"...concrete under your feet."

Hello everyone.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, Thursday was my day to visit Frankfurt. Despite somewhat of a late start getting out of my room, I was able to catch the trolley because one individual held the door open for me for several additional seconds as I ran. I should be sure to remember to do likewise.

After that, I made it to the Frankfurt with no difficulty, and when I exited the train station, I was impressed by the skyline (here). Since it was the first landmark I noticed, I first checked out the Commerzbank Tower (here). While it is probably hard to tell from the picture, the multistory indentations in the tower are actually filled with trees and other vegetation. I tried to see if I could get to the top floor for some awesome pictures, but I was denied access. So, I decided to check out the Main Tower (here) which is the second tallest building in Frankfurt behind the Commerzbank Tower. Typically, the top floor is open for viewing, but as the building was experiencing "technical difficulties" I was once again unable to reach the top. While I was a little disappointed, I wasn't really upset because there would be a lot more to see before I went home.

I next went to Römerberg, which is the old city center. The building with the flags in this picture is the Römer. It has been Frankfurt's city hall since 1405. Here is another picture of the same plaza. The main spire of the Dom can be seen in the distance. I walked through most of the old town and saw all of the major landmarks that were there. Here is a picture of the old town with the Alte Nikolaikirche to the right. There was also an Archäologischen Garten, which boasted Roman building foundations dating back over 2000 years. I was very upset when I found a bunch of kids filming parkour on the ruins (here), but they didn't seem to be damaging anything. I also checked out Paulskirche (St. Paul's Church, here), but it seemed to be more governmental than religious.

After eating a quick lunch just in time to escape the rain (here), I headed across the Main River to visit some museums. Here and here are a few pictures I took looking back at the downtown area. The first museum I attended was the Museum of World Cultures. While it was much smaller than I anticipated and only focused on a specific culture in Papua New Guinea along the Sepik River, it was still interesting, and while I was probably not supposed to take any pictures, I did manage to take a few including this one of some of the artifacts used by the tribe.

The Museum for Communication, which I attended next, was probably the highlight of my sightseeing in Frankfurt. It traced the evolution of communication from some of the earliest scratchings on stones (here), to writing in the Middle Ages (here), to Industrial Revolution postal infrastructure, to telephone (here), to television (here), to computers (here). There were a lot of interactive exhibits with lots of levers and things of that nature, so this "Button-Boy" was in heaven. There were also some funny exhibits like this.

After finishing at the Museum for Communication, it was nearing the end of the day, so I headed home pretty tired after two straight days of walking. But, my weekend was far from over as on Saturday I headed to Stuttgart, Germany with two other individuals whom I met through a mutual acquaintance. I had never met them prior to Saturday, but I can say that by the end of the day I felt comfortable telling them pretty much anything. Here is a picture of them on the train near the end of the day. Zhaoyi (on the right) was born in China but moved to Montreal when he was eleven. He is now trilingual (Mandarin, French, and English) and working on his bachelor's in electrical engineering. Chunjie (on the left) is also from China and is currently conducting post-doctoral research here in Darmstadt.

Once again, I have to emphasize how much I enjoy seeing the German countryside (here and here). It is really neat to see the landscape and communities along the railroad. In some cases the scenery is very familiar to home which is exciting, but in others it is completely different which is also exciting. Anyway, the first place we visited in Stuttgart was the Mercedes-Benz Museum (here and here). We had a lot of fun at the museum playing with statues (here), looking at the sweet cars (here), and checking out the fun exhibits (here and here). It was really neat to see the evolution of the automobile and some of the prototypes for things to come. The Mercedes-Benz Museum rocked. Afterward, apparently not having seen enough cars, we decided to check out the Porsche Museum which, while interesting, paled in coolness to the Mercedes-Benz Museum. Anyway, here is a picture of the outside of the complex and here is a picture of part of the main viewing room.

When we had finished with the museums, we headed to the very scenic Schlossgarten (here, here, here, and here). The weather was much nicer at this point in the day as compared to yesterday so there were a number of people out and about. On the opposite side of the Schloss, there was a plaza which was breathtaking. Here, here, here, and here are a few pictures. And, due to popular demand, here is a picture of me. Afterward, we walked through the old city and checked out the shops. Like I said, it was very busy. Here and here are a couple of pictures of a church we also checked out along the way. By this point, it was once again nearing the end of the day, so we started heading back. Here, here, and here are a few pictures I took of the countryside along the way. And to top off the day nicely, it just so happened that we sat next to a Professor of Theology from Marquette University (here) who was lecturing in Germany for a couple of weeks. We talked for about an hour, discussing really exciting things like the definition of the soul, what it means to be human, the political attitudes of Jesus, current events, his family, and my aspirations. Honestly, there is not much in life that pleases me more than constructive dialog, and I really cherish these sort of chance encounters. Eventually, we parted ways and we landed in Darmstadt. Perhaps you'll recognize this landmark?

Anyway, it was a really interesting, fulfilling, and tiring weekend. But, after Mass, running, some good food, laundry, and not much else today, I feel pretty recharged. I am not really sure what my plans for next week are. I may go on another day trip next weekend or perhaps I might try something a little bigger. Either way, the last weekend of June I will be going to Ireland with a few of my friends, and I can't wait. I am really thankful for all of my experiences and look forward to sharing them with you.