Tag Archives: Colonius

art, Frankfurt, holidays, Sundays

Easter, Van Gogh Alive, and Omonia…

Howdy folks. Bill and I just got home from today’s outing. We planned it a few days ago, knowing that Saturday would be busy. I wanted Bill to fix the boundary wire for the robotic mower, because it’s definitely grass cutting season. We needed to get the outdoor furniture moved outside. And I bought a new Apple TV, so I could update the TV in our entertainment room with the old HomePod as a speaker. It actually took some time to get the new technology squared away. I had to reset the Apple TVs, run updates, and then configure everything. By the time all that stuff was done, it was mid afternoon and too late for an outing.

But we knew Sunday would be a good day for a day out on the town. Yes, it’s Easter, but restaurants and museums are open. Lately, I’ve been seeing lots of ads on Facebook for the Van Gogh Alive exhibit in Frankfurt. It started in January and will now run until early June. The ads were enticing. Then I read the reviews, which were pretty lukewarm.

Bill likes art, and the ads made the show seem exciting. So we bought two tickets for noon today– at about 25 euros a pop. I think the tickets were overpriced, BUT– we did have a good time and learned new things. And Bill got very emotional as he saw Vincent Van Gogh’s works in the show, projected on the walls with information about the artist’s tragic life and death, coupled with lovely classical music from Van Gogh’s era. There was also a (somewhat lame) sunflower room, which consisted of fake sunflowers, lights, and mirrors, which took about five minutes to see. And there was a “drawing room”, where they had easels and a YouTube video showing how to sketch Van Gogh’s bedroom in under two minutes. I didn’t try it myself, but I did observe others.

Our visit lasted 45 minutes. Maybe it would have lasted longer if we’d brought our own chairs, as some people wisely did! I would also recommend showing up a little after your appointment time. You can enter the exhibit anytime after your appointment time, and stay as long as you like. If you’re on time, you’ll be in a crowd. But if you show up later, you’ll have the first part of the exhibit to yourself! If I did it again, I’d come a few minutes late.

Below are some photos… As you can see, everything is in German and English!

Frankfurt’s TV tower, which has been off limits to visitors since 1999.
The neighborhood where the exhibit is. Parking is scarce. We got lucky and found a spot on the street.
Entrance.
Obligatory selfie.
Come later and avoid the “on time” crowd.
You can draw this in the “drawing room”.
Some people were sitting on the chairs and posing for photos. That was allowed.
The show runs continuously, for about 25-30 minutes or so…
Most people stood… a few lucky people scored a beanbag chair.
The smartest ones brought their own folding chairs.
I also read that there are a few folding chairs at the ticket counter that can be borrowed.
Sunflower room…
Good for taking photos for your Facebook cover.
Takes minutes to see.
Drawing room.
Gift shop. We bought a puzzle and an umbrella.
You can get coffee or wine…
And arrange for parking.
We scored a street spot.

There is a public restroom in the exhibit, as well as baby changing and handicapped facilities. I was grateful for the restroom. I would also recommend using the train to get to the venue. Parking is at a premium, but there’s a train stop just outside the exhibit’s location.

Below are a few short videos to offer a look at how the show is… It’s pretty cool, but nothing earth shattering.

It’s an impressive show… especially if you can sit down.
A longer look.

We had 1:45 lunchtime reservations at an upscale Frankfurt Greek restaurant called Omonia Taverna. Bill found it on OpenTable.de. He ended up amending our reservation to 1:30, and found a parking spot on the street.

Omonia Taverna turned out to be a great place to spend the afternoon. The food was excellent; the staff was welcoming and didn’t rush us; and we had a very lovely Greek wine. Bill had lamb, and I had a Grill Teller. The waiter spoke English and offered English menus. We didn’t require either, but it was good to know they had them. There is a parking garage nearby, but it was closed yesterday. We found street parking, but it would have also been convenient to use the train.

