2022年8月6日
"....and whilst you are changing the strings, the F# on the A string doesn't quite sound right -can you fix that?...." No hurry, we are away for the next two weeks....." So says the violinist as she leaves my workshop...her thoughts now switching from the Orchestra pit to other things in life such as suncream and beach sandals. Nice for you madam.....🤣.
Of course I only have myself to blame for sticking around at home in August. Luckily there are still nice walks to be had - even though you have to bring 1.5 litres of drinking water with you to prevent dehydration. Saturday's meeting point was Kamp Bornhofen. Now that's a name to chew on. It is simply a charming little village on the banks of the Rhine. Proud shipping flags flutter on the main street.......ライン渓谷の小さな町......
and a constant succession of barges pass by on their way to Düsseldorf and Rotterdam. But the barges are only half full. Why is that? Well there simply is not enough water in the river at the moment, so a fully loaded barge would get stuck. It needs to rain in the Alps first. Only then will the water rise. So much of the river bed is exposed.......川床を見ることができます.
revealing the odd bicycle......古い自転車でも.
and freshwater shells. から 殻.
But we hikers are soon on our way. First through the village.........
some with hats, others not.....I can't survive without my hat on days like this.....私は帽子をかぶらなければなりません.
and soon hitting the trail......道.
....with or without hats....
soon to see the river from above......but what do we see here? a beach! ビーチ!
Our route took us around the big bend near Boppard....私たちの道.
.....with lots of photo stops.........!写真をお願いします!
And lo and behold.....more beaches have appeared.......allowing the locals to swim in otherwise dangerous reaches of water......
You see that castle on the hill? That's where we knew we could buy cool drinks...as long as we got there before it closed......(note the sandbank in the river)....マークスバーグ城.
....which as you can see.....we did. It looks like everyone apart from me scattered before they could be caught on this photo....a very flattering portrait I must say.....thank you Andreas..🙄
ナイジェルは喉が渇いた....
Castle lavender....ラベンダー.
At some point we were to be found at Braubach station waiting to get home...The castle is the Marksburg......It is real, and is several hundred years old. Disney was a later idea..........😄
"We are so lucky to have the Waldsee here" my son said to me recently. This suddenly made me think. Yes! Why haven't I been swimming this summer yet? この夏、私はまだ泳いでいません。どうして??? For heaven's sake, get it together Nigel! The Waldsee (lit. forest lake 森の中の湖) is a huge expanse of water in the woods north of Langen. On one side there is a gravel processing plant, on another a sailing club, and on the other a beach, divided into a FKK (Freikörperkultur....ie you "free your body from clothes..") and a"normal"section.🏊♂️.
Given the scorching temperatures now, it was time to act. And act I did. The very next morning, leaving breakfast until later, I slipped out of the house and was on my bike at 7.45am. Wearing nothing but swimming shorts, T-shirt and sandals. After a deliciously cool ride through the forest I was soon there just after 8am. A guy checked my ticket and I entered and locked up my bike. Now it began.......I walked across the beach: over deep sand imprinted with curious designs - curious, that is, before I realised that they were from the webbed feet of geese and ducks🦆. Said geese were all sleeping by the waters edge. A single human could be seen in the far distance swimming gently. It was calm, quiet - the campers were still zipped up in their tents.
I walked gingerly into the calm surface of the lake. Good grief, I thought. Who would have thought you could conjure up paradise on a weekday morning in August? てんごく 天国!
The water temperature was 24°c........ooooh.....ちょうどいいですよちょ....just right. The fish came to inspect my toes.....
but soon darted away when I started walking......
A good start to the day. The end of the day was quite different. Today the sun went down at 9.30pm. At this point the burning heat of the day subsided, and the temperature sank below 30°c at last. I got on my bike. Now there is a point near my house where the houses end and you are suddenly in the meadows. You immediately are caressed by cool air. It is a delicious feeling escaping from the tarmac. And then there are all the smells! As you cycle along your nose picks up the sweet perfume of some evening flower....
then the unmistakable tang of fermenting plums. There they are, scattered on the path. Above them a heavily laden branch leans down. Very soon you are cycling through fields of stubble. The barley has been harvested and the air is heavy with a sort of bakery/muesli smell. The path follows the outskirts of Schloss Wolfgarten, and you think you smell rain. But this is impossible. It is the stream, which is hiding some reserves of water. And all the while the cicadas keep you company.
Either a lone soloist in the darkness of a bush, or a whole orchestra of them spread out in a tree. You never see them of course. なつぜみ 夏蝉......
Coming very soon!! For all of you in Frankfurt and beyond....I will be working at the The Main Matsuri 3-day Festival in Frankfurt. Book Online (only €5.00) at https://www.main-matsuri.com/ see you there!
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PICTURES FROM AN EXHIBITION (7)
This is my last little glimpse from the Royal Academy Exhibition of Kawanabe Kyosai, the mad genius of 19thc Japan. Two mice roll up the master's latest calligraphy drawing. It's a typical little humorous detail.......
THE END
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終わり
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