Things

It’s been a while since I last reported on what’s happened with me. So long in fact I never even mentioned my sister being here back in May and the two of us going to Cologne for a few days. 

As always hampered by a headache attack and a knee playing up, we still managed to have a good time. We visited the cathedral, did a bus tour and on our last day we went to the zoo. Plus we did some shopping. 

The rest of the week saw us visit the Sand sculpture park with our parents (plenty of photos, only accessible via computer) and some more shopping. But we kept it fairly easy and laid-back. 

I have been doing some work in the garden. Clearing weeds, cutting back trees, planting berry bushes, finding berry bushes. I have had a few guests: a small toad, a blackbird, kitties, a small white dog. 

As for work, a few days after my sister left, I got my license and was allowed back behind the steering wheel again. It was tiring at first, but it’s been over a month now and I am happy to say all is well. The hands are doing fine and not giving me too much bother. 

So, that’s me in a nut shell. 

Brom goes royal

Coocoo

Our last full day in Germany and Mara decided to take it easy. No point in driving all over the place seeing this and doing that she said. It was after all a holiday! But she did want to do something so she got some ideas from some cards about what there was to do in the neighbourhood. 

She asked me what I wanted to do and my choice was easy: Schloss Bad Arolsen. A castle. I love castles you know. So, we got to the car and Mara drove for a bit and then a bit longer and then she didn't listen to the lady telling her where to go and then we had to do a U-turn and then we finally found a parking place. 

I wonder what was in this chest

We had ended up in a lovely town called Bad Arolsen, with plenty of old buildings and hardly any people. In the courtyard of the castle there were some cars and some people: a wedding party, but they soon disappeared inside. We got our ticket to a guided tour, including the right to take photos inside (Mara had to pay for that). 

First however, there was some time left to go get a tea and some Apfelstrudel. Which was really nice. When Mara wanted to pay, she couldn't even pay contactless! Only from an amount over 15 euros! In this time with Corona and stuff, I felt that was really stupid but fortunately Mara had some money in her purse, so could pay and didn't need to do the dishes. 

The tour finally started and our guide knew a lot. She told us about the family and how they came to be royal. And once they were royal they needed a place to live that fit royalty, so they built this Schloss. We started in the ballroom with beautiful chandeliers (original) and some costumes that were used by the family to make their own entertainment.

She told us all about who painted what painting, gave us more information about the family and then we moved upstairs. Where we had to put on slippers to protect the original wooden floors. They were very slippery, which made me think they might also be used to clean the floors?

One of the many beautifully decorated heating stoves

There was beautiful furniture which Mara loved and then there was a room that was used by a lady called Emma. She was the third of four daughters and after both her elder sisters had turned the old gentleman down, she said yes. He was after all the King of the Netherlands! He was in his sixties, she was 21. 

They married at the castle and then she moved with her new husband. They had one daughter: Wilhelmina who in turn had one daughter: Juliana who had four daughters including Beatrix who had three sons including our current King Willem Alexander who has three daughters including Crown Princess Amalia. 

The best room in the house though was the room next to Emma's room. It was a child's play room and there were toys everywhere. Dolls and trains and all sorts. I wouldn't have minded staying there a bit, but we had to move on as the guided tour was nearly over. 

The family still live in the house although they don't own it anymore (the state or province or some such do), but they get the right to use. And one of the things they still use is the cradle that was in the nursery or child's play room. 

After the tour had ended we made our way outside to take a walk through the little town and perhaps a bit to eat. But it being Saturday most was already closed and some had never opened at all. So, instead we went back to the car and got our dinner somewhere else before heading back to the hotel. It was a lovely visit.

Brom goes low

Coocoo

After our adventure in the morning, we made our way to Ramsbeck. In Ramsbeck there was a former lead and zinc mine that we were about to visit. But first we had lunch (or a very early dinner).

Getting paid

Then we had a little looksie in the museum itself, which was housed in the original mine buildings. The office from where they paid all the workers and the changing rooms. 

Perhaps you have seen those British films or documentaries where everybody has their own locker. Here they all had their own tube and rope. First you had to let the hooks down. Then you hung your clothes, boots, hat and other assorted on the hooks. 

And lastly you used the rope to pull the lot up into your tube. As it was heated, your stuff would be nice and dry for your next shift.

Once we had seen all that, we were given a hat (I didn't get one, my head was too small) and we were going on a train. Well, the hats might have been big, the train definitely wasn't. Mara nearly had to crouch to get in! 

1,5 tonnes of ore/rock

They locked us all in, started up the train and off we went: 1,5 km into the mountain! And when we had arrived, we were right smack bang beneath an amusement park. We would only have to dig through rocks for about 350 meters!

Saint Barbara, the patron saint of miners

We were given a tour of the mine itself. We saw huge machines that made the place run. We were told how long it would take one person to mine 7 meters (1 year) and we saw (and heard) a machine that could do that in two days. 

We also saw the bucket, which had to be emptied and cleaned by the poor man who had been late too often. I bet that taught him to be on time, as he had to do that to every single one on the floor. And after all that, we took the train back to the mining building to see daylight again. 

The bucket

Oh, and we learned two things that day: Mountain Work (Bergwerk) is what they call mines mostly, as most of the mines started off outside and gradually moved inside the mountains. And secondly Under Day (Untertag). Which is underground to you and me. You couldn't see daylight when underground so that's why they called it Under Day. 

The red is from the iron pipes the water dripped from,
 the white is calcium
and the green is from small amounts of copper in the rock.

Brom goes high

Coocoo

Another day, another adventure! Even though Mara didn't feel too good as her leg muscles were just murdering her (her words, I thought it was just a bit exaggerated), we were still going places. Willingen in the morning. 