Below are some more photos… I got some good ones of the Europaturm (Frankfurt’s TV tower, which no longer allows visitors. Every decent German city has a TV tower.). The Europaturm used to have a discoteque, but it’s been closed to the public since 1999, mainly for fire safety reasons. Recently, there was talk of reopening it, but so far, nothing has happened. Still, it makes for a striking sight in Frankfurt. Koln’s TV tower is also closed to the public– and has been since 1992. But, you can still see Stuttgart’s and Berlin’s TV towers, which I have…

Omonia Taverna!
Obligatory shot of Bill.
A lovely Greek red…
Loved this decanter. Gonna look for one for our house.
Easter purple.
Really good, fresh, appetizing, food, at a fair price.
And we finished with a house shot of ouzo!
We’ll be back!

We noticed that the staff was extremely hospitable at Omonia. Especially the proprietor, who was personally welcoming everyone in Greek. I didn’t know the word “Kalispera” before we ate at Omonia, but now I know it’s Greek for “Good day”. We similarly learned the Greek word “Yamas” from our friend, the “Mad Scientist” at Agais in Entringen, down in BW. We spent a good 90 minutes on a very leisurely Easter lunch, but we skipped dessert. The main courses were enough to fill us up… Maybe next time we’ll try a sweet ending.

The bill was about 104 euros. Bill tucked some euros in for a Trinkgeld (tip), and paid with his credit card. The waiter was so nice. He said come back anytime, with or without a reservation. I truly think we will. We had a great time, and the food was really nice. They also have an inviting outdoor area for when the weather is slightly better. I noticed a lot of locals there, and a lot of Greeks! It’s obviously a local gem!

Overall, Omonia Taverna, and Frankfurt in general, were excellent places to spend our Easter Sunday afternoon. I understand there’s also a Monet Alive exhibit. It was going on in Stuttgart when we were down there. It got worse reviews than the Van Gogh Alive exhibit did. What a pity. I like Claude Monet. I probably would still go see it if it shows up in Frankfurt, even though I think it’s overpriced. But I would bring a chair and spend a little more time watching the movie.

We need to spend more time in Frankfurt, anyway. There’s a lot to see there that we’ve missed, thanks to COVID-19. I’ll be looking for more ways to kill our weekends in Frankfurt and Mainz, which we’ve also sorely neglected since we moved to Wiesbaden.

Bill is now working on our US taxes… but I think I’ll go downstairs and bug him. That’s what I was born to do.

Standard
Cologne, North Rhine Westphalia

The Eagles sure didn’t stink in Cologne… part 4

I’ve noticed that as I age, some mornings I wake up hurting.  Tuesday was one of those mornings.  I had really bad lower back pain.  I don’t think it had anything to do with the bed, which was very comfortable.  Anyway, because I was hurting, I popped a couple of Advils and we decided to have breakfast at the hotel.  Naturally, breakfast wasn’t included in the rate.  I don’t think I had the option to add it.  If I had, I would have.  It’s probably because there’s a choice between continental breakfast or just eggs at a lower price, or the whole shebang.

Excelsior Hotel Ernst has a nice spread at breakfast, which one would expect when they charge 34 euros a person.  There are many breads, pastries, cereals, sausages, smoked salmon and smoked trout, and even a shrimp salad.  You can order eggs done any way you want them, or get Eggs Benedict with truffles.  You can also have pancakes or French toast made to order and champagne, if you want it.

The first morning, we went with the buffet and lingered over breakfast while I waited for the ibuprofen to kick in.  I never eat enough to justify the high cost of a buffet and I often end up taking more than I want or need.  Still, I was happy to try some of the vast choices at the buffet.  We could hear our new American friend in the next room, talking to other English speakers.

Bill looks at the menu, then decides on the buffet.

 

The hotel offers high tea for lunch, so we decided to book that with some champagne.  The staff prefers it if you book the tea 24 hours in advance, but they were able to accommodate us for 2:00pm. I figured that was perfect, since our concert started at 8:00pm, and I didn’t want to go there hangry, like I did for Elton John’s show.  Of course, we were supposed to get access to a buffet before Elton’s show, but we got stuck in Stuttgart’s hellaceous traffic, which made us right on time for the show.

