This post is the concluding post of a very long drawn out series documenting our travels to the Rhine and Moselle river valleys in Germany in the European summer of 2024. We had started off in the city of Cologne ( Cologne by Dawn & Dusk – Rhine & Moselle valley, Part 2 ) before spending a great week in the river valleys of Germany. In the Rhine valley Bacharach had charmed us beyond expectations ( Beautiful Bacharach & Burg Stahleck – Rhine & Moselle valley, Part 6 ) and the Schonburg castle in Oberwesel had given us a taste of the luxurious living ( A Magical stay at the Schonburg Castle – Rhine & Moselle Valley, Part 10 ). The smaller & quieter Moselle valley and the town of Cochem had been delightful ( Catching reflections on the Moselle & visiting Burg Cochem – Rhine & Moselle valley, Part 9 ) and we had also done the magical hike to Burg Eltz ( The Hike to Burg Eltz after a morning walk around Cochem- Rhine & Moselle valley part 8 ).
We would be ending our trip in the business capital of Germany – the city of Frankfurt. We had planned this trip around a second round knockout match at the Euro 24 football tournament that was being hosted by Germany that we had secured tickets for. We have been to Germany twice before this but have always preferred the city of Munich to Frankfurt as a port of entry to Germany and the surrounding countries. The reason being that after WW II when Germany rebuilt their cities from rubble, Munich decided to rebuild exactly as it was pre war making it a prettier city while Frankfurt decided to rebuild as a modern city except for a very very small part of the original old town leaving it as a great business city but with little to offer for tourists.
So the match at the Waldstadion or Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt gave us a chance to explore the city which had not held much interest for us otherwise. We reached the main train station at Frankfurt and walked to the Hotel Concorde close by that we had booked for that precise reason. We walked through the area immediately around the main train station which I would politely call unpolished. It’s not like anyone bothered us or we felt very unsafe, but it wasn’t an advertisement that any city would want to promote its image. Coming from a country where people hounding tourists is the norm we were perfectly ok with it but people expecting a shiny European city might be taken aback at the griminess.
We reached our hotel and checked into our extremely small and expensive room ( expected given the match that day and the location) and kept our luggage and decided to explore the sights that the city had to offer. We used the free travel pass that came with our match tickets and rode the tram to the Old town and walked through the pretty but expectedly crowded Romerberg square, the main market square of Old town. It is the only place with reconstructed cute half timbered houses that were typical of Frankfurt before it was bombed to smithereens in the WW II. We made a mental note to return to this square early the next morning to enjoy it without the crowds.
The Romerberg square at the heart of Old town Frankfurt
Half timbered houses reconstructed in 1983 after completing destruction in WW II
We then made a beeline to the St Bartholomew’s Cathedral which was one of the few interiors that we wanted to visit in Frankfurt. This Cathedral elected the Holy Roman emperors from the 1500 to the 1700s. Gutted by fire in 1867 it was rebuilt only to be seriously damaged a few decades later in the WW II bombings. It was repaired and reopened in 1953.
Outside the St Bartholomew’s Cathedral in Frankfurt
We entered the Cathedral which is free to enter and did our normal church routine of sitting in the pews for a few minutes. After that we took a walk around the church taking a look at the altar that survived the bombings and the altar of the sleeping Mary that was too large to be moved out during the war and was protected by sandbags and survived!
The Altar that survived WW II
With the sandstone altar of the Sleeping Mary – another WW II survivor
As far as Cathedrals in Europe go this is a fairly modest one but the mixture of Gothic architecture with it’s high arched ceilings, tall pillars and stained glass with the religious art always is a pleasant experience even for the religiously uninclined like myself.
Tall stained glass windows and religious art
A painted altar showing various biblical scenes
Gothic Architecture at the Frankfurt Cathedral
A pieta at the Frankfurt Cathedral
A tall sculpture of the crucifixion of Christ at the entrance
Having spent a fair amount of time inside this historical cathedral we left glad that we had gotten the chance to see it in our short time in Frankfurt.
Happy us inside and outside the St Bartholomew’s Cathedral in Frankfurt
We then made our way to the river bank close by where we took photos of ourselves with the strange mishmash that is Frankfurt – Old Cathedral, Modern buildings in front of it and a grassy bank with geese feeding without a care in the world! 
At the river bank in Frankfurt with the Cathedral in the background and geese all around !
The Main river with the Protestant Dreikonigskirche in the background
We were close to the pedestrian only Eisner Steg Bridge from 1869 but decided to save it for the next morning since it looked packed with people at that time. Instead we decided to double back and see the Paulskirche which is known as the cradle of German Democracy and was the first building to be reconstructed post WW II to demonstrate that they wanted to be free and were democratic and no longer fascist.
The lower level has a circular satirical mural from 1980 called “The March of Members of Parliament” that shows various figures closely resembling famous politicians sneering at the working class!
