koln & strasbourg and stuff...

http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/fs-muwi/platten/ (good guide to Cologne's record shops in German; there are no maps but I found a German map site which would look them up from the addresses on the site, can't find it now, will see if I can find the printouts at home)

I know nothing about Strasbourg, sorry.

search: tarte flambe, picon beer, vendage tardive gewurztraminer, and the clock.

I might be going to Köln in December. That part of Germany is famous for Christmas markets so I hear. And they're real eat-and-drink fests, not just rows of market stalls.

I gather its very nice in Strasbourg before xmas with all the decorations and stuff/

jeff w, when are you there?

Koln v Strasbourg cathedrals is a hard one to call. Koln is the original all singing all dancing Gothic collosus - one of the largest buildings in the world. Good climb up tower, some (not many) breathtaking artefacts, such as the shrine of the three kings, one of the most important in Europe, and some good stained glass. BUT like all really huge and perfect buildings a little soulless - partly explained by it having been largely finished in the c19, a German nationalist project inspired by discovery of original drawings.

Much of the rest of the city centre was bombed by us, and is more like a livelier version of Plymouth. There are likewise other important and amaxing churches -- rebuilt after the war.

The modern art gallery next to the museum has a first rate collection of c20 German art. Lots of neue sachlikskeit ('new reality') stuff, which is full of the drama of the 1930s and very relevant now.

Near there we saw a street called Judengasse, but I'm sure this is a translation problem.

Strasbourg I've not been to, but I believe much more of the medieval core exists, so a more 'charming' place; culturally interesting because of that Alsation german/french border business.

If I had the choice I'd go for this cathedral over Cologne cathedrals: the west front of Strasbourg is genuinely breathtaking, much more tense and imaginative than Cologne's Cecil B De Mille approach to architecture; inside much of it is c13 and c12, so again more dark and interesting than Cologne. There's a famous column lined with beautiful angels all the way up.

Germany gives good Xmas: you'll come back with much more tasteful kitsch goodies than you'll find here, if that's your bag.

Koln v Strasbourg cathedrals is a hard one to call. Koln is the original all singing all dancing Gothic collosus - one of the largest buildings in the world. Good climb up tower, some (not many) breathtaking artefacts, such as the shrine of the three kings, one of the most important in Europe, and some good stained glass. BUT like all really huge and perfect buildings a little soulless - partly explained by it having been largely finished in the c19, a German nationalist project inspired by discovery of original drawings.

Much of the rest of the city centre was bombed by us, and is more like a livelier version of Plymouth. There are likewise other important and amaxing churches -- rebuilt after the war.

The modern art gallery next to the museum has a first rate collection of c20 German art. Lots of neue sachlikskeit ('new reality') stuff, which is full of the drama of the 1930s and very relevant now.

Near there we saw a street called Judengasse, but I'm sure this is a translation problem.

Strasbourg I've not been to, but I believe much more of the medieval core exists, so a more 'charming' place; culturally interesting because of that Alsation german/french border business.

If I had the choice I'd go for this cathedral over Cologne cathedrals: the west front of Strasbourg is genuinely breathtaking, much more tense and imaginative than Cologne's Cecil B De Mille approach to architecture; inside much of it is c13 and c12, so again more dark and interesting than Cologne. There's a famous column lined with beautiful angels all the way up.

Germany gives good Xmas: you'll come back with much more tasteful kitsch goodies than you'll find here, if that's your bag.

http://seaboard.pitas.com

they also have a great bookshop at the railway station so I heard.

I am going to Strasbourg, soon. Aside from the above, anyone have any Strasbourg tips?