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I’m not sure that this counts as traditional German cuisine, but there we go. It’s the Drachen City all you can eat Chinese restaurant, although I’m not entirely sure that there was much Chinese about it either.

There was a friendly welcome and the restaurant was quite busy for a Friday afternoon. There’s a reasonably wide selection of different items available, including some more healthier options. The server who took my order came over with a microphone and I wondered if there was some sort of welcome every customer had to make, but it was just him talking to the kitchen about what food needed replacing.

This is the Gaffel Kölsch served in entirely the wrong glass, but I don’t think that it would have made much difference. The beer was clean, light and uninspiring, but at least it didn’t intrude on the flavours of the food.

I don’t claim to be classy, as that heap of noodles, spring rolls, battered chicken, chicken skewers and green beans shows. It all tasted fine, nothing exceptional, but perfectly acceptable. They had overdone the salt though, although perhaps if I hadn’t had three platefuls then I might not have noticed.

There was never any depth of spice to the food, although one of the sauces that I piled up had some heat which placated me somewhat. There was quite a focus on chicken above all other meats, but that is something that is fine for me. As another plus, as the food was constantly replaced it was all hot and nothing looked like it had been lingering for long.

To balance out the salt, there’s a heap of cherries in a sugary sauce. And some bubblegum ice cream, as that’s definitely a staple item in Shanghai.

The pricing was all very affordable, around £14 for the unlimited food and the customer base seemed primarily local people rather than tourists. The food was replaced promptly and there was also a salad area, but I forgot about that when collecting food.

The restaurant was all clean, efficient and well managed, so I can see why it’s well reviewed online. Although I didn’t get a fortune cookie like the other tables, perhaps my future is so secure I don’t need it impacted by cookies trying to divert fate.

This museum was founded in 1901 based on the private collection of Wilhelm Joest and it has historically functioned as a repository for approximately 60,000 artefacts and 100,000 photographs from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Oceania. In recent years, under a new direction, the museum has moved away from the “cabinet of curiosities” model, instead focusing on decolonisation and restitution. It’s designed to be a ‘woke’ venue, but using the word in a positive manner to be inclusive and to redefine how the collections are shown.

I’m not entirely sure where the museum is going with this, as their website doesn’t explain and I didn’t understand it when it was there. I don’t know whether they mean the museum, the exhibition or the wider global community. I’m assuming they mean that indigenous collections are not rooted in the past, they are still relevant and not part of history.

I think it’s true that some of the museum’s original collection notes from the early twentieth century treated the indigenous exhibits as something which were rather basic and inferior. There was certainly a colonial mindset when this museum was put together.

I’ll be mentioning this a few times, but I found this museum slightly hard work as the curation seemed a little muddled to me. But, understanding is important, so I’ve used AI to try and piece together the messaging the museum was trying to display. I’d add that I’ve scoured the museum’s website, but they haven’t really burdened themselves with explanations, so I’ll have to make them up as best as I can.

ChatGPT comes up with a meaning:

“So the museum piece is probably doing two things at once. It is showing individual posters as graphic art, but it is also recreating the overwhelming feel of seeing them in numbers, as part of a visual environment rather than as one polite framed object. In other words, the installation is preserving something that originally lived on streets, walls and music scenes, and bringing that noisy, popular world into the rather cleaner and more controlled arrangement of a museum gallery. That contrast is part of the point.”

Google Gemini goes with:

“The exhibit also explores the intersection of local struggle and global solidarity, as seen in the juxtaposition of traditional tropical cumbia icons with modern civil rights imagery like the “Black Lives Matter” movement. This layering of meaning transforms the posters from simple concert advertisements into complex political artefacts that advocate for justice and recognition for marginalised communities. By placing these works in a museum context, the display validates a form of “street” aesthetics as a sophisticated language of resistance, proving that the bold, clashing colours are not merely decorative but are essential to the visibility of those who have historically been sidelined by mainstream culture.”

I’m not very artistic and I had to look the word ‘cumbia’ up, but apparently it refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America.

I’ll go with that, it’s an art form with a political message that is relevant to visitors. It gives visibility to those who perhaps need it the most and it also looks visually appealing in the museum. So there we go, I think that makes sense.

I thought that as I was in Cologne that I’d better visit a couple of bars and this is a Bavarian restaurant which specialises in Augustiner beers.

I’d add that it was a bit hot to be sitting outside, but I thought I’d embrace summer. Although I was annoyed it was too hot, at least there were no insects ready to sting me. In many ways, sitting outside is an annoyance, as I have to turn my screen brightness up, so it’s more efficient battery wise to just look at my phone inside. But I suppose there’s people watching, one of the highlights of my life as I don’t get out much.

