Autumn Weekends /Herbstwochenenden

Die Straße hinter mir/the street behind my apartment house in Fall color
Here you see a little of my car on the lower right/Ein Zipfel von meinem Auto rechts
Hier verläuft die Grenze zwischen Stadt und Vorstadt/the city opens up a little here
The view from my east balcony in the Fall/Aussicht vom Balkon vorne im Herbst
Two wonderful weekends past and future: The past weekend I was invited to Oliver and Catharina’s for a French evening. Since she grew up in Paris, the meal was matchless; several courses and wine to accompany each dish. Then fresh cheeses and finally a fruit tart with meringue to close the meal. After the evening was over, I realized the three of us had finished off three bottles of white wine – one per person. I hadn’t noticed, since the meal was so superb. Saturday evening had me in the festive hall of the Leipzig Old City Hall (Old means from the 15th century) for a concert of the New Bach Collegium Musicum Leipzig. They performed several of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, considered watershed pieces for establishing conventions of music. This orchestra performs standing; there are no chairs, and the musicians sway and bend with the music, so it is almost like watching a dance as you listen. Georg Philip Telemann founded the Collegium Musicum in 1701, and J.S. Bach continued it, and this group often performed under Bach in the very hall in which we experienced this concert on Saturday. What a matchless opportunity!
On Friday I leave for Prague for an extended weekend, since Oct. 31 is a holiday – Reformation Day – and I am taking Monday off. Prague is a unique city, and four days is only enough to whet the appetite. So many castles, churches, museums, art nouveau cafes, clubs, bars, shops, and cozy narrow European streets. On Monday evening I will hear a live concert of jazz flutist Jiri Stivins at the club Agartha in Prague. I will also have a Czech beer in Café Café, a club where Johnny Depp and Bruce Willis have also relaxed. And all of this is happening during a beautiful autumn. We are having mild weather, and the leaves are turning beautiful colors now, so Prague will be a painter’s landscape this weekend.
For those now celebrating Reformation Day, but trick or treating, be safe and do not eat too much candy! I’ll think of you while I enjoy Czech beer, wine, and coffee surrounded by art nouveau…

More Autumn Splendour/ Noch etwas Herbstpracht

Two young daddies help their kids with Stockbrot and the adults toast.../Zwei vorbildliche Väter geben Ratschläge zum Stockbrotbacken.. und die anderen heben die Flaschen...
A critical assessment of the taste/der Geschmack wird kritisch überprüft, während die Erwachsenen bloß zugucken...
Smoke gets in your eyes...? Räucheraugen?
Lets dance /Aufforderung zum Tanz
Die Brücke in der Johanna Park - in herbstlicher Pracht
Finally - blogger is in the mood to upload photos, so here are the childred roasting "Stockbrot" at the fire, while the adults enjoy good German beer, red wine, or Federweisser (a fresh white wine just bottled and still undergoing fermentation). Finally, at the bottom, a beautiful view of the tallest buildings in Leipzig's city centre with a beautiful wooden bridge in the park. This is also a Fall photo from mid-October.

Autumn Splendour/ Herbstpracht

The Fall Festival at Sasha and Melanie's place
Lots of meat for meat eaters...
The view of fog from my living room door
My foggy street seen from my bedroom
A pavillion in a Leipzig park in the Fall
Light and shadow playing at a bridge
A red tree - how beautiful
Wonderful – such inspiring scenery this time of year. Fog and waning sunlight brings new paintings to light every day in autumn in Central Europe. The colour of the leaves deepen and change often, and hues of blue, grey, and gold frame the landscape. Enjoy these fotos with me as you walk through the streets and gardens of Leipzig.
Saturday – yesterday- evening was the Fall Festival at Melanie and Sasha’s place, so I had my camera along to catch the fun. The children love Stockbrot – bread on a stick that they “bake” over an open fire. We celebrated from 5 pm. Until almost 1 am. Unfortunately blogger refuses to upload any more fotos at the moment, so I can't give you two fotos of the children roasting bread on a stick. So sorry.
Herrlich – der Herbst liefert immer gute Kulissen für Gemälde um diese Jahreszeit. Nebel und die zur Neige gehende Sonne offenbart neue Kunstwerke täglich. Die Blätter ändern sich ständig, und Schattierungen von grau, blau, und gold umrahmen die Landschaft. Mögen eure Augen diese Fotos so geniessen wie sie in Wirklichkeit schön sind.
Sonnabend war Herbstfest bei Melanie und Sascha. Die Kinder lieben Stockbrot. Wir haben von 18 Uhr bis 1 Uhr gefeiert.
I hope your weekend was also colourful and festive.

