Half Way Through My Stay and a Miserable Evening!

The dismal scene of bucketing rain and low cloud.

Here's the scene tonight outside my window at 21.15.  It is bucketing down, really dark and misty and feels a bit like November.  It is much cooler though, for which I am thankful.  There's not a lot to report today, although I heard the good news that my English friend, who has been so unwell for months, is going to Bad Nenndorf, near Hannover, for a cure at the spa.  I'm sure she will feel so much better after a relaxing three weeks in a Spa hotel with it's various treatments and relaxation therapies.   She has no date yet for her stay.

Changing the subject completely, I have found a lovely bead and jewellery making shop in Schloss Akarden.  It's not as good as our Devizes bead shop, but is heaven to me.  I've bought some bead thread and beads and have made myself a new necklace with matching earrings.  I'm so pleased I bought my jewellery pliers with me.   I've also made some earrings for a friend at choir, some pretty ones, with little musical notes, bass and treble clefs hanging from chain.  

Now I must make a cuppa.  I'm watching the Woman's Football World Cup on the tv, Japan v Sweden and the score is 1:1 at the moment.  It was a shame that both England and Germany were knocked out last weekend.  Lots of news here about the "Murdoch Clan" and their desire to control our thought processes.   I've never trusted that man! 

Closely Observed "Bauhaus" Shopping Bags.

My posh shopping bag.

Today was quiet, it had to be because on Monday I was out all day, popped home at 4pm for a cuppa and then went out again at 6.30pm to meet friends for a beer and curry.   I have built in some  "rest days," days when I can recover from my high life of eating, drinking and speaking German!   

I took a trip today on the tram to Stoeckheim, one of Braunschweig's  newly developed satilite towns.   There I found "Bauhaus," a DIY store, rather like focus, which sells these wonderful shopping bags.   I'd seen various ladies about town carrying them, and my friend Ursula took hers on our picnic last Saturday.  Anyway I thought, "I must have one of those," and today purchased a smart red version with chunky, tubular handles, a zipped cover and two inner pockets for keys, purse and other bits and pieces.   It is very light in weight, and will pack easily into my suitcase when I return on October 7th.

"Bauhaus" was the name of a German school of art and crafts, famous for its approach to design and architecture.  Walter Gropius established three schools in 1919 in  Weimar, Berlin and Dessau which ran until 1933,  when they closed under pressure from the Nazi Regime.  The school was similar to the arts and crafts movement in Britain, which was established by William Morris with the aim of uniting form and function.   The form of my shopping bag is simple and it will function well.  Wikipedia has more info.

Some (me) don't like it Hot!

Pottery finds at Fortress Regenstein.

I has become very warm again this week, it does make life uncomfortable, but I mustn't moan,  it could be overcast and drizzling.  I went to the two English groups this morning, where we discussed German and English idiomatic expressions.  Many are quite similar, and some well, really difficult to understand.  I have to iron my blouse this afternoon, (I hate ironing) as tonight I'm meeting friends in "Charly's" for a drink and a chat.

The photo, right, shows some of the pottery finds at Fortress Regenstein.  The large urn, ca 1600 with embossed decoration was lovely, and the blue shards below are from dishes made in Meissen near Dresden. 

Below are trout swimming in the fish farm at Kloster St Michael, all waiting to be caught and become somebody's dinner!   I had a trout salad there last Saturday which was delicious, especially with horseradish sauce.  We tucked into buttered toast too, all a real treat and washed down with a good German beer.  

This week I continue my search for the "Buehrig" family history for Mark in Florence, Oregon.  We cannot track down Hennig Buehrig, who was a workman in Timmerlah in ca. 1890.  Timmerlah Church has no record of him and this week I will visit the City Archive to try to find more information about him.  His birth must be recorded somewhere, the dates of his son's birth and marriage have been found, but Mark cannot go a generation back to Hennig's parents.  Wish me luck,  some of it is written in German Gothic script.

Trout swimming in the fish farm.

My Favourite Seat has Gone!

My seat has gone!

 In the little alcove beside the great door once stood my favourite "Sit and watch the world go by whilst eating an ice cream" bench.  It was a  wooden bench supported by two wonderful lions, one of which  had been stroked on his nose so frequently, that it was shiny and polished.   I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the seat had gone and had mourned a miniature grief,  but its disappearance is all in a good cause. 

The Cathedral has no entrances for the disabled, and these photos show the new raised pavement that has been built to allow wheel chairs and trollies into the building.  Work finishes at the end of July and it will now be much easier for everyone to go into the lovely building.

