u/ac-slater-43

I just finished a lovely, mostly solo vacation in Germany (from America). I’m a big walker, and walking around European cities is my favorite. This trip took me to five of them, and I spent each day exploring a city on foot. This is the best way for me to take a city in - it yields a slow pace, near infinite flexibility, and allows full attention on one’s surroundings compared to, say, having to dodge other people when biking/scootering/etc.

The timing of the trip was due to two concerts that I wanted to attend, on two consecutive days. This limited me to a particular area of Germany, from which I selected cities to visit that were reasonably proximal by train. My goal was to see some interesting places, while minimizing the number of hours spent on trains. My aim was to combine the downtown/central/mitte/altstadt areas of each city with nearby parks and nature areas. 

Also of critical importance was brezel consumption - I’m a huge fan - as well as dark chocolate truffles/pralines. 

In sequential order:

Frankfurt
I landed here at 7am, got to the Hbf at around 8am, and spent the day walking around until getting to the hotel at around 7pm. I headed east along the river, eventually ending up in Offenbach for some refreshments. I took the S-Bahn back towards town, walked around the “ring” of greenery/trails that surrounds the downtown area, and then walked around the Innenstadt. 

This was last Thursday, and it was a hot one - 35C at peak. But I found myself pretty comfortable overall, on account of the humidity being much lower than I’m used to at home. That being said, there was no greater relief than the hotel’s air conditioning once I arrived. 

Koblenz
Next up was Koblenz, on the hottest day of the week (37-38C). The train ride from Frankfurt along the Rhein was lovely. The number of castles on the other side of the river - particularly near cliffs - was a sight to behold.

I walked south along the Rhein for some time, then crossed it and came back. The rest of the time was spent in downtown/altstadt. This was a shorter day than the one before, due to the combination of the heat and a concert that evening. The concert was at the Ehrenbreitstein fortress, and the cable car ride over the river was lovely.

Münster
This was on a Saturday, and with great luck it happened to be the day of their huge flea market (which I’m told occurs 4 times a year), as well as a pride event. The city was packed - the flea market was remarkable for its size and variety, and seeing everyone decked out in pride clothing/gear was wonderful. (Not to exclude the one guy with a “Fear Jesus” sign - I haven’t forgotten about you!)

I also walked around the city’s “green ring”, the lake, and marveled at the beautiful architecture downtown. It was much cooler today (and for the rest of the trip). A few raindrops were about, but not enough to warrant getting the umbrella out.

Essen
Ahh Essen. Chosen for its proximity more than anything, this one earned me some chuckles from a friend I met up with in Münster, and apparently a friend of hers too (who she told about my plans). They couldn’t believe I was going there, and I can understand why given that the downtown area isn’t so pretty like many other German cities. But I was determined to make the best of the day.

I headed south from the Hbf, to Stadtgarten and then the lovely Grugapark, which requires a fee (5 Euro) and thus only has a few entrances/exits, which took me quite some time to find (both when entering, and then when trying to leave the other side). From here I took an Uber further south to Essen-Werden, where the bulk of my day was spent walking/eating along the Baldeneysee. I ended up in Kupferdreh all the way to the east, where I then took the S-Bahn to the hotel downtown. 

This day was unique in the sense that I felt like the only tourist around, which is a different experience. I quite enjoyed it - and my focus on the green areas didn’t disappoint.

Köln
My last day took me to lovely Köln, which to me earns the top spot for beauty amongst these 5 places. The endless cobblestone streets with cafes/restaurants and car-free areas are what I picture when I imagine a European city. 

From the Hbf I crossed the river and headed north to Rheinpark. My plan was to take the bridge there back, but I was surprised to see cable cars going over the river - somehow my research had missed this. It was a lovely - albeit a bit misty - ride back to the west side of the Rhein, where I checked out the Flora Garten before heading west along the “inner green ring”, at which point the rain stopped. I found this ring really special - every individual part of it looks (and feels) different, yet all aligned in a sequence. 

I followed the ring to its midpoint at Aachener Str, where I headed east towards downtown in order to make a very important trip to a chocolate store before they closed at 4pm. From here I bounced around the inner city, in wonderment at the architecture and beauty. I was struck by how crowded the main walking street was, yet once you go 2 blocks in another direction (e.g., east), there was hardly anybody around. 

From here I headed south along the river to Südstadt, and I’m glad I did - the river walk is great, and seeing Südstadt was a wonderful bonus. A really cool place, probably far enough south that most tourists stay away. From there it was back north to the Hbf to head to Frankfurt for the flight home the next morning.

A few more notes
- With the exception of a couple S-Bahn trips, I was outside for 10-12 hours straight on most days. That the weather was cooperative enough for this, I can’t be more thankful for. Such an enjoyable experience.

- My first trip to Germany was in 2005, and this is probably my 10th one or so. As I’ve never had a problem with train rides on prior trips, I’ve been a long-time defender of DB in the face of what I perceive as non-stop complaining about it from Germans. (I say this with the utmost humor.) But on this trip I can perhaps attest to what my friend in Münster said - that they’ve gotten worse over the years. Most of my trains were delayed - including a 45min delay out of Köln - and my early-morning train to Koblenz got cancelled, which I discovered when I woke up that morning (the notification came in at 4am), forcing me to scramble for an alternative. So I’m starting to see the other side of it :)

- This post is an ode to Germany. I look forward to coming back again! 

I'm replacing an Inspiron 15 with an Ideapad 1, and am dismayed at the out-of-the-box difference in the displays. Do Lenovo screens not do white?

I'm posting this both as a warning of sorts, and also to get feedback on similar experiences with Xero and other manufacturers.

My recent experience is what I believe to be pretty conclusive evidence that Xero has reduced the toebox size of the Prio over the last year. I've been wearing them for 3 years, and have bought a new pair each year since I walk a lot. Last month I bought pair #4, and noticed after a week or so that my toes were right up against the front of the shoe. I attributed this to the sizes being made smaller, so I purchased a half size bigger. All seemed well, but a few weeks in I started to have irritation on the inside of my big toes from them rubbing up against the nail of my #2 toes.

After 3 years of wearing Prios and not having these issues, I can only conclude the toe boxes have been made smaller. Why an existing shoe model would be changed like this is beyond my comprehension - really annoying. But it tracks, because it seemed like something was different every time I bought a new pair - e.g. the shoe laces got shorter (harder to tie) over the years too.

Some research into this also made me wonder about the stack height, since I recall from prior years Xero often not including this in the specs. At the moment their website says the Prios have a 5.5mm outsole and a 3.0mm insole, but there's no "stack height" listed - which makes me wonder if there's a midsole they've snuck in. I ran across the Run Repeat website which, remarkably, cuts shoes open to measure these kinds of things, and the results are fascinating.

Prio: 12.2mm (!!) measured at the heel, an apparent 3.7mm delta from specs 11.8mm at the forefoot, a drop of 0.4mm (So much for "zero drop") https://runrepeat.com/xero-shoes-prio#heel-stack

And another model just for kicks:

HFS II: 13.1mm at the heel, 12.1mm at the forefoot No height specs on Xero's site for this one, but it's also advertised as zero drop - which it isn't https://runrepeat.com/xero-shoes-hfs-ii#heel-stack

I'm thus relegating Xero to the "pound sand" category.