So I flew to Rome. Taking a train would have cost just as much and the thought of sitting in one spot for 12 hours made me slightly sick. I discovered while on my way back to Wuerzburg after the Munich trip that Nuremburg really didn’t have that much to see – at most, it’s an afternoon experience. I assumed the same for Frankfurt, so I left Wuerzburg a few hours early, got off of the train at the Frankfurt Hauptbahnof, saw what I wanted and got back on a train to the Airport (which is worthy of a long-distance train station, because just as many people filter through this airport daily than most medium-sized city train stations.)
A few people have jocularly called “Frankfurt on the Main” (the real name) “Mainhattan” because it has quite a spiffy collection of high-rise office buildings one would expect to find in Manhattan. Yeah, it’s great fun. I laughed a little the first time I read it. 
Since the decentralization of German power (namely the breaking-up of Berlin), Frankfurt became the money center of Germany. Such a title was only strengthened when the EU plopped its central bank in Frankfurt.
Frankfurt has a population of about 650,000 people, about the size of Austin, but every day 2,000,000 (yes, two million) people fill the city’s offices. So this means that the city has a workforce more than three times the city’s population. Talk about a commuter nightmare. The buildings are tall, the people you see on the street wear business suits with fancy shoes and a tie. What many consider the most powerful bank on the European Continent resides here, along with many of the large banks from inside Germany (and even foreign banks that want a foothold in the Frankfurt market and stock exchange, also the largest on the European Continent.) The city looks and smells like money.
I got bored of architectural-tourism (especially since I’ve traversed through Frankfurt numerous times on my way to elsewhere), so I made my way to the airport. OMFG. It’s huge. Last time I flew (which was to Krakow), I flew out of Nuremburg, a relatively small airport. The trip consisted of a regional train, a quick transfer to the subway, and a quick arrival. The Frankfurt Airport IS a city in itself. I arrived and the big hall was abuzz with activity, mostly people trying to figure out how to check in (read the signs, dumb people. They’re in 4 languages.) Check-in was easy because I had no checked baggage (thank God, because otherwise I would have had to stand in line for an ungodly amount of time.) Security was a breeze (because the airport was actually well equipped for the amount of passengers that pass through – something the Austin airport could learn.) I put my belt back on and looked around a bit. A sign caught my eye. “Walking time to gates.” I thought “oh, this is just because the Germans always stress being on time and love schedules.” No. It was because it actually takes a significant amount of time and there is a good chance you need to know, otherwise you will think you are lost. I was at gate 38. It gave me an estimated time of 15 minutes. And it took that long. It seemed like the terminal was just a long hallway that stretched on forever. I found my gate and sat, apparently far away from civilization (all of the little restaurants fizzled out around gate 20). I sit and look out the window as huge Airbus planes drive past, all nonchalant.
Anyway, so the Airplane was late, or “verspaetet,” which is just a nice way of the german language making an act that irks Adam sound like some passive act – the plane had no other choice than to be late; the gods have spoken.
The airplane ride was surprisingly nice. I flew with Lufthansa; the seats were actually comfortable, I had legroom, and not only did I receive TWO servings of apple juice, but I ALSO got a sandwich AND a chocolate granola bar! Take that, American Airlines. Lufthansa didn’t even have to charge us for a suitcase.
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