CITIES OF THE MONTH / December
FRANKFURT
Bar Shuka
30
/ airBaltic.com
Fly to
Frankfurt
from
99
€
round trip
Heinz Mack during the
filming of the Tele-Mack in
the Tunisian desert, 1968
CityXmas 2017
It could be the most savage exhibition Frankfurt
has ever witnessed. Wilderness has occupied the
Schirn Kunsthalle to show how various art styles
from 1900 to the present day have expressed the
wild and untamed through various means and
techniques: painting, graphic art, sculptures,
photos, video installations. Thirty-four renowned
artists from Max Ernst to Gerhard Richter present
their unique contextual visions of the concept. The
showcase begins with The Hungry Lion Throws
Itself on the Antelope (1905), post-impressionist
Henri Rousseau’s iconic depiction of nature in
a toy-like jungle, and contemporary artist Jacob
Kirkegaard concludes the story with Melt (2016),
a dramatic and foggy sound installation featuring
recordings of Greenland’s melting ice (Römerberg
6; schirn.de; until February 3, 2019).
If you have four or five hours in Frankfurt
between your connecting flights, do not spend
them at the airport. Head straight to the city
centre and dive into an ultimate winter holiday
experience at Germany’s largest and brightest
Christmas market. Locals proudly call it the old-
est such market in Europe, having continued the
tradition since the 14 th century. Once you arrive
in Frankfurt’s historical centre, you can’t miss the
Weihnachtsmarkt – its more than 200 stalls are
spread around the Römerberg, Hauptwache, and
Paulsplatz areas. Another very special market not
to miss is CityXmas, which takes place on the top
level of the Konstablerwache car park until the last
day of 2018 and provides a beautiful view of the
city’s skyscrapers (Carl-Theodor-Reiffenstein-Platz;
cityxmas.de).
Nowadays it’s hard to imagine any European
city without the exotic and trendy Israeli cuisine
beloved by restaurants and creative street-food
chefs. Tel Aviv-inspired gastronomic delights are
now also found at the revamped 25hours Hotel
The Trip in Frankfurt’s Bahnhofsviertel area.
Here, at a restaurant named Bar Shuka, tradition
unites with modern influences from the Middle
East in such savoury dishes as Jerusalem kebabs
with the best selection of veggies and grilled meats
spiced up with traditional za’atar and sumac.
Local designers Morgen Interiors have created a
lively ambience with a raw industrial framework
of concrete filled with ornamental accents such
as tiles and straw lampshades. The open-spaced
kitchen contains a real gem – a 400-year-old oak
chefs’ table (Niddastraße 56; barshuka.com).