Business travelers and foreign lobbyists don’t have much time for art and architecture, but they speak volumes about this city’s metamorphosis. A current exhibition of Magritte’s paintings is being held in celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth — and some visitors might find that the city he lived in now looks stranger than his pictures.

Perhaps it is not a lack of civil pride but a sense of the surreal that allows trees to grow out of abandoned buildings in the middle of Europe’s third richest city. That and a civic personality split between Dutch-speaking Flemish and French-speaking Walloons who agree on literally nothing.

Real estate developers have been the ones doing most of the juxtapositioning for the last two decades. Entire neighborhoods have been demolished and countless buildings of architectural interest have been leveled for monolithic office blocks, many occupied by the European Union bureaucracy. Among the casualties were masterpieces of modern architecture by Victor Horta and the art nouveau movement. Developers have also hit upon another method of destroying old buildings, so-called “Brusselization,” allowing them to decay to the point where demolition is unavoidable.

As a result, a typical Brussels street in the city center looks bizarre: Boarded-up 19th-century shops stand next to an abandoned red-brick factory, which adjoins an ’80s office block that has fins like a spaceship; sandwiched in between somewhere will be a peep show with a name like Paradoxe or Blue Chance. The boarded-up buildings sport more bilingual signs than a passerby can decipher: “Deviation WEGOMLEGGING” — in other words, “Ceci n’est pas un building! It is a stone suspended above your head.” A boarded-up building is also a readymade billboard, an economic resource the city fathers are eager to monopolize. Every derelict building bears the same warnings: “Ville de Bruxelles affichage communal reservi a l’administration STAD BRUSSEL GEMEENTELIJKE VOORBEHOUDEN AAN HET BESTUUR.” In other words, the city reserves the right to plaster boarded-up windows with its own poster art. Looking up and down most downtown streets, you can see such ruins, some disemboweled, some under scaffolding. More deviations, more posters.

The biggest piece of state-sponsored poster art is Berlaymont (Metro: Schumann), the headquarters building of the European Commission. Symbol for the future of an interdependent, united Europe, it has been under a white sheet for almost seven years and will remain so for many more. It may look like a Christo masterpiece, but the plastic is an expression of asbestos-removal functionalism rather than pomo aesthetics. Until its unveiling, EU Commission officials will remain dispersed around the city in 70 buildings.

Members of the European Parliament and their 3,500 administrative staff have recently moved into a $1.2 billion silver-glass palace. Europe’s press has been mocking them ever since, noting that each new office is equipped with a shower costing $12,000. A Danish member of parliament recently protested that each office has a computer, too, seeking to reassure the public that real work takes places inside. In fact, European taxpayers have been forced to endow their supranational parliamentarians with a second $1 billion silver-glass palace, recently completed in Strasbourg, where the Parliament meets for 60 sessions of the year and each member is assigned two offices, two showers and two computers (it’s a big building).

The big decisions, however, are not made by Europe’s Parliament; they are made by the European Commission, which spends almost $20 billion annually on programs managed directly from Brussels, about 20 percent of the entire EU budget. The EU’s own court of auditors estimates that nearly 25 percent has been wasted for three years running through fraud, mismanagement and lax oversight.

Scandals notwithstanding, Brussels’s 18,000 Eurocrats will have more power at the end of next year than this one. They are entering one of the most critical times in EU history. The pace of change is accelerating as the EU launches the Euro, deregulates telecommunications, pushes ahead with monetary union and adds several new members from Eastern Europe.

Getting briefed

Anyone doing business with the EU should make it a point to stop by The European Bookshop (rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 244, tel. 231 0435), just up the street from Berlaymont. There is a large selection of books explaining EU regulations and legislation. One of the most indispensable is “The European Public Affairs Directory,” which contains names, addresses, phone numbers and often e-mail addresses of decision-makers in trade associations, special-interest groups, law firms, media, diplomacy and European Union institutions. The American Chamber of Commerce (50 Avenue des Arts, Box 5, tel. 513 6770) also publishes an excellent guide, “Doing Business in Belgium.” The Chamber’s monthly luncheons provide a good opportunity to get to know expat executives. If you want an introduction to the local expat scene, along with listings of current films, exhibitions, etc., buy a copy of the weekly English-language magazine the Bulletin, available at most newsstands. (Note: 32 is the international calling code for Belgium and 02 is the city code for Brussels. If you are calling Brussels from outside Belgium, you dial 011 32 2 and the number; from within Belgium but outside Brussels, you dial 02 and then the number.)

