Brekkie - #537

I have no idea where the blackberry vine in our garden turned up from.

The strawberries aren't an issue.

I know I planted  them

I stumbled over ripped my hands to shreds on the blackberry vine when I was clearing out the vege garden to make space for some herb cuttings that I've been propagating for the last couple of months.

Must be the birds.

Or the bees.

Or both...

Bowl by Frank the Potter

Geiz ist geil - #536

Saturn, one of the national consumer electronics megastore chains, has an advertising slogan that's become embedded into the language:

Geiz ist geil

(Cheap is cool)

Germans being financially conservative, debt averse (helped by the fact that credit cards have a very low penetration rate and home ownership is low compared with other European countries) and parsimonious (discounters such as Aldi and Lidl have 30% of the market), the advertising campaign struck an immediate chord.

So much so that someone with a felt pen and a gift for the vernacular has kindly summarised the story of St Martin on the plaque for us in Yoofspeak.

"St Martin shared his cloak with a tramp (hobo) who was neither rich nor sexy.

St Martin didn't buy into the concept that "Cheap is Cool""

I like it...

As he rides off into the sunset - #535

Saint Martin gets everywhere.

And so he should, being a true heir to the Good Samurai or whatever his name was.

There's the modern statue next to the Martinus School and I've just discovered this one overlooking the city on the Kupferberg Terrace.

Had a fairly peripatetic career.

Spent the first 150 years perched on the West Choir of the Dom, got replaced by a sandstone replica in 1926 and spent the next 70 or so years guarding the entrance to the Stahlberg Fort.

Only been here for 8 years.

I wouldn't get to used to the view, if I were him.

They'll probably be moving him again soon enough.....

"Look at those old bags.." - #534

...I heard someone say.

"Not very nice" I thought.

Oh, they're talking about the RECYCLING bags.

Big thing over here, with more wheelie bins than you can shake a stick at.

We've got bins for organic and inorganic - our waste charge includes 13 emptyings each a year, but they collect at 2 weekly intervals, so if you're rich and/or ecologically irresponsible, you can double that.

Paper goes out every 2 weeks and plastic/metals/glass go in the yellow bag and they're also collected every 2 weeks

Our waste footprint is pretty small, actually.

Organic goes onto the 3 compost heaps and then onto the garden, our inorganic bin goes out every 3 or 4 months (and it's never full, even then - just a bit smelly...) and we take the bottles to the bottle bank.

Wouldn't want the neighbours to know how much we drink, would we?

That wouldn't be a good thing at all.....

Hmmm, wonder where he went..? -#533

He was here just the other day, though.

Johannes was getting a bit frayed around the edges (so am I for that matter and I'm nowhere nearly as old as him..) so they took him away to have a sup from the Fountain of Youth.

They could have told this lot, though.

They even put up some scaffolding to get a better look...

Ratatouille....- #532

...in a bag.

Plus some tomatoes, a couple of onions and a clove or 2 of garlic

Putting on the Rizzi - #531

James Rizzi must have been in  the army.

Where else would he come up with the principle:

"If it moves, salute it. If it doesn't move, paint it"

This used to be a VW New Beetle before he got his hands on it and turned it into something akin to Outer Space.

There's also a Boeing 757 that Condor, a Lufthansa subsidiary, used to operate and a bus operated by the public transport folks here in Mainz.

Plus postage stamps. (The first by a living artist ever to be commissioned by the German government

Massively popular major retrospective on at the moment in Mainz, with over 1000 exhibits and over 20,000 visitors thus far.

A bit mind-numbing after an hour or so looking at his 3D multiples, but it's stunningly good.

Had to keep moving, though.

There was this guy with a paintbrush lurking around, just waiting to pounce on me....


mainz, james rizzi, culture, rheingoldhalle

I don't give a ....#530

...chantarelle.

Eh?

That's what comes from translating colloquialisms literally.

As in

"Darauf gebe ich keinen Pfifferling"

Or


"Not worth a red cent"

I rather like chantarelles, though.

Fry them hard in a pan with butter (don't crowd them or they'll sweat and end up stewed. And we wouldn't want that, now would we..?), sling some cream in when they've got a bit of colour and let them simmer for a bit. Maybe a minute.

Good quality tagliatelle done al dente and away you go.

Season to taste and some flatleaf parley coarsely chopped on top.

Yummy

Stop dilly dallying - #529

Bunches of dill flowers on the market.

