New This Week, Part 29

I am bad at making lists and remembering things that happened during a certain time. Extremely bad, actually. I am so bad that I can assure you now that the first thing that will go completely if I happen to catch Alzheimer's is going to be this exact memory. When that happens, I will be very happy to see y'all come for a visit every time you step into the room, so please make sure to say hi, give me a hug, and leave the room again, just to come back a minute later. It will never-ending joy to me, promise.

All this I am telling you because I couldn't remember any of these four things that happened last week before I looked into my calendar what I did that week. Not even the pride event I attended for three subsequent consecutive days I remembered. Part of it might be due to unfocusedness, I admit, but I might be exaggerating the whole being-present-in-the-moment stuff a little.

1. Bar: The Stall
Logo taken from their website.

Yes, the website is probably among the ugliest on Earth but the place itself is actually not all that bad. What have we got? Gay bar, originally from the 50s or 60s, ages old, never renovated or redone. So in a way it is like the website. But that doesn't matter because its charm is said to be exactly that, a slightly sleazy, traditional underground place for cruising. A lot of people go there to have sex or at least the perspective of sex. A huge back wing is allegedly the darkroom. I didn't see that part because I didn't want to leave all my stuff at the bar. I had gone to the place directly after the gym, still sweating like hell and with my backpack.

Nice clientele there, actually, okay prices, and most of the time even good music!

2. Bar: Frankfurt Art Bar
Photo taken from their website.

You live in Sachsenhausen and feel like some live music? This is a neat and cozy place, low-key with not-so-low-key-but-okay prices, food is good, and you'll have live music a lot of the evenings. I went on Wednesday with a friend of mine, and we had Irish folk musicians there, actually playing nice music, not too loud even.

3. Gym: Muscle Weight Machines in Frankfurt gym
On Thursday I had an introductory appointment to the muscle machines at my Frankfurt gym so that I could do muscle workout and not only cardio and classes. Man, you should've see how the appointment came about. Originally I had headed to the gym to do a bodystyling class at 7, then I noticed I had chosen the wrong day, and that night there were different classes on. I then asked at the counter whether I could do a half-hour ab class and then do the introduction. They said yes, me happy. So I go back the schedule and figure that since I have the time, why shouldn't I try Thai Yoga instead of abs? So I went back to the counter, asking whether we could delay the appointment. They said yes, me happy and going back to the classroom.

Standing there I notice that I totally forgot to bring a towel. A fitness class without a towel? No way. So I go back to the counter and ask whether we could do the introduction right away. They said yes, me happy but slightly unnerved. So we did the introduction, and I did half an hour of cardio afterwards, wiping off my sweat with my already-soaking shirt.

4. Event: Frankfurt Pride
Photo taken from gay-web.de.

Pride events tend to be very similar no matter where you go. And Frankfurt is not an exception really. It is, however, different in one regard. I went there on three subsequent nights, from Friday to Sunday, and even after that I am by far not as energetically sucked dry as I have always been after the Cologne pride events. And every night I was with nice people, enjoying the occasional beer or apple wine that is so common and famous in this region.

On to another week of novelties, at the end of which I will get my furniture out of my old apartment in Düsseldorf. Finally more shlepping around stuff, yay!

New This Week, Parts 27 and 28

Okay, now things are slowly picking up, not to say exploding here. Frankfurt has so many things to offer, and guys, you do need to get here and spend a weekend. To say this very explicitly: Frankfurt is an extremely colorful and -- to me, at least -- beeeeeauuuutiful city. Whoever says he doesn't like Frankfurt, has most likely not seen it, at least not in the past years. I hear it has improved a lot in the past ten years, and judging from how I saw it about ten years ago, that must be correct.

Frankfurt has a skyline you will hardly find in any other European city. But it also has a very nice old center of town, tons of green areas and parks, and some outstanding architecture, at least to my taste. However, I give you this, if you hate construction sites there is a chance you won't like Frankfurt, as in Frankfurt, they're everywhere. Every-where!

One last thing to note before I get to the novelties. I have noticed that I often don't feel like sitting down on a Sunday to write the weekly novelties down. I am not sure but suspect that it has to do with the fact that at the office I write so much that when I get home, I have no more desire to talk, and writing is basically talking to me (especially since I sometimes read my writing out loud).

This way or that, here's for the news.

Week 27

1. Activity: Friedberger Markt on Friday nights
Photo courtesy gerry_balding
So many people had recommended me to go to the market at the Friedberger Platz that I had been pondering it anyway, but on Friday night that week, we had had a party at our office anyway, and since it was crazy hot in our kitchen where we were partying, we decided to go over to the market and continue there. By the time we showed up, around 11, the booths had long closed but there were still tons of people hanging out there on blankets, benches and such, drinking the booze they had brought from home or bought in bottles rather than glasses before the booths closed at 9.

