BeSPOKE 07

hotel villa KenneDy’s
presidential sUite is FUll
oF works oF art, CoMForts
and an exCellent seleCtion
oF liQUers and ChoColates.
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new friends who i am struggling to find a common
language with. as göethe often did, i return to my
room a little too late and after a few too many beers.
the following morning i wander into the banking
quarter. the city has as many as 300 of which 180
are foreign. i go up to the roof top of the main tower
and the city’s mixture of modern and historic is clear
from here, a city organism in continual evolution.
i meet a national star, the weather man with his
mascot Fridolin who ventures forth in all weathers
to tell the germans their weather forecast directly
from the clouds. Frankfurt has only relatively recently
made peace with its past and this is evident in the
late restoration work on its historic districts. but it has
done it in style and put to rest the fears of its citizens
that it would be famous for its banks alone, for its
unsuccessful euro monument, as the city of money.
these are fears that are as groundless as those of the
father of the famous writer göethe - who was born
and grew up in Frankfurt - who feared that his son
was a good for nothing and would devote himself
to a life of vice. the banks of the Main actually contain
no fewer than 40 museums all of which have
restaurants and laboratories and are open until late.
the cultural range is vast. For me, the stadël, work of
botticelli and bellini, was unmissable as was the Mak
for contemporary art but numerous themes are
covered here. it is evening again now, however, and
my last date awaits me. don Carlos at the new opera
house. My date in evening dress is an acquaintance
that i am happy to have been able to get to know
better, a city in happy harmony between the slow
pace of historic contemplation and the fast pace of
modern life.
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