Considering the quiet theme of this holiday season, by Christmas, we hadn't quite come up with a plan for New Years Eve.
We were warned, however, from several people, that Germany is not exactly the ideal place to be unless you're young and really into fireworks. Apparently, people go nuts with the fireworks. They even fire them horizontally (accidentally??) or put them in car exhaust pipes.
We were told that last year, a car in Frankfurt was blown up and that although our neighbourhood was decent, we should probably keep our car off the road. We were also warned to keep out of the down-town area.
E came up with a great plan for a quiet New Year. He's truly my sweet romantic!! We ended up going to a nice hotel to spend a relaxing time away from those nagging things at home and to enjoy some luxury high atop Frankfurt. It was a wonderful time!
In the early evening, before leaving for the hotel I saw a bunch of early-20ies guys dressed in black throwing some little explosive firecrackers against an apartment building across the street from us. This was the "stereo-typical hooligan" I presumed to be behind all the stories.
When we got to the hotel, there was a minor setback to the plan, which was really not a problem at all. We discovered that not all the regular hotel services were available (restaurant and some other things). So on New Years Eve (around 7pm) we ended up going to Frankfurt's down town for dinner. Hummm... truth be told, the shops were well buttoned-up (including covering of the windows of jewellery shops and closing of streets and piazzas) and people were already out testing out their fireworks. Random and loud explosions were heard nearby and I was relieved that none were aimed at us.
Honestly though, the worst part was the flinching/clenching that happened in my belly responding to the loud bangs ~ but only because I've got no idea where my abdominal muscles have gone and it's rather uncomfortable to flex like that while pregnant. At any rate, we were able to find a restaurant that we like, eat for a reasonable price and wander back to the hotel in a matter of mere hours. It was quite convenient. We also took the opportunity to tuck the car into a safe, indoor and underground parking lot ~ free of firework bombs for the night.
Back in the hotel just before midnight, I discovered E had snuck into his suitcase (without my noticing) some of his delicious apple crumble (see previous blog entry) and a bottle of sparkling grape juice (MmmmmmmmmM!MMmmmm!MM).
Before midnight we made some quick celebratory phone calls then celebrated ourselves from the 38th floor of our hotel by watching the Frankfurt city-scape light up in colourful fireworks as far as the eye could see. It was quite a site! I've never seen anything like it in my life! Fireworks popped everywhere in all sorts of colour and explosion combinations across the city ~ for a solid hour! Some fireworks were close by (right under our hotel window) and some I could see were even shot (accidentally) into the buildings nearby. Also, some fireworks were shot from atop buildings into the night sky. After over an hour of celebrations the sky was completely fuzzy from all the smoke. We could not even see Frankfurt beneath the smokey cover! I'm certainly glad to have seen this, and ahem, especially from above!
What a wonderful New Year's Eve that I won't soon forget!