Getting there and around

The train beats the plane (and the automobile) if you are traveling to or from a city within 400 miles of Brussels. High-speed trains are now setting the trend for business travel in Europe at a price that is dramatically lower than business-class air travel. Rail travel provides more quality time, too, with less hassle checking in and chasing taxis. Eurostar first-class compartments have wide seats, legroom and meals and drinks served at your seat. Equipped with laptop and mobile phone, a road warrior can work in peace.

Eurostar, with services between London and Paris and Brussels, has now been linked to another service that connects Paris and Brussels to Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Cologne by high-speed Thalys trains. The journey time between Paris and Brussels is 1:26; Brussels-Amsterdam takes 2:40; and Brussels-Cologne,2:30, soon to be cut to 1:45.

Brussels is readily explored on foot, just don’t try to stare down anyone behind a steering wheel. The Belgian word for “pedestrian” translates as “moving target.” The country has the second highest casualty rate for automobile accidents in Europe, and many of the victims are people who dare to walk across a road.

If it is a question of getting to a meeting, however, go to any train station, major hotel or Eurocracy building for a taxi. There are also stands at Porte de Namur, the Bourse and De Brouckère. But once you step in, you might regret it. Brussels’ taxi drivers have a habit of forgetting where they are and driving in circles to restore their memory. Cab fare might double, triple or quadruple as a result. You can ask in advance what the fare will be, or pretend to know the city like the back of your hand.

An excellent alternative is the public transportation system. Despite the inevitable confusion created by giving every destination name in both Dutch and French, the octopus of metro, rail, bus and trams is very efficient and goes almost anywhere. A ticket, or trajet, (buy them at metro and rail stations, on trams or buses) lets you jump on and off as often as you want for one hour. Stamp the ticket using the machines at metro stations and on trams and buses. A passenger without a validated ticket is subject to a fine. Tickets are less if you buy them in batches: One costs 50BF, five cost 240BF and 10 are 330BF.

Where to stay

Because of overbuilding, supply outstrips demand for hotel rooms in Brussels most nights of the year. It is always worth negotiating for a corporate rate. On weekends and in July and August, when the Euro quarter is as quiet as a cemetery, rates fall by 50 percent. You can also save money by reserving a room through Belgian Tourist Reservations (tel. 513 7484, fax 513 9277), but they won’t reserve very far in advance.

The SAS Royal (rue du Fossé-aux-Loups, tel. 219 2988, fax 219 6262) receives top honors among business travelers. Its 300 rooms are decorated in four different styles: Scandinavian, Oriental, Italian and Royal Club. It has an imposing atrium with an indoor garden, a 24-hour fitness center and a famous restaurant, the Sea Grill-Jacques le Divellec.

The 19th-century Métropole (Place de Brouckère, tel. 217 2300, 410 rooms) has the grandest interior in the city and is popular with prima donnas (the opera house is nearby). Even if you don’t stay there, have a drink in the art nouveau cafe. Slightly more intimate, Le Dixseptième (rue de la Madeleine 25, tel. 502 5744, fax 502 6424, 23 rooms) was the 17th century residence of a Spanish ambassador. Its baroque sitting room forms an oasis of peace just a few hundred feet from the Grand Place.

For those on a tight or non-existent expense account, Maison Internationale (Chausee de Wavre 205, tel. 648 9787) is a hostel where business travelers far outnumber backpackers, strategically located near the European Parliament. A single room costs BF660 including breakfast plus 125 francs for sheets. The shared bathroom and shower facilities are spotless and the breakfast is as good as in most hotels, though you have to do your own dishes afterwards. It is only a two-minute walk from a train station, the Gare du Quartier Leopold.

Sightseeing

The Grand Place is a history of Brussels in stone. Its magnificent Gothic Town Hall celebrated the grandeur of medieval Brussels when it was growing rich through trade. The renaissance guildhalls that surround it were built later by guilds of tailors, butchers, bakers, boatmen, cabinetmakers and brewers. During the day, the Grand Place is a still a marketplace — there is a flower market every day and a bird market on Sunday. Historical pageants and jazz festivals take place here in the summer, and at Christmas, a Norwegian tree is put up with a crib of live animals. Every two years, the entire square is covered by a carpet of flowers.

The Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall) is the oldest building on the Grand Place. The tower (1449) has been restored and its pristine spire is visible from all over the city. Built to such a height that it required an extra reinforcing wall, the tower actually leans. The Brussels Tourist Information Office (tel. 513 8940) on the ground floor arranges guided tours of the interior and its collection of tapestries, sculpture and royal portraits. The Maison du Roi (King’s House) is across from the Town Hall. King Charles V of Spain ordered its construction but never moved in after its completion in 1536. Don’t miss the Gothic sculpture on the ground floor, including original sculptures from the Town Hall façade, and Brueghel’s “Le Cortège de Noces” (The Wedding Procession) in the Painting and Altarpieces room.

Originally just another fountain, the Mannekin-Pis is a 17th century bronze statuette of a little boy pissing that became the symbol of Brussels. He is just a couple of blocks off Grand Place. You’re not likely to see him naked except for his spout. He has a large wardrobe (costumes donated by visiting dignitaries) and might be dressed like Elvis, a Spanish conquistador or a Belgian naval officer.

After the Grand Place, Brussels’ most famous attraction is its museums (many close an hour for lunch and on Monday). Visit the Musées des Beaux Arts (Musée d’Art Ancien and Musée d’Art Moderne) first. They are next to each other near the Place Royal. An underground passageway makes the journey between ancient and modern art a lot easier. On the way you will see masterpieces by mostly Belgian and Dutch masters, from Jan van Eyck, Bruegel and Rubens to 20th century Belgian painters like Magritte, the macabre Ensor and the mysterious Delvaux.

Victor Horta (1861-1947) was one of the fathers of art nouveau, a style that embraced painting and applied art as well as architecture. Organic forms, flowers and plants in particular, influenced his designs. He used glass and iron in his buildings, round windows and a type of fresco painting called sgraffiti. Horta’s former home is now the Musée Horta (rue Américaine 25) and a department store he designed in the early 1900s makes an ideal space for a museum of Belgian comic strips (rue des Sables 20). Tours by a nonprofit conservation group, ARAU (219 3345), can get you into some Horta buildings that are not normally accessible.

The Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire in the Parc Cinquantenaire house one of the world’s largest collections of art and artifacts — begin with the antiquity section (the most celebrated) and see if you make it to the newer rooms devoted to things like 18th century carriages and feather art of the Amazon indians. The Parc is also home to one of the world’s biggest car museums, Autoworld, and an impressive military museum, Musée Royal de l’Armée et d’Histoire Militaire, with a huge aviation section.

The world’s first shopping mall (circa 1846) is still going strong and well worth a visit. You have to go only about a hundred yards from the edge of the Grand Place to the Galerie Royale Saint-Hubert, which includes the Galerie de la Reine and the Galerie du Roi: three 19th-century glassed-over arcades with elegant shop windows. Neuhaus chocolatiers (arguably Belgium’s best) has a sumptuous shop in the Galerie de la Reine (no. 25).

Eating

There is an intimate relationship between how you wield power and how you wield a knife and fork in Brussels. Generally speaking, the more successful the Eurocrat, the bigger the gourmand. And his or her passion is shared by businesspeople, lawyers, journalists and the man and woman on the street. Life in this city revolves around nourishment as much as work. No wonder it has an almost unequaled range of restaurants.

Belgian specialties are many and varied. They include faisan à la Brabançonne (pheasant with braised chicory), lapin à la bière (rabbit cooked in beer), anguilles au vert (eels in herb sauce), waterzooi (chicken and vegetables in a thin cream sauce), white asparagus, and mussels cooked two dozen different ways and accompanied by “French” fries — which actually originated in Belgium (few would dispute that the Belgians make the world’s best pommes frites). They are served with mayonnaise.

If you want to impress a client, go to Comme Chez Soi (place Rouppe 23, tel. 512 2921). This is not only the best restaurant in Brussels, it is one of the best in Europe. Reserve a table well in advance (try three months) and expect to spend $250 for two, though one can sometimes get in on short notice if there are cancellations.

Most of the restaurants in the maze of streets around the Grand Place are strictly for tourists, but the alternatives are not far to seek. A Brussels institution where little has changed in its 70-odd years, the Taverne du Passage (in the shopping arcade mentioned above, Galerie de la Reine No. 30; tel. 512 3731) is near the Grand Place and serves local specialties to a clientele of businesspeople, bankers and politicos. It is understated, untrendy and not particularly expensive.

Bij den Boer and Jacques (No. 60, tel. 512 6122, and No. 44, tel. 513 2762, respectively, on the Quai aux Briques), are moderately priced bistros that specialize in seafood. They are just off the Place Sainte-Catherine, only a 10-minute walk from the Grand Place. You’ll eat there elbow to elbow with Bruxellois.

