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Frankfurt's busy international airport is conveniently located 10 minutes from the city centre. I though came to Frankfurt via Frankfurt-Hahn airport. At 1 hour and 45 minutes bus ride from Frankfurt, tacking Frankfurt to the front of Hahn airport is stretching the friendship just a bit. It is a Ryanair hub, which is how I got there.

If time is of the essence, then flying here may not be for you, as the bus to Frankurt is only every hour, making it up to 3 hours from when you land to getting into the city.

The bus is also €12 each way, another factor to consider when weighing up the real cost of your ticket. Still, I had time at my leisure, so the £1.98 return fare plus £22.98 in various taxes and charges was well worthwhile.

Ryanair have become the biggest airline in Europe. Their success has been to offer consistently low fares all over Europe on a no frills basis. To offer such ridiculously low fares, such as the one I flew on, no frills really means no frills. Last year, an a measure to cut costs even further, new seats were installed that do not recline or have the back pocket.

This was to reduce rubbish being left in the plane, and thus turn around times shortened. The safety information card is now stuck on the back of each seat on plastic yellow head rests, so any last vestage of fantasizing about being a jetset playboy is completely obliterated by the glary primary yellow cabin.

Labels: airlines, frankfurt, frankfurt-hahn-airport, germany, ryanair

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For many visitors to Europe, Frankfurt-am-Main is the first port of call as its airport is a major travel hub. Frankfurt is also a major rail hub with one of the largest train stations in Europe.

Frankfurts Hauptbahnhof is one of the best things in Frankfurt. Saying a train station is the best place in town is usually an insult, but it is truly a sight to see - a cathedral of travel.

If you are travelling on a Eurailpass Frankfurt makes a good base for a few days as you can travel easily to and from other cities.

I had low expectations of Frankfurt, mainly because it is always promoted as being the business capital of Europe and a modern city with skyscrapers. Being a city of industry, it was high up on the R.A.F's to do list, and done it was - 80% of the old city was destroyed in 1944.

Part of the Altstadt (Old Town) was rebuilt. This area includes the Römerberg with its picturesque square and Dom (Cathedral). The Dom was the coronation site for Holy Roman Emperors from 1562 to 1792. The Doms 15th century gothic tower survived bombing, though most of the building is new.



The Main river flows through the city (hence the name Frankfurt-am-Main) and there are miles of tree lined paths along the river that make for a scenic riverside.

Labels: frankfurt, germany

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
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I attended Wimbledon on the opening day and the atmosphere was incredible. London's weather forgot the usual formula of Wimbledon=Rain and continued its heat wave that started on the weekend before.

Seeing the players up close and observing such details as the texture of the grass and the goings on around the court make it an experience you don't get on TV.

Wimbledon is renown for its queues so I didn't hold much prospect of getting in. Upon arrival at midday the queue stretched for as far as the eye could see, making it a blockbuster in the literal sense.

The British are world beaters when it comes to forming a queue, and at Wimbledon they have the art mastered. When joining the end of the line you receive a numbered ticket, a collectors item in itself, to keep your place in-line.



Houses along the way turn their front yards into food stalls and flagstands. One man was selling Womble's, which as a consequence meant that I was singing the Womble's of Wimbledon theme song in my head all day. Wimbledon would be a great place to live, but this reason alone would put me off living here.

The queue moved quickly and I was at the gate in 45 minutes, and I got a daily ground pass. For centre and court one tickets, only 500 tickets are available to the public each day, so the queue for for those tickets start the day before.



A daily ground pass ticket gains you access to Court 2 (Standing) and courts 3 to 19. If you go early in the first week this will give you the chance to see some seeded players in the outer courts.


(Evie Dominikovic from Australia)

Of course no visit to Wimbledon can be complete without having strawberries and cream.

Labels: england, food, london, sport, wimbledon

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
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Labels: amusing-photos, england, london, public-toilet

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I lived in Dublin for a year and more than one person remarked what an odd place to live for someone who doesn't drink. I'm the only Australian I know of who spent a year in Ireland without the black goop passing my lips.

I did frequent the pubs in Dublin for the craic, but to write notes and read books and newspapers you can't beat going to a cafe. There is a good collection of independent cafes in Dublin and in my time there Starbucks had not landed in Ireland. One of Dublin's oldest established cafes is Bewleys. Their flagship store in Grafton street is a classic link to a bygone era with its stain glass windows and cafeteria style dining.

This store is now threatened with closure and in this Starbuckafied world the closure of Bewleys would be a great loss to Dublin.

Labels: bewleys, cafe, dublin, ireland

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I'm going to London tomorrow, or as I like to call it - Home. I always love going back.

When I was living in London I lost count of the amount of times I heard the hoary old chestnut about the wealthy American businessman who bought London Bridge thinking that he had bought Tower Bridge. This is an urban myth.

The bridge can now be found in Lake Havasu, Arizona.

It makes me happy to think that there is a part of London in the Arizona desert. So to paraphrase the poet Rupert Brooke:

"...there’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever England."

Labels: arizona, lake havasu, london bridge, rupert brooke

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Amsterdam comes to Melbourne

Dutch Masters from the Rijksmuseum - Amsterdam, is a collection of 17th century Dutch art, on display in Melbourne while the Rijksmuseum is being renovated. Quite impressive that this collection will be here.



St. Kilda Street Art

Meanwhile in my home neighbourhood of St. Kilda I have been seeing this most amusing street art/political protest installation. Little flags pinned onto dog turds on the nature strip.



The man on the right is Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Labels: art, australia, melbourne, street-art

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Labels: bangkok, monk, thailand

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Do not spit, Bangkok - Thailand.

Labels: bangkok, sign, spit, thailand

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Sawasdee Ronald McDonald. Bangkok, Thailand.

Labels: bangkok, ronald mcdonald, sawasdee, thailand

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The swastika was associated with Buddhism long before it was misappropriated by Nazi Germany.

Swastikas can be found all over Vietnam on Pagodas (temples) and on Buddha himself.

Labels: religious art, swastika, vietnam

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