What luck that Atalanta is conveniently affiliated with a club in a city that boasts one of the largest and busiest airports in Europe. Frankfurt, Germany was a Top 5 European airport in terms of passengers pre-COVID, making the international flight from the United States to kick off this road trip a piece of cake.
But of course the main purpose of this leg of the trip is not to fawn over the airport, but to visit Deutsche Bank Park and cheer on the Bundesliga’s Eintracht Frankfurt. It’s fitting that eintracht means unity in English, so there’s no better way to start off a trip than with a club that’s name begs friends to come and visit!
Informally known as Waldstadion, Frankfurt’s stadium has been a staple of the city underdoing major renovations in it’s nearly 100 year history to keep up with modern times. With a capacity at 51,500, Waldstadion has nearly triple the capacity of Atalanta’s Gewiss stadium, making it easily the largest stadium we’ll see on this tour. And the club nearly needs every seat, as the city comes out in droves to support the club. For the 2018-2019 campaign, the club was filled at 97% for the season, and was 5th in gross spectators across the Bundesliga. Needless to say, we’ll have to get our tickets early to have any chance of not sitting up in the nosebleeds.
Frankfurt unfortunately barely missed out on Champion’s League football for the upcoming year, but still will get to feature internationally in the Europa League. The squad has the quality to go far in the tournament even with the departure of top goal scorer Andre Silva who recently signed with Leipzig. Rafael Santos Borre of River Plate was just brought in to supplant the attack, and the ever dangerous Filip Kostic is still an Eagle (for now) to continue supplying delicious crosses into the box from his preferred left wing. With the Bundesliga calendar already announced for the upcoming year, October 30th is on my radar – as Eintracht hosts RB Leipzig. Not only will the football be top quality, but it is the aforementioned Silva’s return to the Waldonstadion – and I envision he’d get a handful. The Redbull empire is not fondly thought of in Germany, and I can only imagine the jeers (that will be unbeknownst to me not knowing any German) that Silva should receive.
What To Do In Frankfurt?
Beyond football, this a trip to Europe isn’t complete without a bit of culture and exploration of the places being visited – and while Frankfurt may be more of a business hub than some of the other desirable cities to visit in Germany, nonetheless there is still plenty to do and see. As one predisposed and appreciative of architecture, I love soaking in the architectural feel of a city, especially ones that keep their older-Renaissance roots. Frankfurt economic importance makes it feel slightly more American, but there still are some sites to take in. For starters the Commerzbank Tower, standing at 259m, was the tallest building in Europe form 1997 to 2003 (until it was taken over by Moscow’s Triumph Palace). Interestingly it was also Germany’s first skyscraper to use steel as it’s main construction material rather than concrete. Additionally if you want to get your fix of tall views, you’d have to head over to Main Tower (200m), which is the only skyscraper in Frankfurt with an observation deck for tourists.
I love visiting churches when I travel, as often most of the best architectural work to come out of Europe is built into houses of worship, so the Frankfurt Cathedral also gets a special mention. Restored twice in it’s 700+ year history, it was a cornerstone for the Holy Roman Empire, and even hosted coronation ceremonies. For more to do in Frankfurt, I highly suggest looking at the Crazy Tourist’s comprehensive list.
Where To Eat?
Frankfurt has a healthy amount of Michelin Star restaurants, but nothing stood out more to me than Gustav. With two Michelin Stars to it’s name, Gustav boasts a museum like atmosphere that couples with it’s delicious food. So about the food, you don’t get too many choices – which is fine by me as it takes out the guess work and is a testament to a commitment to local in-season delicacies. Obviously the autumn menu will be different than the current summer menu, but a kohlrabi appetizer (with caviar) followed by a trout, asparagus, and risotto appetizer sounds just fine to me. Don’t forget your credit card, as a full meal goes for 145 euros!
Where To Stay
I usually dislike staying in hotels, not just because of the horrifically uncomfortable rooms but the price. But given this is a series with a very generous travel budget (this is my series!), I think we can splurge a little bit. AirBNB is great and all, but the there are so many unique and interesting hotels that go beyond the standard banality of US hotel chains, let’s see which each city has to offer from folks and businesses that don’t do this as a side hustle. As our ultimate destination on this trip is in Italy, I decided to opted for a Tuscan themed hotel: The Hotel Villa Florentina.
Reasonably priced, depending on the room you choose (<150 Euros), the Hotel Florentina oficially got its namesake nearly 30 years ago, and preps us for the Italian leg of our trip shortly on the horizon. Only a one kilometer walk to the train station that takes you all the way to Waldstadion on the edge of town, Hotel Florentina is also within spitting distance to the Frankfurt Opera House and old town hall, Romer.
Jet lag may be a bit rough on the first leg of this trip, but there’s no better way to start than in one of the financial power houses of Germany. The biggest city on our trip, we’ll continue to inch onto smaller; yet equally enthralling cities; as we make our way south to the Austrian Alps – and visit one of the Europe’s iconic winter sports cities. See you in Innsbruck!
