Two cities

This weekend marks the mid-point of the fortnight of Bavarian madness otherwise known as Oktoberfest. My half-Scottish, half-Bavarian daughter looks very pleased with her new dirndl, but she had other reasons for a wide smile this past week. Her boyfriend started work as a legal assistant in a big law firm in Washington D.C. several months ago, working the inhumane 'all-nighters' which are part of the culture, and staying in touch with her only via Skype and similar means. But he was permitted to take a long weekend to attend a wedding here in Germany and we were able to welcome him back last Thursday.

On the way to the wedding the pair of them made a stop-over in Cologne, the only other city she has ever called home... about twelve years ago she and I often met in what was then my regular hangout, 4 Cani della Citta. I think you can imagine how I felt when she sent me the photo on the right above.

Le plus ca change, le plus c'est le meme chose!

I must admit thaz however loyal I may be to my Café Schwabing here in Munich, I do miss the style of my old hangout in Cologne, an exciting building with post-modernist allures and bang in the middle of the coolest neighbourhood of the city.