First Birds in Frankfurt: Birding, Beer, and the Main River
Some trips take years to imagine before they happen. This was one of them. For my 40th birthday we made the leap and booked a trip to Europe that had been on the list for longer than I want to admit, a journey that would take us from Frankfurt to Berlin, along the North Coast of Germany, and down to Munich (for Oktoberfest!). Over the next few posts I'll share the birds, the places, the food, and the moments that made this trip everything we hoped it would be. It was worth every year of waiting and even came with a new wedding ring!
The flight from LAX to Frankfurt was a long one, and the first thing I wanted after landing was a nice quiet place to stay for the night. The Paulaner am Main delivered exactly the right mix - a hotel sitting near on the Main River in the heart of old Frankfurt, close enough to the water that the first birds of the trip were visible before we had fully unpacked, and a delicious restaurant just downstairs with delicious Paulaner beer!
Portikus and Alte Brücke
The walk along the Main riverfront that first afternoon, taking in the old Frankfurt scene and the medieval Alte Brücke (bridge), was a great way to start off this German adventure. The river here is wide and unhurried, lined with old stone and modern architecture in roughly equal measure, and beautiful enough to make the jetlag temporarily irrelevant.
Mute Swans on the river were the first birds, large and entirely at home among the boat traffic and the foot traffic on the embankment. A Grey Heron stood in the shallows. Great Cormorants worked the deeper water, surfacing periodically. Greylag Geese moved along the bank in small groups, and then - Canada Geese, which caused a genuine double-take. They are established in Europe as an introduced species and entirely expected once you know that, but the first sighting of a bird so thoroughly associated with North American parks standing on a Frankfurt riverbank took a moment to process.
The smaller birds along the embankment trees were fun too. Eurasian Blue Tits moved through the riverside trees in small flocks, that vivid blue cap and yellow underparts immediately familiar from field guides but considerably more satisfying in person. Carrion Crows worked the open ground along the path. And then a brief, high, fast shape crossed the sky and resolved itself in the camera to be a Eurasian Sparrowhawk!
Dinner at the Paulaner
Back at the hotel, the Paulaner restaurant made a strong case for the Bavarian approach to dinner. The beer arrived in a proper half-litre glass, the pretzels were warm and chewy, and the schnitzel was thin, crisp, and served with a side of amazing potatoes. After a transatlantic flight and an afternoon walking the city, this was exactly the right meal.
Morning in Frankfurt
The next day started with freshly made espresso and croissants in the breakfast lobby. Frankfurt had a different quality than the other cities we visited, and the walk through the old town before heading to the train helped us to appreciate it even more than we already did.
We stopped by the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew. The Gothic interior is genuinely impressive, the stained glass throwing colored light across stone that has been standing since the 14th century, and the organ above the nave is one of those instruments that makes the space feel built around it. The history layered into this building - coronations of Holy Roman Emperors, partial destruction in World War Two, careful reconstruction - slowed us down to absorb and appreciate this as much as we could.
Frankfurt HBF and the Train to Berlin
Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof was my first grand European terminal station, and it made it feel like I was attending something grand, much more than just a commute to Berlin. The arched glass and iron roof covers a dozen or more platforms with an organized chaos of a major European hub. We found our train to Berlin, after picking up some egg & pickle sandwiches (why do these not exist in the US, yum!) in the station and off we went. The city gave way to open countryside that held its own interest!
Frankfurt rewarded the short time we gave it. The Main riverfront and some birds, the old town, the cathedral, and a Paulaner hotel and restaurant in that order is a good formula for a quick city stay!
This is part one of a four-part series from our 2023 trip to Germany. Here are links to all four:
