Antiques

Saturday we got combine two of my faves - biking and archaeology.  The ADFC (Algemeine Deutsche Fahrrad Club - the German Biking Club) and a local museum got together and offered a bike trip to complement the current exhibit at the museum (see the previous post).  Though we're really not much for hanging out with groups, especially groups we don't know, we signed up. And really, we're not great at getting up and away before 9AM on a Saturday, but we did it anyway.  Good move!

Here we are at the main station waiting for the train to take us to Wildeshausen, the first stop of the tour.  I'm standing in front of a billboard advertising cigarettes "shaken and stirred".  What that has to do with cigarettes, I don't know, but the colors match.

Our biking tour leader was friendly and competent.  And the other guide?  Professor of Archaeology (Pre-History) at the university, State Archeologist, Head of Department at the museum.  She was great.  We forgive the black socks and sandals.  We're in Germany.

First stop was the Alexander Kirche in Wildeshausen.  It's not pre-history and wasn't directly connected to our trip agenda, but it's too nice to pass up.

This building was finished in 1290, though the church was established in the 800s.  So, old, so to say.  Like so many chuches of the time, both Romanesque and Gothic elements are there and decorations are a bit sparse.  Inside they were busy - the local TV station was getting ready for a special Sunday broadcast.  Werner checked out the camera angles - and pronounced them good.

 Next stop, the Megalith tombs.

There are hundreds of these ice age and stone age grave sites in Germany.  In Klienenkneten we saw two.

The first was impressive - monstrous boulders placed around the perimeter and then even larger boulders used as decking for the graves.  The Nazis were interested in these Germanic sites so they could establish the historical supremacy of the Germans. One archaeologist even claimed these stone age sites were the precursors of Gothic cathedrals!  His theories were debunked even at the time.  I guess there was some ethical behavior somewhere.

The second was more impressive - a site that had been reconstructed to look as it would have way back when with the stones and then the dirt covering the boulders decking the graves.  Even an entrance to the grave - dark and small and creepy.

How they moved the boulders here and placed them so well is a secret yet to be discovered.  But the Egyptians did it with the pyramids and the Celts did it in England.  Clever people back then,

Break time!  We'd not got any further than where we started!  Back to Wildeshausen for lunch.  We'd packed sandwiches and snacks but decided to have them later.  Bad move.  We had the worst meal I have had ever had in Germany.  I kid you not.  A sandwich an American would be embarrassed about - half-toasted white bread (!!!) with a super thin slice of ham and cheese and some lettuce.  I ordered "tacos with warm cheese sauce" which turned out to be taco CHIPS (really not good, really) with a too-sweet tomato sauce.  I asked "where's the cheese sauce?" and got a toe-cheese concoction that was inedible.  Even the wasp wasn't interested in the food and tried to commit suicide in Werner's beer!

Back on the road - to another stone age grave site, this time in someone's front yard. Can you imagine - you buy a house and then discover a 5,000 year-old grave site you have to take care of.  Cool.

Note the boulder in the center, just enough over the edge of the lower one to keep it up.  How did they do that?  How does it last 5,000 years?

Along the way we saw fences of huge boulders. The guide had told us the ancient sites had been plundered for their stones, for building foundations, for fences and even whittled down for road pavers!  Ya gotta wonder where these stones came from.

Off again for a longer bit on the bikes to the charming little village of Dötling, where we visited a charming church where they were just ending a charming wedding.  We'll have to go back.  As much as we've toured and visited and looked, there are still little jewels to be discovered practically at our back door.

The last stop was a "memorial" cemetery first established in the 1930s - again something to atempt to connect the modern Germans to some ancient (superior) race.

Even at the time, the Nazi regime thought it kooky and banned it temporarily.  If it weren't for all the negative associations, I'd find the place quite appealing.  All the graves are of natural stone, all religious symbolism is forbidden and the landscaping is all native - heather, wild berries, evergreens.  They unfortunately didn't respect the ancient burial sites and have made more archaeological investigation difficult.


So, the end.  We bade goodbye to the group as they headed off to the train station and the trip back to Bremen,  We decided to bike back home - only another 15K.  It was a bit more challenging than some parts of the trip and my knee and our hind parts were talking to us.


Half way home we found an ice cream shop, so at  7:30 we had dinner - chocolate and mint chip for me, mango and currant for Werner.  That works!


And we arrived at the ferry just in time to see a sunset over the Weser!  Great day!  The ADFC can expect to see us again on a tour.

Sunday Vacation

Vacation.  I have a definition of that:  sitting on a chair (under an umbrella on a beach would be ideal), reading a book, no schedule, no appointments, no deadlines.

We haven't had a vacation in quite a while.  Family business here and there has kept us from taking time off for ourselves, so we take what we can.  At the moment it's Sundays.

Sunday Werner has the day off, so to speak. Christoph visits Mutti so we can plan something that doesn't require us to be anywhere at any particular time.  This week and last, it was MuseumTime. Yum.

The Focke Museum in Bremen showcases historical aspects of Bremen and the region.  Currently, there's an exhibit of about archaeology under the Nazi's.  Since we've signed up for an upcoming guided bike tour on the topic, we thought we should be informed!  So last week, The Focke.

Such a lovely place, situated in a quiet neighborhood, surrounded by parks.

The Nazi's were interested in establishing their "historical legitimacy" so artifacts were the key.  There were lots of lovely things whose uses were momentarily diverted for evil.  Not now, thank goodness.

Gotta love Herman the German, though!  He's a hero from ancient times who unified the country.

