Anselm Kiefer Exhibition, Tullie House, Carlisle

My Cousin Glen and I recently went to see this exhibition at Tullie House. The exhibition is presented by Artist Rooms, a collection jointly owned by the Tate and National Galleries of Scotland. I must be honest and say that I had never heard of Anselm Kiefer before but I am always ready to look at art that is new to me. This exhibition covers the period of the artist's career from 1969 to 2014.

Anselm was born in Germany in 1945 and now lives and works in France. He is considered one of the greatest European post-war  artists. He cites artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Caspar David Friedrich as influences and I can see some of the drama of Friedrich (who is a favourite of mine too) in his work but I can't see the van Gogh influence, except that there were some steel/iron sunflowers in one of his works. The first thing I noted about his art is that it tends to be either monochrome or earthy colours. He works in many mediums, paint, photography, metal, sculpture, collage, often using grit and sand to give the work texture, the earthy colours fit well with such media. He is fascinated by history, philosophy, mythology, science and the Third Reich and these subjects appear in his arts time and time again. There were a lot of exhibits on show but I will just write about three that interested me most.

The most striking painting for me was the one featured on the museum's exhibition information leaflet, (above) it was especially created for the exhibition and is called Urd, Verdando, Skuld (The Norns 1983.) The norns are "Fates" of Norse mythology representing Past, Present and Future, their names are written in chalk on the ceiling of the building. Hanging from the ceiling of the Third Reich-like building are the strings of destiny. All these subjects are ones that Kiefer frequently returns to. I looked at the pictures before reading the information about them and to me it looked like these strings were roots reaching down into a dark, murky vault of time, of history. Kiefer is of a generation of Germans that grew up after World War Two, and had to come to terms with and deal with the guilt of what had happened in their country shortly before they were born. He was not afraid to confront this history in his art, which also includes some self portraits of him doing the Nazi salute.  I am half German, born a few years after Kiefer and as I was growing up I was very aware of that feeling of oppressive history and guilt. I wasn't proud of my German background for a long time and even hid it, Now that has changed and I can embrace my heritage, because no country, no history, is totally negative and Germans have a lot to be proud of too. I think my own personal background made me see those things in that picture and I found it stirred a lot of emotion in me. It is a very hypnotic painting, it draws you in and looks much more impressive in real life than in the image in this post.

Another picture that I liked was Hortus Philosphorum (2010.) Keifer made piles of books from lead and photographed them. Over the books lay lead sunflowers, twigs and other items, Kiefer described lead as the "only material heavy enough to carry the weight of human history."  It was like the lead items were holding down the books, the knowledge trying smother them, but knowledge never dies. A very thought -provoking piece of work.

The next piece I liked was Untitled 1988. There were six small gold leaf covered items, and, being an ex-nurse, it soon dawned on me that they parts of the human body. These were casts of real body parts which included a kidney, inner ear and heart.  In the middle of them was a piece of seaweed that seemed to me like splayed out blood. Again, it made us think, these were such important parts of the body, of life, yet they were quite small.

I must admit I wasn't very impressed when I first went into the exhibition, it looked dull and strange. But as Glen and I  looked at the works we had many discussions about them, and they seemed to come to life. They captured our imagination, they made us think, made us talk and really, isn't that what good art should do?

The Anselm Kiefer Exhibition is at Tullie House, Carlisle until 7th June 2015, entry £3.00.

Christmas Baking - Pfefferkuche

Been baking German Christmas biscuits - Pfefferkuche - for the first time today and they have turned out well.  There's a gorgeous smell of spices floating in the air! Thanks to Chris and Andy for sharing your "secret family recipe" and for sending the spices.

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Germany 6 - Friends, Lights on the River and the Home of Jagermeister

August 14th

Time to go our separate ways, Julie left at crack of dawn so we said our goodbyes the previous night.  Debbi and I walked to the station and said our goodbyes there, she was heading for the airport, I was going to Braunschweig to spend my last few days with friends Chris and Andy. 

A teenage girl with a huge Rottweiler dog (that was bigger than her) sat beside me.  I love dogs, but am a little wary of those kind of breeds, but this young dog was amazing.  He was so well trained and obeyed every command the girl gave him immediately. It was fascinating to watch.

The train pulled into Braunschweig station.  I looked around for Chris and Andy but couldn't see them so headed for the exit, then I heard a familiar voice calling my name, it was Chris with Andy close behind.  It was so good to see them again.  I'd seen Chris briefly when U2 played at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin last year, but hadn't seen Andy for a few years, so it was really good to be able to spend a couple of days with them.

We drove to Wolfenbuettel where they live.  Their home is spacious, yet homely and full of interesting items from their travels.   It is decorated with an artistic flair, including wonderful photos they had taken themselves and fascinating U2 memorabilia.

That afternoon we went back to Braunschweig to visit Chris's parents to celebrate her mother's birthday.  Their home was large and a very unusual, modern design.  Chris's parents were lovely and made me very welcome, her mother was looking after everyone.  We spent a few hours there chatting and having a delicious meal.  Chris's mother paid me a really great complement (for me anyway) saying my German pronunciation was very good, I was well chuffed, though really, I didn't speak that much as everyone spoke good English.

