March 2026. Cologne. Our lads had headed down to the banks of the Rhine on our last afternoon in Cologne, and while joining them for a Kolsch at Martinswinkel (stop it) seemed appealing, those familiar outside seats at Pfaffen looking on to the main square won out. But the boys were still down in the old fish market...

Yes, it’s edited March 2026. The Belgisches Viertel. Cologne. Our last day in Cologne, a day carrying our luggage around, but that’s OK because I follow Mrs RM’s packing guidance. I should stop promoting her blog; she’s getting a thousand view a day which is the same as me without the North Bergen data farms....

No, the bloke with the sword waver isn’t a famous American real ale drinker you might know. March 2026. Cologne. Germany. You left me and our lads in Kupferhut in the Cologne suburb of Mülheim, finishing our second Gaffel and deciding that we were never going to get a third, so let’s get to the Palladium early and...

March 2026. Mulheim. Cologne. Our last night of three in Cologne, time for a gig out in the slightly edgier suburb of Mülheim, the only place we’d see much “diversity” (most of it in Turkish kebab shops). Seven minutes on the train, 25 15 minutes walk to our show at the Palladium. Doors don’t open till 8; plenty of...

March 2026. Cologne. Germany. Back from Bonn on our last night with the lads in Germany, with a BIG indie gig (not Nicole) to come in Cologne. Indie gigs don’t start till late, so no rush; I walked Mrs RM back to our ring-road hotel and popped in Paffgen for a quick couple of the best Kolsch in town. You remember...

March 2026. Bonn. Germany. More highlights from our half day in Bonn, which seems to have stolen the Pied Piper from Hamelin for its pedestrian crossing. Apart from schnitzel and a beer, the essential activity in Bonn is a visit to Haus der Geschichte Bonn, 10 minutes south of the station by tram or underground...

March 2026. Bonn. Germany. You can’t really claim to have visited a German city till you’ve bought a pastry in Rewe, misunderstood the local transport system, and checked in a beer on Untappd. At Brauhaus Bonnsch you go for the cloudy Kolsch in a weird vessel that’s vaguely reminiscent of that Lees glass you stole...

March 2026. Bonn. Germany. 3 nights in Cologne, 1 new city (Wuppertal), 3 revisits. The only memory I had of former West German capital Bonn, 11 years ago on a post-exam (his, not mine) trip was a long closed kneipe, and the Haribo shop. In 2005 James came away with a kilogram bag for a fiver; more restraint was...

March 2026. Cologne. Germany. With mild alarm I realised that our two lads had actually been to nearly all the Old Town pubs, having arrived a day earlier and stayed out after Monday’s Proper Kolsch Day Out. Never seen them drunk. They recommended “Salzgasse”, but I needed to try the craft bar, which tellingly our...

March 2026. Cologne. Germany. Back in Cologne from Dusseldorf, an early night we admired the Dom, then persuaded Mrs RM that despite our exertions, another tick in the 2006 German Beer Guide was required. Perhaps it’s the name, but I’d wanted to visit Sünner im Walfisch, between Heumarkt and Fischmarkt. Nothing like...

March 2026. Dusseldorf. Germany. You can’t come to Dusseldorf and just do one Braurei, even if that one is Uerige. I’d made a list, I was checking it twice. But I already knew I had to pop in Schlussel on the Bolkerstraße, one of the world’s great pub streets. 3 years ago with the lovely Southworths we’d had to...

March 2026. Dusseldorf. Germany. I realise some of you have never been to Uerige, one of my Top 5 pubs in the world*. So I may struggle to explain the appeal of standing at an outside bench by the Rhine, drinking endless 0,25l measures of an Alt I can only describe as “a bit like Sam Smiths, innit ?”, waiting for an...