A few weeks ago Dave and I decided to do a "last minute" day trip to Cologne, (or Koln, as the locals know it) in Germany. The first thing we found out was that yes, cologne, the perfume product was indeed invented in Cologne. An Italian expatriate, Johann Maria Farina invented it in the early 1700's. He named the product "Eau de Cologne (water from cologne), after his new hometown, Cologne, and it was also known to be made by Mr. Farina. As the fragrance became really popular the rights to the name Farina was bought by Wilhelim Mulhens (by a Farina family that was not related to Johann Farina, the inventor and original manufacturer). Mulhens made his own version of the fragrance and named it Farina. After court battles with the original Farina (Johann's) family, the grandson of Mulhens decided to change the name of the cologne to 4711. 4711 was the address of his Wilhelm Mulhens' residence on the eve of the French Revolution. After changing hands a few times, the 4711 company is now owned by the original Farina family and another German company, Maurer & Wirtz. It's funny how it all came back to the original family owning the product, though i'm not sure how close it is to the original formula. You can still buy it in grocery stores and drug stores, even in the states. My friend Amy Doyle pointed out the 4711 fragrance to me when we were kids. She always had (has) this uncanny ability to discover cool and unusual products. (Hi, Amy!)
An ad for the current product:
I loved the style and details of this building and i later noticed that the number "4711" was in the metal decorative details. Must have been one of the headquarters of the 4711 company!
The massive and famous cathedral - one of the largest and most elaborate in the world. Lots of kids skateboarding all around it.
Ah, young German love.
I usually don't get so into entranced by the carvings on a cathedral but these i just loved. Eve is on the right and she was surrounded by a serpent. I love the guy's beard. Dont know who he is - anyone???
Adam on the left and Noah on the right. Love how 3-dimensional and illustrative these are. i especially love how Noah is holding an arc. Even non-catholics like me can figure out who they are.
I like how Moses looks like he's primping his hair. NOt sure who is on the right? King David? Again, can someone help? Judy???
Dave and I decided to take the 550 steps up to the very top of the cathedral. It was a very very narrow spiral staircase. Very crowded, and kind of treacherous-people coming up and people going down in the same narrow space. So glad it was not a hot day. I don't recommend doing this in the summer!
Sadly, at the top there was lots of grafitti. The writers planned ahead and brought silver and white ink pens so the writing would show up against the black stone. It was actually kind of pretty.
At one point during the climb you stepped out of the narrow staircase into this open space where you suddenly had a view to the sky and the next round of stairs to the very top.
Some teens having just arrived at the train station, which is right next to the cathedral.
Some delicious "bretzels". You give these sweet, almond pastries to your sweetheart -it's a seasonal thing.
Jelly-filled donuts were also a big item for some reason. Don't know if they were invented in Cologne or something. We tried one but they weren't so great.
There was some holiday going on where everyone was wearing costumes in this bar.
No comments:
Post a Comment