Its crazy but this month is exactly 3 years since I last wrote a blog post. So much has happened. November 2019 was the last time that inspiration and free time coincided. Then I was waiting for the pandemic to finish and I think we all know what happened with that… can anyone explain though why we are still wearing masks on public transport in Germany…?

To be honest, a break from blogging was good. But now as I look back, so many things have changed in Frankfurt, and so many updates need making. My salary guide is no longer suitable thanks to nearly 10% inflation in Germany now, living costs have completely altered what you need to survive in Frankfurt. So much development in the city that even Ostend is starting to look like a nice place to live. (Europaviertal still has no character however much they build there!). A whole variety of restaurants and bars that I once wrote about have vanished thanks to the pandemic. Even Blaues Wasser in Ostend managed to get burnt down, rebuilt, and now finally just hosted their new opening event this Summer.

I picked up a few new hobbies in the meantime that I fully intend to document here. And thanks to Brexit finally getting sorted, I have also had the experience of going to the Auslanderbehörde to get my Aufenthaltstitel (residents permit). What a pleasure that was… Although to be fair, I was quite impressed that they had two dedicated desks with fluent English speakers especially dedicated to dealing with all of the Brits in town. I guess they just have low expectations for our German skills!

Somethings don’t change though. I am sat here in one of my favourite spots, Logenhaus, to have a nice drink while writing. They were closed for the best part of two years due to the pandemic. Didn’t even attempt to open each time we thought the pandemic was over. But now they are back, without too much change to their decor, but a bit of a price increase… cocktails seem to average something around €17 now! Unfortunately they don’t sponsor me with free drinks! Still a great atmosphere, but the prices definitely stop you from getting too tipsy.

I have a whole host of ideas for new posts and updates of old posts, but let me know if you have any ideas or burning requests.