Weekend trip crossdressed: From exquisite dinner to gin tonic at the hotel bar!

Outfit #2 of this weekend trip crossdressed was a simply wonderful green flower-print satin dress that I have had for years and that I enjoy wearing anew every time. Leaving the hotel around 6 pm, Franzi headed towards Elisenbrunnen, the public tap of the city's hot spring and to a small park behind the hot spring with several bars and cafes around. This is where I enjoyed an Aperol Spritz.

I had done my research and had found a great restaurant where I had reserved a table for one. The waitress greeted me nicely, brought me to my table, and complimented me on my dress.

I hope you like fish, otherwise this is going to be no fun for you: Marinated mackerel, bass, and cod, in that order. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photograph of the menu, so I cannot tell you of any details on the fixings anymore. I vow improvement for the next dinners.

It started out with some bread. Fresh, still slightly warm, and some butter, followed by three amuse bouche. Attention! The white piece is a dried-up towel, activated with some warm water, and not meant for consumption.

And in the end, an assortment of sweets!

I loved this place: wonderful atmosphere, fantastic food, great accompanying wines.

After dinner, I walked to the section of town where I lived for the entire time that I was a student in Aachen. I went to a pub/bar that I had been to an uncountable number of times, be it for a drink in the evening with friends, inside or in their wonderful pebble stone courtyard, or past 1 a.m. on the way home from some other pub or party, or past 3 a.m., returning from clubbing in downtown Aachen or in Vaals, a small town just across the border in The Netherlands. At that time, 25 years ago, this was a stylish bar and the concessionist was a lady with aura, style, and character: think of Annie Lennox with black hair, in a tight black patent leather dress, and high heels behind the bar. As a young student, looking to have a drink at this place, you felt like a petitioner. And if you missed the split second of attention she was granting you, you had to wait a full round. Wonderful!

Nothing had changed in 25 years – regarding the furniture: that same bar, the same tables, the same chairs and bar stools – all run down, worn, dirty. None of the artsy decoration was left. And behind the bar, an unsightly, overweight, male concessionist with bad manners. Even the wine was not worth mentioning. I’ll spare you the pictures.

Disillusioned, I walked back to my hotel to find the hotel lobby / bar well attended, with a great atmosphere and a festive spirit, which seemed to attract most everyone returning from their evening entertainment program to stay for a drink. Well, what else was I to, other than to finish off this exiting day en femme at that hotel bar with a gin tonic. And as in any good bar, there were numerous options offered, both for the gin and the tonic.

And finally, after a long day, taking the elevator to my hotel room. Exhausted, but happy.