After breakfast, we decided to go for a walk, which took us close to Cologne’s Colonius TV Tower.  Yes, like most German cities, Cologne has a TV tower with an observation deck.  Colonius, which is owned by Telekom, was finished in 1981; however, the observation deck and restaurant are not currently open to the public and evidently haven’t been since 1992.  Why?  Because they lack a vendor.  This information comes from Wikipedia, which I’m so glad I consulted before we wasted the energy walking to the tower itself.

The forever closed to the public Colonius tower, which I suppose is still a place of business for some people.  I guess it’s interesting to look at from the ground, anyway.

I did read that the powers that be are trying to find a way to reopen the tower at some point.  Every year, the discussion ends because of the cost of the renovations that have to be done to make it safe.  They’d have to upgrade the fire protections and build another elevator.  According to the article I linked, no one has the 15 millions minimum it would take to make those improvements, nor does anyone want to raise the money.  Given how much Germans seem to enjoy observation decks, I’m kind of surprised Colonius hasn’t been reopened by anyone after so many years.

My back was still hurting, so we headed back toward the hotel and stopped by the Cologne City Museum, a really cool art museum I noticed the first time we visited in 2012.  This museum is memorable because there’s a car with wings on the roof and it has bright red and white shutters, like one sees in The Netherlands.  Adult admission is 5 euros and, though it didn’t take long for us to see the whole museum, we thought the exhibits were interesting.  They all seemed to be done by young artists.

I took these photos a couple of days ago, but I have similar ones from 2012.  

 

The first exhibit was a showcase of postcards the artist got.  Some were rather startling.  They were displayed on tablets mounted on the wall.  I thought the message directly above was the most interesting.

 

There was an exhibit about Native Americans in Montana, faced with living on reservations.  It was both interesting and very sad.  Native Americans have faced many cruel challenges thanks to the invasion of us European types.

I was very moved by this exhibit that focused on a young woman with Down’s Syndrome named Sofie.

Look carefully at the faces in these photos…  I once knew a woman with two different colored eyes…

There was even a video exhibit about the Masons.  Very interesting to me, since I have uncles who are Masons and a husband who used to be LDS.  If you know anything about either group, it’s not hard to see how similar they are in some respects.

By the time we were finished with the city museum, it was raining.  We walked back to the hotel, getting soaked in the process.  While we probably could have fit in another museum before our high tea date, I kind of wanted to rest for awhile.  Also, Cologne’s sidewalks are often cobblestone, and I swear I almost fell at least four times, stumbling on the uneven pavement.  So we went back to the hotel for a rest… drying off in the process.

At 2:00pm, we went to the piano bar and waited for the lady who is in charge of high tea.  We did high tea at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin last year.  It was a rather fancy thing to do.  At the Excelsior Hotel Ernst, it’s a bit more laid back.  That was a good thing, since I didn’t bring any nice clothes with me.

Well, it beats working, right?  We enjoyed a nice glass of champagne before the tea and snacks were brought out.

We had four kinds of sandwiches: egg salad, smoked salmon, ham, and cream cheese and chive (or something similar).  We had brownies, little fruit tarts, and blondies with nuts, as well as macarons, caramels, nougats, and chocolates.  We also had warm scones with jams and clotted cream.  I think the scones were my favorite part.

Bill picked out a tea for me and a tea for him, and we sat there sipping it with our pinkies out…  I’m kidding about the pinkies.  

Before the tea service started, we had creme brulee made with tea.

I really liked this custard.  It was creamy and the tea gave it a very interesting and pleasant herbal flavor.

 

I think I enjoyed the Merrion’s version of high tea more than the Excelsior Hotel Ernst’s version.  It was still enjoyable, though, and held us through the evening so we didn’t have to eat wurst at the concert.  I think the high tea with champagne ran about 44 euros a person.  I’ll have to double check.

Standard