Regardless of the ever-existing people who dislike it now that it's become so big, this market on a Friday night is must-see, I think, especially on a warm summer night. People are friendly, sometimes even funny because of their alcohol level, and as long as standing around was comfortable, I have had a good time there. Just try to avoid the prissy Lufthansa queens. They're bitter and therefor annoying.

2. Activity: Brentanobad
Photo courtesy of Enitsche Aquatechnik

This open-air pool I went to because a friend told me he was going and had asked me whether I wanted to come along. Curious as I am, I did. It is actually nice. Nothing out of the ordinary, and especially on the weekends you have tons of screaming kids there but we lay in a relatively quiet spot. Nice!

3. Activity: CityFitness Gym in Frankfurt Visited
Photo (not showing the actual gym) courtesy of mikeg626

The lucky man that I am, my Düsseldorf gym has two other gyms that are in bicycle reach for me, one in Offenbach that I have already worked out at, and one in Frankfurt that I had wanted to check out for a while but never actually seen. Now, on my way to the Brentanobad previously mentioned I decided to do a little detour and have a look. It's a nice clean gym with all the amenities that I'd like. No pool but I have never had a pool, and that's certainly not a requirement. And the staff seems to be very nice as well; I love that. Fuck the Fitness First assholes that screwed me for money back in Düsseldorf.

4. Exhibition: Schirn at Night, "The Making of Art"
Photo courtesy of otto_ffm

The Schirn is famous art gallery in the heart of Frankfurt, very close to the "Dom" (cathedral), and I went there with an acquaintance of mine. We had been invited to go there by an American owner of a store in Bornheim who was celebrating her 50th birthday there. And since there was this exhibition "The Making of Art" going on, we decided not to let it slip by, and saw it. When we came out again, however, the birthday kid seemed a little annoyed by whatever, and shook our hands good-bye. I was a little surprised but maybe shouldn't be. Isn't this, after all, the superficiality that Americans are said to have by Germans? God knows what she had intended by inviting us, maybe thinking we wouldn't show up to a lesbian's party, or whatever.

5. Event: Alte Oper Street Festival
Photo courtesy of Wolfgang_Staudt

Did I mention that there are always street festivals in Frankfurt? If not, well, there are always street festivals in Frankfurt. That weekend, among other things such as the Iron Man triathlon going on, it was the turn of the place at the Alte Oper that you see on this picture. Imagine this picture, however, a little less alterated, with a clear blue sky and sunshine that would expect to be rather in California, and booths all over the place selling everything from food and drinks to knick-knacks and other stuff. Oh, and add in your mind a stage where reggae music is playing. And put my friend and me right there onto the border of this fountain, sipping on Caipirinhas, our feet dangling in the cooling water.

Pure summer vacation feeling!


Week 28

1. Occurrence and Drink: Brainfreeze by Mango Frappé from McDonald's
Photo courtesy of Noctis_Lucis_Caelum

I had hints of a brainfreeze before. It just happens when you're too greedy and love dem icecreams too much. But this time it hit me really badly. I was on my bicycle, riding back home from my gym in Offenbach. I had passed a McDonald's and decided to try their mango frappé that they had recently added to their menu. The frappé itself tasted good, and I don't even think I had slurped on it too fast, but all of a sudden my brain started stinging from the icy coldness that had hit it. It hurt for about a minute before the pain finally lessened. You can imagine I drank the rest of the smoothie slowly…very slowly.

2. Bar: Bieresel (Cologne)
Photo courtesy of Gebrüder Dorsch

Yeah, it is what it sounds like, a beer pub. Allegedly the oldest mussel restaurant in Cologne but for my students and me, it was a place to have a few beers at when we had finished our semester. They are so sweet, had given me a box of "Merci" chocolate and a bottle of red wine to thank me for the nice semester. That was the first time students had ever thanked me like that. But it figures since I liked teaching in this class a lot. Thanks again, guys!

3. Web Community: SoundCloud.com
Logo courtesy of the SoundCloud website

Everybody listen up. SoundCloud is a marvelous new community that allows you to share music with everybody so conveniently that you will probably not want anything else for aeons. The interface is smooth and sleak, it's a fast website, and there are not limits to filesizes. Check out the 3-minute tutorial yourself! This is a great great site! I have already stumbled upon several great tracks, amongst which is an incredible Michael Jackson RIP mix!

4. Bar/Restaurant: Mirador (Bornheim)
And finally, my weekend concluded with a very cozy stay at the "Mirador" bar/restaurant in the Berger Straße in Bornheim/Nordend with a friend of mine. It was pleasantly warm on that Saturday evening, and we had a little chicken curry soup and some Äppler (apple wine) that is so incredibly common in the Frankfurt area.

[Subsequent Addition]

5. Bar/Restaurant: Moksha (Friedberger Markt)
Logo taken from the Moksha website

Another restaurant, good food, reasonably priced, mixed clientele. Worth paying a visit!

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So you see, Frankfurt has tons to offer, and I'm loving every bit of it. Well, except for street traffic. Fuck street traffic in Frankfurt.

:)