Castle Concert, Handball and Eating in Bed...

Here we are ready to go in for the game on October 3
Leipzig (Yellow) beat Nürnberg
Now we're in Sol y Mar "eating in bed" as it were...
We needed two beds - psychiatry people are like that...

Steve and Marita in the castle garden at the Gohlis Schlößchen
Steve and I in the garden (Steve is sporting his new purchase from Karstadt - a heavy coat much too warm for the weather on that day).
How does Autumn approach in central Europe? You slowely migrate inside, and take on indoor activities. The beginning of October has demonstrated this. Tuesday last week, a holiday in Germany, Day of German Unity, gave the chance to watch ladies’ handball in Leipzig. Leipzig played against Nuremburg and won (!). I and my friends from psychiatry went to the game, and afterwards we went to Sol y Mar, I unique restaurant. When you call to reserve there, they ask you, “for sitting or for lying?” Sol y Mar has very big beds with lots of pillows, so you can lie and dine on tables in the middle of the bed. Of course, you can also dine traditionally at rattan tables and sit on rattan chairs. Since we were seven, we needed two beds for all of us. (Must have room to negotiate…) New age music plays in the background, and candles cast flickers shadows as they illuminate the palm trees dispersed throughout this minimalist restaurant.
This past weekend was a glorious autumn present, with sunshine and mild fall temperatures. Steve and Marita, my dear friends from Pirna, came for the weekend, and on Saturday we devoted the afternoon to the grand opening of Karstadt, the major German department store which has an 8 story huge store now in Leipzig. Sat. evening we dined at a street restaurant in the Barfussgässchen, a famous street in the city centre, then went to the movies (“the Perfume” was our choice, and we liked it). Sunday we were at a baroque castle in Gohlis to the north of Leipzig for a piano concert. Haydn, Beethoven, Satie, and Chopin were performed, and we made these charming photos in the castle gardens. Notice the quality of the sunlight in the middle of the afternoon in the photos. The sun is lower and weaker now, so it doesn’t get any brighter than this right now, and it will only get weaker until December 21, when the days start getting longer. It was a wonderful weekend and the conclusion of a wonderful week. My mother is doing better, so that was more than the icing on the cake (oder das Sahnehäubchen auf Deutsch). Thanks for remembering my mother.

au revoir lake!

Entering the forest, you ride through this treescape/Einfahrt in den Wald
Einige Birken winken freundlich/a few birch trees wave friendly...
Over the river /über den Fluss
Eine niedliche Brücke / a cute pedestrian bridge
Getting closer to the lake now
Finally I've arrived/ Endlich am See angekommen
Some of the last braver sunworshipers
The view to the south toward Markkleeberg
Autumn is arriving in eastern Germany, sort of, that is. The last weekend in September I went to my lake for the last time this year. They sun is getting weaker by the day, and the water is getting much cooler. At this latitude you understand why the ancient Europeans worshiped the sun as a deity: the sun moves radically across the sky from above you in the summer to low over the southern horizon in the winter, and the sunlight has a different quality. Now it is a soft golden light you never see in Texas, because we are too far south.
For my last trip to the lake I took my digital camera along for some farewell photos for this year. Here you see the view of the lake and the path I take on my bike to get there, all in all about 10 minutes by bike from my apartment. It is so peaceful to lie in the sun, go swimming, and then just read for several hours. Oh, Aggie, concerning drinking customs, water is standard, of course, but many also bring along good German beer to drink. Since alcohol is a diuretic, I avoid it at the lake. If the temperature isn’t too high, I bring coffee along and have afternoon coffee on the lake. In the heat I only drink water and eat fresh fruit and maybe some walnuts.
Now concerning my last two weeks: it has been busy. I’ve translated subtitles for a documentary film on schizophrenia. Sunday I was in a concert in a small baroque castle in north Leipzig; solo piano playing Mozart and Liszt. Today, Tuesday, is a federal holiday in Germany, day of German unity, so I have time to blog (!).
Finally, I got a call from my mother last week. She told me she was home from the hospital now. Of course, I knew nothing about anything. It seems she was having very irregular heart beats (atrial fibrillation), so she spent several days in ICU and then two days in a normal hospital room. As of today she’s been home for a whole week, and she is slowly getting better, but she has a big variety of medication to take every day. This is harrowing, of course, since over here on the other side of the world I can’t do much for her other than call her every day. Thankfully my brother is there, so that helps, but I still know the moral imperative on me to do my part. Looks like my next visit to Texas may be filled with much work in her home. What do you listen to in such situations? Right now it’s the violin concerto of Tschaikovsky in a CD of the London Symphony Orchestra with Vadim Repin on the violin. It’s Erato CD # 4509-98537-2, and I recommend it. Please think about me as you listen.