That night at 9pm we all went down to see the Lichtparcours 2010, which consists of a series of art installations along, on and nea the River Oker in Braunschweig.  After a chaotic time getting on board the boat we eventually got sat down and set off into the dark.  There was a guide, who I listened to for a while, but it was quite tiring to try to follow the language so in the end I just let the installations speak for themselves, after all that's what art is all about anyway.

The first one I really liked was called Braunschweiger gipfel.  On the photo to the right it doesn't look that exciting, but it was much more interesting in real life because as well as the blue lights there were also various strange electronic sounds, almost like it was talking to us and quite hypnotic.

The next one we saw was my favourite, it was situated in a pool close to, but separate from, the River Oker (we had got off the boat for a while). It was called 8,33% (which I guessed was the amount of an iceberg that is visible above the surface of water).  It was a very beautiful iceberg-like creation.  It slowly turned in the water the light bouncing off it's mirrors and reflecting the water and making it's own art as it sparkled in leaves of surrounding trees.  The iceberg itself was also perfectly reflected in the still water.  You could walk all around the pool it was in, and it looked so different as the angle of view changed.  I thought it was stunning, there was no noise, it was very peaceful and very beautiful.

The next installation nearby was called Appearing Rooms.  This consisted of fountains that had "rooms" that people could enter as the fountains moved.  It seemed was a lot of fun, there was a lot of laughing as people tried to avoid getting soaked, it was art that people could really interact with.  I was struck by the difference between Appearing Rooms and 8,33%.  One was fun, full of laughter and noise, the other was serene and peaceful, yet both were fascinating.

We headed back to the boat and continued along the Oker past some of the most expensive, and exquisite houses in Braunschweig.  We passed more exhibits in the Lichtparcours, but my favourites were those I have already mentioned, but it was still interesting and pleasant quietly floating along the river.

Eventually we came back to the boarding point, half an hour late as the river was flowing faster than usual and it took longer than normal to get back to t was really where we started out.  I really enjoyed the trip it was something really unusual and different.

(All photos in the above post are taken from the Lichtparcours website here)

August 15th

The weather wasn't too good today, the first bad weather day since I'd been in Germany.  But we went out to look around the historical area of Wolfenbuettel.  As it was Sunday it was quiet, Germany still has a day of rest on Sundays only bars and eating places are open.

The old town area of Wolfenbuettel was picture-book pretty, gorgeous timbered buildings, a baroque-style palace, even a house where Casanova stayed for a while!  And everywhere was so clean, we really could learn a lot from the Germans regarding things like that.

We stopped off and had a lovely crepe and drink in a cafe before heading back home.  Chris and I spent a while watching the amazing film she has made of their recent trip to India, she really is very talented and has put together a very professional film that captures the sights and sounds of that country. 

That evening we went back into the town centre where we saw the Jagermeister shop, Apparently Jagermeister (a liqueur) was invented in Wolfenbuettel and its headquarters are still there.  I remember my mother who hardly ever drank alcohol used to love an occasional Jagermeister.

We went on to a Thai restaurant, Yiet Thai, for our meal.  The window we sat out looked out at the large house where the Mast family, who created Jagermeister lived.  The meal was very nice, but we had to wait ages for our main course.  Both Andy and I were getting impatient, (I hate waiting for my food in a restaurant) but Chris as ever was her usual calm, patient self, not allowing hersef to get wound up by waiting.  The meal was worth the wait though, it was delicious.

Back at home we spent our last evening together chatting and drinking wine, it's so good to spend time with good friends and try to to put the world to rights!  Chris and Andy had made me so welcome in their home and spoiled me, thanks guys!

So, that was it the end of a hectic tour of Germany.  It's been a ball, with lots of fantastic experiences.  And as I sat in the plane on the way home I realised that Debbi, Julie, Chris and Andy were all people I first got to know through a mutual love of U2.  We are proper friends now, beyond U2, but without that initial love in common we would never have had the chance to get to know each other.  That's pretty special isn't it?

 

Germany 5 - Bad Oeynhausen, Westfalia, Memories ......

Another lie in after a late night post U2!  At noon we walked to the Haupt  Bahnhof, a short distance from our hotel and got the train to Bad Oeynhausen.  This is the town where my mother was born and lived until she met my English father, married and moved to England.  Last time I was there was a very sad time for me, it was shortly after my mother died in 2002 and I went there to scatter her ashes in her favourite place in the Kurpark.  I had to be very surreptitious whilst doing it as I was told it was illegal to scatter ashes in Germany, but I knew that she would have wanted to go back to the place she loved more than any other, even after 50 years in the UK.  Seeing Hannover was close to Bad Oeynhausen I felt I wanted to visit to remember the good times there years ago.  Debbi and Julie wanted to come with me which I really appreciated.

As the train approached the town I began to see place names I knew, Buckeburg, Minden, Porta Westfalica.  Then I saw the Wiehengebirge, a forest-clad low mountain range, with the Kaiser Wilhelm Denkmal,  a large stone monument, two thirds up the slopes.  I've many memories of that place, the main one running down through the forest with my mum getting soaked during the mother of all storms .  Not the most sensible thing to do LOL!

