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Published: March 4th 2006
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Blow, Blow, Quick, Quick, Blow
Anthony and co. entertaining on the streets of Mainz in the annual children's Fasching procession. taken by Kate. Weds 15th February
Ferry Dover to Dunkirk, "moderate to rough conditions ahead. Stay in your seats as much as possible."
Quite a swell but gradually improved, must have missed the worst of it.
Easy drive up to Ostend, arriving in daylight. Parked in the underground section of the Mijn Plein car park as Thursday is market day on the ground level. Collected Simon's keys from the ESP. Takeaway pizza for tea from a place at the end of Hertstraat. Very good but not so warm by the time we got it back to the apartment.
Rory/Owen had figured out how to work the DVD player so we sat through 'Anger Management' starring Jack Nicholson and someone else. Apart from the scene featuring 'I feel pretty' on a NY bridge in rush hour I wouyld say don't bother.
Back to the ESP to meet Alain for a few jars.
Thurs 16th February
Unfortunately it began raining as we left the apartment so we did not linger in Ostend. As usual the Brussels ring road confused us but with only a minor detour we made it across Belgium , briefly through the Netherlands and on
to Germany for the drive south to Mainz. Plenty of rain about but the traffic was OK.
Arrived on the outskirts of Mainz late afternoon. It was only when I saw the bridge ahead taking us across the Rhein I knew we had taken another wrong turn. A short tour of the southern suburbs of Wiesbaden and Biberich and we made it back across the river, only to take the wrong exit at Gonsenheim (?). With my uncanny sense of direction we carried on regardless and found the way back on to the motorway , and we were heading in the right direction. After that it was a piece of Kuchen and we found our way to Kate' and Fritz's house in Nackenheim in time for tea (dinner/supper/whatever).
Fri 17th Feb to 4th March
Next day we went shopping . I asked in German for a hundred grammes of cheese at the deli counter and the assistant ran off saying in English that she could not speak English.I persevered and we bought some cheese. The next day I had to post a birthday card for Uncle Arthur but had no stamps. I stopped a lady in the
street to ask where the Post Office was. She almost ran off saying " I am not from here ". Since then I have been back to the same cheese counter twice and had no problem.
Rory and Owen have been playing, squabbling and having fun with their cousins Anthony and Philip. I got them out on their bikes at the weekend, not for long as it was soooooo cold.
Now that Owen has books for each of his o-level subjects I've been able to organise more regular study and exercise sessions, despite one of the books being 19 years old. I've kept Rory busy with a mixture of Maths, Science, German and Spanish.
Went into Mainz for the children's Fasching procession last Saturday. In a baker's I bought some Plotschas, something like flat cheese scones. It was so cold I was grateful for anything. We were waiting for the parade to begin, standing right next to a campervan complete with PA system blaring out German party music. The procession was very very long, Anthony was in the 86th group in order of appearance. He was in his school music group playing his trumpet, and wearing a
variety of pieces of fruit. At that point we could not hear him due to the van music. As they passed we followed, trying to get some decent photos. It was then we recognised a slow brass version of 'We will rock you', the Queen song not the babe in arms thing.
Enough was enough and we veered off to recuperate in a tea-room. According to the newspaper there were 100,000 people watching the procession, and it was only the children's version.
We did not bother with the main procession on Monday, apparently there were 500,000 people on the streets of Mainz. Instead we went to the local Nackenheim procession on Tuesday. Despite the driving snow/sleet this was fun, relatively short, and the boys came home with carrier bags full of sweets and snacks thrown at us by the people in the procession.
Time flies. We have spent a week redecorating Kate and Fritz's lounge, including new light fittings. Is it me or do light fittings always have connectors which will not fit in the space available. My first attempt in the dining room blew one of the bulbs when I switched the electricity on. The
The baker's where I bought the Plötschas
I entered this using a German keyboard so I was able to use the ö . second in the lounge blew the fuse as the fixing screw was so tight it cut through one of the internal flexes - do not worry, I made a thorough inspection and repair. It works fine now.
Thursday 2nd we went out to a pizzeria and had a jolly time. Good food, beer and friendly staff speaking a mixture of German , English and Italian. If you are ever hungry in Nackenheim head for the Piccolo Fiore next to the football club.
The weather most of the time has been grey, occasional drizzle and occasional sun. We've had a few snow/sleet flurries but today (Friday 3rd) we had about six inches of snow that fell during the day. Boys had snowball fights in the street and became very wet and cold.
Saturday the snow is still here and we may get some sledging in. Tomorrow we set off for France and then on to Spain. First stop is Vichy.
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