In Germany you have to wear a mask in a public indoor place. 

If you like your wintersports, you might have heard of it, as it is the place where ski-jump competitions take place. The ones where people launch themselves from a 90 meter high slope. We were NOT going there.

Waste not want not

Instead we were going to take a cable car up a mountain to have a nice look around and perhaps even a wander around. In the winter it is a ski lift, but as it was not winter yet (cold though, I was glad for my sweater and scarf), there were no skis in sight. 

There were however plenty of snow canons in place already and they were even working (as in turning, not throwing out snow). But the cows in the field would probably be okay for a few more weeks. (see top photo for the cows and the snow canon)

Once up the mountain, we climbed a tower by using the lift. Mara's excuse was that she could barely take two steps up, let alone a gazillion (again with the exaggeration). From the top we had a great view, and Mara took plenty of photos through the glass. 

When we got down again, we walked around a pond, which was to be used by the snow canons to provide them with water to turn to snow. We weren't allowed to swim in it, which I wasn't planning on anyway, way too cold even for bears. 

After a short walk, we made our way back to the cable car to go back down the hill. There was also an option of walking down, but Mara wore her regular shoes, did not have her poles with her, no provisions apart from water and an apple and her legs were screaming (exaggerating a bit here as well). Oh, and the mountain was very steep as well.

Brom finds himself

Coocoo

Remember where we were yesterday? We were having a cup of tea on a terrace, so Mara could catch her breath again and rest a bit. But once the tea was drunk and her breath was back, we went back to the car to go to a Panorama bridge, from where we would have a good view over Winterberg.

The start of the bobsleigh track

We certainly had a good view. Over Winterberg and its surroundings. But there was more to see as next to the bridge was the official Bobsleighing track. It was massive. 

Then there was a ski-lift that just kept bringing people and their bikes up after which they just swooshed down the hill again. I thought it was a bit scary. 

Look closely and you can see them hurtling down

At the end of the bridge there were two ways of getting down. The stairs or a slide. We took the stairs, which was a bit disappointing. I would have loved going down the slide. But once we were down, there was more to see. A nature trail where they explained about what animals and trees lived in the area. 

There was a board that made you match the animal to the tracks (Mara was rubbish at that, only getting one out of four). 

Brombeere is the plural

There was also a board that explained about the fruits of the different bushes and that is where I met myself. Remember, my official name is Brom Beer (beer being the Dutch word for bear). And on one of the boards explaining about fruit, there was a photo of a Brombeer. Which is the German word for Blackberry. If we had known that earlier, we could have had a proper photo of me and my namesakes!

There was plenty more to see on the trail, but I think Mara was happy when the final uphill struggle was over and she could go back (downhill) to the beginning. Where we had dinner. And once dinner was done, we went back to the car and back to the hotel. Our day was over.

Brom goes on a hike

View from the hotel

Coocoo

On our second day in Germany, Mara wanted to go for a hike. She had found the directions to a hike that promised to be of medium difficulty, would need sturdy footwear, some level of fitness, poles and all sorts of other stuff. 

It was the canyons and bridges path

She had the sturdy footwear, no level of fitness, two poles and all sorts of other stuff not necessarily to be used on a hike. But first we went to the local supermarket to get some supplies. Then we started our hike. 

The first bit wasn't too hard: down some steps. Then came a bit that was a bit steeper, but as we were going downhill, that was fine as well. We crossed a bridge and a canyon (a tiny one, do not think it was like the Grand Canyon) continued on our hike. We had to turn left and right all the time, but the path was well sign posted.

The Bodensee,
well it was more of a pond than a lake...

Now, if you know your German geography, you might know where Winterberg is (Hochsauerland). And you may also have heard of the Bodensee (where the Rhine begins). The two are in no way near. But, we circumnavigated the Bodensee in Winterberg!

We had lunch on a fallen tree trunk. We walked some more. We stopped occasionally so Mara could get her breath back, because yes, we had gone down a lot, but as it was a loop, we would also have to go up a lot again. 

We were lucky it had been dry recently, otherwise the paths would have been very slippery and as Mara had forgotten the poles in the car... We did go round though and managed to get back to the beginning in one piece. After which she had some tea in a nearby restaurant. 

Brom was away and now is back

Last Wednesday we made our way by lovely car (a white Karl, instead of the black one Mara is getting this week) to Germany. Where we arrived in the middle of the afternoon. She dragged her suitcase up the parking lot to reception and then we had to wait. And wait. And wait. 

The booking was found no problem, but the voucher proved to be a bit of a. Under normal circumstances Mara would have had to send the voucher to their head office which would then deal with it. As she booked so late in the day, she had been told to hand it over on site and then it would be sorted. However, that took some time. Eventually though, the receptionist handed us a temporary key to my room and we were able to go to the room.

Which as hotel rooms go, was nothing out of the ordinary. Yes, the bed was big, but as per German custom, covered in two single duvets. Well, I say covered: they were neatly folded at the end of the bed and you have to make your own bed. The pillows were a bit of a departure from the normal German standard though: they were okay Mara said. 

The bathroom was nice, a big walk-in shower, a toilet, a sink. Just what we need (and before you ask: baths are not that common and I hate them anyway: I am not a fish). The sliding door to the balcony was the only downside really, as it was the only way to get some fresh air in and it could only be done by sliding it open. Which meant I had to be a guard bear to make sure nobody snuck in during the night.

That evening we started really celebrating our break by going out to dinner. Burger and potato wedges. Really tasty. Followed by chocolate tart and a small scoop of ice cream. After that we made our way back to the room (after picking up the regular key as the payment had been sorted) and watched television, read a book and crocheted.