Put me in a right pickle....

Looking Over Strange Terrain... - #528

.. as the situationally unware are wont to say.

Can't get lost on the Rhine, though.

Every 1000 metres, a whacking great sign like this tells you exactly where you are.

It all starts with Rheinkilometer 0  in the middle of the old Rhine bridge in Konstanz and runs out at 1036.20 which is at the Hoek van Holland.

And 528 is in Bingen, right where the State Horticultural Exhibition takes place.

So there you just do go...

There's no such thing as a free lunch - #527

Toddled off to my first political event the other evening.

Not that I can actually vote over here, but whatever..

Wolfgang Bosbach, one of the Head Honchos from the CDU in Berlin (and who comes across in the media as being refreshingly clued up and pragmatic) fronted up the other night to fly the flag for the local MP and - given that drinks and snacks were on offer - it sounded like a cheap night out.

Entertaining for sure.

The Fire Brigade band played "A Whiter Shade of Pale" to the gathered geriatrics - median age between 68 and 70, 90% male, 100% beige clad - and the guest speaker was as good as I'd imagined.

Lots of vigorous nodding, "Hear, hears", "Bravos" and banging on tables when he got onto juvenile crime and law and order stuff and some fairly convoluted questions and comments from the geriatrics at the end.

Once the folks had got to their feet. Takes a while.

Drinks and snacks certainly were on offer.

For money.

I think I shall be voting for the other lot.

If I could vote, that is...

Hot as...#526

...the hottest Currywurst in Mainz.

The Currywurst used to be the Teutonic equivalent of Fish and Chips, both of which have been toppled from their perches by Döner and Chicken Tikka Marsala respectively.

Haven't tried this one.

Don't think my sensory buds are up to it...

Mum and the kids - #525

The Bin family out for the day on the Schillerplatz.

Can't you just hear her:

"Now Willy Bin, don't get too close to the road..."

You know it's autumn....#524

...when pumpkins and sundry gourd-like devices appear on the market.

If only they didn't look as if they had Proteus syndrome...

Dig deep - #523

If you lay gas mains around Mainz or do anything that involves more excavation that digging your garden, you must get sick and tired of people asking

"Found any Roman ruins recently...?"

As I did.

Got a dark look.

Wouldn't surprise me if they covered over stuff pretty quickly therse days if they stumble over a temple or an amphitheatre...

Making assumptions - #522

Yesterday was Assumption Day, a feast day (a Holy Day of Obligation, actually, so it appears to be fairly major) in the Roman Catholic church.

On the market in Mainz, you'll find bunches of medicinal herbs that you can take to church to be blessed on the occasion, the church being a cathedral and right next door.

Mrs jb reckons these ones are pretty poor efforts compared to the traditional self-gathered bunches from her youth.

It's sort of like Grüner Sosse, the traditional herb sauce.

There's a right way. And there's a wrong way.

This is the right way:

There have to be at least 7, an ancient holy number although there are regional variations with 9 and 15

The 8 that Mrs jb used to gather (and her mother - 87 - still gathers) in dialect:

Jode Wermut - Artemisia absinthium
Schlächte Wermut - Artemisia vulgaris
Böndeknöpp
Osterzeih
Donderkrock
Donderkörnche
Blitzkrock - Epilobium angustifolium

Wornkrock - Chrysanthemum vulgare

Get a grip - #521

Some of the trams around here are truly museum pieces.

Technically (being in Germany) they're obviously top notch, but their stilted officialese signage ("Seek a secure grip whilst standing") and yucky caramel colour schemes are a dead give-aways to an (almost) by-gone era.

And the lack of mobility-challenged access - you almost need a ladder to clamber inside....

A chip off the old block - #520

Excellent educational stuff spread around outside the Gutenberg Museum.

BIG chunks of wood with individual letters carved out in mirror typeface, with the printing surface stained black to simulate the ink.

Can't you just imagine teachers saying:

"Now, just try and make one of those small and precise enough for a newspaper...."

It's a dog's life - #519

proStore's a nice new Apple (and PC) dealer that's opened up in Mainz in Am Kronberger Hof.

Macs on the left, PCs on the right (I obviously veer to the left...)

Clean lines, lots of things to play with computers to evaluate, smart staff and a nice dog.

What more could you ask for.....?

Bonnie and .....#518

...Günther?

Best bank robbery I've read about happened here last week.

Pensioner fronts up to a bank, pulls a pistol and demands money.