After hours, the people of Brussels retreat to the great indoors of its bars and cafes. The atmosphere can be medieval, 17th-century, fin de siècle, art deco, incredibly seedy or any combination thereof. The cafes serve most liquids imbibed by humanity (except for Budweiser): espresso, cappuccino, Coke, tea, champagne, good French wine (by glass or bottle), whisky, all sorts of strange liqueurs and the world’s finest — i.e. Belgian — beer. Poured out in oddly shaped glasses, Belgian beers have names that evoke sin (Duvel — “Devil”, Judas, Verboden Vrucht — “Forbidden Fruit”) and its consequences (Delirium Tremens, Guillotine, Mort Subite — “Sudden Death”). Others are just unpronounceable: Kruikenbier, Couckerlaerschen and Huyghe.

A la Mort Subite (rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères 7) is the best place to savor Sudden Death. Not much has changed there since the 1920s. Certainly not Mort Subite, the house beer — ask for the gueuze sur lie (the beer on tap) and you will get a glass of the stuff. Le Cirio (rue de la Bourse 18 ), near the Stock Exchange, specializes in half-en-half (a non-dairy mixture of champagne and white wine). De Ultime Hallucinatie, or Ultimate Hallucination (rue Royale 316, tel. 217 06 14, Metro Botanique), is covered with scaffolding. Inside, you will find a dream bar, full of art nouveau details — curving wood, scrolling stems of stained glass, whiplash tendrils of iron — and Flemish blondes. For food, choose between the elegant, expensive restaurant or the cheaper, more informal cafe. Begin or end your hallucination with an Orval, a beer brewed by Belgian monks — one sip and you are never going to feel the same again about Miller Lite.

Waterloo

Road Warriors seeking military analogies for their corporate strategies should schedule a couple of hours for Waterloo, site of the famous battle of June 1815, in which the English general Wellington and his Prussian allies defeated Napoleon. Today, it is a wooded suburb of Brussels, popular among joggers and American expatriates (and easily reached by train from the Gare Centrale). The monument known as the Lion Mound is an ideal spot to reflect on the management strategy of modern history’s most successful general. Had it not been for Napoleon’s hostile takeover bid, the unhappy merger of Flanders and Wallonia might never have happened. Napoleon almost beat his multinational competition and one in four of his troops died before the rest went on strike. That takes a lot of intrinsic motivation.

As a result, most travelers who venture to Frankfurt are actually bound not for the city itself but for a trade fair — one of the 50,000 congresses, conferences and seminars held each year. The international fairs, in particular, are a Mecca to people in a given industry, whether it be cars, fashion, medical high-tech or consumer goods. The Congress Center Messe Frankfurt has recently completed a massive expansion, and now 2,300 participants can sleep under the same roof in the new Maritim hotel next door. Along with the new facilities there is a new marketing campaign launched by six leading conference hotels and the Congress Center, “Conventions Unlimited” — known as C.U. in Frankfurt. (Event planners can find out more by calling 49/(0)69/7575 3000; “49″ is the international calling code for Germany; drop the first “0″ when dialing from outside the country.)

It’s instructive to think of Frankfurt as a great port city that thrives off airborne rather than seaborne trade. It has the foreign babble, the international flair and the sleaze of a port city. Already the city’s largest employer (52,000 people), the airport handles 39 million passengers a year — and is expanding, spurred on by the deregulation of airline travel in Europe. Its facilities include a shopping mall with 100 shops, three movie theaters, 20 restaurants, a disco, a chapel and an exhibition gallery (tel. 069/690-1 for flight information, or see the Web page.)

A taxi from the airport to the main train station costs about 40 DM. But the subway is so fast and reliable — it only takes 11 minutes to reach the city — that it is usually not worth calling a taxi.

WHERE TO STAY
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No traveler in his or her right mind shows up without a hotel reservation during a major trade fair. Rooms are not only hard to find then, they cost up to 50 percent more, particularly during the Book Fair (early October) and the twice yearly International Fair for Consumer Goods (late February and late August). On the other hand, rooms often go begging when no trade fair is on; always test the waters by asking for a “corporate” or “weekend” rate.

