Around the World in 80 Dresses

I spent my last Indian summer day at Frankfurt's newly refurbished Altstadt , the medieval town centre. The round square in front of the Römer , the 600 years old city hall and the surrounding timber-framed houses are restored to their former picturesque beauty. From there it is a short walk to the river banks of the Main with their subtropical park on one side and the string of museums on the left bank. © Städel Museum At Frankfurt`s main art gallery, the Städel  I had a surprise encounter with Lotte Laserstein. The Berlin based Jewish painter had one great subject, the new woman, the independant city girl of the twenties hatching out of the protective cocoon the Belle Epoque had kept her in. Lotte's bold portraits remindend me of another German born lady painter I greatly cherish, of Irma Stern from Cape Town (see post March 20, 2018). I felt elated in the company of this Damengesellschaft / ladies gathering, a name the museum cleverly attributes to the...

I spent a couple of lovely golden autumn days in Frankfurt where my two daughters are living. The European banking capital surprises me every time I am visiting. I love to stroll along the river, to get immersed in the busy streets of downtown Main-hattan or to watch the mostly Asian tourists taking pictures of the medieval town centre. Hardly any other European town of this size can boast of such a concentration of high rises, while preserving the heritage of an old market place. Smart young bankers rub shoulders with newly arrived Eastern Euopean immigrants and tourists from China and Japan. © Oper Frankfurt On my first evening my daughter had invited me to Antonin Dvorak's opera Rusalka. I put on a smart dress from Promod and my daughter's golden scarf. Happily, I indulged in the longing call of the French horn and the silvery drops of the harp evoking the romantic scenery of the water nymph's tragic love for her prince. Her aria to the moon was captivating. Fr...