The service was friendly and efficient, with the whole environment feeling quite relaxed. I had checked in advance that they accepted cards, but I also thought I’d better check with the waitress and she confirmed that would be fine. I was pleased to note that no-one was smoking near me, I wouldn’t want that impacting the taste of my beer.

Every customer gets a glass with their own initials on. The beer was the Augustiner Dunkel, and it was pleasant enough with notes of toffee and caramel, with the drink being slightly sweet.

It was easy to pay at the end, although there’s a new trend in Germany to leave a tip, so I just left the 10% suggested tip to avoid any diplomatic incidents. I rather liked this venue, it’s very well reviewed and the Bavarian focused dishes looked plentiful and as expected. There were a few different beers to choose from as well from the brewery, with the prices being moderate.

I really like exhibits like this and when taking the photo I accidentally included the “Small Box – Big Impact” headline which does sum this up quite well. It’s the wooden ballot box that was used by Cologne City Council to make decisions between 1945 and 1957. With some foresight, the Mayor in 1957, Theo Burauen (1906-1987), decided to hand it over to the city museum. It seems that as a city mayor, he was a very popular one and it must have been a challenge to try and guide the city away from the Nazi era into a new future.

So, it’s a wooden box, but I liked it, this is the restoration of democracy in action.

This is a Jewish gravestone dating to 1323 and it commemorates the life of a lady called Rachel. I’ve already made reference to the synagogue built in 1280 and the pogrom of 1349. The gravestone was uncovered during excavations near the city hall in 1953 and it’s thought that it was hidden during that pogrom. The Jewish community were expelled from Cologne in 1424 and they didn’t return for centuries, so all memory of this gravestone would have been lost. In what has been a traumatic history for Jews in the city, at least the memory that this was meant to preserve has not been entirely lost.

Before the Second World War, Konrad Adenauer was best known as a Catholic politician of the Centre Party and as the long serving mayor of Cologne, where he developed a reputation for administrative competence, modernisation and a rather practical approach to urban Government.

Born in 1876, he rose through local politics during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic, helping shape Cologne’s infrastructure and civic life while also serving in wider Prussian politics. He was conservative, anti extremist and not remotely enchanted by the rise of National Socialism, which led to his removal from office after Hitler came to power in 1933. It seems that Hitler respected his ability to get things done, but his politics were too far removed for him to be allowed to remain in office. During the Nazi period he lived under suspicion, was at times arrested and remained politically sidelined.

After the war, Adenauer became one of the central architects of the new West Germany and a far larger figure than the pre war municipal politician might have suggested. As the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963, he tied West Germany firmly to the West through NATO, European integration and close relations with France, Britain and the United States. He died in 1967, at the age of 91 and remained as a member of the Bundestag until his death.

In post war history he is often seen as one of the founding fathers of modern democratic Germany and is also regarded as one of the founding fathers of the European Union. That’s quite a handy list of achievements and in a poll of Germans he was voted as the greatest of them all.

The painting is by Eduard Horst (1893-1966) and was painted in 1928, when Adenauer was Mayor of Cologne. The museum seems to be a little more guarded about his reputation, the information panel by the painting notes:

“He was assertive and sometimes authoritarian. On occasion, his political actions pushed the boundaries of legality.”

That’s not entirely a glowing summary of your life’s work.

I think that this is the best pub in Cologne and I’m unanimous in that as Mrs. Slocombe would say…..

Styled to look like a traditional bar, this is firmly on-trend as far as I’m concerned. The menu is on Untappd, there’s a wide range of craft beer and the vibe was welcoming and laid-back.

This is the first time that I’ve seen this at a German bar and it’s in a city where a few of the brewery bars don’t even willingly accept cards.

The bar arrangement and I’d note that I got there soon after it opened, although it got busier quickly.

The beer selection.

I like quirky decoration.

Raw fire in a bar, what could possibly go wrong….

The food menu.

But, back to the main event which was the beer. This is the Howling Wolf from Two Chefs Brewing who are based in Amsterdam, with the porter being rich with flavours of coffee and dark chocolate.

Next was the Alexander from Brouwerij Rodenbach of Belgium. This was very punchy from the cherries, lightly tart, rounded and suitably slightly sweet. I’m not very knowledgeable about Belgian beers, but I’m ready to learn….. It’s good to be flexible like that.

I then realised I hadn’t had anything German, which was a bit of an omission, so I went for the Death Luxury from the Sudden Death Brewing Company. This was heavy on the citrus, but refreshing, smooth and moreish.

I very much liked this bar, it was welcoming, informal, on-trend, interesting and had one of the best selections that I could see in the wider region, let alone just in Cologne. All very lovely.