Anyone around Frankfurt?

[thedevilsinthedogstail]

Hello - we are moving to the area and whilst work will be close to Wiesbaden -it looks from the map that there is quite an area we could live in. Bananamad has talked about Wiesbaden - just wonder if anyone else is in that area of Germany.

thanks!

I live just outside Frankfurt on the way to Wiesbaden. There are lots of expats living in the small towns in the "Taunus" area (hills close to Frankfurt) and around Wiesbaden too. Great place to live, easy to integrate, come and join us!

Hello CEDP

Thanks I will! I am keen to find out stuff and particularly want to know about german speaking kindergartens (really interested in the Montessori at Kronberg?). I am in Belgium now and have done hopelessly badly at learning french or flemish and really really want to learn german (started on my cd and book already!) and so without sounding impolite - don;t want to be surrounded by english speaking - how have you found learning the language? Could I ask whereabouts you live?

thanks again!

I live in Frankfurt and have a child in a Kindergarten. Frankfurt city is not very popular with expats for some reason, but it is a great place to live (you have to be careful which neighbourhood though)

I au-paired (about a million years ago!) in Oberhochstadt just outside Kronberg. Such a pretty area.

Was saying to the DC only recently that I'd love to go back a visit.

Agree with ajandjjmum that it's a lovely area - I went to Kronberg on a school exchange a couple of times and loved it there. (I think that's when I decided I wanted to live in Germany, but somehow I ended up marrying an Austrian instead...)

Am feeling quite nostalgic now and would also love to go back!

thanks for your posts - we are looking NW Frankfurt so Kronberg (there is a german montessori there) bad soden but also places like idstein. going to have a look in a couple of weeks so will know more then. auf wiesdesein! (please correct the spelling for me!)

Hello again! We were in Idstein for a few months (can't remember if I mentioned before) and it's a very nice town, if quite small. I think I heard there were a lot of Americans living there, but I may be wrong - can anyone else answer that?

A friend of mine lives in Bad Soden and seems very happy and settled there. I don't know whether he'd know much about the Kindergärten as his DS is only 1, but can ask him if you like (if I can track down his e-mail address!).

Hi Devil, we live in Hattersheim, which is right between Frankfurt and Wiesbaden. As you say, towns like Kronberg, Königstein, Bad Soden, Kelkheim are all in the right sort of area for you. They also all have ex-pats, but to be honest, it is up to you whether or not you dive into the local community or hole up with the Brits. When thinking about locations, don't forget to factor in things like proximity to the airport (will you or DH travel a lot), winter (a lot of these places are up steep hills, which are a nightmare in winter), public transport (you'll need a bus or train stop nearby if you want to hire a cleaner) etc. etc.. There are a number of Montessori schools in the area (check on the net) as well as other international and bilingual options. Depends on age of your children and what you are looking for.

Thanks again for your posts. Just found out that the montessori in Kronberg is very popular and is full with a waiting list. Our children are 2 and 3 yrs so it is a preschool we are looking for. I am not wedded to the idea of montessori but I very much want the children to learn german. I have read that some bilingual schools are not as bilingual as they make themselves out to be - they are populated by germans who want their children to learn english. So my question is (and I will post it on the other german thread) - has anyone put young children into a german only preschool (speaking no german themselves) and how do you find out how good the schools are?

thank you CEDP on the advice re: where to live - i will look carefully when we are there (particularly after the winter we have just had!) ;)

how about Tims (Taunus International Montessori School) have heard rumours about it being easy to get a space there, dont know if this is true though