Getting to know Frankfurt

Moving to Frankfurt

I was in Germany two years at this stage and I lived in Essen. The store I was asked to run was going fine and a flagship was planned for Frankfurt. I was the most experienced manager and I was bored so I told my boss that I would like to open it. The stores budget was over 70 million per year so I wanted that on my C.V for when I went back to Ireland. I would have 28 managers under me and 650 staff with 28 supervisors. This place would be a monster. The store was to open on Zeil , the second busiest shopping street in Germany after Munich.

Opening day

It was to open on Valentine’s Day 2013 so I was eager to have a place when I came back after Christmas. I looked for a place around Südbahnof because it was close to Sachsenhausen which was an area with nice bars and restaurants. The first flat I saw I picked. The landlord was lovely and he sent his wife in once a week to clean (make sure I wasn’t wrecking the place).(They had a winter cabin at the base of Mount Wank!! Future blog )! I normally would not like this but I was never there and they would email me the dates so I made sure no jocks were lying around the place when she arrived. So flat sorted. The room had a very low bed which was fine but I was glad it got a hoover every week because I would of been breathing in dustballs!

Frankfurt City

Frankfurt has an edge to it unlike other sleepy German cities (Hannover being the sleepiest). If you went there for a weekend away you would think it is a shithole. But if you live there for a few weeks then you will soon grow to love that edge. I think the reason tourists do not like it is because the red light district completely encircles the main train station. So in order to find hotel, you are gonna have to walk by a few dodgy cats!

When you get past the prostitutes it is beautiful . Don Romer is the old town and it is full of little German buildings like something from a Hansel & Gretel book. Haubtwache has a lovely square where you can enjoy a beer or some food and then there is Konstablerwache where Zeil is on with its futuristic glass building that is a sight to behold.

So flat and job sorted! Next up for any Irish lad in his 20’s. Pub! I was getting conflicting reports that there was a lack of a good bar in Frankfurt. Fortunately there was another Primark in Frankfurt and an Irish colleague was also in search of a good pub (Irish preferably ). We knew O Reillys was opposite the main station(beside the brothels) so we decided against that idea for our own best interests. We heard there was a bar street somewhere but no one could tell us where. So myself and Darren finished work early one day, went home , got changed and decided to go on a walkabout so we could find this bar street . We walked around the city a couple of times and just when we were about to give up we came across an Irish pub in Sachsenhausen called O Dwyer’s.

So we walked in . Sat on the bar stool and had a pint. The barman was Irish which was a great sign but there was nobody in it. We were talking to the barman and he said that the bar street was only around the corner . We found it. We asked him were there any good pubs . He said there was a great Irish one but it was a shithole and they were all a bit mad in there. It was called the Anglo Irish . Within 30 seconds of him saying that , we were out the door! Life is too short . We wanted mad!

Inside the Anglo

That’s me . In the Anglo . At 6 in the morning last out the door. This was all too common . The first night we went in , we could not even see with the smoke fog, We made our way to a barrel and soaked up the atmosphere. The music was brilliant and the locals were from all walks of life. There was sport on TV also. The first night was great as we had a laugh with the locals and made some friends. That was it. Pub ticked. Over the coming year we had probably the best time of our lives in that pub. Everyone was excited to go there and just have a laugh. We met so many types of people. It was just the place to go. I met a member of the secret service . I thought he was bullshiting me but when Joe Biden was in Ireland a couple of years ago he called me up and we met in the hotel for an hour. It was only then I believed him.
Another night Kings of Leon were in the Anglo. There was one time when these three Americans walked in and I was other wise occupied with friends visiting. The barman came down and told me that the guys looked familiar and asked me to have a look because I was into my films and music. I didn’t bother going up and the barman was too cool to ask them so they just chatted all night and enjoyed the music . The next day their manager came into the pub and handed the owner a guitar . From velvet revolver. It said “, loved the music , atmosphere and people in your pub last night. We will be back.” Slash had just got his hair cut so no one recognised him! 😱😱😱😱. Fml. The summer of 2013 we had many adventures that I will be going into in future posts.