Frankfurt & Rheinstein Castle

Frankfurt was named by Charlemagne, the King of the Franks from the Middle ages. Honorable mentions include the Frankfurter Hot Dogg and the Grimm Brothers.

We were there in perfect weather on a (US) holiday weekend, so there was people everywhere, I was lucky enough to grab this shot in a town square alley with no one around.

Coolest thing I learned on the first day is that Frankfurt was the 14th wealtheiest city in the world and home to the European Union Central Bank.

After grabing a bite to eat with a colleague, my family and I had a nice cruze along the Frankfurt river.

One thing we quickly realize was how dog friendly Frankfurt was. They let our dog Aki on the cruise for a 300 Euro fee.

They had a good drink and light snack menu on baord.

The water front cruise was a great start to our holiday weekend and allowed us to view many of the amazing architecture that Frankfurt had to offer.

The very impressive Seat of the European Central Bank.

The Imperial Cathedral

The Frankfurt Cathedral

Good shot of the waterfront skyline.

Westhafen Tower, which translates to West Port Tower.

Frankfurt University Hospital, which has had six or seven wings added since its construcion.

The last skyline photo I took before getting off our aftenoon cruise.

Returning back toward our car i started to notice the first of many Ukraine flags in the town-square.

We stayed at the Maritim Hotel in the heart of Frankfurt. It was very comfortable and the view was amazing.

The Erhard park was right across the street from the hotel and provided a great place to walk the dog during our stay.

The park was name after Ludwig Erhard who was the former Chancellor of Germany from 1963 to 1966. He started his career in the military serving in Romania during WWI and was inured in combat by an allied artillery shell. Due to that injuring, he could no longer serve on active duty and started studying economincs and eventual earned a PHD from the Univ. of Frankfurt.

鴨(ダック)だ. DUCKS!

I thought this was a very umm... flattering statue of Mr. Ludwig. Ha ha, but it turned out to be a bronze statue of the God Mercury. Fitting to see the God of financial gain in Frankfurt!

This was the view from our hotel window, it was very cool to see the Ukrainian Flag flying next to the Geramn Flag.

In Germany, almost everything is closed on Sunday. However we were able to find an amazing Japanese Market called Iimori Ichiba that had all things the family and I missed from Japan. Pictured in our pool side chairs are a Peach(もも）Chu-high and a Suntary Highball.

At Ben and Aburee's request, we spent the rest of our Sunday pool side until dinner.

The hotel had a giant brunch spread, but it was too expensive at nearly 23 euro a person and dogs were not allowed. We ended up find a cafe called Cafe Extrablatt that had a breakfast buffet for half the price as the Hotel. We loved it so much that we came back the next day as well!

I think the best part about Frankfurt was how dog friendly the city was. Aki was welcomed at pretty much everywhere we went, includig the Japanese market. This is Something that we are not used to in America. The hotel even had bowls and treats brought up to our room for her.

the weather wasn't the best, but this was the view of the town square from where we ate at.

On the way to our next stop, Lissa snagged a shot of Aki taking in her new faviorite city. This Mini-Cooper S AWD Countryman was a great pick for our European family car.

We found a place to walk off out brunch at the famous Grüneburg Park, which was also dog friendly.

We got a shot of the Europatum (not dog friendly), the tallest building in Frankfurt (338m/1,107ft) that operates as HD broadcast tower. Made me miss Seattle a little... could go for some solid halibut/chips and a Pike Place's Pub Pint right now.

Found a nice weeping willow that was five years past its average life span. Must be that heavy German enviromental friendly policy at work?

There are several famous castles in the area on the way back home from Frankfurt and one was actually dog friendly! Couldn't pass up a chance to detour to Rheinstein Castle.

Reichsbug Castle sits along the bank of the Moselle River, lined with vinards in every avaialbe hill side. This is left of the castle.

Center of the castle overl looking the Moselle River.

Lastly, the right most view of the end of the river bank.

The kids are getting too big! Made them squeeze into this tourist photo op at the top of the castle.

This castle was actually built to house the royal prince and his new bride, it was thier place to live.... and you know... make babies at. Spoiled!

Hand crafted dueling pistols, no english provided but the craftsmanship was remarkable in both the wood and the metal.

The dining room were the royal couple would entertain guest.

Found some pictures at the end that showed what the castle looked like in its prime.