We passed over the River Weser, where my grandfather used to fish and the family had picnics, I have loads of photos taken on the river's banks, luckily my family were avid photographers who catalogued life in Bad Oeynhausen and the surrounding area from the late 1800's. 

We pulled in the south railway station, and I quickly got my bearings and we went along Bahnhofstrasse towards the pig fountain.  That probably sounds odd to non-Germans, but pigs are a symbol of good luck in Germany.  The fountain represents the pig farmer who first discovered the healing waters of this spa town in the mid 1800's.  I couldn't resist posing for a photo pulling one of the pigs' tails!  LOL.  The centre of Bad Oeynhausen was much as I remembered it which was good to see in this fast changing world.

Portastrasse, where my mother grew up led off from the pig fountain.  The large Victorian house is now gone, sold in the 1970's to make way for a bank's car park.  But the street otherwise was the same, large Victorian houses, tree lined, with a fan-shaped cobbles in the road.  My grandfather was a dentist who held his clinics in the house and even today I noticed that there were still medical practices there. 

We then walked to the nearby Kurpark, a beautiful park with the old bathing houses where people used to go for their "cures".  Bad Oeynhausen still has many clinics where people come to get all kinds of medical teatment. 

It was a beautiful day (as they say ) and it was pleasant walking through the park.  We nearly got caught by fountains that weren't obvious coming out of the paving - a few seconds more and we would have been soaked!  The Jordans sprudel, world's highest carbonated, thermal saltwater fountain is in the Kurpark, but unfortunately was not on when we were there, I can well remember being fascinated it when I was a little girl though, it can reach 40 metres high.

We sat on a seat close to the fountains just relaxing in the sun.  I had scattered my mum's ashes in this park, and I felt close to her there, something I have not felt  anywhere else,  it wasn't a sad feeling it was a good feeling.

We then went back into the town centre for something to eat and found a nice place (the name of which I can't remember) and sat outside.  We had a lovely meal, the cake Julie and I had was absolutely delicious and it went down very well.  We took our time, just watching the quiet life of the town pass by, very relaxing.

I'm really glad I went to Bad Oeynhausen.  My last visit in 2002 was overshadowed by a cloud of grief, now I've moved on emotionally, and like Bono so eloquently put it a few years after his father's death, the pain doesn't go away, but the temperature goes down.  That's very, very true and I was able to enjoy this visit, relive fond memories and feel close to my mother.  I have no relatives in the town now, and I don't know if I'll ever go back, if that's the case I'm pleased my last memory of the place will be a good one.

This evening was our last night together, Debbi and Julie were going home the next day and I was going to visit friends in Wolfenbuettel.  We went out for a meal in Hannover at a steakhouse called Maredo opposite the gorgeous opera house.  We had a lovely steak meal and delicious wine, it was a lovely way end our holiday together.

Germany 3 - Hannover, Lakes and History

August 11th

We chose our beds over breakfast this morning - we'd stayed up until 3am celebrating seeing our first U2 gig of 2010 in our now traditional way - with champagne, wine and nibbles.  So next morning Debbi and I were feeling worse for wear, though Julie as usual was fine, she must have hollow legs!

We checked out and got a taxi to the main station where we would get our train to our next destination - Hannover.  Frankfurt had surprised me, I really like the place.  I don't know why, but I didn't expect it to be so green, have skyscrapers and lovely river walks.

We had treated ourselves to first class tickets for the trip so were able to use the Deutsches Bahn lounge, a good strong German coffee helped Deb and I feel human again.  Our train left on time, it was one of the older trains so the first class wasn't that special, but it had been cheap so we didn't mind, at least I got my coffee in a proper mug rather than a cardboard one!  

Our hotel was smack in the centre of the city, an ideal base.  After settling in we headed to the AWD Arena where the gig was being held the next day.  It turned out to be another lovely location for a stadium, lots of greenery and beside the Maschsee, a large lake.  We laughed at the amount of posters advertising the gig, hundreds and hundreds adorning almost everything standing!  A few hardy fans again were staked out by the entry gates, I didn't envy them.

We walked the short distance to the Maschsee and found an area at the head of the lake full of restaurants, cafes, bars, stalls, musicians.  Boats glided on the lake and huge fish snapped at the surface of the water hoping to find a tasty morsel.

Writing of tasty morsels we were peckish by now and thought it would be nice to eat here.  So we went into nearby Julian's Bar, sat in the outside eating area (it's such a treat eating outside for the English as we can rarely do that mback home) and had a lovely meal there.  It was a warm evening and we relaxed and chilled out as we looked out over the lake and watched the people passing by, a great way to end our first day in Hannover.


August 12th - Morning

I woke up to the sound of church bells, something I love about being in countries like Germany.  This was our only chance to see a bit of Hannover so we walked the short distance to the old town.  It was a lovely area where I felt as if I'd stepped back in time.  Timbered buildings, cobbled roads, fountains, ornate stonework. 

