Hotel-Restaurant Burgschanke Kaiserslautern

... morning. But this morning the sun was out in full force, cutting ribbons of warmth through the frosty air, and caressing my head and neck (the rest of me was covered). I remember to bring my camera (as opposed to my camera-phone) with me so I could capture the experience for later days. You can see the results below. This is where I live.

Here are the promised photos. I am not including photos of our workshop room and wine cellar; they're not that interesting. Excuse the messiness of parts of the house. You all know how trying moving in can be!

Tracy has left for France to inspect food production plants, so I'm here ...

... two bathrooms, a sizeable kitchen, dining room, a large living room, a separate laundry room, a utility room (workshop), and a wine cellar. Soon I will also be able to park my car indoors, in an old barn. right now there is a tractor in there, but not for long. The rooms and amenities are very modern, but there is an old-world charm to parts of the house, as well. I will post photos soon, but for now, just enjoy these four.

... on infinitely upward. It looked genuinely magical, like something out of a Tolkein book. Winding around the low mountain (I would classify it as a 'cerro' in Spanish, since I don't know what to call it in English) we fianally arrived to an enormous old school house that had been converted into an antique store. The tiny town was called Schneeweiderhof and you might have a difficult time locating it on even a detailed map. But thanks to this blog you can see pictures of it ...

Meet Henry, my Mercedes-Benz. He's an odd fellow; nice enough, if a little cranky; advanced in years. We don't communicate so well yet, even if we are both obviously making efforts. It's that I can't always read his signs clearly. He lags when I want to move quickly, and when I want to play it safe, he jumps. I never know which button to press to get the reaction I want, and sometime he acts confused. For now, I'm chalking it up to generational and ...

... die in letzter Zeit nicht so viel von mir gehört haben, eine kurze Zusammenfassung. Nachdem ich am 10. Juni gekündigt habe, habe ich überlegt, was ich am besten anstellen könnte. Diese Überlegungen gingen erst nur in die berufliche Richtung, und es fühlte sich gut an, in der Wahl völlig frei zu sein. Und sehr bald habe ich festgestellt, dass ich nicht nur beruflich gesehen die freie Entscheidung habe, sondern in absolut jeder Hinsicht. Ein Freund aus London hat mir mit den Worten ...

... t want to walk up that massive hill with my bags - it could have taken an hour or more. I waited for about 20 minutes for my first lift who was a Dutch pilot on his way to the Frankfurt (hahn) airport. Half way to the airport was where I got off and went the opposite directions at the crossroads. God bless the Dutch and their propensity to pick up hitch hikers! I waited for about ten minutes for the next ride going along the road to Birkenfeld. A little bit of trivia for ...

... in the winter! I bought some wine in one of the shops (two bottles of some excellent Reisling). Back in K-town, we somehow thought it would be a good idea to drink the two bottles of wine I had bought before we went out for the night. Yeah, not such a great idea. For dinner we went to a nice Italian restaurant where I had an excellent shrimp alfredo. After dinner (and another glass of wine) at a bar appropriately ...

... s Vanny Van Van Van have been riding on a high, fueled by irrational hope that the socceroos would progress and continue to progress. Now, there is a distinct lull in the van mood - tired, ever-hungry, eyeing the holders of Italian flags with both jealousy and resentment. This is a picture of a world cup van that has lost its purpose - echoed by the spanish and dutch vans parked adjacent. The boxing ...

... it was already quite busy, the streets full of supporters and scalpers. We checked out the market for tickets, but they were looking pretty expensive - about 250-300 euros for the worst tickets you can get. We did some internetting, got interviewed for Italian television, then went to check out the fan fest. It was pretty quiet, so we had some lunch then went walking around town for a bit. We luckily came across an Aussie guy who was selling two category 2 tickets for 200 euros each ...