After coffee and cake (we are here in Germany, after all!) the long bike ride home in the fresh air was a treat, and got the cobwebs out of the brain for a while!

And today - MODERN. Really.  We'd wanted to bike again, but the weather was threatening and my bike is in the shop.  The loaner is so not my bike, I didn't want to chance the 15 miles as well as the weather.

The current exhibit is comic style in mainstream art.  Interesting.  But w e i r d.

These paintings from current graduates from the College of Art were appealing.

This one, however, in the permanent collection, was, b o r i n g.  I don't mean the guy standing in front of the painting, though there was a clear communication between the khaki jacket and the khaki painting. Of course, the title of the painting was "No Title".  No joke.

 

This one was titled "Three Axes along the Wall."  How inspiring.  One had some irrelevant words on it.  I think it was the one slightly further out from the wall, so of course it was more distinctive.  

Sometimes Modern Art is only to laugh at.

The mundane followed the sublime - or vice versa.  Coffee, fresh and hot, cake, fluffy and not too sweet.  LOVE coffee and cake, especially on a Sunday Vacation Afternoon.

Repairs, Part 1

Summer is time for house repairs because, well, the weather isn't as bad as it is the rest of the year.  This year seems to be an exception since the spring and summer haven't been all that wonderful, but we still have repairs to do, not all of them planned!

Way back in 2006, Werner made a bench for the back wall, so handy right next to the back door.  We sit the market basket there while unlocking the door, or sit ourselves there in the late afternoon sunlight in the fall.  We picked up the legs for a song at an antique shop, leftovers from a table that had fallen apart, and they suited us and our little antique house just right!

But we're not the only things that age around here.  The legs finally succumbed to the wet and the weather and rotted from the bottom right through the middle.  Werner sat on the bench one afternoon and it gave.  Out. This is actually the good leg!

We needed new legs.  Luckily, we'd bought TWO sets of two legs so long ago, so Werner just trimmed them up, painted them and put them on.  Easy peasy.  Only took a week.

This time, there's a plastic piece at the bottom that might keep it from rotting so soon.  Then again, maybe not, but there'll always be old legs around. (And yes, one leg is longer than the other since the terrace is slanted to drain the water.)

 

Helping out

It's what friends and family do - help out.

Rima and René have moved into the house he grew up in.  It's a happy move, but it's a MOVE and we've all been through that!  So much to do!  The living quarters are pretty well organized and the kitchen functions (but the cellar needs some serious work still!)

Our jobs are more limited. First you get the tools together.

Install the lamps.  These are in the dining area. This is not as easy as it looks - first paint the shades to match the wall, then lengthen the wires and punch out longer places in the wall to accommodate them and patch and repaint and hang and adjust and readjust.  Takes some patience and Werner, thank goodness, has an abundance.

Curtains to hang.  Werner's good with a tool or two so he did some drilling while Rima did some advising.

I was in charge of hemming assorted curtains to the right length, so my trusty sewing machine made the trip too. But OH NO!  I forgot to bring the adapter for the plug!  Werner to the rescue!  It's not art, this -  "adaption" -  but he made it work, one plug to the other. That's what counts.

 So, inside sorta done - it certainly is looking a bit more done. (Mirror hanging was a joint affair as well.  This baby weighs A LOT!)

And then - of course  - there's the yard. It had gone several months without too much attention and  - of course - the "new owners" bring some new ideas.  We did a truck load of trimming and cutting and weeding and slashing. Forty-year-old boxwoods felled, ivy "trees" trimmed.  Little plants put where the weeds were pulled.

Finally we found a moment to sit and have a cuppa tea and some cake - and along came the neighbors, back from the annual "Schutzenfest" - the local shooting club parade and festival, all dolled up in their uniforms and medals.  Looking proud!!

I think this tradition needs a post of its own! That'll be later.  René is a member himself of a shooting club but claims he'd quit in a minute if they made him wear a uniform.  I believe it.

This "new" home project isn't finished by a long shot and we'll be back to do more stuff, since we know houses just keep wanting attention.  But that's what we do.  We help out.

Home Ties

Never have I taken so few pictures on a US trip.  I'm thinking of blaming Werner since he wasn't here to pose for me. 

It was a family visit.  Hanging with the sisters and the BiLs - stripes optional.

 
We shopped and ate and visited and ate and walked and ate and ate some more.  But food is communion and that's what we did.

There was one afternoon with Nancy.  We visited a couple of antique/lots-of-used-stuff stores.  Always fun. And we ate, too. 

After a week in Atlanta, it was off to Panama City, or more accurately Lynn Haven.  Hunter and Hannah had just been let out of school, so they slept a lot, hung with friends, watched TV, texted, stuff.  There were new point slippers to buy.  So pretty!

 Poor Riley needed a bath.  He's happy to cooperate, but not so happy being wet!

Hunter spent a fair amount time driving here and there, visiting friends and the girlfriend, and took a test at the local university so he could do university courses next school year along with the regular school work.  He passed!  Yeah!

 
Otherwise, I chilled.  Easy to do in this setting.

Then off to Orlando!  Little kids!   Here's Dylan talking to Werner in far-far-away Germany, and then, holding a big bowl of jalapenos she picked with Dad from the little garden!

Hayden wasn't always so quiet and calm as this, but he did sit and read and work and build railroad complexes.  He's an engineer!

And the night before I left, there was a lovely sky to remind me I have to come back again.  There's nothing like Florida and nothing like family. And next time, we need more time for both!