Sehnsucht/Longing - Film Saturday in Leipzig

A perfect relationship, as all would think... Eine perfekte Beziehung, so stellen sich alles das vor...
Yet fate pulls them apart /Doch das Schicksal reisst sie auseinander...
Ein Mann und eine Frau leben in einem Dorf in der Nähe von Berlin. DieStadt scheint weit weg zu sein. Sie lieben sich seit Kinderzeiten. Unzertrennlich.Beide sind nun Ende zwanzig. Er ist Schlosser und Mitglied der freiwilligenFeuerwehr. Sie arbeitet ein paar Stunden in der Woche als Haushaltshilfeund singt im Chor. Von anderen werden sie staunend und misstrauischbeäugt, da sie so glücklich scheinen, unangetastet von den Reibereien desAlltags. Unschuldig und manchmal ahnungslos wie zwei Kinder. Als derMann eines Tages mit der Feuerwehr auf eine Dienstreise in eine größereStadt geht, wacht er nach einer durchzechten Nacht in der Wohnung einerfremden Frau auf und kann sich nur an wenig erinnern. Als er versuchtherauszufinden, was geschehen ist, ist das der Anfang einer leidenschaftlichenAffäre... Der erste abendfüllende Spielfilm von Valeska Grisebach erzählt eine ungewöhnlicheLiebesgeschichte, deren melodramatische und märchenhafteAnklänge sich in einer realistischen, manchmal dokumentarisch anmutendenWeise spiegeln. Der Konzeption vorausgegangen sind ausgiebigeVideo-Recherchen über die Lebenswirklichkeit und private Befindlichkeitvon 30-Jährigen im Raum Berlin-Brandenburg. Aus diesem Material hatValeska Grisebach ihre Geschichte und die Figuren destilliert.


“A husband and wife live in a village close to Berlin, but the city seems far away. They have been in love since childhood, inseparable and going on 30 yrs. Old. He is a locksmith and in the volunteer fire department. She works a few hours a week cleaning houses and sings in a choir. Others in the village are amazed and look suspiciously at this pair, since they seem to be so happy and untouched by the normal problems of daily life. They seem innocent and unsuspecting like two children. When the husband, Markus, has to go on a longer assignment with the fire department in a bigger city, he wakes up after a night of wild celebrating in the apartment of a woman he doesn’t know and cannot remember anything. When he tries to find out what happened, a passionate affair ensues…
This first longer film from Valeska Grisebach tells an unusual love story, whose melodramatic and fairy-tale-like resonance it mirrored in a realistic almost documentary style. This concept and film was preceded by thorough video research on the reality of daily life personal fears and anxiety of people about 30 years old in the area around Berlin. Valeska Grisebach distilled her story and dramatic figures from this material.”

