The road and the tree

There have been some changes here over the month I was gone. Some roads have been re-tar sealed, including the road under the large Eucalyptus tree outside my place.

The gum tree at my place

Gum tree and roof

Perhaps the council got tired of filling in the potholes that appeared every time it rained. They just scrape off the top though and put down another layer and I notice that there is already a hole forming where the old ones were. I suppose the tree has something to do with it, but I would rather have the tree and a bumpy road than no tree and a smooth one.

Back home with jet lag

One thing about jet lag is that you get to see places at unusual times. I was at Banksia Station by 5:30am, even before the Banksia Bakery opened, though the shop was alight. The Banksia Bakery sells very popular Lebanese pizzas (among other things) and people were busy preparing dough inside.Rain in the night had washed the streets clean and the air was cool as I waited for the train.

Banksia at 5:30am

Sunrise at Banksia station

By 6am I was at Central Station which was just as empty as Munich East Station had been a month ago when I arrived at 6am. In Munich the coffee shop had been open, so I had a place to wait for my train. In Sydney Central all the shops were still closed.

Sydney Central Station at 6am

Shades of Grey

While we were taxiing for take off at Frankfurt Airport the middle aged Asian businessman sitting next to me fell sound asleep and snored loudly. He stayed asleep and snoring loudly for most of the 12 hour flight.  He woke for breakfast shortly before we landed in Singapore and turned out to be quite a charming fellow.
His other neighbour (from Croatia) asked him if he had taken a sleeping tablet, but he said he hadn't. The Croatian man laughed and told him we should have to pay him for the musical accompaniment.
I noticed he had a copy of Shades of Grey which I have been told is amusing by some and appalling rubbish by others, so I asked him how he was enjoying it.
"'Oh there are three parts and I bought them all because I travel a lot", he said. "Yes, it is good - you have to realise it is not reality, that it is quite outside normal mores and then you enjoy it."
With his talent for falling asleep I am surprised he has any need for travel books at all.

United against violence

Melbourne has been consumed by the horror of the rape and murder of Jill Meagher in Melbourne's Brunswick last week and Philip's reaction was to organise a march against violence. Thirty thousand people came.

From the Financial Review. Philip in foreground holding the placard

Autumn in Hamburg

Silver birch trees in Hamburg

Hamburg has been wet and cold and suddenly it is autumn. Just when I have adapted (well almost) to this season I am off again to the southern hemisphere.

Cloudy and wet with low light levels.

Flowers for Gino

Over the last week I have been painting small pictures to hang in Gino's Italian Cafe here in Rissen. Gino is a real gem, an Italian who migrated to Hamburg a long time ago but who still has a real Italian flair.  I have a gallery wall in his Cafe and this year I have painted a series of flower pictures to hang there.

Vegetables in glass jars

I seldom buy canned foods nowadays because the inner lining of cans often contains the toxin bis phenol and tests have shown that the uptake by canned food can be very high. Here in Germany a lot of foods are preserved in glass jars instead of cans. Why can't we buy vegetable in glass jars in Australia?

Jars of veges in a Hamburg grocery store

Tchibo

This shop (chain actually) has got marketing down to a tee. It is a coffee shop; grinds and sells various coffees - all own brand. But on the side Tchibo sells other things - each week a new selection that is timed for the market. They are currently selling children's autumn clothing, rain gear and gumboots. Their coffee is good (they have switched to 100% Arabica coffee) and their products are good quality and always displayed with style; the individual clothing pieces are designed to match and compliment each other - and it is often cheaper than elsewhere, though not always.

Bei Tchibo in Rissen

Shoppers come into Tchibo for a coffee, then buy something , or come in just for a look, or come in to shop but not buy coffee. I have been wondering when I will see the first Tchibo store in Australia. I think they would make a killing.

Market in Uetersen

The stall holders at the Sunday market in Uetersen last weekend wore traditional dress and their stalls, full of  baskets of  fresh and beautiful fruit and vegetables were very picturesque.

Market in Uetersen

Chillies

Normal lemons and avocado

An odd shaped citrus fruit was on display, a lemon that was all skin and no juice - especially good if you want lemon zest.

This is a citrus fruit - lemon zest without the pulp.

Cigarettes

After living in a country where cigarettes must be kept under the counter it is a bit of a shock to find baskets of cigarette packages placed right next to the checkout in Hamburg Aldi stores

Aldi checkout with cigarettes

Friends tell me that a lot of people have stopped smoking here but you wouldn't know it by looking at the outdoor cafes.