The city’s tourist offices (located in the main train station and the mail square of the old town at Rvmerberg 27, tel. 069/2123 8800) run a central reservation system for hotel rooms called Frankfurt Soft (069/2123 0808, fax 069/2124 0512). They also sell the useful Frankfurt Card — a pass allowing unlimited travel on public transport in the city and to the airport, and a 50 percent reduction on admission to 15 museums (10 DM for one day, 15 DM for two days). If you are attending a conference, ask for a Congress Ticket (5 DM), a one-day ticket that is valid for unlimited use of public transport in the city (inner zone) and to the airport.

The Westend is the best neighborhood for the business traveler. It contains the sprawling Messe, or trade fair center, and borders on the main train station. There are many good restaurants and smaller hotels located in the quiet, residential side streets. Palmenhof is in a renovated Jugendstil (German art nouveau) villa. The alcoves of its seafood restaurant, Bastei, are perfect for private business meals (Bockenheimer Landstr. 89, tel. 069/753-0060, fax 069/7530-0666). Hotel Westend is a family-run establishment crowded with French antiques and media types (Westendstr. 15, tel. 069/746702, fax 069/745396). Each of the 11 rooms at Hotel Robert Mayer, located in another turn-of-the-century villa, has been decorated by a different Frankfurt artist. You might find yourself contemplating an abstract newspaper collage from the comfort of a replica Louis XIV armchair. Rooms are wired for modems and ISDN (Robert-Mayer-Strasse 44, tel. 069/970910, fax 069/9709-1010).

Hessischer Hof is a top choice in the multiple-dollar-sign class. The furnishings in both public and guest rooms are French 18th century antiques and reproductions and there are salons for private lunches and dinners for groups of six or more. The breakfast buffet is served in a room decorated with Napoleonic-era porcelain, gilt mirrors and chandeliers (Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 40, tel. 069/75400, fax 069/7540-2924).

Hotels facing the train station itself are a distant second choice, and the hotels in the adjoining red light district should be avoided altogether. However good the facilities inside the hotel, there is an intimidating gantlet of drug users and street people outside.

Frankfurt’s transportation system links every neighborhood and suburb with such efficiency that it is no big disadvantage to stay on the fringes of the city, where many hotels are located, in Sachsenhausen, Niederrad or at the airport.

The stock exchange is one good place to take the city’s pulse. It has a
visitors’ gallery overlooking the main trading hall (Börsenplatz Gallery,
tel. 069/21010, open weekdays 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.). New market highs are almost
a daily event now as German investors, many of whom once dismissed stocks
as a form of gambling, buy into equities with the same white-hot enthusiasm
as American baby boomers. It helps that Germany has no capital gains tax.

The traffic-free Römerberg (main square) of the old town was reconstructed
after World War II. The Römer is the town hall where Holy Roman emperors
held lavish coronation banquets. The “medieval” buildings facing it are
pure reconstructions, with modern interiors.

Just east of the main square (on Domplatz) is a more authentic piece of
the past, St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral, a Gothic church where 30 emperors of
the Holy Roman Empire were crowned. It is one of the few historic buildings
that escaped serious damage during World War II.

Another church, just west of the square, commemorates events of 150 years
ago, a year of living dangerously that ended in bloodshed and repression.
Germany was not a unified country in 1848, of course, when its various
city-states and principalities elected Germany’s first national parliament.
Its members sat in St. Paul’s Church for much of the year, drawing up plans
for a union of German-speaking peoples based on democratic principles.
Unfortunately, they neglected to create an army while debating the finer
points of constitutional government, and an alliance of reactionaries and
Prussian militarists put an end to their work.

The Goethehaus and Museum (Grosser Hirschgraben 23, tel. 069/28284), also
in the old town, was the birthplace and first home of Germany’s most famous
writer. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe studied law and became a member of the
bar in Frankfurt before turning his full attention to writing. He sealed
his fame with the tragic love story, “Die Leiden des jungen Werthers” (“The
Sorrows of Young Werther”), a novel that has inspired countless copycat suicides. This is also where Goethe wrote the first version of
his masterpiece, “Faust” (minus the pious, happy ending of Part II). The
recently reopened museum overflows with works of art that inspired Goethe,
himself an amateur painter, and exhibits about Sturm und Drang (Storm and
Stress), a movement of writers and artists who promoted the romantic cult
of the young genius in rebellion against society — an idea still going
strong a century and a half later.

