Carry cash when you head off for Frankfurt By Robert Prendergast (Filed: 31/01/2006)
Frankfurt-am-main had often been a business destination of mine so when I moved there in 1997 I felt quite confident.
Like many other middle-aged IT executives in the 1990s, I had been 'downsized'. I went back to basics and retrained myself as a programmer in the latest IT technology and, trading on my past experience of airline reservation systems, obtained a contract with Lufthansa.
Initially, Frankfurters seem to fit the German stereotype of 'towels on recliners by the pool' but that belies the many kindnesses that were shown to me, almost from the first day that I was there.
I now have many friends in Frankfurt and feel at home with them, even though they sometimes fall about in laughter at my terrible German. Never say the Germans have no sense of humour.
The taxi drivers are familiar with all the usual destinations and their mispronunciations in many languages. As the taxi eases up to 200kph the driver hums Anatolian folk tunes while the 'Taxi Meister' control system beeps continuously like an old satellite. Meanwhile, you are thankful that Mercedes have a great reputation for safety.
Frankfurt prides itself as an international business and banking centre. English is commonplace but have your euros ready.
One of the first differences you will find is how few restaurants and stores accept credit cards. One colleague told me, the attitude in Germany is: "If you can't afford to pay for something, you shouldn't be buying it".
This still catches me out, such as when we were in a local store and went to the check-out with a collection of electrical appliances, proffering our credit cards. "Sorry, cash or Eurocheque only". I have to admit, though, to a perverse pleasure in leaving the goods at the check-out.
On another occasion I had taken a group of 16 customers to a well- known restaurant and when I gave them my credit card to pay the bill, received a polite "Nein, danke, only cash". Ever tried doing business with people from whom you have had to borrow money?
On my first weekend there after moving I happened upon what is known as a 'fest' - a traditional summer street celebration.
Frankfurt has a lot of streets and in summer, they have a lot of 'fests'. The tradition involves enjoying the local food and beverages
-but thankfully beer and bratwurst are also available.
There is some traditional folk music; not Anatolian this time but renditions of Chuck Berry, Status Quo and Dire Straits - yes, even I came to believe that they are all natives of Frankfurt after a beer or two washed down with an apple wine, or Ebbelwoi as it is known locally.
'Ebbelwoi' is the sound you make when you have had a few apple wines and try to say "Another Apfelwein please." It makes the Munich Weissbier seem like a children's drink. There is even a tourist tram service, the Ebbelwoi Express, where apple wine is served onboard and which is popular with Asian visitors. I wonder how it will cope with the soccer fans during the World Cup?
That night I got the tram back home. Unfortunately I had gone out on my bike and the tram didn't go anywhere near my home. Ebbelwoi!
JFK had everyone confused when he said "Ich bin ein Berliner" - a Berliner is a type of doughnut.
If he had said "Ich bin ein Frankfurter" everybody would have understood a) exactly where he was and b) that he had been sampling some of the old Ebbelwoi.
If he had, he would probably have done so in one of the traditional apple wine houses, or Kneipen, in the old Sachsenhausen district of Frankfurt. These are wonderful institutions where you can sit at a table with a lot of people you don't know and get insulted by the waiter. But that's a tradition and it binds you with the locals, whom he probably insults even more.
If you don't like the frankfurters you can try green sauce, (Grune Sauce), another fine old Frankfurt tradition made of fresh herbs and cream. It was Goethe's favourite dish.
Strangely, among Germans, Frankfurt is one of the least popular German cities. Maybe they consider it too international.
It has a population of about 600,000 in a good mix of areas, from suburban to central city living. Accommodation is relatively inexpensive and city centre living is possible for just about anyone.
The excellent, integrated public transport system of modern, clean buses, trams and underground trains means that you needn't own a car and if, like me, you are a cyclist, getting around the city on dedicated cycle routes is easy. At the weekends there are many cycle ways to sample through the forest and by the rivers with places to stop for refreshment, such as the rowing clubs on the outskirts of the city.
Like most things in Germany, quality is a component in everything, from caf=E9 food to the rail system. The good thing is, it doesn't always cost more.
The difficult thing is the paperwork and formalities surrounding living in Germany, and almost anywhere else on the continent.
The Germans are proud of all their Amts - government departments, for dealing with everything from residence to traffic and rent organisation. This is a frustration for those coming from English-speaking countries but patience and help from a German local can help ease your way through the minefield.
The need to carry your papers at all times, including the equivalent of an ID card, is also strange for English speakers.
My German wife still tells me off for forgetting these and once, when we were stopped at a police control, she was in dread of what would happen to me. After a brief exchange with me and then in better German with my wife, they said, "He's British isn't he?" She confirmed this and they shook their heads resignedly, saying "Ah, they are all the same."
We have now moved again and live over the border in Luxembourg. But we are often back in Frankfurt, which is possibly my favourite European city.
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