Why the long face?...#404

Yes, I know it is a lame joke. This horse is part of the St Martin statue near St Stephens church. jb has blogged about it here as well. I'm beginning to think I'm just following jb around taking photos of the same things....oh well, never mind.

Not so moveable type...#403

These rough hewn letters stand in the courtyard to the shop attached to the Gutenburg Museum .

Cloister Gate...#402

Peeking through the gate at the Cloister of St Stephens church.

Frisch gepresst...#401

The freshly squeezed juice stall at the Markets always does a brisk trade, especially in fine weather. Along with the traditional orange juice, carrot juice seems to be a favourite with the locals (no wonder so many of them look a tad orange, or is that just fake tan?)

One lump or two?...#400

There is nothing better on a sunny spring day than a stroll through the Market with a brief pause at the 'tin shed on wheels' for a much needed caffeine injection.

Germania(c)...#399

It's not Mainz, but it is not too far away.....just down and across the river in Rüdesheim - the Niederwald Denkmal (memorial) a honking big statue to celebrate the establishment of a unified Germany in the 19th Century. The main figure, Germania, weighs in at 32 tons, and the whole kit and kaboodle cost 1.2 million gold marks. It features two angels - one dressed for war, the other for peace, and Kaiser Wilhelm on a horse somewhere in the throng.

Hyacinth...#398

Please forgive the obsession with spring flowers at the moment, but it is such a joy to see some colour (and patches of sunny weather) after my first European winter.

Dom...#397

The view from Cafe Grünewald across from the Dom and Marktplatz. The view more than makes up for the ordinary coffee.

Don't be a pansy - #396

Mainz goes in for mass planting in a big way.

The city has its own gardening department, with glasshouses and the whole shebang.

Over winter, you'll mostly see hardy heathers gracing the beds, but come spring, they're all assigned to the Great Compost Heap in the Sky and out come the pansies, creatively planted in patterns or colour graduations.

Until its their turn for the GCHITS....

Helen's back on watch for a bit

Rhubarb, rhubarb - #395

Here's a definite sign of spring.

That and asparagus, which has yet to make an appearance due to the mild permafrost we're experiencing this year.

One thing in common, though - the harvesting of both finishes on St John's Day, 24 June, to give them a chance to recover for next year

Lightly stewed with a sprinkling of sugar, strawberries mixed in and a decent dollop of yoghurt ice cream.

Yummy

Tags: Mainz, Market, rhubarb, asparagus, St John's Day

A bit of a struggle - #394

Ever since I've been interested in the fortunes of the local football team, it's always been a bit hard on the nerves.

This season's no different.

Three teams get promoted at the end of the season and Mainz 05 has been drifting tantalising in and out of the promotion zone with frustrating regularity.

They're currently 4th and one or more of the teams that are above them has to seriously stuff up for Mainz to squeeze in at the post.

I can tell you now what's going to happen.

Last day of the season, it's the 89th minute and Mainz and another team are equal on points, but Mainz is infinitesimally ahead on goal average.

You finish the story....

But you can't say there's a lack of support.

Mainz 05 flags and stickers all over the place - on the market square in front of he cathedral, for example.

I've heard of BLACK eyes.. - #393

...but blue?

And not both?

Odile Landragin is celebrating the 10th anniversary of her exquisite herb and aromatics garden in Gonsenheim with a series of open days.

If the weather had been less wintery over the past month, she would have had a stunning display of harebells and pasque flowers (or meadow anemones).

I did find one harebell (in a pot), but not much else.

And she always has really nice snacky things and cider on hand in exchange for a donation to a good cause.

Also a no-show.

Good thing for Beelze, her pie-eyed cat, I wasn't that hungry.

To paraphrase Helen - I like cats, but I couldn't eat a whole one...

Tags: Odile Landragin, Gonsenheim

If I were clever... -#392

.. I wouldn't have been crawling around on my belly to get a decent perspective of the wild tulips.

I could have just bent down, taken a snap and no-one would have been any the wiser.

More fool me...

Tags: Wild tulips, Gau-Odernheim, Tulpa Sylvestris, Florentine tulip, Mainz

The Boys - #391

The Vertical Village doesn't run by itself.