This evening I went to the movies at the Cinemathéque in der NaTo. This is an excellent film that creates tension and story line without the help of a soundtrack, i.e. without music composed as a background for the action and emotions. My experiences in small towns in Brandenburg (I have never woken up anywhere I didn’t plan to… though) are in line with these scenes – the public scenes, that is – depicted in this film. You are in small town East Germany Brandenburg in this film and you feel so sorry for this husband and wife. Yet one also wonders where the close friends of Markus were to help him process his problems and work them out. Fate can sometimes seem to block out the possibility of stepping in and stopping the spiral to turn things around. While the USA may be the land of the new beginning and the frontier mentality, much of the rest of the world sees fate and your position in life and society as forces one cannot battle with, and these motifs also play a role in this film. This could be a real story, and this is a film with no hero and no villain, as it often is in real life. This is from Rommel Films and was produced in 2006. Der Film ist sicher überall in Deutschland zu sehen, in Leipzig in der Cinematheque NaTo. I do not know if the film is available with English subtitles or in a dubbed version. Can someone find out?

The Rest of East Prussia et al. /Der Rest von Ostpreussen et al.

Quite a calandrom here on top of the church tower in Marienwerder

In Chojnice Steve played Addams Family while I marveled at the marbles
The view from the church tower in Marienwerder - the countryside of my great grandparents
Notice the holy fear on my face while Evelyn turns to stone - it was awe inspiring
Dear Gentle Readers,

I thank you for your patience, as the last two weeks have been overflowing. But we’ve been having excellent weather… and that’s part of my reason for absence from blogland. I’ve visited my lake to lie in the sun and swim, and the Lady of the Lake did not find me… My contract with psychiatry came through, so now I free lance translations for them. The English classes at the airport will increase in the nearest future, and some private sessions also hop on the bandwagon, so that is good for my account, and I am happy, because I like my work and enjoy working with everyone at all of my jobs. Last Saturday evening Sebastian and I were at a concert in the Schumann-Haus. Robert Schumann, the famous composer, lived in Leipzig and composed a number of works here. The Schumann-Haus is the very home this composer lived in. Tuesday evening Tobias, a good friend from psychiatry, came over to visit, so we sat out on my west balcony, ate carrot ginger soup and a pasta creation with pine nuts, and we drank a Dornfelder red wine he brought along. It was excellent, and this wine comes from Saxony, I believe the northern most wine-growing region in the world. Thursday had me in Großpösna at Matthias’ place for music. Wieland, who normally is there on the cello, could not come, so we played Gabriel Fauré (moi au piano et Matthias flute) all evening and had a beer together afterwards (a good German tradition to drink a beer together). What bringeth the weekend? Tomorrow evening a concert in the Gohlis Schlößchen, a small baroque castle in north Leipzig with a charming castle garden. The concert will be open air in the garden, so all odors will waft away, but more importantly, a period baroque orchestra will play music of Carl Philip Emanuel Bach, so I do indeed anticipate this event.
An meine milden biederen Leser,

Ich bedanke mich für eure Geduld während meiner Blogabwesenheit, denn in letzter Zeit ist es drüber und drunter gegangen. Aber wir haben herrliches Wetter gehabt, umso mehr Grund für meine Abwesenheit, denn ich bin schon das eine oder andere Mal zum See geeilt, um mich vorsorglich vor der dunklen Jahreszeit zu bräunen. Mein Honorarvertrag in der Psychiatrie hat geklappt, und der Englischunterricht am Flughafen nimmt in nächster Zeit zu, und einige Privatstunden runden den Spaß aus, so dass es meinem Konto gut geht, und es geht mir auch recht gut, denn mir gefällt die Arbeit, und ich komme mit den Menschen gut aus, mit denen ich tag-täglich zu tun habe. Sa. Letzte Woche waren Sebastian und ich im Schumann-Haus zum Konzert, in der Inselstrasse, in just dem Haus, in dem der besagte Herr gewohnt hat. Di. abend kam Tobias, ein Freund aus der Psychiatrie, zum Essen und Quatschen vorbei, so gab es auf dem Westbalkon Ingwer-Möhren Suppe und ein selbst-ausgedachtes Pastagericht mit Pinienkernen, und ein Dornfelder Rotwein untermalte den gemütlichen Abend bekömmlich. Do. war Musizieren in Großpösna. Wieland konnte nicht dabei sein, so, ohne Cello, spielten wir Fauré den ganzen Abend, mit Bier danach. Am WE findet im Gohliser Schlösschen im Schlossgarten ein Konzert statt, am Sa. Abend, und da ist Musik von Carl Philip Emanuel Bach zu höre. Da der Event open air ist, steigen alle Gerüche empor, und die Musik strahlt waagerecht, hoffe ich mindestens. Ich freue mich darauf… your Euromark