Cashier gives him a wad of notes (especially packaged and registered for such occasions) and he casually wanders out of the door and.... waits at the bus stop.

Bus comes along and on he hops.

Meanwhile, the law has been notified - also regarding the getaway vehicle - so they drop of a couple of plain-clothed officers at the next bus stop who board the vehicle, identify the culprit (hasn't attempted to change his appearance or anything like that), assess the situation and arrest him.

Goes before the magistrate who remands him on his own recognisance i.e. he's free to walk around because he has a fixed place of abode.

I kid you not....

There's gold in them thar hills- #517

That's for sure.

These are the vineyards on the "other side" (i.e Hesse - boo, hiss...) side of the Rhine, with the Niederwald Memorial topping it all off. (Helen blogged it back in April)

Pretty much 100% Riesling and given that they get all-day sun and have their roots way down in (metamorphic) slatey soil, there's nothing much that can really go wrong.

Harvest, press, ferment, bottle, drink.

Barge right in - #516

They didn't have stuff like this when I was a kid.

The State Horticultural Show in Bingen has something for all ages.

This is a kiddies' playground in the shape of one of the freighters that plow up and down the Rhine, with swings, slides, sandpits.

And running water to dam with the sand that you nick from the sandpit.

The superstructure appears to provide a welcome haven for exhausted parents..

And the lucky number is....#515

....Number 6...

Helianthus and hypericum

Tight fit - #514

21st century buses and medieval cart tracks don't really go together.

The bus from Lörzweiler to Hechtsheim is a case in point.

It has to be this big because of the masses of school kids it transports along its route and the roads are that narow because - well, they're just that narrow.

Made it without losing any wing mirrors or removing bits from houses along the way.

Woman driver, too....

DON'T JUMP....... - #513

Pretty sloppy security at the Landesgartenschau (State Horticultural Show) in Bingen the other week.

This chappy appears to have got through all the barriers and clambered up to the top of the industrial crane that's a landmark on this remarkable wasteland-to-parkland conversion.

Hope they gave him a decent meal when they got him dowm.

Poor bugger's as skinny as a rake.

From the side, that is...

Look, Pa! Prikas! - #512

Mainz's exquisite market - where else?

Cut them in half and de-seed them, brush some olive oil over the skin, roast them under the grill until they're blistered and blackened, then pop them in a bowl covered with Gladwrap until they're cool.

Skin peel off like a dream.

Cut them into slices, mix them with olive oil, capers, coarsely chopped olives, some anchovies and lemon zest (or finely sliced preserved lemon peel).

Just the job for lunch with some nice ciabatta

Baby, let me take you on a ....#511

 

... Rhine cruise.

(The Woodstock Generation might get it...)

If you're zipping up and down the Rhine or the Moselle, chances are you'll be on one of the Köln-Düsseldorfer's boats.

They've been doing it for over 180 years, so you'll probably be quite safe...

Trivia alarm:

KD (as it's called) is the oldest company noted continuously on the German stock exchange.

And get this: no other shipping company WORLDWIDE has build and operated more ships.

On yer bike - #510

The "Economist" said last week that "“DON’T WALK” signals hypnotise German pedestrians even when no car is in sight."

Don't believe a word of it.

Around here, everyone subscribes to the theory that "Rules are made for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men."

And no-one wants to be categorised as a fool, now do they..?

This is the railway crossing in Gonsenheim.

On the other side of the tracks, there's a sizeable light industrial estate that's grown and grown over the years.

For yonks, there was a sign to the effect that you couldn't cross the lines at this point unless you were a tractor, this being a direct route from the village (where farmers still live) to the fields.

No-one paid any attention, of course.

First of all, no-one's a fool and secondly, it's either that or a 2.5 km detour via the only legal access road.

Instead of 100 metres.

At some stage, the city fathers were tired of being ignored and put up a physical barrier that allows we cyclists and them pedestrians through, but no cars.

Or tractors, for that matter.

So everyone moans, but does the 2.5km.

Last winter, there's a humongous fire that closes off the access road.

Burns forever - obviously starts in the late afternoon, just before clocking-off time - and  chaos unsues.

Some folk head off through the fields in the dark, take a wrong turn and end up to the axles in the quagmire.

BFE, a major supplier of mobile TV studios to the broadcasting industry, had an articulated truck loaded and ready to go to meet a contractual deadline and they formed a human chain, moving a whole TV studio box by box across the tracks.