We went into the Marktkirche (market church) which was quite plain in design, but there was an amazing triptych behind the altar.  In one corner it showed how the church had been pre-war, more ornate with decorated ceilings.  Only the shell and some of the thick supporting columns were all that was left after the war.  During the restoration they incorporated parts of the old building into the new walls. 

Review - City Hotel, Limburgstrasse, Hannover

Name and Address
City Hotel, Limburgstrasse, Hannover, Germany

Location
This hotel is located in the city centre, within minutes walking distance from S and U-Bahns,  and the main railway station.  There is a taxi rank two  minutes down the road.  Shops, restaurants and bars are all close by.  The hotel is also five minutes walk from the lovely Old Town area of Hannover.

Amenities
The hotel has a small reception area with a few seats, there are machines where you can buy coffee, tea, soft drinks, beer.  There is also a large dining room that is only open for breakfast.

Rooms
Again we had single rooms, they were larger than at the previous hotel, each of our three rooms was different in size.  They were clean and had everything we needed.

General
You can get a ticket that entitles you to free public transport from the hotel.  We were not told about this when we checked in and only found this out two days into our stay.  Also at check in Debbi asked if the room she had was a smoking one (as we had booked) but she was told it was not.  We noticed a seating area on our floor that had an ashtray so we asked if that was a smoking area  and it was.  I think the young lady who checked us in needs to give guests more information! 

Germany 2 - Frankfurt, Showtime!

All photos in this post are (c) Christine Moeller.  Thanks Chris or letting me use some of your amazing photos!

10th August

Show day, we were all excited and headed off to the stadium in the afternoon.  We waited for the band to arrive, it was a very hot day but luckily where we were in the shade of the forest and even had log seat to rest on.  We got talking to other fans which helped pass the time.  One of the security people told one of the German fans that U2 would arrive at the airport at 4.30pm and then come to the stadium.  That seemed to be true as at around 5.40pm security was increased, we were told to stay where we were and if Bono wound down the car window we could go across.  A convoy of cars headed by two police outriders arrived, and sped into the stadium.  I've never seen U2 arrive in such a convoy, it was impossible to see into the cars and no one wound down a window and anyway it would have been difficult to stop a the convoy would have been backed up the road. Of course it was too soon to have a band sound check which was a shame, I always enjoy listening to them.  Ahh well, c'est la vie!

We went into the stadium and had something to eat sitting in the lovely sunshine.  We went to our seats, great ones at the front on a small tier inbetween the upper and power tiers on Edge's side.  Kasabian were the support, they were ok.

The Claw and stage all looked the same to me, though I've heard some people saying they thought the catwalk was smaller.  It must have been difficult to erect as there was a kind of capsule suspended high up in the middle of the stadium which was held in place by horizontal cables.  One of the Claw legs was very close to the capsule and the "spike" had to be placed between the cables, it must have been a logistic nightmare, no wonder it was already nearly built on the Saturday that we arrived in Frankfurt.

I'm not going to review the concert song by song, I'll just write about aspects of it that stood out for me.

As before, Space Oddity opened the gig, but the band's entry was different, they all walked on together from behind the stage and then went straight into Return of the Stingray Guitar (typical long-winded U2 song title LOL!)  I really liked the tune, which was mainly instrumental.  Bono was doing a circuit of the catwalk during it, throwing funny Zoo-like poses.  It was humourous and yet also very touching as it was almost like Bono was showing us he was all better after his operation and we, the audience, were celebrating that with him and sending him our love.  It felt very powerful and I felt very emotional myself, we nearly lost him as a performer and I was so glad to see Bono cavorting around the catwalk in his own inimitable way .

The next song was Beautiful Day, followed by a generally very "up" rockin' set.  I really missed No Line on the Horizon, don't know why they dropped it, it was well received live last year.  I had purposely not listened to Glastonbury on the Net so this was my first experience of it, and boy did I like it, a real rocker!  I'm so glad U2 were brave enough to play new music live, it was a new U2 experience for me and a very good one.  It was very well received by the crowd too.

Bono thanked the German doctors and nurses who treated him recently and said he now had "Made in Germany" stamped on his arse!  He likened U2 to German cars, Edge was a Mercedes Benz, Adam a BMW and Larry a Trabant.

Miss Sarajevo was brilliant, I am still stunned by how Bono can sing opera like that!  The audience clapped and cheered as he gave everything he had,  a spine tingling moment.

The video for The Unforgettable Fire had been changed.  It was more colourful and very pretty, but it didn't have the same link with the music.  The Crazy remix seemed a bit different, the chorus was more upfront, it seemed more refined, and though I liked it, I preferred last year's version.

Walk On and the masks are gone!  Yay!  Instead the people carried lanterns with the Amnesty International symbol on the front to highlight their Free Burma Campaign.  In my opinion this worked well and it touched me much more than the creepy masks.

Hold Me, Touch Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me replaced Ultraviolet in the encore.  The steering wheel was now lit up in red, which was much better.  Now I'd been disappointed to hear Ultraviolet had been dropped, but I loved HMTMKMKM!   It was performed in a very theatrical way, Bono looked menacing, the red of the steering wheel reflected in his glasses added to the overall effect. I'd forgotten that I really liked this song live much more than on CD.  Loved when Bono sat on the wheel and swung on it, he'll be on a trapeze next!

