It felt so right to have visited the city by bike the day before, so I rented a share bike again today. And my destinations were Westend including Goethe University, Gruneburgpark, Mainzer Landstrasse, etc.
Goethe University Frankfurt was shimmering in the sunlight
‘Wow! It’s beautiful, clean, tidy, calm and stately,’ I said to myself while I was standing at the centre of one of the main public squares in the campus. Sadly, I still couldn’t figure out how I lost most of photos I took of this beautiful university. Many of its brick buildings were light brown in colour which blended in very well with the many of its light green lawn.
Interestingly enough, visiting universities are sometimes on my to-do list when I’m traveling in a new city. The reasons are:
- many university campuses have large spaces like plazas, lawns, sports grounds, etc.
- many campuses have a larger sky because the buildings are predominantly low rise
- some of the buildings are notable, classical or state of the art which are worth visiting
- the campuses are usually quiet, clean, tidy and order.
- I see vibrancy, potential, possibility in the students and cultured, well-educated, politeness in the teaching staff.
Gruneburgweg
After visiting Goethe University and on the way heading towards Palmengarten, one of the botanical gardens in the city, I saw countless beautiful low rise residential buildings along Gruneburgweg Street.
In the city I live, only the billionaires can afford this kind of opulent residences. Living in this kind of place is literally like reaching for the stars for the humble citizens like me.
So, I was wondering, in Frankfurt, what kind of people or which social status would be the dwellers or the owners of these beautiful houses. Are they super rich? or just average people?
Gruneburgpark is a park in the Westend district, whose name derives from the Green Castle
As against the parks in the city where I live, with nothing more than trees, lawns and gravel paths, Gruneburgpark epitomizes the basic and simple city park in most European countries. As a aficionado of minimalism, I am in love with it.
Our Lady’s Peace Church (Frauenfriedenskirche)
Our Lady’s Peace Church is definitely less imposing or eye catching than most of its counterparts in many European cities. However, its uniqueness really caught my attention.
The church is a modernist architecture built with Bauhaus style and using mosaics for external decoration.
A sinking train! The design of this U-Bahn station entrance is so cute!
Festhalle/Messe U-Bahn Station
Mainzer Landstrasse is packed with skyscrapers
Westend-south actually has a lot of lovely neighborhoods but I only covered some main roads such as the Mainzer Landstrasse.
As shown in the photos, Mainzer Landstrasse was packed with highrise commercial buildings. I was under the delusion of becoming smaller when I was walking on the street level.
Some of the known buildings include Deutsche Bank Twin Towers, Frankfurter Buro Center and Westendstrasse 1.
Willy-Brandt-Platz Tram Stop
After leaving the skyscrapers showcase along Mainzer Landstrasse, I took a tram here without deciding my destination and let the tram take me to the uncharted territory.
Schwanheim Rheinlandstr Tram Stop
Finally, the tram took me to the final station of Line 12, Schwanheim Rheinlandstr station. I saw a tranquil and pretty neighbourhood when I’d gotten off the tram.
Before reaching Schwanheim Rheinlandstr station, the tram was actually running in a forest and some of the stops were built in the forest too. It’s really helped broaden my horizon cause I’d presumed that trams were supposed to run on the streets only.
South Station (Südbahnhof)
After leaving Schwanheim Rheinlandstr tram station, I was headed to the South Station (Südbahnhof) which is a main station on the southern side of River Main.
Compared with the modernity of the city centre, South Station (Südbahnhof) is situated in a traditional area packed with low rise historical buildings.
University Hospital Tram Stop (Universitätsklinikum)
On my way back to the hotel, I changed here from a Line 15 tram to a Line 12’s.
University Hospital Tram Stop (Universitätsklinikum)
My Travel Journal ONE 