The photo below shows three St John's Ambulance rescue dogs and their handlers, waiting to go into the cathedral for a special service to say "thank you" to all the members of the Braunschweig ambulance and rescue service.    The dogs waited so patiently on a warm day while everyone went into the cathedral, and then they went in last.  Sweet creatures and so very friendly.

In the background of the photo is a seat  supported by lions. It's identical to my favourite seat,  I do hope I get it back!

St John's Ambulance Rescue Dogs.

The Ruins of Fortress Regenstein in Blankenburg, Kloster St Michael and Bad Harzburg.

The Fortress ruins, hewn out of the stone.

This photo of the ruins of the Fortress at Regenstein in Blankenburg doesn't really give an idea of its splendid, defensive position on top of a craggy hilltop.  It was established in 1167, but was constantly extended and refortified during the past centuries.  Its position, high up in the Harz mountains, gives an amazing view towards the Brocken and  a very distant Braunschweig.  The flag marks the highest point but unfortunately,  the Queen was not at home today!  

I visited with two friends, and the photo below shows me in silhouette in what was a corridor connecting the chapel and various rooms, all hewn from the stone by hand and chisel.  It must have been a very dangerous occupation for the poor souls who did the hard work, particularly for those hanging over a precipice working on the outer walls.   In several rooms were little displays of artifacts found during excavations, including pottery, spurs, swords and decorated tiles.

The lowest photo shows Kloster St Michael, a medieval monestry with some wonderful buildings and fish ponds.  We sat under the parasols, rear right in the photo, and enjoyed a trout salad with buttered toast and a large beer.  It was a wonderful day and we returned via Bad Harzburg, with its many spa clinics and hotels.   There is further information on Wikipedia about these places.   It makes interesting reading with more detail than I can write.  We had a wonderful day, which also included a pleasant walk in the shade of the forest.  The Harz is a National Park.   www.nationalpark-harz.de/en  

Vicki silhouetted in the doorway.

The fish farm at Kloster St Michael.

The Happy Wanderer.

 I got to wandering again today, the weather was comfortably warm and I took the camera to a part of the city I had never visited before.  The photo left shows the last remaining section of the city wall, built in the 13th century.  Henry the Lion established his capital in Braunschweig and gradually incorporated outlying areas into the city and surrounded them with a defensive wall.  Part of the wall has been used as the rear wall of a house, far left.  

The photos below show two more splendid buildings.  The first, the yellow coloured entrance hall of the old railway station.   It was built in 1843/45 and is all that remained after the bombing of the city in the last war.  The building is now the head office of a bank and stands beside the River Oker. 

The bottom photo shows the "Hanseatic House,"  Built in 1567 it was the first home of  "Wolters" the brewers, who brewed beer here for 400 years.  It is now  a large restaurant.   (Sorry about the lamp post in the middle of the photo.  The house is on a busy road and was difficult to photograph.)  

I had two lucky escapes today, one was seeing a really lovely, but expensive leather handbag, an absolute dream, but fortunately I'd left my cash cards at home.  Secondly some shoes to die for!!  Just the shape and colour I like, but I did talk myself out of buying those.   The handbag is still in my mind!

The entrance hall of the old railway station.

The Hanseatic House, once home of "Wolters" brewery.

Storm Clouds and Shopping for Cheese, (again)

Here's another panoramic view from my lounge window, from where I can enjoy a vast expanse of sky and weather.   This storm passed by Timmerlah, but several other villages suffered some damage with uprooted trees.  A sudden, huge wind  picked up,  which  blew the  cards off my desk and forced me to shut the windows.  It was a very dramatic and exciting hour.  Fortunately the thunder and lightning stayed well in the distance.

Today was quiet after my late night attempting to play Boules.   I needed rolls and cheese and had run out of hair spray, so I was forced to go shopping.  The day was cooler, Wednesday's temperature was around 24c. so today I was able to walk to Weststadt but returned on the bus.  My senior bus pass has made me a tad lazy, but I had two bags of heavy shopping, (mostly smelly cheese and fruit juice) so I couldn't walk back.

I couple of days ago I bought a packet of my favourite really smelly Swiss cheese.  I opened the packet at the bus stop and ate a slice.  Of course the packaging was then unsealed, and when I got on the bus,  I'm sure everyone wondered where the strong smell was coming from.   I kept a low profile and pretended it wasn't me.