With Or Without You was simply stunning.  The show finished, as last year, with Moment of Surrender, (dedicated to those who lot their lives in the terrible crush at the recent Love Parade in Germany) and I still feel it doesn't work well as a closing song.  I felt that night if the show had finished with With or Without You it would have been perfect.

General comments - Frankfurt had a great audience, very responsive, there were times when the whole field and much of the stands was leaping about, wonderful atmosphere.  There were a couple of minor technical hitches and the sound wasn't the best I've heard.  And finally, I must say that those tight leather trousers of Bono's make me glad that I'm a woman and can appreciate how they cling to his delightful arse, thighs and other bits, fabulous!

 

Review - Depot 1899, Frankfurt, Germany

Location
Textorstrasse, Sachsenhausen, Frankfurt

Cuisine
German

General
Depot 1899 was a tram depot until 2003 after which it was converted to this restaurant.  It has a large, pleasant outside area on Textorstrasse where you can watch Sachsenhausen life go by.  There is also a large, ultra-modern inner eating area.  I had a delicious stew of chicken in horseradish sauce with celery, apples, carrots and potatoes.  Debbi ordered a German dish that was mainly belly pork and the delightful waitress tried to explain what it was (as many people, including myself, hate such fatty meat) by rubbing her tummy and I managed to understand some of what she was saying!  Luckily Debbi was fine with that dish, but it was nice of the waitress to check.

Northern Star Rating  * * * *

Germany 1 - Frankfurt, Skyscrapers and Forests

August 7th

Debbi, Julie and I met up at Manchester for our flight to Frankfurt, (we all live in different parts of England) we were all excited, we'd been anticipating this trip for such a long time. 

The flight was pleasant and only about one and a half hours long.  As we descended into Frankfurt airport we saw the Commerzbank Arena (stadiums seem to be called arenas in Germany) below, the Claw being clearly visible, only the red spike was missing.  We noticed the stadium was situated within a forest, how unusual

I'd heard Frankfurt was a nightmare airport (it was certainly big) but we navigated our way through it wit no problems and before long were in a taxi heading into the city. 

We arrived at the Maingau Hotel around 9.30pm and were greeted by a very nice receptionist and soon were settling into our rooms (we had single rooms) which were small, but very clean and had all we needed. Soon we were out looking for somewhere to eat, it was now 10.30pm and we weren't sure if we'd find anywhere still willing to serve.  But a short distance from our hotel we found the Trattoria i Siciliani, which was busy and ok about serving us.  As it was a pleasant balmy night we sat on the outside terrace of the restaurant.  The tables had candles in tumblers which in turn were in paper bags, erm, unusual....

Our pizzas were very good and reasonably priced compared to the UK (well almost everything abroad is reasonable compared to UK prices!).  We were fascinated by a tiny, tiny little dog sitting in a young girls handbag at the table opposite, so cute!  Another thing the UK could be better with, allowing dogs in public places more, like France, Germany embraces its relationship with man's/woman's best friend and dogs are welcomed in restaurants, bars and shops.  Nice.

August 8th

We had an excellent breakfast at our hotel before getting a taxi to the centre of Frankfurt for our tour of the city.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't too good, and though it was warm it was raining.  Everyone sat upstairs in the bus and we set off.  The guide was very funny and gave his info in very good English as almost all the passengers either were English speaking or understood the language. 

He told us Frankfurt was over 1200 years old and was situated on the River Main.  It is the major financial and transportation centre of Germany, and it is the seat of the European Central Bank and many financial institutions.  I was surprised the city had so many skyscrapers, and it often is nicknamed Mainhattan because of its distinctive skyline.

The city suffered much damage in World War Two when it's famous medieval area, Romer, was destroyed.  Some of this area has been reconstructed as it was.  As the sun was now shining we decided to have a snack near Romer, but as we only had a short break we did not have time to explore the actual place, so we decided we'd go back there after the tour.

The retractable roof of the bus was taken back, and every time we passed low tree branches we got soaked!  We had "tree alerts" to try our best to avoid a cold shower.  But the weather steadily improved and soon we basking in warm sunshine. The photo lef tis me taking the bull by the horn!

After the tour ended, we got out our map and worked out how to get back to Romer.  We walked along with banks of the River Main, which was very pleasant.  Boats and barges chugged along the river and people promenaded or just sat and relaxed in the beautiful weather. 

The Romer was lovely, I think it is good that it has been reconstructed.  Yes it was touristy, but at least part of Frankfurt's history has been recreated rather than it just disappearing into the ashes. 

We decided to walk back to our hotel as it was just a short walk over the pedestrian bridge that spanned the Main River.  We had a slight delay and had to stand back whilst they filmed a short scene from a film on the bridge.

We rested for a while before going out to look for somewhere to eat, unfortunately the rain had started again.  We found nice Italian restaurant in the narrow streets north of our hotel.  It had lots of atmosphere, and a woodburning stove which produced gorgeous pizza, unfortunately I didn't take note of the name of the place.  We took our time, chatted and had two bottles of delicious red wine so we didn't really notice the rain on the way back to the hotel!

