Observing life in Glasgow, Scotland, the UK, Europe and Worldwide; be they movies, tv, travels, food or eccentricities. . .
Interesting poster:
You always wonder why some of this type of thing, has not been done before and in even greater quantities.
This “democratisation” of tourist “things”, such as museums, exhibitions, public parks, etc, can only be a good thing, and at the same time actually will spread the areas where tourists (and locals!) can go to encounter the tourist experience.
I approve wholeheartedly.
CB
The week is among us, and I’ll continue looking back at my trip to Germany and Bavaria specifically. As above, I did a cycle tour in northern Bavaria, Franconia, and lo and behold, came across the birthplace of Levi Strauss, in Buttenheim.
I didn’t know that not only was he born in Germany, but did not leave there until he was in his very late teens. The above photo is his house and is now a museum (though it was closed on the day we cycled there).
This was only part of our cycle tour, which we’ll be showing more from this week, in addition to commenting on our various COVID tests that we had to do (highly bureaucratic) and looking at more things in Glasgow and beyond.
CB
It actually doesn’t look that steep here, but I assure you, you should try to jog it! Like these guys do:
It is known in the Glasgow area as not only steep, but also where a mad Scotsman tried snowboarding a few years ago (I believe it was 2017?), when we had the so called “Beast from the East” late snowstorm; though I think the video is of another one who tried this, the past year.
Either way, it’s impressive!
CB
As for this new week, I’ll continue to note some things in Deutschland and blog about my travels here – whether it is about the food, alcohol, vistas that I’ve encountered, or various smaller “Sehenswurdigkeiten” that I have noted down, such as:
Cigarette machines in the streets! I’ve noted or blogged about this in the past, but it simply strikes me as something that would never happen in the UK – though I could be wrong. And I am not talking about the old style machines, that at one time, were in most pubs / clubs – these are basically EVERYWHERE in German streets.
What is interesting about these, is after a second more careful look, you can see that it is only possible to purchase these, via a credit or debit card (In the case of Germany, this could also include an “EC Card” – Another complete German oddity!).
I’ve been told that this is to stop the purchase of these buy children; no doubt a good thing.
CB
Another thing that I’ve noticed here in Deutschland, is the number of till receipts I’ve so far received that happen to be blue?
It was only when writing this text, photographing my receipt and looking on the flipside, that I saw just what exactly this is about.
The flipside clearly states why this is so:
It’s just interesting if we will see this in Britain anytime soon.
CB
I went into a LIDL whilst in Bavaria, naturally as they are both German and exceedingly good value. But the prices and variety of the “bevvy” was exceptional.
As you can see, a bottle of perfectly fine Merlot (Ed; In your opinion), will only set you back a quid! Extraordinary. Though this may have something to do with both the number of local wines produced in Germany as well as the tax structure in the UK and Glasgow.
What I also saw, and have seen before, were the different types of “whiskey” – Queen Margot? But now, this “formula” has been applied to gin and gin schnapps, that have a very similar look to other, more famous real gins.
But the last thing I saw, was the beer; with unbelievable prices.
Whether that be a very fine bottle of wheat beer, Patronus, to a nice can of Spaten (from Munich).
CB
The week ahead, will once again be filled with Germany, as I am at present in Bavaria, but first. . .
After Frankfurt from last week, I decided to go to one of the many different wine producing areas in Germany (they have a lot!) and arrived in the area referred to as Der Pfalz; which also happens to be the hottest area in Germany.
I was based for several days in a delightful village called Nussdorf (just north of Landau), that as is common practice here, seems to have that every other house produces there own wine, to a very acceptable level!
The food is delicious; I as usual had my favourite, Flammkuchen, thrown down with a beautifully fresh and fruity Muscatel (Muskateller), that I had on more than one occasion.
I’ve been here before and of course will be back, but what always strikes me here is the utter lack of any pretension. Believe me, if this place was in France or Italy the entire world would know about the region. But if you were to read this ridiculously pretentious article, I’m glad that they don’t know about it as much.
It’s hot, inexpensive (a class bottle can set you back 7 Euros), the walking and bike riding (as it is actually quite flat) is superb, and the proximity to other regions in Germany are easily traversed, whether by car or train.
Try it!
CB
My God, my second show of the week in Germany, about the continuing popularity of the Schlager genre of pop music in Germany.
If you don’t know what Schlager is, then there are no doubt plenty of definitions about this music on the web, to me though, it is a combination of:
This is combined with the lyrical content of an average Country and Western song; one of the beauties in this special, was how one of the female singers wanted her hairspray to be used on her own hair!
These guys also featured in the show:
You may laugh, but their recent album this year, again crashed in at Number 1 in the German album charts. According to their website, it’s their 13th number 1 album in Germany. Staggering!
It once again shows the diversity of this country that I am now in, and also, that if you don’t actually live here or travel here, you may never know some of its idiosyncrasies.
CB
I’ve been here before in order to watch the World Cup in 2006, where I only had a few of these (in cans), but they still blew my head off!
For this latest trip, we went to Kannonesteppel, on the Textorstrasse, which seemed to be a mecca for Apfelwein enthusiasts, as there were other of these types of pub / restaurants here.
First of all, the Apfelwein is served here in something called a Bembel; that’s the pitcher that you see here (above).
Secondly, it was a bit more flat than before and less strong (though similar to a British Scrumpy).
Finally, I was told that it is only about 4 -5 percent alcohol, and I was mixing it with mineral water so that I could stand upright at the end of the night! This combined with the schnitzel and “Frankfurter Grüne Sosse” made this meal divine. I loved it, and the hof that was packed with punters loved it too!
Please go here and see for yourself.
CB
This week, and the following, will really only consist of my present trip in the continent, to and inside of Deutschland.
Yes, we will look at TV and also various “German’ish” things that I find and encounter on my voyages the next few weeks. for the blog,
but first, my UK TV of the last week was a fascinating interview with Lord Lucan’s late wife (she died shortly after this hour long interview was filmed in 2017), and this follows on from my TV of the Week from last week, about the Lord himself. This was fascinating, not only for the “what really happened” that night in 1974, but in the look at the psyche and mind set of the minor, though wealthy, Lords and Ladys from a bygone age. Their wealth did start to go downhill after the tax increases post-World War 2, but with many of them by the time the 1970s had started, they were simply also rans in the scheme of things. In addition, the look of this haunted and very unsympathetic woman was at times shocking, as she admitted after being questioned about her relationships in general with friends and family, that she was “always cold with people”, including her children, who apparently shunned her until her death.
German Trip:
I started this, my most recent trip to Germany, by going to Frankfurt and doing a night in one of their many Apfelwein Pubs. In reality, this was more than a pub, but a packed restaurant in a tree lined hof, that was divine. More on this later, but first, the state of airports in general and specifically, Glasgow Airport.
As always when I go to an airport, I have to stop at the duty free / perfume concessions in order to “have a spray”! Hell, it’s free and why not? This time I chose the Hugo Boss, and thought it suited me perfectly
During the short Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, I had the posh tea whilst the coffee was actually freshly ground, and came complete with a special drinking top to be added to your plastic cup. Never saw this before.
After landing, noted both a Lunar Rover copy and a crap table conveyer belt. I look forward to the rest of the trip.
CB
Curious Bystander 