zu Hause

Picture postcard pretty, but it's time to go home. The landscape is all rain-washed green on the short train ride north to Saarland.

And now I'm walking up familiar stairs, hearing our local woodpecker and dozens of spring-happy warblers. Saarbrücken is definitely a more relaxed pace. But wait - what's lurking around the door? Is it ... nooooooo#/*$&!

Strolling around Strasbourg

Last night, I was serenaded to sleep by a flotist hiding in a shop doorway playing Bolero counterpoint with the raucous hymn of the footballers.

There is always a parade somewhere in Centreville - today I think the Turks won something, but their car collapsed in the celebration.

I woke up this morning to the clamour of church bells - my room for the weekend overlooked the Strasbourg cathedral, from whence issued intonations and organ music.

Sadly, the Class of 2008 are a bunch of sleepyheads, so I am off exploring Strasbourg on my own this morning. zChocolade chaud and croissants in a café, listening to the sing-song of the regulars debating communism in Polish or Czech.

The cathedral looks almost naked without the scaffolding. There's the interminable strong wind blowing around the base, and it's time for me to leave again.

Le French

This weekend, I am reminded how different the French and German cultures are, in spite of, or maybe because of being close neighbours.

Germans treat regulations as a second language. The French consider them a suggestion.











The Germans use bicycles sedately to commute or wander along a city bike path.
The French have a major love-hate relationship with the bicycle - they ride through red lights, run down predestrians (the second national sport) and twist bike wheels up like bretzles for fun late at night.

Strasbourg bicycle art

The Germans just enacted a smoking ban in all public buildings. For the French, that is passé, a fait accompli - they already have non-smoking rules, merci bien, and they really don't care. Bien sûr, but coffee comes with a cigarette!

Yuri's Mini-Space-Break

I am just kicking back in my old haunts of Strasbourg, France for the weekend. This is the 37th anniversary of the first man in Space, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. And where better to spend this weekend that enjoying the Yuri's Night festivities with International Space University Masters Class of 2008 on a riverboat!

Last night we listened to Professor Nikolai Tolyarenko talk about his personal experiences with Gagarin and the latest generation ISU Masters class band (loved their rendition of Fly Me to the Moon).

Tonight, the big party is on la Rafiot, a converted wooden barge on the canal. So I'm getting ready by having my hair done at a French salon and relaxing in the sun with a cup of tea looking over at the cathedral.

Dual use for a beret

The Greening of Saarland

This morning was Christmas in Saarbrücken. I'm not waiting for the weather anymore - I'm going green anyway.

This is my newly installed linux OpenSUSE desktop. It's very green. Kind of 'bionic'. And I have a 24-hour IT department downstairs to fix anything I "adjust". Ironically, I am also now the linux administrator in our company, which is why I switched from Ubuntu to OpenSUSE, the linux distribution they use at the HTW. I have definitely exceeded my competence level, but at least OpenSUSE pretty much installs itself.

Speaking of green, here's the Avocado That Ate My Kitchen ... that's one week from conception to looking over my shoulder while I'm eating breakfast. I'm afraid, very afraid...


The Green Thumb