Is U2 playing Frankfurt?!  Julie and me in Frankfurt

August 9th

We decided to go check out the stadium today, Abroad we aways like to see how to get there in advance. We walked to the nearby Sud Bahnhof to get a train to the stadium - that's when our problems started.  I'd heard the ticket machines were confusing and boy was that true.  The stadium - stadion - was on the map but when we tried to find it in the price list it wasn't there!  We looked at other maps, until finally on one map it was marked as F-Stadion.  That worked, after about 20 minutes we had the right ticket!  We had to change trains at the main station, which is huge, again it took us a while to navigate our way through it, we breathed a sigh of relief when we finally sat in our seats. 

The Stadion stop was quiet, surrounded by forest and we had a lovely ten minute walk through this forest to the stadium which you don't really see until you are nearly there.  There were already a few fans camped out in the blazing sun at entrance.  They must be dedicated and determined!  We found where we thought the band would arrive the next day, we wanted to see if we could met them when they arrived at the stadium. 

We headed back and decided to have a meal at a place called Depot 1899 close to the station.  I had an unusual dish of chicken in a creamy horseradish sauce with apple, celery, carrots and potatoes, it was lovely.  We also tried the apfelwein that the Sachsenhausen area is famous for.  It's a kind of cider that can be taken pure, sour or sweet.  We got it pure, I probably would have been better with it sweet as I found it a little too tarty for my taste.  We sat for ages there watching life go by as the sun set and a balmy night fell, I just love living a different kind of life for a while. 

Debbi and Julie in the forest around the stadium in Frankfurt

Review - Maingau Hotel, Frankfurt, Germany

Name and Address
Maingau Hotel, Schifferstrasse, Sachsenhausen, Frankfurt, Germany

Location 
In the Sachsenhausen area, just south of the River Main, yet just 10 minutes walk to the old town of Frankfurt, the Romer 15 mnutes from the city centre.  U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams and the south railway station are all within a few minutes walk from the hotel.  Sachsenhausen itself is a lovely area full of shops, bars, restaurants.

Amenities
The hotel has a small seating area in the reception area and a large, classy looking dining room.  Apparently the restaurant has a very good reputation unfortunately we were not able to try it out for dinner when we were there.  The breakfast was excellent, and if you ordered one fried egg (which were the tastiest eggs I've had in a while) you always got two!

Rooms
We had single rooms which were small, but had all we needed.  They were spotlessly clean, every area of the hotel was the same.  I have stayed in much more expensive hotels but I can honestly say this was the cleanest hotel I have ever been in.

General
The hotel staff, without exception, were very friendly, helpful and also spoke excellent English.  It is a family run hotel and felt warm and homely.  I would not hesitate to highly recommend this hotel.

Northern Star Rating   * * * * *

Back Home - For A Little While

Got back from my 360 Tour and holiday in Germany last night.  Had a fantastic time, lots of travelling, sights, entralling gigs, good food and company.  Over the next few days or so I'll write it up on my blog.  Hopefully I'll get it finished before my next trip abroad which isn't far off!  I've decided I'm also going to write reviews of the places I've stayed at and restaurants I've eaten in, maybe they will be helpful to others who are travelling to the same places in the future.

I'm Going to Explode!

I'm off to Germany soon and a week tonight will be seeing U2 play in Frankfurt. I've tried to avoid the info about setlists gained from fans at the rehearsals but have heard some news and boy is it exciting!

I think that as this leg of the tour so nearly didn't happen because of Bono's emergency surgery, I had kind of blocked it out as I really believed it wouldn't happen. Then it was announced that the tour was definitely going ahead and since then my excitement has steadily mounted. By time I get to Germany I'll be ready to spontaneously combust.

Nearly time to RIOT! (U2 fans know what I'm on about there eh?)

Check back here for a full report of the holiday and U2 gigs. Bye for now.

Bono on Berlin, Germany and U2

Bono has written another guest column for the New York Times titled Five Scenes, One Theme: A True if Unlikely Story.  In this article – written in a different style from his usual - he weaves together the unity of Berlin and Germany, the fight against African poverty and the healing and rebirth of U2 through the creation of the song One.  I think it is a brilliant article, very well written with wisdom and humour. 

And I must say I think Angela Merkel’s father gave her very good advice in the words “Always be more than you appear and never appear to be more than you are.”

Read Bono’s column here

Berlin, The Brandenburg Gate, Reunification and U2

Berlin was wet, grey and very cold but I was still very excited to be there. I found the railway station at Schonefeld airport ok and got on the train that was supposed to go to a station where I could change for one near my hotel. But it didn’t go there and I had to hop off and get another train to the Ostbahnhof, but couldn’t find the train I needed so I hopped into a taxi. It was soooo cold and it was lovely to be whisked off to the hotel. The driver told me that they had their first snow today! That showed I was definitely in the east of Europe!

The hotel, Alt Berliner, was really unusual, you entered through huge, old, carved wooden doors into a gorgeous hallway with an original tiled floor. The wide flights of stairs had beautiful wooden banisters. There were various old household items in the hallway too, almost like stepping into the past. Reception was warm and cosy, the receptionist friendly. My third floor room was lovely and it looked out over an internal courtyard.

