Fabulous 4* Fun - Free Chocolate Included

Advantages: Chocolates on the pillow!
Disadvantages: Full of the traveling English on coach trips to the Xmas markets.

...for the price (the same money would barely have got us a small twin in a pension in the centre) and I would highly recommend this hotel for a stay in the city. Novotel Köln City Bayenstrasse 51 50678 Köln Novotel link: http://www.novotel.com/novotel/fichehotel/gb/nov/3127/fichehotel.shtml Quidco link: http://www.quidco.com/accorhotels/...

zoe_page 09.12.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Novotel Köln City, Cologne

Enjoy Cologne

Advantages: Close to Cologne Cathedral and shopping areas
Disadvantages: Breakfast expensive 14 euros per person per day

......

isawilda 13.07.2006 (05.06.2007) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Mercure Köln Severinshof, Cologne

piano time

Advantages: amazing piano improvisation
Disadvantages: not for people who don't appreciate improvisation

...One of the most respected pianists of our time, Keith Jarrett, gives with the "Koln concert" a good definition of what improvisation is. Innovation, creativity, the feeling of uncertainty. Keith Jarrett is the kind of pianist that emerged during the 60's deeply influenced by Bill Evans and got mixed up with all sorts of jazz styles: fusion, bop, funk, avant garde and even classical music. In this recording you can find all his musical influences, concentrated in an improvisational way, unfolding in front of your eyes, or maybe ears. The result is quite amazing, if you think that Keith Jarrett wnated to actually cancel this concert because the piano that he was provided with, was not of top quality. For people who love piano and moreover improvisation in general, this is certainly a priority choice....

kafouroutsos 08.02.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Koln Concert, The (24 January 1975) - Keith Jarrett

Heinzelmännchen's Home

Advantages: famous sights, the river Rhine
Disadvantages: none that I could find out in a day

...HEINZELMÄNNCHEN?S HOME The other day I was in Köln am Rhein, the fourth largest German city with nearly one million inhabitants, Cologne on the Rhine for you, Colonia Agrippina for the Old Romans; the wife of Emperor Claudius was born on the banks of the Rhine and elevated her ?colonia? to the status of a city in the year 50 A.D. I don?t know if you associate anything with Köln (the ?ö? is pronounced like the ?u? in burn), Germans think of Carnival, the Cathedral and Eau de Cologne. I don?t know any other city where the main attraction is right beside the train station (or rather vice versa), you leave the building and there, smack bang, is the Cathedral, the two towers are 157m high, it?s not possible not to be impressed. You cross a square and walk up a flight of stairs on which people sit - and unfortunately also eat...

MALU 17.06.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Cologne (Germany)

Can I Have a Sauerkraut Moonshake

Advantages: Superb Chilled Out Krautrock
Disadvantages: Ever so slightly self indulgent

.... The line up on this album was Michael Karoli : Guitar, Damo Suzuki : Vocal, Jaki Liebezeit : Drums, Irmin Schmit : Keyboards and Holger Czukay: Bass. Can began the recording of Future Days in 1972 in Cologne (Köln to those of you who are rather pedantic about this), and by all accounts this was a rather balmy summer. The band had just returned from a holiday and the musical differences within the group had been examined and made workable, what ever that meant. Can were one of those bands that seemed to thrive when the creative differences within the group were at their highest, besides bands should never be mutual admiration societies, when that happens the result is U2 or worse still Genesis from the late 70's onwards. Upon listening to the album you get a definite feel that the inclement weather of the Köln summer of 1972 had a major...

Champ666 16.02.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Future Days [Remastered] [Hybrid SACD] - Can

Crazy Carnival

Advantages: some people love it
Disadvantages: some don't

...Ask Germans what they associate with the city of Cologne, Köln in German (the ´ö´is pronounced like the ´u ´ in burn), and I bet you´ll hear, ´Dom und Karneval (cathedral and carnival)´ or the other way round. (There´s fierce competition between the cities Aachen, Düsseldorf, Mainz and Köln (all in the west of Germany, the so-called Rhineland) each proclaiming itself the keeper of the one and only original carnival, from the outside, however, Köln appears to be the epicentre (don´t tell the inhabitants of the other cities that I said that!) As the cathedral is always there and right in the centre, it´s impossible for tourists not to notice it, Karneval on the other hand (I´m using the German terms from now on because there are different terms in the different parts of Germany) is not noticeable all the year round, although it starts...

