Daytrip to the Baltic Sea

When our daughter returned to her flat to study again, she had loads of things to take with her. It was the first time she asked to go by car. As we only have one car, I had to go with her to take our car home. Spending 600 km on the motorway on one day is not a favorite pasttime for me, although many people, especially in the USA, don't mind such distances. I need something nice as a treat to go such a long way.

In the end our daughter agreed to let me sleep on an air-matress in her study, so I could go to the beach after our arrival and drive home the next day. That way it was only about 300 km each day.

Luckily the day was sunny - but freezing cold by an easterly wind. There were only dog keepers at the beach beside me, and two horses with riders. It was just great to breath the sea air, collect some mussels and watch the sea-gulls and many ships on the fjord.

It was strange to wake up in our daughter's place and to get breakfast made by her. She's not our little girl any longer, but a wonderful grown up woman.

 Our car packed for the journey

 Hamburg

Watch 3 funny sea-gulls in this video 

View from our daughters room.

To see more photos of the beach click here. 

Winterstorm in Spring

At the end of summer 2011 I listened to an unknown band at a band contest during a huge festival in Bavaria. The guys of "Winterstorm" make fantastic melodic rock-music, sounding a little bit like film-music. Even before they finished their songs, I bought their CD. That was lucky as they didn't have enough with them. They won the contest and went back to that festival twice. 

In 2012 I enjoyed them again - at a huge old castle in Bavaria. They were well known by them.

After traveling to see them twice, they now came to our town. "Only" as support to a famous a capella band, but Winterstorm were my highlight of the night. Although "Van Canto" have filled huge concert halls and a huge crowd loved their music on Sunday night, their music doesn't make me feel confortable. Anyway - Winterstorm were worth the ticket.

Winterstorm in 2011

....and now

Bagpipes and Drums

Last week a friend invited me to a concert of her favorite band. She knows them all personally and told me so much about them (no secrets!), that it was a totally different experience than 5 years ago, when I had seen Corvus Corax for the last time. Bagpipes are not my favorite instruments, but these guys build their own instruments and make their own "costumes" and show so much power on stage, that I really enjoyed myself! 

As you can see on the photos they didn't just have bagpipes and drums, but other flutes and many exotic instruments. Most of them are copies of medieval instruments and their songs all come from past times from all over the world.

They have already played huge concerts in China, Mexico and Russia. So I felt a kind of awe to be so near to such famous musicians.

Luckily we could stand in the first row and I could take some nice photos. For the videos I had to go to the back of the hall, as the noise at the front was too much for my cameras microphone.

Have a look at one of my videos, click this link

Spring craft market

Some weeks before Easter the Mall at my working place organizes a craft market. Many busy fingers offer decorations for Easter and spring time. We already own far more "dust catchers" than I like to decorate, so I don't spent money there. This year my friend from Berlin came with me to look and was delighted to see so many crafts hand made with love. It seems, that such treasures are hard to find in the big city!

High as a Kite

Sometimes we just have to take a day off from routine. When the weather is perfect, there's no need to wait for the weekend when it might be totally different.

This week my youngest daughter and a friend took our kite and our neighbour's dog and went for a walk. The sun was great and even the strong wind felt good and the kite went straight up to the sky and walked with us all the way. I can't remember ever to have hold a kite up for such a long time.

We ended up at the sports ground, where the dog got spoilt and fetched the stick countless times. 

It was a perfect day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Nobody really celebrates this famous Irish holiday over here, some pubs in big city make it an event. Or concert halls, although Monday is not a perfect day for a party when everyone has to be back at work the next day. Some places have their St. Patrick's celebrations either at the weekend before or after the 17th of March.

Luckily a small concert hall about 50 km /30 miles from here had a concert with an Irish Folk band from Berlin last Saturday. The Cobblestones are already quite famous and often have concerts in our area. They always have time for their fans and  know many of them by name. It's nice to be welcomed with a hug when I arrive at one of their concerts.

They play all well known Irish tunes, make jokes and get everyone to drink plenty, by making everyone shout "Sláinte" after almost every song. It's ok to drink water to drive savely home.

Join the dance

Spring harp - my 100th post!

On Wednesday a friend agreed to come with me to my favorite park to carry my chair and camera, because I took my harp along. It's such fun to play it outside, especially with trees around me and this time also a with a wonderful view.

My friend enjoyed the afternoon - and took nice photos and made videos, although the wind tried to make itself heard over the harp.

My favorite Irish song on my harp

A lively French song on my harp