Stadtbücherei und Kleinmarkthalle ... and more

After an early lunch I headed into Frankfurt today to meet up with a friend. I had an enjoyable afternoon wandering around with her and running some errands. The first stop was the Stadtbücherei to get a library card. For €12 I know have a year membership at the library. They have a large English section in the basement and movie collection on the main floor. It is so nice to have books to read now!

After the library we walked through an outdoor market which was a flea market and a medieval market/festival in one. This explained the odd costumes I had seem earlier on the Zeil. It wasn't a very big market, but there was a stage set up with some performers. There were also many stands, some made to look like they were medieval. One was selling wine and elixirs. Just make sure you end up with the one you went to buy! 

A medieval street performance

Then we walked through the Kleinmarkthalle. This is something I had not known about until we tried to go last weekend after it had closed. It was like going home to Granville Island. It is a covered market with all kinds of stalls set up. We looked at various foods, from meat and cheese to speciality vegetarian foods. There were also flower stalls and sweets stalls. Many looked like they were small owned businesses. There was also an upper half floor with restaurants. While the stalls were amazing to browse through, the building was rather disappointing. It was very unremarkable to the point of almost being ugly! Would have fit in in North America more than in Europe. 

The almost hidden entrance

Finally I ran some more errands. We headed over to the Römer because I had been told the information office had bike maps of the city. Indeed they did, but the map has an insert right over where I live! So, while it will be great for biking in the city and many surrounding areas, I still need to find if I can get one for closer to home. On the up side, while in the info centre we saw some advertisements for the Museumsuferfest which is next weekend. For €4 I bought a button which will get me into all the museums next weekend. Yes, €4 for ALL the city museums (oh, and there are a ton of them). And all the museums are open until 1am :) Our plan is to leave school early (we are both done at 2:15 on Fridays since we work late doing Hort earlier in the week) on Friday and head straight downtown. 

Entrance button for the Museumsuferfest

We stopped after in a little courtyard my friend had been shown by another teacher at school. It was behind the Katharinenkirche. It is also called something like the quiet corner, because you can't hear the street noise. Especially when the organ starts to play! It was a nice place to sit and have a quick snack. 

Votive candles at the Katharinenkirche

I also looked into getting a discount card for the German trains, but need to get some passport like photos of myself first. Then I can book some tickets to go to Brussels hopefully! Last stop before heading home was a cheap grocery store to buy a few things to get me through tomorrow, when all the stores will be closed (I'm having to get used to this everything closed on Sundays). 

Tomorrow I have very few plans. More relaxing and reading before back to school on Monday. If the weather doesn't rain on me I will take out my bike. Maybe even ride to somewhere on my new map! 

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Update from the week:

I had a great week at school. Busy and tiring (especially with the heat and humidity!), but getting more into the routines. My class is going to take a while to get into the routines I think, but they are fun. I just get a bit tired of them not listening. 

On Tuesday a group of teachers met up for volleyball and a barbecue. I had hort until 6, so just joined for the barbecue. We wheeled one of the cafeteria tables outside and sat around chatting and playing some football (soccer). The barbecue was a bit of a production, but they finally got it lit and working. They had bought some garlic bread which was delicious!!! I think I ate almost half of it... We are meeting up again next Wednesday for another barbecue, can't wait!

Then on Thursday some teachers got together again. The same group (ie. all the Canadians and Americans) plus some more met up at the Applewine festival. Applewine is a Hessen speciality. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos, but there were many stalls set up and a stage. The stalls were selling all kinds of applewine and food, mostly barbecued meat. I had applewine with strawberries in it. You get it in a glass (which you pay a €1 deposit for) and a huge skewer to eat the strawberries. The evening was so much fun, one of the many reasons I am so happy I came here!