Goeree-Overflakkee II

One of the small towns on the island is Goedereede, where the name points to the history as a harbour town

#photography #GoereeOverflakkee #Goedereede

houses on the market square towards the church small streets and houses

Visiting Zierikzee III

#photography #zierikzee

Street scene market place with church and beurse

Visiting Zierikzee II

#photography #zierikzee

street scene more street scenes the tower photo bombing another innocent street scene

Zeeuwse Eilanden

#photography #ZeeuwseEilanden

horse grazing on pasture wadden zee tree lined country road Brouwershaven townhall, small, renaissance

Middleburg market & streets

#photography #Middleburg

Middleburg townhall seen across the market b/w picture of fruit stall Middleburg cityhall b/w picture of cheese mongers stall side view of Middleburg city hall on the left

Idiots that we are we, visited a late Roman hill fortification near Zell (Mosel), the Alteburg

It was only 2 km, with half going uphill (duh, hill fort), but it also was 34C

The fort never commanded vistas, it’s off the Moselle overlooking a minor, narrow side valley. Today it is in the middle of a forrest, and if there were no signage you’d pass it by.

But it’s on the way, so to speak, to one of our favourite spots on the bank of the Moselle.

Wooded hill with signage explaining the site and a QR code to load a virtual tour prepared by the University of Trier

Stones, possibly antique

trees, there are a lot of trees

A trip to the Hohe Venn, Hautes Fagnes

Hautes Fagnes

As ever the Hohe Venn is a cool trip, easy and fast to reach from Cologne.

This time we were staying in Eupen. Which, apart from being a very nice town, is also a bit of a surreal experience. The architecture is an odd mix of the Wallonian with Gründerzeit. Culturally Rhenian / Wallonian, there is eg Karneval, signage is German/French, beers are Belgian and German. The language comfortingly Ripuarian (or, of course, many (most) are also comfortable in French).

Eupen city center, blue sky, street cafe with umbrellas in the shade of the evening sun

Another street cafe in Eupen, church in the background

We spent three days, with short lazy hikes starting at the Signal de Botrange, Mont Rigi and Baraque Michel

Road leading to the Signal de Botrange in the Hautes Fagnes-Eifel / Hohen Venn

View of the fen

Path through the fen

Passed through Monschau on the way back. Monschau had been our quarters on previous trips.

10/10, will go again

#HohesVenn #HautesFagnes

On our travel - Lüneburg Heath

Easter Monday we set out on a trip to Lüneburg Heath, that was supposed to be four days of cycling. That though, is not what happened.

Two days of rain

Our trip started with two days of rain, interrupted by hail, and, much more rarely, a little sunshine. Plans were changed and adapted and we started with two days of Lüneburg.

Thanks to going basically broke at the right time the city is very well preserved with most of the medieval buildings intact.

The first day was spent exploring the city and dodging hail. Following a meandering course around the city and taking in some great examples of Backstein Gothik. The second day was spent in the Deutsche Salzmuseum and the Museum Lüneburg.

View of the town hall St Nicolai, seen through an alley View of the St Michaelis close, here was the school Johann Sebastian Bach attended Crooked alley with medieval houses Magnificent stepped gables on a tiled facade

Apart from being a major trading centre for salt, Lüneburg sits on quite a lot of salt, the city also queried and exported gypsum. The Kalkberg Kalkberg, view of the ancient quary is said to have been 10 times larger originally and was quarried for almost 1000 years.

The evening of the second day closed with a well deserved rainbow Rainbow behind beech trees .

Two days without rain

Two good trips across the heath, one starting in Bispingen and climbing the Wilseder Berg. The heath is interrupted by a lot of pine and beech forrests. The ideal time to visit is apparently August, when the heath is in bloom. But even without the bloom there are some magnificent views.

