Scowl, Nu?

Since we still are waiting for our kitchen to arrive from Ikea (scheduled for Tuesday morning), we have been relegated to eating out the last few days…

Breakfast on Thursday:
The local bakery next to our apartment.

Lunch on Thursday:
NY Bagel Sandwich. Real bagels, boiled and frozen in New York, and then final baked in Cologne. They also own the Ben and Jerry’s franchise for Cologne. Great bagels – I had a basic bagel with cream cheese and lox and was instantly transported back to the delis in New England.

Dinner on Thursday
la Conca d’Oro: Right around the corner from our apartment, we gave this Italian restaurant a chance since it is the closest pasta/pizza shop in the area. The food was much better than expected. Fantastic bruschetta, great chocolate mousse, exceptional lasagne and fresh Gaffel and Budweiser (the Czech stuff, not the American corn-water). H: Reichensbergerplatz.

Breakfast on Friday:
Croissants and coffee from the bakery across the street.

Lunch on Friday:
Chicken Farm: A little Greek stand selling all sorts of chicken stuff. Chicken burgers (Janet had one) with cheese, chicken döner (Avery had one), roasted chickens, fries (chicken free). Excellent quality and very affordable. H: Ebertplatz.

Dinner on Friday:
Konfuzius: Took a chance after the excellent chinese at Jade in Munich. What can we say? Not Jade, but still very good. Nice selection of Dim Sum (wor tip, char xiu bao, fried wontons), good main courses (Sichuan Chicken) and a nice selection of teas. A perfect place 10 minutes from home. H: Ebertplatz.

Lunch on Saturday:
McDonalds. I know… I know… I hate McDonalds too, but we were running errands downtown and needed sustinance to make it through the afternoon. Janet had the Chicken Big Mac. I had the new Bigger Mac. Yeah, we regret it. H: Pretty much everywhere.

Dinner on Saturday:
Tandoor Palace: One of the best Indian restaurants we have been to. Amazingly good papadums, a great lamb tikka appetizer, and the best Chicken Tikka Masala and Chicken Jalfrezi we have had in a long time. Also delivers through United Kitchens. H: Rudolfplatz.

Afterwards…
Ok, we needed to stop at our favorite Irish Pub, Jameson’s for a few Guinnesses and some whiskey. A perfect end to our first culinary adventures here in Cologne. H: Friesenplatz.

After almost two years in Munich, it was time for a change.

Why? Well, there were a few things. First off, I have changed jobs. The new position I have taken is wonderful – a new company with all A-Level players – people who I have wanted to work with and have known for years and an idea that I have wanted to develop since 1999.

But even if it wasn’t for the new job, we probably still would have left. Munich is a beautiful city, but in some ways, it just frustrated the hell out of us. Sure, it was beautiful, and if you love snow, skiing and the mountains, it is a perfect location. Unfortunately, for us, skiing is just a prelude to sitting in a pub nursing our bruises and enjoying a nice drink by the fire. Hell, I can do that without the potential damage to life and limb.

But take Munich out of the picture and where the hell am I? In Bavaria. Deep in Bavaria. Conservative, mildly-xenophobic, back-water farmland. Let’s be honest here. It’s the sticks. If you drive for an hour, do you know where you are? Yep – still in the sticks. An hour after that? Either Nürnberg or Brennero. Honestly, it takes a good amount of time before you’re in a different city, and most of that drive is through farmland and quaint little villages. Unfortunately, like skiing, quaint little villages don’t do much for us.

So, instead of the excessively expensive land of beer-by-the-liter, we’ve gone to the other extreme. We can still get beer-by-the-liter, but it takes five glasses to get there. Yep, the Scowlers are in Cologne.

Why Cologne? Well, first off, the job was fantastic… and we already have as many friends up here as we did in Munich. Plus, we’re more ale drinkers than lager lovers, so coming to the land of Kölsch isn’t the hardest thing for our tastebuds. But beyond that, it’s just the feel of the city… and it is a real city.

Cologne prides itself on its multiculti image. You can see it in the most subtle ways – the ticket machines for the subways are in 4 languages (Munich just put the first few English friendly machines in place at the main train station and the airport), and the grocery stores offer beer from all over the world (in Munich, if it was brewed more than 20 km from the city center, it was pretty much verboten). Plus, it’s the gay capital of Europe, which means our friends from San Francisco will have more fun when they come to visit.

Oh, and if we get sick of Cologne, just jump on the subway and end up in Bonn, or take the train for 30 minutes to Düsseldorf, or jump in the car and be in Brussels, Antwerp or Amsterdam in just two hours.

So, we’re now adopting Cologne as our new home. Our apartment even has a view of the Dom (the main cathedral)… sure, we can only see the tips of the spires, but it’s still an amazing sight to see every morning when we get up.

That’s all for now, and Kölle Alaaf!