Travel Jerusalem to Köln

Sherut drivers hate East Jerusalem. It’s a Palestinian (The Arab people prefer that name always now) area and Jews are not welcome. My sherut dared to come up the road of the hotel but the guards would not let him go round the front drive to get out again. After a clever piece of reversing we managed to escape to pick up other passengers.

I like the sheruts because it enables me to see all the suburbs of Jerusalem. They will coast around the city until they have filled all the seats. Then and only then we will set off for Tel Aviv airport. The fare for all this is ten euros

Tel Aviv airport is amazing. Who would think of putting a circular waterfall in the middle of London airport? There’s heaps of room to relax and buy souvenirs. I have a Sun D’Or cheap flight to Paris.

It’s strange how I found this flight. If you go on the El Al web site, you’ll find a few destinations in a different colour. These are Sun D’Or flights, the charter arm of El Al. This is how I found the Iraklion to Tel Aviv flight in the first place. But how do you find other flights?

I tried a few more destinations and they found no flights for the days I wanted. On clicking the “back to the beginning” sign at the bottom of the page, I was thrown on to a page with many more destinations. I then chose Paris as my destination. But Paris was not on the initial page. I’m sure there must be a better way of getting a Sun D’Or flight than this but I managed it and I’m not complaining!!! Perhaps El Al does not want a flight costing less than a quarter of their regular fare appearing on the same page!!

This was a ‘Hebrew only’ flight. The food was kosher and delicious but I couldn’t manage all of the enormous pot of hummus included with it. It was interesting to see that Orthodox Jews wear their hats only for takeoff and landing. I have no idea why. Another thing I noticed was that Orthodox dads seem very much involved with looking after the children. Changing nappies on the front of the cabin – no worries. They seem really caring but I suppose we all are as well.

I arrive in Paris. I have a room in one of those ‘upstairs’ hotels you see all around the city. The minimum you need in a hotel room is there and lots of smiles in reception. The hotel is exactly opposite the Gare de Nord as I have to catch a train from there after my stay.

As soon I have dumped my stuff I set off down the Rue Lafayette and soon reach the Galerie Lafayette. There seem to be bits of Galerie Lafayette everywhere!!! But it’s the Opera that I have come to see.

I creep inside and nearly manage to buy a ticket for a Gounod opera I have never heard of. But a kindly lady grabs my arm and says, “We sit here. I will get the first ticket and you will get the second”. I read the sign and it says that people sitting on this seat will get the ‘last minute’ tickets available 45 minutes before the performance.

“You’re actually going to sit there for two and a half hours?”, I say. “Of course!”, she says.

I make my apologies and hasten off to look at the great sights of Paris. The church of Mary Magdelene, as I like to call it, looks even more magnificent than when I last saw it. It seems to fit in to Paris whereas the similar Medici Chapel in Florence gave me the impression that it was an alien space.

I’m not a great Paris lover but I am always overawed when I visit. I’ve spent a lot of time underneath Beaubourg in Boulez’s cave where they used to have the most advanced computer music system in the world.

My funniest memory was casually attending a computer musicology conference underground where there were only five participents. Then one of them fell asleep and started snoring!!! One of them asked the chairman whether they should wake him up or not. “No, it looks as though he needs the sleep”, said the chairman to the obvious agreement of the other three!! But it still goes in their yearly report as a paper presented even if it’s only to four people!

I receive the ‘Travelzoo’ newsletter every now and then. One offer was a Paris to Koln first class trip including two meals for 50 euros from Thalys, a company which seems to occupy part of the Gare de Nord with Eurostar. It seemed a bargain so I grabbed a ticket to coincide with my Paris trip.

One of the most important aspects of this train for me was that it was supposed to provide internet access all the way to Köln. Imagine my disappointment when the train announced that, “owing to technical problems, internet access will not be available today on this train”,

The train looks like any TGV but the “meals” did not amount to much. I asked the waiter if he had any decent wine and he dug out a really decent bottle. He then returned later and offered me a couple more free bottles. (Like an idiot, I refused – Can you believe that?).

A couple of British musicians got on in Brussels. They were on their way to a recording session in Köln. Life is still tough for those musicans good enough to make their living from music. On the other hand, they are looked after and respected in Germany. Curiously this has always been the case with jazz musicians. I later discovered that one of them was the drummer for an incredibly famous group.

Arriving in Köln, I find that my hotel is almost in the cathedral! I walk around to the concert hall and discover that there is a performance of Handel’s ‘Rinaldo’ this evening. It’s a wonderful group from Ravenna called Accademia Bizantina so I am delighted.

First things first – I hasten to the food court of the railway staion and buy a Krakauer for my tea. Yummy!!! I love German sausages!!! A Krakauer is a very thick and long sausage rather like a frankfurter only much bigger. I’m given an enormous dollop of mustard which is bigger than the amount which would fill the average container I buy at home. The rolls are freshly baked and too hot to touch at first.

The performance of Renaldo is superb. One of the original castrati roles is sung by a countertenor but another castrato role of Rinaldo was sung by Varduhi Abrahamyan. What a voice and what facility she had with those difficult runs!!! (One of her reviewers called her voice “smokey”!!) But all the performers were excellent. It’s so nice to hear a show with no weak links. and what a treat for my first night in Koln!!! I’ve posted probably the most popular aria from ‘Rinaldo’ below this note on my Facebook home page.

The highlight of Sunday for me was what Koln cathedral called in translation “Evensong”. Well, it’s not like any other Evensong I’ve been to. On the other hand, the High Mass is a very formal affair in the nave with heaps of incense while the choir sings from the side halfway down the name.

The most pleasant aspect of this ‘Evensong’ is that the ‘service’ is held in the chancel with us sitting behind the choir on either side as in England. They have a large mixed choir which easily fills the space above with sound – and that’s a huge space in Köln cathedral! It reminded me of real ‘Evensongs’ in English cathedrals on wet cold evenings with only a few people besides the choir and clergy. The most puzzling thing about the whole affair is when an acolyte rushes in, waves incense all over the place, then rushes out!!!!

But the choir sings almost non-stop for an hour. Cantatas, anthems – you name it – they plough through it!! When the service finishes, we all proceed to a chapel where the choir sings another cantata sounding a little like Bruckner. I must confess I light a candle as they sing.

What a welcome to Germany!!