A New Year

Saarbrücken Schloss panorama

I welcomed in the New Year in Saarlandisch style last night, from atop the wall at the Schloss across the river. The Schloss is the baroque city palace c.1710, now home to the Fachhochschule (adult education college) and civic offices. It rests on the wall of an older castle from the Middle Ages.

It's hard to describe - you'll get an idea from the video below. If you've seen the Symphony of Fire international fireworks in Vancouver's English Bay, imagine standing on the barge. Only closer. (With amateur fireworks, they don't go as high, and sometimes they go horizontal!) It was a new sport for me - dancing to avoid firecrackers snaking around the plaza and ducking to avoid the fallout of launching sticks, spent cardboard cartridges and still-smoking remains. I finally found a use for an umbrella!

<video to follow tomorrow>

Surprisingly, it seems everyone survived. The high park overlooking the river and the Saarbrücken Staatstheatre (the big colonaded opera-house in the photo below) was populated with a few children and couples of all ages. The gluwein was flowing, but (unlike Vancouver) it was not accompanied by loud swearing, rough-housing or vandalism.

Saarbrücken Staatstheatre (gold) and ice skating tent (blue)

Today was more sedate, but productive - I went jogging along the Saar and did a little house-keeping and book-keeping. Kathleen sent me a link to a compelling argument for environmental action and I delved into the issue with Dr. A. Bartlett's lecture on Arithmetic, Population and Energy (in eight 9-minute parts) - don't be scared off by the math reference in the title. You don't need a college degree to understand this one, just a logical mind.

Tomorrow, back to work - bionics rocks!