Err.. ummm... Well, yes. Writing again. Here are some pictures as promised (finally).
The Friday before Christmas I went with a group of students to Duesseldorf to see their Christmas Market and the Rhine. I thought this stall with all of the puppets was neat.
All sorts of food, some presents, and rides for kids.
Here is the group! Yep. Even in Germany, the Engineering ratio is the same as at Tech.
This was a really pretty Weihnachtspyramide
.
Apple cakes with sugar and cinnamon were delicious.
And Duesseldorf's Weihnachtsbaum. Well... just wait...
This is a picture from the inside of an Irish pub --there is one in every town, except the one I new in dortmund is closed-- were we stopped for a drink. Everyone ordered, and then, after a few minutes, the waiter came back and asked me what I ordered again. So I told him. And he started bringing drinks. Few more minutes and the Irishman at the bar came over, said the other guy could not understand me, and asked what I ordered. The only native English speaker in the group, and I was the only one not understood. Thankfully the Irishman had no problem understanding me.
Off to the Rhine.
Okay, these kind of trees are just the
creepiest trees ever without leaves. Here it looks like it has a hundred skinny fingers just waiting to grab you. Some of them are free of the little twigs, but then their limbs end in these bald bulges.
The TV tower! Last time I was in Germany, I spent the night in Duesseldorf before leaving. I saw the TV tower from a distance and noticed changing lights going up and down it. I tried and guessed and conjectured, but I could not figure out what the lights were for. This time going inside the tower, there was a simple explanation of the lights making a clock.
Looking towards where I took the panorama picture. See the two docks and the whitish building? Somewhere around there.
This building looked weird when we walked past it, and, from above, it makes me think sci-fi.
We did not get over there to see
why there were red, blue, and yellow people crawling over the building. I am guessing some art-preserve.
A statue at one end of Koenigsallee, a street divided by a canal in Duesseldorf.
Walking along
Koenigsallee, there are a lot of fancy shops, showrooms, etc.. Not really anyplace I would by something, but some fun places to look in.
Back to Dortmund, with a larger Weihnachtspyramide.
And a larger Weihnachtsbaum (the largest in Germany), with a replica in lights of the shield trophy that the Germany Bundesliga Champions (BVB this past year) recieve. I actually saw the original shield a week or two before this. I had gone to the Christmas market with friends, and, as we made our way back to the Hauptbahnhof, we noticed it in the window of a jewelry store along the main shopping street. Unfortunately, I think I had no camera with me.
Food and drink.
And lights!
Well the other thing I got up to recently was re-flooring the apartment.
Apparently I got started at a slight angle or the walls are not perfectly perpendicular anymore causing too large of a gap at the edge.
But I can cover that.
Before and after working down the hallway.
I noticed there was this bug on one of the boards. Closer inspection showed it was actually compressed into the board during the manufacturing. So now I get to see who notices the little black spot in the middle of the hallway.
Hallway finished with transitions into Kitchen and Bathroom.
On to my room.
A bit of work to get the laminate into this joining piece, but I am happy with the results.
And finished with everything, but the base board. I do have the plastic clips for it put up. Now I have finished with cutting and placing those, but I didn't take a picture yet.
The hallway measuring about 10 m^2 took over 9 hours to do with all the cutouts for doorways.
My room measuring about 18 m^2 took only 5 hours. That was so nice and easy.
And this afternoon, I finally got stocking stuffers! Though, how I am supposed to eat Pez without a Pez dispenser?
And a new hat! Man that guy should learn to smile.
Frohes Neues Jahre!
Nic
