next year in jerusalem

Upon my arrival in Cologne, I was able to locate:

My hostel (a grimy fleabag and I think the man at the desk was on X when I arrived)

A cash machine (not my bank)

My lunch (camembert, tomato, lettuce on ciabatta facing the entrance to the Dom)

The only expressionist building in the city (looked a bit lonely)

The Walter König remainders bookstore (someone’s written a biography about Raoul Hausmann and Hannah Höch’s relationship on sale for 8 euro, oy!)

The cable car (turns out I’m much more terrified of heights than I remembered)

Ear plugs (which, incidentally, in German are Ohrestöpsel or, colloquially, Ohropax, after an apparently popular brand. As I didn’t know the word, I simply said to one of the assistants at the Drogerie: Mein Mann ist ein Schnarcher [My husband is a snorer] and pointed vigorously to my ears.)

An ice cream cone

Three movie theaters that were not multiplexes (Metropolis, Filmpalette, FilmHaus Kino)

The night before I left for Cologne, I contemplated seeing The Cemetery Club at the 3001 Kino in Hamburg's Sternschanze. The film is an Israeli documentary featuring two women in a
discussion group that consists of aging Holocaust survivors who meet every Shabbat on Mount Herzl (not to be confused with the 1993 Ellen Burstyn comedy of the same name). But seeing as I had to get up early the next morning to catch the train, I decided against going. As I was wandering about Cologne the evening of my arrival, I stumbled upon a theater that was screening it for two nights (Filmpalette) but the show had just started five minutes before I made my discovery. I do not like to miss the openings of films, so I made a mental note to go back to see it the next day and saw Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant yuk it up in Music & Lyrics at the Metropolis instead.

On my second day, I found:

The medieval Jewish mikvah, or ritual bath, or Mikwe, as the Germans say (which I can’t help reading as Witwe, or widow. You actually procure a key at the Rathaus [city hall] and let yourself into a gated archaeological excavation.)

The storage depot for Galerie Michael Werner where I had an appointment to see some art

Galerie Michael Werner itself (to see their Per Kirkeby show)

Dinner (a concoction called "Koelschen Pizza" at a great cafe called Filmdose: melted cheese over Reibekuchenteig [grated potato dough] with tomatoes, ham, or mushrooms. It is like a potato latke, but even greasier because of the cheese. "Filmdose" doubles as a theater space but not as a screening room, oddly).

Filmpalette for the 6:15pm screening of The Cemetery Club (this theater was fantastic: generous velvet seats, fabric-lined walls, and so small that the projectionist enters the booth by going out onto the street and entering the neighboring door)

The Cemetery Club is hilarious if you have a Jewish grandmother.