Nov 30, 2014

Of Cats and Men on Malta

Near our hotel, at the end of the road, we noticed this strange little area of plush animals, dolls, bears, and cat trees and beds. It also had a sign and box asking for donations for this Cat Village.Cat Village, St. Julian's

When you looked closer, you could see various real cats nestled among the plus animals.  This one I found to be a very interesting composition.

The cats have a good life here, at least in this corner of Malta. Here in St. Julian’s, you see cats everywhere and they look well fed. Occasionally you see a restaurant owner feeding them with  fish. At least five cats were always present at breakfast on the terrace. Nobody minded them and they seem quite happy.

Cat-friendly Malta

From cats to men. The local men we saw were mostly fishermen, rugged looking and hard working.

fishing boats Spinola Bay, Malta

A tourist chatting up a fisherman.

Fisher at talk

This one was too tired for a conversation.

Man on bench

The cats around our hotel and nearby restaurants looked much better fed and groomed than those guys working the seas.

Nov 2, 2014

Cork Screws and 3 Things You Can Only Find in a French Supermarket

On the last evening of our three-day stay in Riquewihr, we had dinner at the Au Tire Bouchon restaurant. True to its namesake, it had an innovative display of old cork screws on the wall, mounted to an old Badminton board. And yes, dinner and service were good.

The cork screw industry must be doing well in France. There is a lot more wear and tear. Proof of this you see in the supermarket aisles. 🙂

cork screws

On the way back to Germany, we stopped in the French town of Wintzenheim at the Simply Market supermarket. I loved the aisles (yes, aisles) of red wine on display.

red wine

As we were passing the produce section, a blast of steam came out right from the shelving unit. I’d suppose this is to keep the produce fresh and moist. I’ve never seen this in a German supermarket.

keep veggies fresh

My daughter likes to eat walnuts, but all we get at our very big supermarket in Oberursel is prepackaged ones. I was surprised to see so many nuts for sale.

nuts

Aug 9, 2013

Pigtown, Germany

We spent the past weekend in my hometown of Hambach, a village near the city of Schweinfurt in northern Bavaria. We sometimes refer to Schweinfurt as pig town, but its literal translation is pig crossing.

As soon as we get off the Autobahn and drive into the countryside, there are rolling hills, vineyards, and wheat fields.

Franken

Having grown up on a farm, I have a special appreciation for combines (German: Mähdrescher) in August. I do remember the dust and the dry heat (unlike nowadays), and the itchiness from the chaff and straw. August was also the month my dad knew whether his farming work had paid off for the year or not.

Mainberg Castle (Mainberg being another village outside of Pigtown) has been in the news recently. The castle is in bad condition and the owner lacks the funds for a complete restoration. If approved, the public gets to finance this hefty charge.

Mainberg Castle

Mainberg Castle

I like going to Pigtown, but I have stopped calling it going home many years ago. Both the area and I have changed over the thirty-some years.

The German word Heimat translates to hometown, whereas Zuhause is your current home. Meine alte Heimat ist Schweinfurt, mein Zuhause ist Oberursel.

Jul 31, 2013

On the Road in Canada – Restaurants in Halifax

We reached Halifax fairly late in the day and checked into our hotel. Afterwards, we walked down to the waterfront in search of a restaurant at 8:30.

We found one, but were greeted at the door with “I’m sorry, it is past the time. We can’t serve minors.” Our teenage (one underage) children were not really into drinks, just some decent food.

When the second place turned us away, we asked a bit more. Most restaurants have a license which allows them to serve food to minors until 9 p.m. As we arrived after 8:30, our children were too late to be served before that time.

One of the waitresses, after I inquired where in Halifax we could get something to eat, suggested two places she knew of which served children past 9 p.m. One of them was Salty’s (on 1869 Upper Water Street) and unfortunately, I can’t remember the name of the other restaurant anymore. Both seem to be a rarity in Halifax, though.

Anyway, Salty’s is a good restaurant right on the waterfront. We sat outside and as usual, we ordered three dinners and shared it among the four of us. We learned from traveling around that most portions are too big anyway and food gets wasted.

Halifax waterfront

Halifax waterfront

We were tremendously relieved to have found a place to eat, so when the waiter suggested to get a pitcher of beer, we did not hesitate to order one.  We had almost downed it when he suggested getting another one. By then we were happy enough to have another one.

Then it came time to pay. When I saw the bill, I started laughing. Or maybe I was crying, difficult to say. Both pitchers cost us C$ 57,90. Then the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) of 15% gets added on. This brings the beer to a total of C$ 66.59. When we add on the 20%  tip, we have a new total of C$ 80.

In Germany, the average cost of a liter of beer (a.k.a. Maß) is around 8 euro = C$ 11,– including tax.

So three dinners, two pitchers of beer, and one 7-Up totaled C$ 125.93 and then we left a C$ 20 tip.

Before we got ready to pay, we were going to leave the second pitcher with half the beer behind. After I saw the charge, I drank it all.

What did I learn from this? Running a restaurant and serving minors past 9 p.m. requires a costly license. This in turn gets charged back to the customer.

Advice:

* If you are coming in late to Halifax by plane, eat your airline food. Running around Halifax trying to find a restaurant which serves your family is not very amusing after a full day of traveling.

* Ask your hotel receptionist for a list of licensed-to-serve-minors restaurants. We would have if we had known about this regulation.

Jul 29, 2013

On the Road in Canada – Hopewell Rocks, NB

After our short break in St. Martins, we stopped at Hopewell Rocks in the afternoon.

These rocks, often referred to as flowerpot rocks, stand between 40 – 70 feet tall. These rock formations have been caused by tidal erosion.

We got a family pass for two adults and two children for C$ 20 to get into the park. This photo was taken from above, obviously, and later we climbed down the stairs. The park ward told us there are 96 steps (round trip), which did not impress us much. We have more steps to climb up and down in our apartment building in Germany.

Hopewell Rock, Canada

Hopewell Rock, Canada

The view below is just as interesting. There are even more mushroom look-alikes along the side of the cliffs.

Hopewell Rock

Hopewell Rock

The ebb and tide leave the sea in a constant murky brown. This coloration I had only seen in floods before.

brown sea

brown sea

Here is a bit of information what makes the Fundy tides so special.

Fundy Tides

Fundy Tides

And yes, we heard of some dangerous encounters with moose on the road. Fortunately, we only heard about them and got to see the warning signs along the road. We did not spot a single one.

Moose crossing

Moose crossing

Now we are heading back to Halifax, where we originally started our road trip. We will be spending one night there before heading to Lunenburg for our final place to visit.

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