The March of the Members of Parliament mural at the Paulskirche, Frankfurt
The upper level is a stark white room with a 900 seat assembly hall with no decor other than the funky looking organ & the flags of the 16 states of Germany.
At the 900 seat assembly hall at the Paulskirche
The modern stark white interiors and modern organ at the Paulskirche
Flags representing the states of the federal republic of Germany all around
We stopped outside at the Unity monument outside the church erected in 1903 to signify the revolution of 1848-9. It was too crowded at that moment to linger a lot so we returned to our hotel via a convenient supermarket right opposite it to buy consumable souvenirs ( read – lots of cheese and some chocolates!) to take back home.
The Unity monument outside Paulskirche
We rested at our hotel for some time but soon enough it was time to leave for the Waldstadion to see Portugal take on Slovenia in the second round of Euro 24. When we got the tickets in late 2023 we didn’t know exactly which teams would be playing, but frankly that didn’t matter! It was a chance to see a major football tournament live at the stadium and it was something on my bucket list for a while! It was an added bonus to get a chance to see one of the greatest players of our time – Cristiano Ronaldo live! To be honest I am more a Messi fan man myself – and I have been lucky to see him live at Kolkata in my time there in a friendly vs Venezuela but now I would have seen both the contenders for GOAT play live for their national teams!
Wearing a Portugal jersey bought in 2013 we set off to go to the stadium. Back in India it’s always a big hassle getting into the stadium whenever I have been to Wankhede / Brabourne stadium in Mumbai or Eden gardens in Kolkata ( Slightly better experience!). So I was expecting the same here but to my surprise even with the full capacity crowd in attendance everything was very smooth – no hassles in travel with special trains for the matches from the main train station, smooth entry process, plenty of food and beverage stalls and helpful staff to direct you to your seats.
The Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof on the way to the match
Once inside the stadium complex we were well in time so we got our refreshments and food and enjoyed a simple dinner at the stadium before going to our allowed seats which turned out to be just beside the stand full of Slovenian fans. Since we were way early we even got to watch France huff and puff their way into the next round on the big screens located in the centre of a the roof of the stadium – that was something I had seen for the first time !
The atmosphere was buzzing and the fans at both ends were egging on their respective teams. Slovenia were the underdogs here being a relative minnow in football as compared to previous champions Portugal but the enthusiasm and the continuous chants of the Slovenian fans were a sight to behold!
Wearing my 2013 Portugal jersey to a match in 2024!
Smooth entry and plenty of food and beverage stalls make it a great experience
At our great seats for the match 
At a major football tournament – off the bucket list!
The full stadium at the pre match show
Buzzing atmosphere of the Deutsche Bank Park
The match itself was a goalless affair which had a few good chances and a couple of unsuccessful CR7 free kicks. After a furthergoaless period of extra time there was the dreaded penalty shootout! A goal from open play would have been nice but I certainly wasn’t complaining. I got to watch the nerviness of a penalty shootout live! Portugal eventually came through that day thanks to the heroics of their goalkeeper but what will stay in my memories forever is the chants of “la la la la, la la la la la Slooooovenia!” that echoed across the stadium even after the match was over as their fans applauded the team for reaching the knockouts for the first time.
Extremely happy and with a huge smile plastered across my face we returned to our hotel late at night and the return journey was also smooth. We slept peacefully at our hotel to wake up the early the next morning for our by now compulsory early morning walk through Old town. We went to all the places we had been the previous evening only now it was almost empty. We even did our intended walk across the Eisner stag bridge and took photos of the modern skyline of Frankfurt.
Empty Romerberg early in the morning
Lady justice has little company early in the morning
The town hall of Frankfurt at Romerberg square
Reconstructed half timber houses at Romerberg , Frankfurt
St Nicholas Church at Romerberg Square
Early morning in Frankfurt – Peaceful !
The Paulskirche which we had visited the previous evening
The Main river front in Frankfurt from the Eisner Stag bridge
The Skyscraper rich skyline of Frankfurt from the Eisner stag bridge
The Main river and the Frankfurt skyline
The pedestrian Eisener Stag Bridge in Frankfurt early in the morning
A bridge from the 1800s and a skyline from the 20th century
Getting ourselves clicked with the Frankfurt Skyline !
Soon it was time to head back to the tram stop to take a tram back to our hotel to check out and head to the airport for our flight back home.
Happy us after a morning walk through the Altstadt of Frankfurt
It had been a great trip where we had visited the not so famous parts of Germany and enjoyed ourselves to the fullest. We left Germany with a pleasant smile on our faces and memory cards / phones full of photos. We would surely hope to be back to explore yet another corner of this beautiful country.
That completes this series of posts for the Rhine and Moselle valley. Hopefully will start a new series of posts soon – too many trips, too less time to write!
Till next time,
Tschau!
More selfies of us in Frankfurt!
yogictravel 
Fabulous end to a fabulous trip and post series. Keep travelling
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