2023 年 11 月 22 日
Do NOT freak out. I have not joined the arms production industry. Years ago, the Frankfurt Theatre group Etzetera were putting on a production of Preussler's Krabat (If I remember rightly). Anyway, there were soldiers involved, and they needed guns. So my violin-making skills were re-directed into the production of vintage rifles......Don't worry, I shall remove them before the next customer comes...🤣.
フランクフルトの劇場用に銃を作らなければならなかった...
A more peaceful view from the towers.......
塔からの眺め……
* Achtung * : Reader Alert !
If you didn't hear from me last week that was because I didn't send my blog to "inactive" contacts, not knowing if you really want to read these ramblings or not. So do sign up if you haven't done already, or simply send an email/Whatsapp with the word YES so I will know if you want to continue reading these blogs or not. Thank You😊.
それでもこのブログを受け取りたい場合は、whatsapp/Line/メールに「はい」という一言を添えて送信してください。ありがとう😊
The last rose of summer?.....surely not yet...please!
夏最後のバラ?
The last of the summer wine?......definitely not....
夏最後のワイン?
Last week's post drew some attention: Quote:".....I enjoyed 'hot hike' - though that title could lead some readers astray!...." was the comment.
In the UK Northerners usually have a baudier sense of humour that Southerners, or maybe they simply just know how to enjoy themselves more.....of course my old friend Ruth is no exception🤣.
Here is a small establishment in Langen: I wonder what she would make of this.....(I always smile when I pass by ). If you read the sign from left to right it says
KIDS, GIRLS, BOYS.
WIGS, ADVICE, SALES
この標識は「売り出し中の少年」を意味している可能性があります😆.
Now read the words from top to bottom ........
Well o.k........then cue for Lionel Bart's famous song .....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4CVZnGJIzQ ....where Harry Secombe sings in full lyric tenor mode, and the Undertaker reminds me of Claudio Monteverdi.....
No doubt I will find out more about Northern humour when I read this....presented to me on my birthday by a mischievous musician from Newcastle (upon Tyne) .....
イングランド北部のユーモアについての本.
But back to shops and other things. On what proved to be one of the last sultry summer evenings I took an evening stroll through Langen..........
A quiet moment for our local Lichtburg cinema......
ランゲンの夏の夜の散歩...映画館
Illuminated Christianity at St. Magnus the Martyr......カトリック教会
History you cannot miss..... Stolpersteine (Lit. "stumbling stones") set in the pavement. Do I have to translate these? Perhaps the one on the far right, because it is reads: Here lived Jakob Ludwig Schloss JG (Jahrgang - year of birth) 1900. Escape. France. Survived.
ユダヤ人のための記念碑……
Nearby there is a bell.....which reminds me of a famous literary quote.......
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
John Donne (1572-1631) was a hugely important figure in Elizabethan and Jacobean literature: in some ways, he is second only to Shakespeare in his literary importance.....That sounds like something I've read doesn't it? Well actually it is 🤣. You might be interested....... https://interestingliterature.com/2021/08/never-send-for-whom-the-bell-tolls-it-tolls-for-thee-meaning-analysis/
ランゲンのこの鐘を見て私は John Donne (1572-1631) を思い出しました。 翻訳するのはとても難しいです。 「人間は島ではない」。 私たちは決して一人ではありません
Enough of my philosophical musings.
Let's get down to real meat:
"Seit 1905" Butchers since 1905.......
肉屋
"Beste Herbstlaune" The best Autumn feeling....complete with VW wheel........
靴屋
My go-to place for Sushi..........😋
私の寿司屋
Will the town ever make up its mind? "Einbahnstrasse Ja oder Nein?" One-way street : Yes or no?
一方通行？ はい、もしくは、いいえ.
In my answer to their questionaire I said neither /nor - what we need in the upper end of town is a Fussgängerzone (a pedestrian precinct). They will never get it. Cars do not mix with cyclists. Fact.
Opposite is one of the classic supermarket chains...( pronounced "Reva" in case you were wondering......)
ドイツのスーパーマーケット
And why this is written in English and not Turkish I have no idea.......
床屋
Here we have the familiar sign - seen in almost any German town anywhere - " Apotheke" Chemist (Br. English) / Drugstore (Am. English).....mind you, in a Harry Potter film I'm sure you could call it an "Apothecary"..........薬局
And in the subway a plea for peace......."Breadfruit not Bombs...." 平和
Ok, so what is going on here? Have we just been to the Baumarkt and bought a drainpipe?
排水管?
Aaah......... All is revealed. Although my feminist friends would probably say that this is a male virility symbol, I hasten to add that this is an 8ft. F# from an large organ in Mannheim........
オルガンパイプ !
...Now installed in my stairwell.....
On a lighter and much higher note, we now turn our attention to a laboratory in the Helmholtz Heavy Ion Research facility in Darmstadt. Yes, some grumpy looking chicks here are distracting the researchers........
ダルムシュタットの物理学研究所で数羽のひよこが孵化した !!!! 😕
We are hungry!!! 私たちはお腹が空いている！！！
Photo: Phe
The other day I was meeting up with a friend to have a cup of coffee, and found myself in the newly reconstructed Altstadt in Frankfurt. This old medieval quarter was almost completely destroyed by bombing in 1945. It had been in a pretty bad shape in the 1920/30s, as many of the original owners had moved out and were renting the properties.
What followed was the car and concrete mania of the 1960s. A ghastly "Technical Rathaus" was built, and a tram line brazenly tore through the area. By the late 20thc. people had had enough, and after many architectural competitions the decision was finally made to reconstruct the old medieval quarter. I was very sceptical of this at the time, imagining lots of fake-looking half timbered buildings going up. However my suspicions were unfounded. The project, which lasted from 2012-2018, produced a "medieval" complex of very high quality buildings.
フランクフルトの「古い」町...
Thanks to lots of cafés and zero traffic, the area is a delight to walk through....
ここを歩くのはいいですよ...
It still feels a little sterile in places, but importantly, the alleys connecting to the busy streets have been re-instated....
with a sort of neutral transition area to 19thc. Frankfurt.........
An inner courtyard......
However. I am not quite finished with the little town of Langen......
This sticker appeared near my house the other day. It is not Japanese, but not proper Chinese either (I checked with my Chinese contacts). So I can only assume it is some sort of random "Street Youth" language which only the initiated would understand.....Strange.....
中国人ですらこれを理解していない
But perhaps not as strange as this "Security" shop, which, as well as selling locks and chains, also sells knives and even guns......ランゲンの奇妙な店....
We are on safer ground here. Countries have their "classic" signs. In France it is "Toutes Directions", in the UK it may be "Beware of the Dog". But in Germany the undisputed winner has to be "Einfahrt Freihalten". Keep my entrance free or else........
私の玄関に駐車しないで *ください* (there is no please here)
and so be it. Before we leave I will grant you the pleasure of a view of our 1960s railway bridge......
ランゲン鉄道橋
.....and a view from my front garden....still blooming thank goodness, so maybe we still have some summer left.....
私の庭
💦 Thank you for reading "..Please stay calm.."
"..落ち着いてください .."を読んでくれてありがとう
💦 Feel free to share the blog with friends.
よろしければ、リンクを友達と共有してください
💦 And it would be nice to hear from you...!
そしてコメントしてください...
And finally, a wholesome trinity - all presents from nice people - the mug, the coffee beans, and the coffee grinder.......mmmm....the smell of freshly ground coffee...
挽きたてのコーヒー .....mmmmm.....
Thank you Anna, Kamila, Joshua and Esther.
THE END
☕
終わり
I like the „we are hungry“ pic 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