein Days (Semi-precious stones), Frankfurt Hoechst Jahrhunderthalle
* 29 Oct.- 1 Nov. - 691st St.Catherine's Market, Butzbach Old Town
* 29 Oct. - SATOURDAY, Frankfurt Museums (many museums are free this day)
* 29 Oct. - Flea Market on the Main, Frankfurt
* 29-30 Oct. - Kulinart, Frankfurt Bockenheim Depot
* 30 Oct. - Frankfurt City Marathon, Frankfurt (Don't drive into the city on this day)

Riding the train down the Rhine is easy. A Regional train leaves track 24 every hour at 08:53, 09:53, etc. and runs along the right side of the Rhine. Take a different train back along the other side from Koblenz. Buy yourself a Happy Weekend ticket on the weekends for 39 euro and use it all day for the Regional trains, getting on and off where you like. On weekdays get a one-way ticket to Mainz for 7.30 € and then a Rhineland Pfalz Laender ticket for 21 € and another one way ticket from Mainz to Frankfurt - total cost - 35.60 €

Mhgirl,

Thanks a lot for your detailed response. So helpful! I got back today from my short trip, so a quick update..

I rented a car and drove up to the Rhine valley. Stayed at the Krone Assmannshausen. Very nice hotel, maybe a bit overpriced as far as the rooms go, but definitely overpriced at the restaurant. Weather was very cold & foggy, so could not appreciate the beauty of the place (and had to skip the vineyard trip). Went to Rudesheim, including the famous Drosselgasse - nothing to write home about. On my way back stopped at the Rheinstein Castle and climbed up, interesting.

Thanks again, hope to have a more thorough visit another time, in better weather!

-vincem