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.

:)