After settling in, I wrapped myself up in a warm jacket, scarf, hat and gloves and went out for walk. Potsdammer Platz, with it’s glimmering new buildings was ten minutes away. It was lively, with shops, swanky hotels, cinemas, a little market area with stalls selling food, Christmas decorations, hats and scarves, sweets, there was even a carousel for kids. I walked another five minutes and there I was on Unten den Linden (under the lindens, apparently the only trees that would grow on the street) And there on one side of the Pariser Platz was the famous Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of German reunification. Normally it stand there in the square in all it’s glory, but now all the preparations for the U2 concert filled the square, yet the Gate was still awe-inspiring even with the work going on around it.

I could hardly believe I was there, everything had happened so quickly, I’ve always wanted to go to Berlin ever since I was very young. My mother was German and when we used to go to visit relatives in Germany we got the ferry from the UK to Hook of Holland and then got the train to her home town in Westphalia in the then Western Germany. It always felt like an exciting adventure to me, I watched the station names pass by, Gouda - Utrecht – Amersfoort – Hengelo – Rheine – Osnabruck are some I remember, everything was so different. That train’s destination was sometimes Berlin, to me a mysterious place behind the Iron Curtain - in those days the Cold War was in full swing. It always fascinated me, it seemed in another world in my young mind, and in reality it was. And here I was standing at the Brandenburg gate in the now free city!

I heard lots of Irish voices around and a few fans stood by the hotel adjacent to the square, so U2 were probably staying there. It was too cold for me to hang around for them and I left and walked back to my hotel.

The next day I woke to very welcome blue skies and sunshine! After breakfast I walked to Potsdammer Platz once more to catch the sightseeing bus. I wasn’t going to be in Berlin long so I wanted to see what I could and I thought the best way to do that was to go on a tour.

One of the first things we saw was part of the Wall that remains, there are bits of it still around, there was also a small piece in situ in Potsdammer Platz. It looked really forbidding and to think there was twenty eight miles of that wall! Nearby was the well-known Checkpoint Charlie with tourists posing for photos with a “guard”.

We passed an area with lots of colourful Trabants. Berlin Cathedral was magnificent, strangely surrounded by a lot of open ground where building work was going on. This kind of thing was evident in many areas in the city, they are probably areas in the east that had decayed buildings now demolished and new ones will take their place. We passed the famous satellite-like TV tower, another symbol visible from many parts of the city.

We drove down Friedrich Strasse and the guide told us one of the U-bahn (underground) lines ran under the street, it stayed open after the division of the city and guards on the East side made sure no one got onto the trains. It was hard to imagine that this city so divided until just twenty years ago.

Then we turned into Unten den Linden, the guide mentioned the U2 concert and I could hear music, so I think the band were sound checking at that lime. We went on past the Reichstag, impressive with its glass dome representing the original cupola (the building was severely damaged by a fire in the 1930‘s and also during the war, and was not fully restored until after reunification).

We passed by the Tiergarten, a very large park. On a traffic island on a busy roundabout within the park was the column on top of which was the Siegessaule, the golden angel of victory, she glistened in the sunshine. Of course I was taken back to U2’s video for Stay which featured the statue.

We went on to a main shopping area of the city and I saw the famous KaDeWe store. Then shortly afterwards we were back at Potsdammer Platz where I’d joined the tour and I got off the bus. I really enjoyed the tour and it gave me a good snapshot of the city.

For my lunch I got a bratwurst at one of the market stalls, it was delicious. I walked back to my hotel in the sunshine. As I walked along I noticed how relatively litter-free the streets were. It also amused me how obedient most Germans were at pedestrian crossings, waiting for the green go symbol even if there is no traffic in sight! My friend Chris told me something interesting about the traffic lights. There were two kinds, one rather like what we have in the UK and other set featuring a red symbol of a man with a hat holding out his arms for stop and a walking man with a hat in green for go. The latter type (known as ampelmann) are the East German lights, one of the few things to remain intact from East in the modern city. They are quite cute!

At 2.30 I set off for the meeting point I’d arranged with Chris. On the way I passed the Holocaust Memorial, dozens and dozens of coffin-shaped black granite blocks of different sizes. It was moving in it’s simplicity and a beautiful memorial.

I met up with Chris at the hotel beside the Brandenburg Gate. It was lovely to see her again, we hadn’t managed to meet up during the tour earlier this year, so this unexpected opportunity to meet up was lovely. She introduced me to her friends, a lively bunch of people who were very friendly and kind to me. We all went to an outdoor café near the Gate for something to eat and drink. Tiny bottles of vodka shots appeared from everyone’s pockets and they generously shared then with me, they warmed me up! It was starting to get dark by now and the temperature was dropping rapidly.

At 5pm some of us went into the concert site leaving the other still hitting the shots and beer. My ticket was for a different area, so after arranging a meeting point for after the show, Chris and I went our separate ways.

I could have got fairly near the front but because I’m not very tall it was pointless staying there as I couldn’t see over people in front. So I went much further back and I could see the stage pretty well from there. Time dragged and the cold started to bite. The crowd was easy going and I heard quite a few languages around me, there was a tangible excitement in the air. Floodights shone into the sky their beams hitting the very low cloud peppering it with discs of light, giving the impression that there was a grey canopy overhead.

