Marzipanium on Saturday

As long as the path is there, as long as the cliff does not collapse, as long as the farmers do not close it down...

Marzipanium on Sunday

Marzipanium on Sunday

Finally, the good weather arrived, and we could bask in the sun, sweat in the heat, and melt.

Eat your team

And I wonder... do they taste like curry wurst? Do they have the same product adapted to different countries?

In the name of silence

This says our "Hausordnung" (rules regarding how to behave inside your apartment and in the building)
- Thou shalt not: make noise between 13:00 and 15:00 and 22:00 and 7:00, as well as Sundays and bank holidays until 9:00. Specially, avoid loud music, TV, radio or stuff that makes noise. Think about your neighbours when using such system with open windows or on the terrace.
- Thou shalt not: shower/bathe between 22:00 and 6:00 (or be noisy about it)
- Thou shalt : use noisy electronic appliances only on weekdays between 7:00 and 13:00, and 15:00 and 20:00
- Thou shalt control your children and prevent them from making noise in the stairs

And of course, there is the "Ruhetagordnung", which basically says that if you dare to make noise on a Sunday, the wrath of god (the catholic, and the protestant one) will fall upon you.

Two sundays ago, two guys where removing snow at 6am, using a hot air gun. So much for holy Sunday, "Ruhetag", "Hausordnung" (although this was on the street) and common sense.

This morning somebody (the same guys?) with a hot air gun was removing snow at 6am, to no avail, since when I went out at 8 everything was covered by snow.

I am pissed.

What it takes to keep Lübeck clean

Not too long ago, Ana Botella, Madrid's new major, proposed to use volunteers to deal with work that should be done by public workers. Free work in a country with over five million unemployed. Not many people liked the idea.

I wonder if she got the idea from Lübeck. Every year, there is a "Clean Lübeck" activity. Good-willed citizens (kids are also welcomed) may take to the streets and clean up the mess. Of course, the city provides working gloves, bags and professional "supervisors".

Coming from a big city, it seems strange. What is the point of paying taxes, if you have to take care of one of the most basic services you expect from the city? It is obvious that it wouldn't harm anybody if they cleaned on a more regular basis. Firecracker left-over from New Year's could be seen on our street up to three weeks after New Year. You can imagine how long dog poop stays on the street. As long as it takes to step it away.

Freixenet

Freixenet is THE sparkling wine (similar to champagne) we use in Spain to celebrate Xmas, to toast for the new year, and so on. Freixenet Xmas spots have always been very much appreciated. Celebrities, famours directors, sparkling bubbles,... A classic for Xmas in Spain. They are currently trying to earn a place in the German market, saying it is sekt, and getting people to mix it with orange juice.

For some very strange reason, this year they have made a turn into Spanish folclore (real or fake). Which, seen from up here, it is really strange. They are a very succesful catalan brand.

We first saw the spot in Germany. An attempt to do a pseudo-hot latin spot, with dark haired people, a latino macho, and horses (suspiciously similar to the Italian festival). Whatever. The re-interpretation of "hot and latin" from some Northern mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGUkzj7fgkk

After seeing what they have planned for Spain this year... Flamenco. At least, they got on of the best flamenco dancers, Sara Baras.

Warm

It is strangely warm this year. We haven´t seen any snow yet. Don't know whether that is good or bad. The building's heating system is working as if it were really cold, so it is much warmer indoors than usually.

With this kind of weather, who feels like some Gluehwein? Nobody. If it's not freezing, who would want to drink mulled wine? Not us for sure.

A funny thing about the Ibis Hotel nearby. Low season was 55euros/night, until the first weekend when they opened the Xmas market. Now it is 79euros/night on the weekends (not bad, uh?) and 65euros/night during the week. I wonder how much money the businesses over here earn thanks to the Xmas market.

Get thee to Rügen!

Rügen has definitely been a major discovery this year. It is a German island in the Baltic Sea, where Germans have traditionally spent their holidays... until they discovered Mallorca.

We have been twice to the island, and have explored twice Jasmund National Park (Unesco Biosphere Reserve-thing), and nothing else. We are aware that there are other nice spots around, but it is soooo nice.

Train: From Lübeck it takes 4 hours (if DB does not collapse in the meantime) to get to Sassnitzt, the closes town to the National Park.
Car: From Lübeck it takes allegedly 2 hours to get to Sassnitz. The bottle neck is the bridge that connects the island with the mainland in Stralsund, and that puny little main road within the island, where everybody is on.

Within the island, they pride themselves to have a bus network. Well... if you are planning to take the bus after 17:00 on a weekend, you had better check there is a bus at all.

Accomodation: expensive. Lots of places charge you extra if you stay less than 3 nights. How many nights are there in a weekend? The place I come from, two at most.

Red hot chili peppers

Hot peppers coming up alright, despite an aphid infestation. Normal peppers... taking a little longer. For some strange reason, the pepper plants did not grow upwards, but sideways. I wonder whether I will get peppers larger than the hot peppers.

Not much hope for the tomatoes. It is rainy and cold, and they are just little green specks hanging from the plant.