Wind bowed pines on heath View over the heath with some rare sun Heath and trees Moss covered beech Bikes enjoying a rest

Used Haiku

24/04/23: A haiku a day
is not an easy habit
to maintain I find

23/04/23: A breadroll morning
satisfaction and good taste
and a great coffee

22/04/23: Feeling really strange
aware of nearing pension
immortal teen

21/04/23: Sudden rain in the
morning changes the mood and
should water the soul

20/04/23: Due work progresses
all friction not withstanding
inching towards stop

19/04/23: Project managers
are super therapists
waiting for a fact

18/04/23: The centigrades
are dancing, coming, going,
no boring weather

17/04/23: Off to work I went
refreshed, renewed, recycled,
off we go again

16/04/23: A vacation by
definition is too short
and work is too long

15/04/23: Here straggly heather
there juniper and ibex stand
cloud studded heaven

14/04/23: Wind bent pines and beech
rooted in heath and heather
copses of birch gleaming

14/04/23: Crooked streets go
from river to market square
old brick holds the sky

12/04/23: Rain and sun and wind
a medieval modern town
red brick and arches

11/04/23: River meanders
glistening in the sunshine
trees are blossoming

10/04/23: A river of cars
pouring north where we are going
camaraderie?

9/04/23: The queue ran empty
so I filled it again
I need to write more

9/04/23: Crusty breakfast roll
so humble and majestic
tasty, nourishing

8/04/23: When the weekend looms
and the sun checks the horizon
keep the mind cheerful

6/04/23: Warm sun, blossoms show
winter fading memory
bright evenings will come

5/04/23: ‘twas a good idea
to make dinner for myself
before I got hangry

4/04/23: Best day of the year
for turning sun into some
electricity

3/04/23: Aprils weather does
disgust, delight, but never
bore. Garden awaits

2/04/23: Drizzle and drizzle
and droplets on my glasses
what a boring sight

2/04/23: My electric sheep
does not like the rain and thus
the grass remains long

1/04/23: Gin and tonic glass
glistening condensation
it’s Feierabend

31/03/23: Socks on my left foot
do more often have a hole
I’m so curious why

30/03/23: A haiku a day
does not, in fact, keep the doc
away, pity that

29/03/23: Snow blooms today as
blossoms would spring and winter
dance the seasons change

28/03/23: Cooking with good friends
eating, talking, drinking too
that is a nice day

27/03/23: A low haiku stack
fuels productive tinkering
with word and picture

26/03/23: A sorbets icy
charms, tart and fruity, frozen
cools the worlds demands

25/03/23: An early April
sun, rain, wind, rain, sun, rain, wind,
weather’s having fun

25/03/23: When at evening
the sun shines again warmly
warming more than skin

24/03/23: Young shoots bring pollen
spring seems in the air today
sneezes in season

22/03/23: Morning bells ringing
coffee drinking sitting quiet
contemplating sleep

21/03/23: Grey sky wtihout cloud
even light without shadow
I miss the contrasts

20/03/23: Time flies, when you are
having fun, they say, oh my,
getting old seems fun?

19/03/23: Morning coffee taste
bright, bitter, milky, coffee
switch on brain, again

19/03/23: When spring sun shines
when alder and hazel fly
sneezing wakes me up

18/03/23: Young man is your kid
doesn’t follow expectations
calm down dad, normal

17/03/23: Ev’ning snow flakes
landing wetly grossly on
my evening shopping run

16/03/23: Dancing letters show
on glass in word and picture
the world behind us

15/03/23: Raining afternoon
draws a veil across the world
allowing dreams to rise

14/03/23: Raining afternoon
flees slowly towards the evening
where g&t awaits me

Autumn

#photography

Dead wood in autumnal forrest Tippi of dead branches around tree in autumnal forrest Path between autumnal forrest and fields Hedge over field autumn late afternoon

Christmas Trees, erection of, time of

Hereabouts (Rhineland) you put up your tree somewhere between the 4th Sunday of Advent and Cristmas Eve. The frequency distribution would be right shifted.

If you wanted festive cheer during the Advent, you had an Adventskranz with four candles. Each week you’d light one more. Had some Weihnachtsgebäck (Christmas cookies) and some songs.

As I see my timeline filling up with people setting up their trees, I start feeling old.

Does this look like Düsseldorf?