The gig was supposed to start at 6.30pm, but that came and went. I paced about to try to warm up, no U2, it started to rain, the drops sparkled like diamonds as they were illuminated in the beams of light.

The rain didn’t last long thank heavens. Quarter to seven no U2. More pacing, I cursed Irish time, I was so cold. At last at 7pm U2 came came onstage to massive applause and cheers from the crowd. They went straight into One. As the music swept over me I suddenly felt really emotional, tears came to my eyes and I had a lump in my throat. I think it was a combination of seeing U2 again, being in Berlin, the significance of the event and the general emotional atmosphere within the crowd. I was so moved. Colourful graphics relating to the Wall were beamed onto the Brandenburg Gate during the song and it worked really well. Next was Magnificent which was wonderful, what a brilliant song that is! The third song was Sunday Bloody Sunday, a song I am really tired of in live shows, but for this occasion it was appropriate, Bono changed the lyrics too. Jay-Z joined the band on stage and rapped for a while, something I could have done without, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it.

Bono talked a little about Berlin and recalled the time the band spent there whilst recording Achtung Baby “wrote some tunes, met some beautiful spirits". Another time he said - in a strong southern US drawl - “swayin’ like a field of golden corn” (or something very similar) I’ve no idea what he was talking about!

Next was Beautiful Day another very appropriate song for the occasion, again I felt very emotional and I never normally feel like that during that song. I think it again was the atmosphere and the crowd singing on top of their voices, I could only imagine how special this occasion felt for native Berliners.

Vertigo rocked, and they closed with Moment of Surrender. Short but wonderful, U2 never disappoint live. For those who have read about U2 erecting a “wall” around the gig site that’s rubbish. There was a security fence around the site which I fully expected. There were rumours of up to 100,000 people coming to listen and they needed to have some safety measures in place. Also anything that was done at that gig was nothing to do with U2 anyway as it was an MTV production.

The crowd dispersed and I met up with Chris and we went back to the café to meet up with her friends. During the gig I hadn’t felt or thought of the cold, but now sitting in this outside café it really got to me. After a while I said I’d have to go as I was so cold. So I said my goodbyes to Chris and her friends and walked back. I passed the back entrance of the hotel and a handful of (hardy!) fans were waiting for the band. I walked past, no way was I going to join them, all I could think of was to get out of the cold!

At the hotel I had a hot coffee in the restaurant before going to my room. I was still cold, had a hot shower, slightly warmer, turned the heating up as high as it would go and after about twenty minutes I felt better (I am very cold-blooded!). How I suffer for U2!

Looking back now on the trip I almost find it hard to believe it happened! It was all so quick. Berlin is one of the most unusual cities I’ve visited and I find it hard to sum up how it felt for me. Berlin is a city that has risen up from the ashes twice in 45 years, it’s been ripped apart and is trying to heal itself. Much of the city I saw has re-grown into a vibrant modern place, but there are still scars of the past, maybe the Fall of the Wall celebrations will help them heal.

Brandenburg is GO!

Well, thanks to good friends in Germany who had a spare ticket for the U2 Brandenburg concert I am going to Berlin next week! Today (well yesterday now) I've been frantically making the travel arrangements inbetween events of an already busy day. But I got it sorted and will have a few days in Berlin to make the trip worth it. U2 alone are worth the trip but as I've written before, it's a city I've always wanted to visit so I have time to see some of the sights as well as U2!

Thanks a million Chris and Andy for thinking of me!

The Brandenburg Concert-o!

Late last night U2.com announced that U2 were going to play in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on November 5th as part of the EMTV Awards Show. Their appearance also marks the beginning of the Fall of the Wall celebrations marking 20 years since the Berlin Wall came down and Germany was re-united. I can hardly believe it was that long ago!

10,000 free tickets were up for grabs from 9am CET, I tried for them (though it would have been a bad time financially for me to go, I've always wanted to go to Berlin and some U2 things you just have to have a go for no matter what don't you?) but the site either froze or locked me out. Oh well, I never win anything anyway! The performance will be broadcast during the Awards show, the U2 set is supposed to be 20 minutes long, I hope they show all of it. At least I'll be warm and snug watching it on my TV, Berlin in November can be very chilly!

U2 At The Echo Awards In Germany

U2 played at the Echo Awards in Germany last night and as usual with the various award ceremonies they performed at they were first on. Bono was pulling some Fly moves from the past, I think he needs to work on something new on that score, we don't want Zoo Part II. I must say though I think that the band nailed the song at this gig, Bono took charge of the vocals in the "sound" part, voice strong and didn't lose track of it. I felt that Bono lacked some of the energy he had at the Brits though and there was no revealing of the satanic eyes this time. Interesting to see how the song and performance are developing.

Watch the performance here

Ring My Bell Bono!

Seems U2 have finished recording in Dublin, for now anyway. Bono was out and about today with his other job meeting politicians and representatives of DATA in Berlin. He's like a mischevious boy with that bell!