Smoker at an inner city Cafe in Hamburg

Wikipedia says 26% of Germans smoke. In most other European countries over 30% of the population smokes (in Greece 43%) so perhaps the peak has passed.  The lists of side effects is long (and includes erectile dysfunction) which makes you wonder how many brown paper bags are passed from cigarette companies to law makers. Those lists of side effects  (the link is to the German Wiki site has more info than the English version ) make me pleased I have a weakness for chocolate not cigarettes.

Escalators

I do like escalators that have all the 'up' stairs on one side, so you don't have to walk around to the other side on each floor to continue your journey. I think shops that alternate up and down stairs which force you to walk through their store to get to your destination hope you will buy something on your way. They make me want to leave the shop altogether.

As it should be: stairs coming down (right) and continuing down  (left) . Im AppelrathCüpper auf der Mönckebergstraße  

 

 

Uetersen Rosareum

Uetersen (just north west of Hamburg) is one of the world's most important rose breeding areas and the Uetersen Rosarum is worth a visit at any time of the year. A lot of roses are still flowering there in September and I am told that in winter it is a wonderful place to tramp through the snow.

Lake at the Rosareum in Uetersen, Schleswig-Holstein

Human Statues in Hamburg

These mid-air actors in Hamburg were attracting attention on Friday. Some people walked straight past without seeing them but then someone would stop and a crowd would gather; standing, watching, scratching their heads and wondering how the figures stayed in mid air.
When some one put money in the box they did a slow thank you routine. Very clever!

Mid air performers from the front

Mid air performers from the back

Ugg boots

Australian Ugg boots seem to be popular in Germany. I have seen them in Hamburg (below) and Munich (below that)! The ones I saw in Hamburg yesterday cost Euro 220 so perhaps they are one of the few things that are cheaper in Australia than Europe.

Ugg boots in Hamburg shop

Ugg boots in Munich shop

Perhaps they are the current 'must have' fashion item?  Walkin' along in your Ugg boots usin' your EyePhone...

Hamburg on Water

It was cold and threatening rain in Hamburg this morning so I went into the city center, getting out of the train at Jungfernstieg to a typical Hamburg view. The main shopping street looks out over the smaller of two lakes, the inner Alster which is divided from the outer Alster by a road/rail line. (You can see the road/rail bridge mid-right in the photo below.)

Inner Alster with fountain and tourist boats

There are a lot of waterways leading from the Alster to the River Elbe and they are all built up. There are more bridges in Hamburg  than Venice.

Hamburg Town Hall

How nice to see the Hamburg Rathaus (Town Hall) appear at the end of the street.

Rathaus

Hamburg Rathaus

It is such a pretty building with its clock tower and copper roof. I had a coffee in the Cafe opposite and watched people go by.
"Is there glass in these windows?" I wondered and lent over to touch them to see. There was.
Very clean glass.

Very clean windows

The power of marketing

In Hamburg this afternoon there was a very long queue of people waiting to buy an iPhone5. Pedestrian managers in yellow jackets were keeping order and letting groups of five into the shop.

The word is that the iphone5 is not much different from its predecessor so there must be other factors at play. Apparently one person had been waiting in front of the store since Wednesday. His 5 minutes of fame?

An Angel

The Angel in St Michael's church in Munich

Isn't she lovely?

To Hamburg

I was in a bit of a zombie state after painting hard for two weeks then doing the tourist thing in Munich so I snoozed on the train to Hamburg or watched the scenery whizz past. Others around me were busy on their computers ... but not me. Now I have had a couple of sleeps I am feeling more human.

I have just taken a picture with my laptop web cam ( first time) of the window in front of which I am sitting. It is 6:45pm and the sun is low in the west but still lighting the tree tops. Two clocks in the room are ticking but otherwise there is no sound. It is very peaceful.

Picture of the window behind me

Munich Inner city

"There must be more to Munich than this," I said to myself as I drank my espresso looking out the cafe window.

Munich Street

I had taken a shortcut to the city via an underground walkway and had popped up in a nondescript area that looked nothing like the brochures. My little YMCA map showed what appeared to be a long pedestrian street a couple of streets away, so I re-entered the tunnel and made for the opposite side, walked up the moving staircase and suddenly I was there, in the Munich of the brochures with old and ornate buildings.

Munich City Gate

Munich inner city

Munich inner city 2

The main shopping street in the center of Munich extends several city blocks. It is closed to traffic so it is peaceful and you can look at the historic buildings on either side at your leisure. There were few people about at nine but by 10 o'clock there were a lot of other tourists wandering about and taking photos. By lunch time people were sitting by flower stands resting their feet.

Sitting by the flowerpots

Munich inner city building