Klassik Open Air in Leipzig Today

This is Leipzig's "new" city hall - built fin de siècle /Das neue Rathaus. The old mediaeval city wall is a part of this building /Zum Bau gehören Teile des m.a. Stadtmauers.
Die Thomaskirche vom Thomaskirchhof gesehen /St. Thomas Church - built in the 1200s and the place Johann Sebastian Bach worked and performed his works for the last 27 yrs. of his life.
A beautiful relief across from the St. Thomas Church
The old stock exchange and a statue of Goethe - here the afternoon concert was opened /Die Eröffnung des Nachmittagskonzerts fand hier in der Alten Handelsbörse statt.
Die Thomaskirche von der anderen Seite / St. Thomas Church from the other side
In this restaurant a string Quintet played - but hard to see here/Im Paulanerhof spielte ein Streichquartett - leider schwer im Foto zu erkennen.
Das Alte Rathaus - the "old" city hall von 15 Jh. from the 15th century.
Im Specks Hof spielten diese beiden Werke von Danzy und J.S. Bach /In Speck's Hof these two played works of Franz Danzy and J.S. Bach
This afternoon I took advantage of a free concert in interesting places in the city centre of Leipzig. The Gewandhausorchester opened the season with several miniconcerts in different historical locations in the inner city. This is a world-class orchestra, and gives me another reason to love the cultural life in leipzig. On the way back home I indulged in TWO scoops of Italian ice cream - one peppermint and the other chocolate nougat - wish you were here!

Encore Berlin!

Der Ku'damm mit Blick auf die Kaiser-Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche / The Kurfürstendamm looking at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church: The noblest shopping boulevard in Berlin; bring your credit card...
Die Kaiser-Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche in Nahaufnahme /A close-up of the church
Das Brandenburger Tor - das Symbol von Berlin und der ehemaligen Trennung schlechthin /The Brandenburg Gate - the quintessential symbol of Berlin and the earlier division in Soviet Socialist East Block and Capitalist West...
Der Französische Dom am Gendarmenmarkt / the French Church at the Gendarmenmarkt - my favorite square in Berlin
Jonathan and Clare on a bridge over the Spree River with the Museum Island (a Unesco site) on the left/ auf einer Brücke über der Spree mit Museumsinsel links.
Nun geselle ich mich zu Jonathan mit derselben Kulisse/ I join now for a photo on said bridge...
Bin ich ein Weltbummler oder was? Donnerstag vor einer Woche habe ich mich schon wieder in Berlin eingefunden, diesmal um mich mit einem Freund aus England, Jonathan, zu treffen. Jonathan und Clare (eine lebenslange Freundin von ihm) waren ein paar Tage da, und ich konnte mir den Tag frei nehmen, damit wir so 12 Stunden Berlin zusammen erleben durften. Das Wetter war prima, und wir haben das meiste draußen zu Fuß erlebt. Jonathan spielt Orgel und hat sein Studium an der Royal College of Music in London abgeschlossen. So ist er in einigen Kirchen in Versuchung gekommen, sich an die Orgel ranzumachen.
Folks, I get around! Thursday a week ago I was in Berlin again, but this time to visit a friend from England, Jonathan, who was there with his lifelong friend Clare. They spent the last half of the week there, and I could take the day off the spend 12 hours with them exploring Berlin. The weather was pefect, allowing us to conquer all by foot, but the Berlin subway is still an experience you don’t want to miss. Jonathan has a degree in organ performance from the Royal College of Music in London and plays the organ for a living, so he was often tempted to lay hands on organs in churches in Berlin.