Our first OUT meeting in this year was an interesting tour at the Farina store in Cologne, which included a look at the manufacturing aspects of this oldest fragance in the world. Although 4711 eau de cologne is more readily connected to our city, the Farina fragance is even older, dating back to 1709. An Italian perfume maker, John Maria Farina,settled down in Cologne and created this fragrance reminding him of his home country. “My fragance is reminiscent of a spring morning after the rain: of oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bergamot and blossoms.”, he said. He named it in honor of the town he had settled in after leaving Italy: Cologne. The company is still family-run, in the 8th generation. 
Our tour was especially interesting since we got to test fragances and tred to guess what each one was. Our guide’s English was very good, he was able to keep our interest and encouraged questions. At the end we were each given a sample and invited to browse around the shop, which is very inviting and directly across from the Rathaus, so easily accessible. I can highly recommend this English tour if you have visitors, especially since it isn’t as well-known as the 4711 shop.
17 members attended. To round off the whole experience, some of us went to one of our favorite cafes, Fassbender’s, which is where our Year End Party will take place once again.