Bruce and I are sad to hear about the fire at the Grasshopper Pub. It has affected four businesses (Pub, Hotel, Meeting room, Liquor Store) that were well liked and used in the Madeira Park community. Our best wishes to the owner and staff for a swift recovery.
Our partners D & E mentioned there was a greatly pregnant goat at the Mundenhof, our local farm zoo. We've been anxious to go see the kids so we headed off this week. Well the goat enclosure did have four goats in it but they weren't kids. I walked there and around so got tired, the camera battery died, so we decided to leave it for another day.
I made good my threat of riding on Bruce's knees on the way home and it worked for both of us. I got to drive - wheee! We did get a few stares though and a swear word out of a cyclist because I didn't signal before turning - oops! Sorry, forgot since I haven't been on a bike for about a hundred years. Before the camera died and we got to the goats we saw the camels. Missed them the last time so was good to find them. Seems weird to me to see camels in Germany but there you go, and here you go...
This sculpture like thingy is in the camel's enclosure. I don't know what it is unless it's a large scratching post? Or maybe a stork farm sans the storks right now? I liked it anyway.
So, one day before expiry and no access to the shops the next day due to the holiday, we purchased our monthly tram tickets. Heading downtown a woman gets on board, does what everyone else does by sitting quietly. Then she gets up and asks for our tram fares. This happens infrequently but when it did before, the people who asked were sort of mean looking. This woman wasn't and when she did catch someone she was matter of fact about it and not menacing. When she smiled she had a diamond on a tooth! It's a 40 euro fine if you get caught without fare. Ouch! A monthly fare costs 53 euro so it is worth paying it.
October 3 is German Unification Day, when East and West united. We looked for a parade or event that marked the day downtown but there was nothing to see, unless we missed it...
I worked with a woman who lived in East Germany as a child. She told me many of her relatives were in the West and they couldn't see them. They lived in a very small walk-up apartment with many people. They had rabbits on the balcony which, as a child, she thought were pets until they started going missing and there was meat on the table. She, and others have, said how grey their surroundings were. My sister has been there also and she described it like someone had painted everything grey. We visited Berlin a couple of years ago and it is not like that now. It is a vibrant, modern city.
We heard a different sort of motor and I looked out to find this flying around. Not this specific one, I took the picture off Google. Looks like great fun!
I have been greatly corrected! When I called Bruce's project a "pin ball like machine" he didn't like that description one bit. He calls it, and I will from now on, a Kinetic Sculpture, not a toy but an aesthetic experience. Well, that's a good tag line for marketing it!
Been wondering what shops are a few tram stops down because I see lots of people with shopping bags coming to the tram from this spot. Investigated today and found cheap clothing stores, a euro (dollar) store, cafes etc. But none of it was very appealing, at least I know now.
Walking past this clothing store and look what I found! Yikes, not a fashion I'll be adding to my wardrobe for sure! Someone will pay money for that? No accounting for taste, or depending on your opinion, lack of. I acknowledge being sceptical here.
See the large purse? Someone let me know if this is happening in Canada, but the purses people carry here are like carpet bags! I know I said the kids carry large bags, but women do as well. I am interested to find out if this is a Canadian thing also. Just another fashion trend I guess, I'm so out of it...
A bit concerned about four of our packages. They are in this building somewhere, with someone, but we don't know who. I'm sure no one will keep them but with the holiday it would make sense for many to take Friday off as well. DHL considers things delivered if someone, anyone in the building, will take them. They are supposed to leave notification of delivery in our mailbox with the person who signed for it, didn't happen this time. We have signed for someone else before too and then had a devil of a time getting it to them. Part of the problem is that none of the suites are marked with numbers, for security I guess. We all have suite numbers but they are not shown on the outdoor buzzer panel or the mail boxes. We've found the best way to contact someone is to put a note in their mail box.
Having said all that, we were leaving and the courier was at the front door with two of them which Canada Post said were delivered on October 1st, it's now the 5th. I guess they mean delivered to our local post office. Takes time to figure out how systems work here, as in any situation when you move to a different country. All part of the learning process, one of the reasons we're here.
We bought a new camera and now I wonder if we shouldn't have just upgraded one of our cell phones to an iPhone. Ack, technology, I'm so behind on it too.
Cheers, Bev, Bruce and Lexi Cat
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