On the opposite bank of the Main River, in the neighborhood of Sachsenhausen,
the Museum Embankment offers a remarkable landscape of exhibits within
the space of two long blocks. Strolling down Schaumainkai, you pass the
Liebieghaus (No. 71), a collection of sculpture spanning two millennia
displayed in a 19th century villa; the Staedelsches Kunstinstitut (Stadel
Art Institute, No. 63), housing some of Germany’s major art treasures,
including paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Renoir and Monet; and museums
dedicated to the German postal system (No. 53) architecture (No. 43),
cinema (No. 41), non-European ethnology (No. 29) and applied arts (No. 17).

The Frankfurt tourist office arranges walking tours on demand (tel.
069/2123-8953), tailored to individual interests; their English-speaking
guides can instruct you about the Holy Roman emperors, the young Goethe,
the long history of the Jewish community in Frankfurt or its modern
architecture. The city is compact and there is no need to tour it by bus,
but such tours are available for 44 DM.

EATING AROUND

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Thanks to the flood of travelers on expense accounts and a large foreign
population, Frankfurt has a wide range of restaurants, from chic to ethnic.
If the company is paying and per diem is not an issue, make a reservation
at Brückenkeller (Schützenstr. 6, tel. 069/296068) or Humperdinck
(Grüneburgweg. 95, tel. 069/9720-3154). Both are leading exponents of
neue Küche, German nouvelle cuisine. In the middle price range, Gargantua
serves up creative versions of German classics and French-accented dishes
in a Westend dining room decorated with contemporary art (Liebigstr. 47,
tel. 069/720718); and chef Stephan Döpfner at Maingau restaurant in
Sachsenhausen is making a name for himself with dishes like rack of venison
in a walnut crust (Schifferstr. 38-40, tel. 069/617001).

The humble hot dog (Frankfurter Wurstschen) is Frankfurt’s one
contribution to world cuisine. The locals also eat Grüne
sösse (Green sauce), a sauce of cream and herbs served with potatoes and hard-boiled
eggs, and Handkäs mit Musik, a gelatinous cheese covered with raw onions,
oil and vinegar, served with bread and butter (an acquired taste for many,
the “music” refers to its side effects). All of these things are washed
down by apfelwein, a strong, tart cider served in earthenware krugs in
taverns like Wagner (Schweizer Strasse 71, tel. 069/612565) and
Fichtekränzi (Wallstrasse 5, tel. 069/612778), both in Sachsenhausen.

AFTER HOURS

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Most of the big hotels have bars, discos and nightclubs that are
nondescript but useful places for a drink with associates. Jimmy’s Bar
(Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 40, tel. 069/614559) is an expensive, intimate
watering hole that ranks as the best bar in Germany according to many who
have imbibed bartender Andre’s $10 whisky sours; one hears a lot of Russian
spoken there nowadays.

Local night life is ideologically divided between Szene (trendy and chic)
and Alternative (subcultural). For Szene, go to Schirn Cafe, stunning for
its architecture and 120-foot-long bar (Römerberg tel. 069/291732).
Tigerpalast is a 1920s ballroom reincarnated as Frankfurt’s best variety
theater with a restaurant popular among local politicians (Heiligkreuzgasse
20, tel. 069/9200-2225, dinner only). Euronet’s computers (with Internet
access) are overshadowed by its sleek interior and ensemble of five bars,
restaurant, bistro and sushi bar (Willy-Brandt-Platz, tel. 069/2429370).
The Nordend (North End) bars/bistros Harvey’s (Bornheimer Landstrasse 64,
tel. 069/497303) and Grössenwahn (Lenaustrasse 97, 069/599356) attract both
gay and straight yuppies and yumpies (Young Urban Marxist Professionals).

Frankfurt’s passion for modern jazz is best savored in the smoky cellar of
the Frankfurter Jazzkeller (Kleine Bockenheimerstr. 18, tel. 069/288537).
The city is a center of techno music, too, and offers celebrity DJs and
ear-splitting, computer-generated beat in places like Omen (Junghofstrasse
14, tel. 069/282233) and Dorian Gray at the airport. Although people from
all walks of life show up at techno parties, most are a lot closer to 18
than 30; many of them take ecstasy to make the most of it (“no pills, no
action,” as one doorman puts it).

A man or woman in need of what Germans call Gemütlichkeit (a cross between
coziness and companionship) should try sitting at a communal table
in a Sachsenhausen apple-wine tavern. A meal of eggs and green sauce, with
a Japanese tourist at one elbow and a visiting Daimler Benz engineer at the
other, is almost guaranteed to distract the weary road warrior from
free-market Storm and Stress. After a few krugs of apfelwein, the sentiment
flows, even in a city that has sold its soul.