Capturing the essence of living, one house at a time
Why has Manfred von Richthofen been buried four times?
It was 1975 when his brother, Balko, obtained permission from the East German government to take Manfred’s remains back to the von Richthofen family burial plot in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Manfred’s first burial was in the village churchyard of Bertangles neat Amiens, France in 1918. Continue reading “the final resting place for the Red Baron?”
374 steps over 260 m with a altitude climb of 50 m
I huffed and puffed my way up these stairs along with the other tourists. I was surprised how this ‘tourist attraction’ encouraged people who would normally take the lift to tackle the stair challenge.
Three hundred and seventy-four Continue reading “The Mountain of de Bueren”
Where do all the autumn leaves go?
Snow fell gently as I walked home. I realised autumn was coming to an end. This autumn was different to my previous autumn experiences – it was more obvious. Now I understand why Anne of Green Gables said: “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers”. Continue reading “Just another autumn”
Karl Baum, the butcher, has one of the 60,000 Stumbling Stones placed in 22 countries.
Karl Baum, his wife Toni, daughter Gerti and brother Leo lived at Mauergasse-8, Wiesbaden, Germany in the 1930’s.
Karl was the second oldest of six children. He was a butcher and originally the family lived in the apartment above his shop in Schulgasse-2. Business was good until 1934 when the Sturmabteilung (Nazi Paramilitary) prohibited the Jewish butchers from using the town’s slaughterhouse Continue reading “Hier wohnte Karl Baum (here lived Karl Baum)”
the perfect gift does not need to wait to gift giving time
Copies of Joey and the Jet boat are travelling with me just in case I find the right person for them. I was thinking a young child rather than the Swiss primary school teacher who shared her collection of German children’s books with me and I was able to add Joey and the Jet boat to her collection of English children’s books. That is the kind of gift-giving I like: a children’s book lover who was familiar with the Queenstown setting of the book. Continue reading “Reading again and a serendipitous gift (the best kind)”
Brewtiful weather at the annual München Oktoberfest
Forgive me München for misunderstanding you and your Bavarian citizens. I thought Oktoberfest was Oktobierfest, all about beer, but Oktoberfest is about Continue reading “What to wear at Oktoberfest?”
This is an amazing story of a small boy’s quest “to write to somebody in every country in the world, to learn about the world, help people understand each other and make the world a better place”
I first saw “Dear World, How are you?“ in the Nelson library (libraries are good places to visit when you’re new to an area. They are abundant on local information). Displayed with the new books, the byline read “The true story of a little boy on a big quest” – how could I resist? Continue reading “on my book shelf is “Dear World, how are you?””
