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I made Ciabatta, looks great, just a bit rustic. 82% hydration, that’s the max I’ve done (on purpose) so far.

Three freshly baked loaves of ciabatta are cooling on a wire rack.

#ciabatta #bread #brot #sourdough #LievitoMadre #Sauerteig

So, made another focaccia this time with some leftover raclette cheese and a pear.

The dough is a bit on the liquid side, but it is well fermented.

Sliced pear and raclette cheese are arranged on a focaccia dough in a baking tray.

A rectangular focaccia topped with pear and melted cheese sits on a baking tray.

#focaccia #bread #brot #sourdough #LievitoMadre #Sauerteig

‘Neujahrsvorsatz’ #FotoVorschlag

A hand-drawn map labeled Rheinisches Steinzeug features the Rhine various cities like Cologne and Siegburg, and dots marking locations such as Raeren, Frechen, and Höhr-Grenzhausen.

Nächste Tour Siegburg, muss nur etwas wärmer werden.

#photography #fotografie #fahrrad

Very slowly getting into a rhythm

Well, almost, it still feels like (fairly extended) vacation, but I’m starting to allow myself to take time for my own stuff.

But talking about vacation, first we went back to Walcheren for another week, which despite the rain, and there was a lot of rain, was glorious. I also took a lot of photographs, so in terms of my retirement plans that also was quite productive.

People are walking near a city street with parked scooters and bicycles in front of a modern building. A lamp post in the foreground mirrors an obelisk in the middle of a roundabout.

A decorative carousel featuring painted horses with colorful saddles and bridles.

During our vacation we also visited Arnemuiden, which today is a fairly small, fairly modern looking suburb of Middleburg. Go a few centuries back Arnemuiden was an important harbour on Walcheren, sitting at the mouth of the river Arne which linked Arnemuide with the Verse Meer and thus with international trade. History of Arnemuiden

What piqued my interest is that Arnemuiden was an important trading center for salt. Originally Zeeuwse Zout was made by burning turf, but in the 16th century Iberian and French sea salt was refined on Walcheren.

Part of this salt was used to salt fish, some of which was traded down the Rhine and was then offloaded in Cologne, see Trading Goods of Cologne and especially Ventgüter.

Another part of this salt was traded directly, partly down the Rhine to Cologne, where it was either traded on, or used in the salt fish trade which provisioned large parts of the southern Holy Roman empire with fish for lent and other religious fast days.

In a (not really) surprising twist, cruising the History of Arnemuiden I happened on this page, Rheinisches Steinzeug

Coming back to photography, there was also time for a visit to Cologne Zoo.

A group of vibrant pink flamingos stands together on a grassy area

A cheetah is lounging on a grassy area, surrounded by trees and basking in the sunlight.

Landschaftspark Belvedere

The Park, sorry Wiki in German only, is part of the green belt around Cologne.

This particular park has four viewing platforms, two of which I visited to check out my new lens.

Auto-generated description: A metal observation platform with a spiral staircase stands beside a bicycle on a grassy field under a cloudy sky. Auto-generated description: A bicycle is parked near a tall, metal observation structure with stairs, set against a cloudy sky. Auto-generated description: A city skyline with modern buildings and a distinctive tower is seen beyond a line of trees and open fields under a cloudy sky. Auto-generated description: A city skyline featuring a tall telecommunications tower and a Gothic-style cathedral rises above a forested area.

The city is of course Cologne, the lens is great, have to come back for more interesting weather

#photo #foto