We had another lazy morning – didn’t leave for the day until about 12pm. We jumped on a train out to the airport to drop our bags, and then headed off for Mainz. This town is the birthplace of Johannes Gutenberg – a personal hero of mine, so I was super-stoked to be able to see this place!

In 1439, Gutenberg revolutionised the world of printing by inventing moveable type – the process of printing using little letters that you can put together in any combination (rather than woodcut printing). This was the beginning of mass communication and the shift of power away from the Church and to the people – once they could read, they could spread their ideas more quickly. Mass printing had a huge impact on European society, and was a direct contributor to the Industrial Revolution.

The Gutenberg Museum in Mainz has a perfectly preserved set of Gutenberg bibles (two volume set). I could have stared at them all day. I was in printing-nerd heaven. No photos allowed though.

We stopped for some lunch, then had a general wander around the old town – I’m guessing mostly reconstructed since 80% of the city was levelled in the war, most of it in one attack in February 1945. Hard to imagine how scary that would be.

We walked from the city centre to the Roman ruins at the towns’ edge. Mainz is also known for being the northern-most outpost of the Roman Empire – and there are plenty of Roman ruins scattered around the place, including at the train station. We had a bit of a look and then jumped on a train to the airport to begin the long wait.

And now it’s almost time to go to the boarding gate. I’ve enjoyed our trip immensely, but I am looking forward to being home. Although not so much the process of going home…

We started the day with a stroll along the river – there is a lovely river walk (maybe one day Christchurch will have one!) from the train station into town.

We started at the other end of town today – following a walking tour from our app (called izi – it’s very good). We walked along Museum row, but didn’t visit any of them. At some point, museums are just too much, and it was a nice day for wandering. Along the river walk was an installation on all the trees – a commemoration of a local concentration camp where 1600 people died. I wonder if it’s hard for Germans to be constantly reminded of this past.

We walked and walked, and finished up in the shopping district. We stopped for some lunch at the Stock Exchange building. It would seem that Friday is market day in Frankfurt – everyone was out enjoying sausages, cider and wine from the local stalls.

We did a bit of shopping ourselves, went and played with the new iPhones for a bit, then called it a day around 4pm – six hours of walking was enough.

We’ve had a good mix of busy and relaxing time on this trip. Our last holiday was much busier, and I’ve really enjoyed being able to kick back a bit more. It seems a bit strange to lounge around in our hotel room for a whole afternoon or evening when there is city to explore, but I’m also aware that this is a holiday and I need to take some time to relax. It’s been great.

Last day tomorrow! Our flight doesn’t leave until 10pm, so we plan to drop our bags at the airport and visit an outlying town – Mainz – for a few hours before we leave.

Our train left at the very leisurely time of 12.30pm today, so we heaps of time for sleeping in and lounging around. We got to the train station and found out train easily, as usual. The more trains we’ve taken, the easier it become to figure out how it works – even when we are in a new country. It’s been completely smooth sailing sorting out the trains – high five us!

The first class carriage was very comfy, with in-seat waiter service. Very nice! The trip from Berlin to Frankfurt was about 5 hours, so plenty of time to consume some more Heroes as I watched the countryside whizz by at approximately 230km/h. The trains in Germany are a bit faster than Italy, but slower than the French TGVs.

I was sad to say goodbye to Berlin, I really enjoyed being there. I will definitely go back again. In fact, I think I’ve enjoyed Germany the best out of Europe. It has surprised me that I’ve found Germans the most helpful and friendly – more so than the French, Swiss or Italians. It probably helps that everyone speaks impeccable English in Germany.

I was completely charmed by Berlin. It is such a strange place – so much history packed into one place, so much pain and suffering and grief and loss, and yet it’s still there, thriving away. We had a great time walking all over the place looking at buildings. There are so few old buildings, and lots of construction going on. So different to every other European city I’ve been to – this place was completely decimated by English bombing. Looking around, I thought that this is what Christchurch will look like in 60 years – a mish-mash of buildings of different styles, but very few that are more than half a century old, and most of the ones that are older are partly reconstructed. So fascinating.

Anyway, on to Frankfurt. It has a reputation for being a modern, wealthy city- well-deserved. I love the mix of giant skyscrapers and old-style stone buildings here. They seem to sit together comfortably.

It’s much smaller than Berlin, so very walkable. We dropped our bags at the hotel (which is just across from the train station) and walked into town for a look. It was nice just to wander and look. Of course we found an Apple Store first up, and then a Haagen Dazs. After some ice cream, we decided to save the best stuff for tomorrow, and headed home to bed once it got dark.