Uproar in the papers.

City Fathers decided that a second legal access road would be a GOOD IDEA.

Hasn't happened yet.

Only in Mainz...

A pressing appointment - #509

I just love these machines.

They're simplicity itself and anthromorphistic to boot.

Just load the oranges into the hopper from where they're fed down the stainless steel spiral (top left) to meet their fate in the form of 2 counter-rotating wheels, each with half-orange sized indentations which tenderly embrace the victim.

Zap! They're sliced in half by the thingy in the middle and - while they're still wondering what's happening - up comes one of the 3 presses (one for each half), dejuices them and discards the skin into a waste bin.

I could stand there and watch them all day.

Mind you, I've been known to spend a week at the laudromat....

Guest Photographer - #508

© Frank Jung 2008

OK, so this is neither

a) my photograph

or

b) in Mainz

but it's too good not to publish.

My mate Frank the Potter, having fully recovered (well, almost..) from his surgery for a herniated disc, was out for the day with Mrs Frank the Potter and Marius Frank the Potter.

Marius Frank the Potter - pushing 18 - decided to shove Mum Frank the Potter - pushing mumble mumble - under a nearby waterfall.

Just the sort of things 17 year old do..

(I would have probably helped him.

Such a neat image.

Monthly Theme Day - Metal - #507

The Landesgartenschau in Bingen is chock-full of surprises.

This guy is BIG.

I was somewhat disappointed that his eyes weren't headlights that light up at night, though.......