It would all go pear-shaped if not for Mrs jb.

And the janitors.

From left to right - Andreas, Peter the Painter, Tibor the ex-painter and Christoph.

Actually, they wouldn't look out of place on Germany's Most Wanted....

Tags: Mainz, Gonsenheim, Vertical Village

Six:One - #390

Yesterday was good.

My mate Tibor called me up with 2 free tickets for the game against Paderborn PLUS 2 VIP Lounge tickets.

(Tibor - being Hungarian - has lots of Hungarian mates, one of whom used to play for Mainz 05 and now trains one of the junior teams. Good guy to know).

Anyway.

Off we toddle, get our armbands welded in place and into hedonistic heaven.

Phalanxes of scantily-clad dolly birds, pouring champagne down our throats and force-feeding us caviar.

Buckets of cocaine.

Glorious excess.

Er, not really.

But the wheat beer was very nice

As were the pretzels.

And Mainz won 6:1.

Things are looking up...

Vampires - #389

I don't have a problem with elevated blood pressure, doubtless as the result of clean-living and impeccable restraint.

120/80 for as long as I can remember, except when I see some able-bodied person parking in a mobility-impaired space or parents crossing the road with kids on a "Don't walk" phase.

Then it goes up.

But you can't be too careful and one of the few things I remember from Physics at school is that Pressure, Volume and Temperature in a closed system have a pretty steady relationship - increase one and at least one of the other two go up as well.

It works the other way round, too, which is why I'm at the transfusion unit at the University Clinic in Mainz for some ritual bloodletting.

Figured that if they drain off a litre or so of blood, then my blood pressure would drop accordingly.

Or I'll feel bloody cold.

Or both...

Tags: Mainz, Universitätsklinik, Transfusionszentrale, Blood donation

Tip toe through the Tulpen - #388

Gau-Odernheim, which is a hop, skip and a 20 minute drive from here, has the largest mass habitat of Tulpa Sylvestris. the Florentine or Wild Tulip, in Germany.

They were first introduced into Central Europe frpm Bologna in the second half of the 16th century and found a suitable possie in the vineyards above the town.

Thrives in fertile, moist, clay soil.

From the state of my walking boots after the trek, I'd say that was about right...

Then, of course, there's Tiny Tim's take on the subject

On yer bike - #387

Cafe Dinges in the Altstadt has introduced a carbon-neutral cake delivery service.

There appear to be quality issues - only 23% of the cakes reach their recipients in the anticipated pristine condition during the trial period - but they're working on it, as they say...

Tags: Cafe Dinges, Mainz

Bloody pigeons - #386

This is Brand Protection in action.

Saturn's a Big Box electronics outfit in the Brand shopping centre in Mainz - -didn't intend THAT pun, if I'm honest - and they've obviously got the same pigeon problem that anyone with a flat surface has, posing a clear invitation to land and defecate.

Sensible people that they are, they've put up a spikes-and-wire defensive shield.

So that the sign won't get Sat On.

I'll get my coat....

Tags: Mainz, Saturn, pigeons

Sensation!! -#385

"Space Shuttle lands on barge on the River Rhine"

Not really.

"Buran", the Soviet equivalent to America's space shuttle got decommisioned to Bahrain (look, I have no idea...) and the Technik Museum in Speyer - being dead keen on this sort of thing - snapped it up from an evidently unwilling owner for their quite excellent collection of aircraft and things that otherwise move along under their own steam (figuratively).

The Concorde and a B747, for example.

Then they thought "Bugger. How do we get it here?"

"Easy" someone said "Put it on 3 barges, zip down past Dubai, around the corner to Aden, up the Red Sea, through the Suez and the Med, through the English Channel, turn right at Rotterdam and up the Rhine, stopping at Mainz on the way"

This somehow got into the papers and there were more people lining the river that you could shake a stick at.

What with all the excitement, I didn't want to spoil the party by pointing out that they appear to have lost the tail somewhere along the way....

I wander'd lonely as a cloud... - #384

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A vase, of golden daffodils.

