pizza (das war schwer)

yum. um mich für wäsche waschen zu belohnen, habe ich eine pizza und eine flasche bier gekauft. es war besonderes gut nach einer schweren nacht.

for the deutsch-challenged: i rewarded myself for doing my laundry by getting a pizza and a beer! i've been wanting to try german beer and this seemed as good of a time as any. i actually really liked it, despite my usual reservations about beer. it was light and easy to drink and had an ever so slightly minty flavor which was really interesting. apparently in germany, beers of the 'pilsner art' are the most common (as deduced from the huge number of pilsners in the grocery), and this particular one is from münchen (munich). the pizza was also really interesting. 'pizza gorgonzola'--very tasty and perfectly hit my craving for some flavorful, hefty cheese. i bought some goat gouda the other day a the cheese stand, but it just didn't have a robust enough flavor. i think once you learn to like blue cheeses, you really can't go back very easily to anything less intense. although the brie i bought was good too.


also, i'll include it just for fun:

that would be red cabbage (blue here because of basic soil and water, red because of vinegar). balsamic vinegar, honey, some hot pepper, cinnamon, and mango chutney (so good) makes it perfect. this is the end of it, but a head lasted me for 3-4 meals (i'm not really sure one of them counts--it was kind of an all day eating marathon on sunday).

regen+fahrrad=unglück

excuse my word math. while i'm on the subject of weather:

this weekend was very wet. and cold. but when you are wet the cold just seems to come. especially when you are on a bicycle trying to get home as fast as possible so your camera won't be flooded.

at first it promised to be a nice day with not too much in the way of weather. but then, right as i left the city proper, a lovely storm front blew in and swept across the valley. this one didn't get me, but i saw it coming and biked a little faster to get out of its way.


i think i missed it by just a few hundred meters


a nice, if barely visibile rainbow ensued, reminding me of my eminent visit to regenbogensburg which i am very excited about (elaine, hurry up and leave!!).


in my over confidence that the rain was over for the moment, i went ahead and did some hiking and discovered this very interesing teepee-like thing. inside were some candles and the remnants of what looks like a pagan ritual. i was acually a little scared when i came upon it because i thought it might actually be someone's home. it has kind of a my side of the mountain feel. it was quite deserted though, and i decided my adventures here were over (although if i had thought about getting down, i wouldn't have been so hasty).

coming down. the beautiful fields, the shining sun. the looming clouds...

during a 5 minute rain shower, i took refuge under a tree near some cows. they didn't really seem amused by my attempts to get their attention ("mooooo").

and then the real storm arrived. i think this is actually the only picture i have, because i very quickly put my camera away. the rain came in two waves and i tried at first to stop and let it pass by hiding under trees and awnings, but eventually i just gave up and tucked my camera in a plastic bag and biked for it. needless to say, i arrived at home very wet and cold and hungry and more than a little grumpy.

but i discovered some more raspberries and some plums! so alle's gut!

wetter

isn't it ironic that 'weather' in germany is 'das wetter'? i find this hilarious.

in case you were wondering. it's raining.


not actually from today, but definitely captures the look of the past few days.

sonntags

gar nichts ist sonntags geöffnet!! dummer deutschland.

und deshalb habe ich heute gar nichts getan. teppich saugen, (veil) essen gekocht (und gefrisst), dracula geliest, regen geschaut, usw. glaubt mir, es war sehr langweilig.

i really cannot express here how boring (langweilig) today actually has been. but rain (regen) and generally unfavorable weather (zerfürchtbares wetter!) has kept me inside for much of the day. i occupied myself for a while watching scrubs (done with season 6! where am i going to get 7?!) and then by reading (lesen) dracula (dracula)--which has, incidentally, become much better in the past few chapters; still horrifyingly 19th-century. and eating (essen). i've gone through 1/2 a head of red cabbage, 200 g or so of wild rice, some bread, most of my cheese purchases from the other day, yogurt (joghurt--initially translated to 'jog-hurt' by some germans--as if asking if had muscle pains), and other random bit and pieces.

ok, i'm being uninteresting. ending this.

windräder jagen

interesting adventure that spans a couple weekends: windmill hunting

it all began with my accidental trip to hannover. unterwegs, i saw at least 10 clumps of windmills like little white trees on the hill side. it was a little surreal, as the only time i've seen such a thing in the US was in the california desert. and even then, what i remember was mostly from the vantage point of about 12000 ft above the ground.



on my way to work one day, i looked across the valley and noticed some movement on one of the hilltops very far away. kind of a flashing in the sunlight, but too much for a plane or helicopter. but when i stopped my bike, i could clearly see the three propellers spinning around. as this was a friday, i resolved to do some investigation over the weekend. to be continued... sometime. i have to go do laundry now.



more windmills, this time south of göttingen.