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Albuquerque (NM), USA by Helen, Aliso Viejo (CA), USA by Rodney, American Fork (UT), USA by Annie, Anderson (SC), USA by Lessie, Ararat, Australia by freefalling, Arradon, France by Alice, Aspen (CO), USA by IamMBB, Athens, Greece by Debbie, Auckland, New Zealand by Baruch, Auckland, New Zealand by Lachezar, Austin (TX), USA by LB, Bandung, Indonesia by Eki Akhwan, Bandung, Indonesia by Bunyamin, Bandung, Indonesia by Harry Makertia, Barrow-in-Furness, UK by Enitharmon, Barton (VT), USA by Andree, Bellefonte (PA), USA by Barb-n-PA, Bicheno, Australia by Greg, Birmingham (AL), USA by VJ, Bogor, Indonesia by Gagah, Boston (MA), USA by Cluelessinboston, Brantford (ON), Canada by Nancy, Bucharest, Romania by Malpraxis, Budapest, Hungary by Zannnie and Zsolt, Budapest, Hungary by agrajag, Budapest, Hungary by Isadora, Buenos Aires, Argentina by Karine, Canterbury, UK by Rose, Chandler (AZ), USA by Melindaduff, Château-Gontier, France by Laurent, Chateaubriant, France by Bergson, Cheltenham, UK by Marley, Chennai, India by Ram N, Chesapeake (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Cincinnati, USA by Erik Laursen, City of the Blue Mountains, Australia by Richard, Corsicana (TX), USA by Lake Lady, East Gwillimbury, Canada by Your EG Tour Guide, Edinburgh, UK by Dido, Edmonton (AL), Canada by , Evry, France by Olivier, Folkestone, UK by Piskie, Forks (WA), USA by Corinne, Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA by Gigi, Gabriola, Canada by Snapper, Geneva (IL), USA by Kelly, Greenville (SC), USA by Denton, Grenoble, France by Bleeding Orange, Gun Barrel City (TX), USA by Lake Lady, Hamilton, New Zealand by Sakiwi, Hampton (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Haninge, Sweden by Steffe, Hanoi, Vietnam by Jérôme, Helsinki, Finland by Kaa, Hobart, Australia by Greg, Hyde, UK by Gerald, Hyde, UK by Old Hyde, Jackson (MS), USA by Halcyon, Jefferson City (MO), USA by Chinamom2005, Jerusalem, Israel by Esther, Kansas City (MO), USA by Cate B, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by Edwin, Kyoto, Japan by Tadamine, Lakewood (OH), USA by mouse, Larchmont (NY), USA by Marie-Noyale, Las Vegas (NV), USA by Mo, Leipzig, Germany by weltbeschreiber, Lisbon, Portugal by Maria João, Lisbon, Portugal by Sailor Girl, London, UK by Ham, London, UK by Mo, Lynchburg (VA), USA by June, Mainz, Germany by JB, Manila, Philippines by Heyokity, Mashhad, Iran by Meead, Melbourne, Australia by John, Melbourne, Australia by Mblamo, Menton, France by Jilly, Mesa (AZ), USA by Mesa Daily Photo, Mexico City, Mexico by Carraol, Middletown (MD), USA by Bernie, Milwaukee (WI), USA by karl, Minneapolis (MN), USA by Mitch, Minneapolis (MN), USA by Greg, Minneapolis (MN), USA by Scott, Misawa, Japan by misawa mama, Molfetta, Italy by saretta, Monte Carlo, Monaco by Jilly, Monterrey, Mexico by rafa, Mumbai, India by Magiceye, Mumbai, India by MumbaiiteAnu, Nancy, France by yoshi, Nashville (TN), USA by Chris, Nelson, New Zealand by Meg and Ben, New Delhi, India by Delhi Photo Diary, New Orleans (LA), USA by steve buser, New York City (NY), USA by • Eliane •, New York City (NY), USA by Kitty, New York City (NY), USA by Ming the Merciless, Newport News (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Norfolk (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Norwich, UK by Goddess888, Ocean Township (NJ), USA by Josy, Oklahoma City (OK), USA by ananda.tashie, Orlando (FL), USA by OrlFla, Owasso (OK), USA by Jennifer, Palos Verdes (CA), USA by tash, Paris, France by Eric, Pasadena (CA), USA by Can8ianben, Pasadena (CA), USA by Petrea, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia by Murphy_jay, Petoskey (MI), USA by Christie, Philadelphia (PA), USA by Stephanie  Craig, Phoenix (AZ), USA by Cheryl, Phoenix (AZ), USA by Sharon, Pilisvörösvár, Hungary by Elise, Port Angeles (WA), USA by Jelvistar, Port Vila, Vanuatu by Mblamo, Portsmouth (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Prague, Czech Republic by Honza03, Pretoria, South Africa by Sam-Ruth, Quezon City, Philippines by ann pablo, Quincy (MA), USA by slim, Ramsey, Isle of Man by babooshka, Rancho Palos Verdes (CA), USA by Sarah Adams, Riga, Latvia by Riga Photos, Rotterdam, Netherlands by Ineke, Rouen, France by Bbsato, Saigon, Vietnam by Simon, Saint Louis (MO), USA by Strangetastes, Saint Paul (MN), USA by Kate, Salem (OR), USA by jill, Salt Lake City (UT), USA by atc, San Antonio (TX), USA by Kramer, San Diego (CA), USA by Felicia, San Francisco (CA), USA by PFranson, Schenectady (NY), USA by Buck, Seattle (WA), USA by Chuck, Seattle (WA), USA by Kim, Seguin (TX), USA by Thien, Selma (AL), USA by RamblingRound, Sequim (WA), USA by Eponabri, Sesimbra, Portugal by Aldeia, Setúbal, Portugal by Maria Elisa, Sharon (CT), USA by Jenny, Singapore, Singapore by Keropok, Singapore, Singapore by Zannnie, Sofia, Bulgaria by Antonia, South Pasadena (CA), USA by Laurie, Springfield (IL), USA by Aubrey, Stanwood (WA), USA by MaryBeth, Stavanger, Norway by Tanty, Stayton (OR), USA by Celine, Stockholm, Sweden by Stromsjo, Stouffville, Canada by Ken, Subang Jaya, Malaysia by JC, Suffolk (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Sunshine Coast, Australia by bitingmidge, Sydney, Australia by Julie, Sydney, Australia by Ann, Sydney, Australia by Sally, Székesfehérvár, Hungary by Teomo, Tamarindo, Costa Rica by David, Tempe (AZ), USA by angie, Terrell (TX), USA by Jim K, Tokyo, Japan by Tadamine, Torun, Poland by Glenn, Torun, Poland by Torun Observer, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina by Jazzy, Twin Cities (MN), USA by Slinger, Victoria, Canada by Benjamin Madison, Vienna, Austria by G_mirage2, Villigen, Switzerland by z, Virginia Beach (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Wailea (HI), USA by Kuanyin, Washington (DC), USA by D.C. Confidential, Wellington, New Zealand by Jeremyb, West Paris (ME), USA by crittoria, West Sacramento (CA), USA by Barbara, Weston (FL), USA by WestonDailyPhoto, Williamsburg (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Willits (CA), USA by Elaine, Yardley (PA), USA by Mrlynn,