Saturday 04 May - Nordenstadt (Wiesbaden)

Sitting here in my hotel room blogging, sort of listening / watching TV… German satellite TV , French TV station - CCTC Francais , showing a  program on China (Carnet de Route) with  voice over and subtitles  in French and a Chinese reporter - with beautiful fingernails -  speaking American English (when she is not speaking Chinese)!! The nicely done nails – and the welcoming personality - were a dead giveaway that she was one of us!!!

A bit of sunshine

Well after several days of completely grey skies (no rain, just a blanket of grey), the sun has finally come out. It is not warm – just sunny. Knowing the Germans as I do, I expect to see someone driving by with the top down on his/her convertible (completely bundled up – including cap and scarf, with the seat heater probably blasting away, but top down nonetheless!!). Give Germans a day of sunshine and they take it seriously and put the tops down on their ‘summer’ cars!! Give them a day off - which can be combined with a bridge day - and they head for the airport for a tiny bit of R&R.

smart phone, city map app, google translator

I was lazing in bed thinking about my day when World Report came on CNN.  Kristie Lu Stott was exploring the city of Barcelona with her smart phone and a city map app.  She went to a restaurant where the menu was in Portugese. She took a photo of the menu and entered it into Google translator ...and voila....

Tasty lasagna.

People here are pretty upset about the horse meat in some prepared lasagna..and other preapred foods.. Not because  it is horsemeat, but seemingly,  ONLY  because  they were not told about !!!  In fact they tell me that horsemeat is not so bad...and was eaten quite frequently inthe past...

 

Politically incorrect

Was at ‘you know where’ (McD) last night to access their Hotspot. In this one, it was very  easy to access the Wifi.  As I sat at a table, eating and working on my laptop, I overheard one of the girls in the college-age group sitting across from me say:  ”My grandmother is the only person I know who does not have internet”. My poor ego!!!  I am not sure how I should take that:  I don’t look old enough to be her grandmother (even though I am sure I am!!) OR because I look younger, I seem totally out of step with the rest of ‘my’ generation!!

Oh, well… having just learned how to blog from daughter and learned about Pinterest, Tumblr and several other online facilities from my granddaughters….  perhaps I AM a bit out of step with  the rest of the world... even with other baby boomers!!! 

Living in Peugeot

I am still trying to work out all of the challenges associated with living in Peugeot. (Hey, if there are  French cities named Limosin, Chadonnay,  Limoge… it is entirely possible that there is one named Peugeot. But you get the joke? In this case, … Peugeot is my car!!)

As far as I can tell, moving from place to place every few days is akin to living in my Peugeot. At any rate, in order to facilitate things, yesterday I bought several fabric shopping bags (1€ each) in different colors and patterns. Now I can sort my stuff: laundry, plastic and paper good, toiletries and beverage, etc.

In Germany - do not throw out your plastic beverage bottles. There is a 25 to 50 cents deposit (Pfand) depending upon the size of the bottle. Simply return them to any store or gas station.

Let there be light!!! I also bought a small LED lamp (19€) which has a flexible coil for a stand. Now I can see to read and to use my laptop!!

From Mainz (Germany) to Strasbourg (France)

Change in plans….in April rather than just focusing on Mainz, I will also include the German Wine Route (another German wine growing area with castles).  That route will take us into Strasbourg which is just over the French border (1.5 hours from Mainz). It is a lovely city… but even better is the deli counter at the Cora Hypermarket which is just outside of Strasbourg in Vendenheim.  Prepared foods of all sorts, incredible selection of cheeses, everything your French-food loving heart can desire… at reasonable prices!!! After leaving the deli counter, stroll over to the bakery counter and pick up a loaf or two of French bread… then on your way to the checkout counter, select a bottle of wine. In winter, if you are staying in a place which has a microwave, be sure to pick up some French soup. The selection of soups  is out of this world and they are really good!!