Shamelessly nicked from Mr Wordsworth, but they can't get me because he's supposed to have shamelessly nicked it from Mrs Wordsworth....

These are from the garden, knocked over by the wet snow on Monday and given a stay of execution in Birke Kästner's vase

Tags: daffodils, mainz, Wordsworth, Birke Kästner

Shave for a cure - #383

OK, so it's not my image, but it's for good cause.

And it's important

Just got back from New Zealand, where the Leukaemia and Blood Foundation is running a fund-raising week to support the 10,000 people living with a blood cancer in New Zealand.

They're getting 10,000 to shave their heads and there's a whole bunch of other stuff going on, but the coolest idea is that they've got Fidelity Life to donate $1 every time someone clicks on the advert on the website.

2 reasons for doing it:

It guarantees money for the cause and the advert is pure goosebump/lump-in-the-throat/blink-back-the-tears brilliance.

No actors - just a real kid suffering from leukaemia with his Dad, family and friends.

Go and get Fidelity to dig deep.

And tell your friends

Tags: Leukaemia and Blood Foundation, shave for a cure

Eisgrub revisited - #382

Not recently, which is a shame, but here's an archive look from the epic "Igor ist weg" evening a while back.

Beer just tastes better when you're sitting there, actually listening to it bubbling away.

And I've recently learned that one can save significant amounts of dosh through the simple act of imbibing.

That I like....

Making a point - #381

If there's one thing they like around here, it's "Ordnung"

Which you can roughly translate as "order", "orderliness" or "tidiness".

There are whole BOOKS on the subject - this translation tool gives you a vague idea.

The chappy in the motorised wheelchair (the blur on the left) appears to using the nose cones of Germany's ICBM nuclear deterrent as gates for a slalom run.

Not quite sure if that's "in Ordnung"

Tags: Mainz, Staatstheater, Ordnung

Carnival fountain...#380

The Carnival Fountain (Fastnacht Brunnen), created by Blasius Spreng, was erected in 1967 and depicts symbols of "Karneval/Fastnacht" - jesters, jokers etc. Fastnacht is a big deal in Mainz.

My favourite part of this fountain is at the base - which shows a forlorn cat who is very unhappy about getting wet. In the photo, only the cat's tail and haunches are visible.

University...#379

The main entrance to Johannes Gutenburg University, Mainz. The university is pretty large in both the size of the campus and number of students (approximately 35000). It even has its own botanical gardens.

The current campus is on the site of an old military barracks.

Printing...#378

This installation is outside the Gutenberg Museum. It is one of a series of large panels that show imprints from various old typeset plates. I'm ashamed to say that I have not yet been inside the museum.

Want to buy a kid?...#377

The first time we passed this shop, we giggled like children. "They sell children in Germany? How odd."

It is actually 5 levels of pure kid heaven - barbies galore, doll houses, books, games - you name it - if kids are likely to want it, Wirth Der Kinderladen probably has it.

Tennis Anyone?...#376

We checked out the Tennis Halle last night. No, not to have a game. The indoor tennis centre has a restaurant attached and diners can watch the energetic play a few sets, while they tuck into their food and wine.

I couldn't be bothered cooking last night, so we wandered up for some pizza.

From the outside the Tennis Halle looks for all money like an old aircraft hangar. Take it from me, the interior is much more interesting.

Theme Day - Water - #375

"Don't drink water" W.C. Fields is supposed to have said. "Fish frolic in it"

Something like that, anyway.

He also said that water rusts pipes.

Reason enough to stick to this stuff

Uisce beatha - Water of Life.

Although I'm decidedly suspicious of this one.

Swiss malt whisky?

Eh?

Birgit and Hans-Willi, the journalists from across the road, stumbled over it in Appenzell the other week and smuggled it across the border.

I think I'll risk it, though.

Hans-Willi's a walking Johnson/Hachette/Gault Millau, so if he knows his whiskies as well as he knows his wines, we should be OK...

The rest of you can stick to H₂O.

Enjoy, as they say in the States.....

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Tags: Monthly Theme day, Water, whisky, Uisce beatha, Säntis malt, Birgit Schenk, Hans-Willi Blum, Appenzell