Visiting Goethe University Frankfurt for work, for nine weeks. Staying in the suburb of Bad Homburg about 15 minutes drive from the Riedberg Campus. Lovely town center with a walking street (Louisenstrasse). A couple of nice meals so far, lunch at a lovely Italian restaurant in an old bank building (Vecchia Banca) and a very pleasant Sunday brunch (Im Kofler).
My preconceived notions about Black Forest (Schwarzwald) ham have already been shattered. It is not necessarily the highly-processed product that we often see in the US. The artisanal schincken bear a closer resemblance to prosciutto or jamon Iberico, with care taken in the curing/smoking and aging. A sign that people do love schincken is the 16,000 Euro slicing machine in the widow of one of the shops:
There’s a small Whole Foods-like organic supermarket (Alnatura) with reasonable but limited selections, though I’m inclined to shop at one of the fruit vendors on Louisenstrasse
Germany does ham / jamon / Schinken (no c) well I’m a fan of the mild (and cheap) Schinkenspeck. Too bad you’re not around for asparagus season! 9 weeks is a mighty long time to spend in the Frankfurt hinterlands for sure!
The Berkel slicer is somewhat of a fetish object for the German charcuterie crowd — so much so that you’ll find it mentioned by brand name on menus all over the country. Strange, but true.
Curious to hear your opinion on Ă„bbelwoi / Apfelwein. I did not like it all.
I guess I’m really “over c’s” with my spelling.
Bad Homburg is both quaint and lively. I do want to spend some time on “museum mile” in Frankfurt, but I think I’ll be content to do a lot of exploring in Bad Homburg and environs. I’m just across from a park with a spa, tennis club and golf course (doubt there will be any golf for a while), and trails to a large forest are nearby.
I managed a visit to Göttingen during asparagus season a few years ago. What a treat.
My sis and BIL used to live in Ff/Main, which may just be one of my least favorite cities in Germany (with Hannover being a close second ) — too many suits, too many banks, and most of the food isn’t really my groove. The area is pretty, though
Frankfurt doesn’t get a lot of love, does it? I think my opinion started softening after visiting the Christmas market a few years ago, and seeing an amazing Chagall exhibit at Schirn Kunsthalle. And discovering the role of the Jewish community in founding the university. There’s always more beneath the surface, it seems.
I’m staying just off Paul Erlich Strasse, a wonderful coincidence. Erlich was really the person who established the concept of small-molecule drugs. My visit here is in collaboration with a group that operates an academic drug discovery platform.
Back in grad school (I’m older than dirt) we had to learn how to navigate Beilstein, the encyclopedic compendium of organic compounds, auf Deutsch. The internet and digital libraries brought that to a close. A can still summon a small bit of German vocabulary (staubsauger!), but die/der/das completely escapes me.
The gender thing is so random. Same with romantic languages. I guess Russian is your friend, not having any articles at all.
I may have been too harsh on Frankfurt, but I’ve never spent much time there. A christmas market makes almost any German city look pretty, of course.
There is a very good Distillery in Oberursel which is very close (right next door) to Bad Homburg called Taunus Brennerei Burkard
They have won international and local competitions for their Gins and have been doing it for 140 years.
They do a informative tastings but they do charge for them. If distilling or distillates interest you it may be worth a visit.
They are a quite few actually (10 or more) producing very high quality craft Gins many with local Botanicals. Black Forest Distillers is one of the best.
Affiliated, but mainly visiting one specific lab. We are setting up an NMR screening resource at UConn, and using the DSI-poised library that was partly developed in Frankfurt. They’ve been operating an NMR screening paltform for several years and I’m here to learn.
Give the popular Frankfurt-bashing — or perhaps because of it and the low expectations set — I had a wonderful time when I visited. I stayed a couple of weeks, with day trips and weekends away to other parts of the country.
Look forward to reviving some lost memories through reading your reports!
If you tire of options in Frankfurt, a couple of options for day trip or weekend:
In Wurzburg, a lovely city, Bistro Mars was excellent. Sort of updated twists on classic regional dishes.
Alsace is not too far away. A night with dinner at Frankenbourg is a great experience.
For a hearty lunch serving the classics not too far from the border is Burestubl. Get the choucroute.
Farther south in Kayserberg Le Chambard is a two star Michelin place. We like it when the wild game dishes are in season (might still be available in feb-mar). Their attached casual Winstube bistro has hearty classics like braised deer shank with wild mushrooms and spaetzle or wild duck fricassee. Great pates and specials.
I’m a fan of the mild (and cheap) Schinkenspeck. Too bad you’re not around for asparagus season! 9 weeks is a mighty long time to spend in the Frankfurt hinterlands for sure!
) — too many suits, too many banks, and most of the food isn’t really my groove. The area is pretty, though 