MALU 11.02.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Carnival in Germany

Been There, Done That, Read The Book

Advantages: Funny take on Europe from an American's point of view
Disadvantages: Slightly dated, noticably especially in the names of some countries

...Amsterdam engage in. My favourite part of the book, though, has to be the references to places I?ve been and there are lots of these. Thought Köln cathedral was too tall to climb, did you Bill? Did it when I was 6 years old, all they way to the top, aswell. Found the Mona Lisa disappointing and the Centre Pompidou, well, odd, huh? Spot on. Milan was far too industrialised and not Italian enough? I agree. Got fed up with the Mozart Kügeln in Salzburg and Vienna did you? Us too (and a question, does anyone buy the things? Or do they just sit there forever surrounded by signs claiming ?4+1? which you are supposed to interpret as ?5 for the price of 4??). Says Bryson about life in non-English speaking Europe, ?you can?t even reliably cross a street without endangering your life? So true. There a little green man isn?t a sign that it...

zoe_page 09.04.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Neither Here No There - Bill Bryson

Tango Mango it is Not

Advantages: Great Free Form Experenental Rock
Disadvantages: Can be a bit much if you are not in the mood

...Can were formed in 1968 in Cologne (Köln) as "Inner Space", comprising of Holger Czukay (Bass), Irmin Schmidt (Keyboards), both of whom were music teachers who had studied under Karlheinz Stockhausen, Michael Karoli (Guitar) who was a pupil of Czukay, and Jaki Liebezeit (Drums), along with David Johnson (reeds, winds, electronics and tape manipulation). In the autumn of 1968 they were joined by American vocalist Malcolm Mooney whose ranting contrasted the start minimalism of the music. Johnson left shortly after the arrival of Mooney, who would leave in 1969 apparently for mental health reasons. Malcolm Mooney was then replaced by Damo Suzuki; a Japanese traveler found busking outside a café. Suzuki's presence was less confrontational than Mooney's, his multi-lingual often incomprehensible vocal style added a certain element to...

Champ666 01.03.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Tago Mago (Remastered) [Hybrid SACD] - Can

Been There, Done That, Read the Book

Advantages: ..
Disadvantages: ..

..., Gstaad” and be amazed at the, ahem, naked bed top wrestling that certain people in Amsterdam engage in. My favourite part of the book, though, has to be the references to places I’ve been. Thought Köln cathedral was too tall to climb, did you Bill? Did it when I was 6 years old, all 323 (or however many it was) steps of it. Found the Mona Lisa disappointing and the Centre Pompidou, well, odd, huh? Spot on. Milan was far too industrialised and not Italian enough? I agree. Got fed up with the Mozart Kügeln in Salzburg and Vienna did you? Us too (and a question, does anyone but the things? Or do they just sit there forever surrounded by signs claiming “4+1” which you are supposed to interpret as “5 for the price of 4”?). Says Bryson about life in non-English speaking Europe, “you can’t...

zoe_page 27.08.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of The Lost Continent / Neither Here Nor There

Dead Jewish Worms and Other Stories

Advantages: Very German, pleasant place, fantastic ice cream
Disadvantages: None

..., on the banks of which Worms sits. We contemplated walking up to Köln, but then remembered it’s more than 2 hours on the super snazzy fast trains, so it might take us a while. The Rotes Haus is the only surviving residential Renaissance building, but isn’t that interesting – pretty much, as the name suggests, just a red house. The rest of the town --------------------- Worms has a lovely town center, with a proper “German” feel. There is a pedestrianised zone with a semi-large selection of shops including all the big names I associate with Germany: Galleria Kaufhof, Schlecker, Orsay, Tschibo, DM, New Yorker, C+A. The selection of souvenirs on offer is not extensive, but there are lots of places selling postcards if you want to send “Greetings from Worms” to the folks back home. Eating...

zoe_page 29.04.2003 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Worms