We drove to Wiesbaden this morning to shop for cars. Jessica needs a reliable car to run around to the different places where she does massage therapy.
We got a bit wired before venturing onto the used car lot.
Der Hund!
The cars in the running were this sporty Toyota…
A Maserati…
A classic BMW…
And a smiley VW Golf.
Any guesses as to which one Jessica bought?
Bridges over the Rhine
Alexandrine Parakeets were chirping in the trees. They are very large parakeets.
A medeival wheelchair ramp
There were also Rose-ringed Parakeets in the trees. They are smaller than the two.
We went to a Viking restaurant for dinner.
Sunset on the AutoBahn
Home
Atlas: “No one asked me if I wanted to go car shopping!”
We went Dampfwalzen (steamrolling) around Mannheim today.
We rode the train in the rain
Nextdoor to Mannheim
We went to the Techno Museum. We started on the top floor with old stuff and worked our way down to modern stuff. I’m not going in order with my photos.
A White Stork flew by with sticks in its beak
A Wankel (rotary engine) motorcycle.
One of the museum staff teching a group of high school students how to make paper
Punchcards used to program looms were the inspiration for using punchcards to program computers. I used punchcards for my COBOL programming classes in the 70s.
One of the layouts for a poster.
Tristan and I both made posters. They are still rolled up, so I will have to photograph them later. The staff member started off showing how to make lead letters that are used in printing presses. He gave Tristan the W that he made. Then he showed us how to make black ink prints.
A lith-block for making lithographs of a kitty.
A half-track motorcycle that did great wheelies, based on the photo.
Say watts?
Speaking of wheelies, the peddling paparazo wasn’t able to do a wheelie on the watt generator bike, but he hit 759.5 wattss, maybe more. His average for 90 seconds was 450 watts.
A yellow-legged gull flew overhead while we were walking to the modern art gallery.
Little Boy Blue tuned into a golden angel
The water tower on the way to the modern art gallery
Walk like an Egyptian Goose
Pinguins filled with helium move around as visitors walk around them.
An orb that lit up and slowly swirled as people approached it.
A multimedia installment with lots of movement in the darkness and loud noises
Squirrel Nutkin was jumping around in the trees on my morning walk
We went to Karlsruhe today, where Tristan and Craig had some business to take care of. It’s an hour and a half from Bruchmühlbach-Miesau, but we had a long roundabout way back after the police closed the AutoBahn.
This place is said to be a TikTok sensation for having Octopussy Gyros
Deutsche Postal delivery riders done delivering
Peacock flew into the elephant enclosure at the zoo
We went to the Wildlife Park and Greifvogelzoo (Raptor zoo) in Potzberg about 30 minutes north of Bruchmühlbach-Miesau. The park was conceived in the 1970s as a way to attract tourists, and opened in 1984. Due to financial problems, the park was taken over by private management. The privaate management reinvigerted the park, added conservation programs, breeding of rare and endangered spicies, and reintroducing birds back into the wild. They have so many animals, I took nearly way too many photos. It’s sad to see a lot of the raptors in enclosures, but many, like the Condors, seemed content, wanted to play, and were quite interactive. All the animals were very well taken care of.
While on our morning walk, I thought I finally got the Europen Robin. But no, this bird is a Common Chaffinch.
A European Greenfinch
The ever-present Eurasian Blue Tit.
The hotel at the Wild Like Park
A goatlette crawled under to fence and greeted us.
Red Kites were flying around annoying some of the birds in enclosure
I’m no emo, I’m an Emu
Got it?
Andean Condor
Say Uncle and make the paparazzo laugh!
Foghorn Condor
Two male condors wound follow me back and forth, trying to get to my camera while I was trying to photograph the female condors spreading their wings. They were hilarious.
While we were eating lunch at the castle above Landstuhl, I realized the tower and building (Hotel) on the top of then hill across the way is where the Wild Life park is.
A decent sunset taken from the cemetery across the street.
We rode the train to Freinsheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, for another blooming spring festival. The people were cool, and I met an older woman who grew up in Freinsheim while walking through the apple orchards. She did not speak English, and although I made it clear, I don’t speak Germanl, but she bent my ear anyway. We communicated fairly well. She explained how the apple trees are blooming 40 days earlier than normal, which explained the cuttings from the pruned tree being in full bloom. The farmers pruned the budding trees, and the cuttings bloomed out of desperation. I also got her to explain how they irrigate the orchards and rows of freshly planted cabbage and lettuce she pointed out and identified as we walked by. When we caught up to Tristan, the woman had another captive ear who could converse much better than I could. She was really sweet to talk to us, an she seemed to need people to talk to.
Sinrise
One of Tristan’s neighbor’s gnome
Another neightor’s mushrooms
I saw more Great Tits on my morning walk before heading to Freinsheim.
“All aboard!” Only us usins were on the train that came from Homburg.
Just another rock in the wall!
Freisheim has an intact medieval wall.
White Stork
Then the festival went to the blooming birds.
Hallo Paparazzo, ich sehe dich!
Bloomin’ blooming cuttings
For those people who didn’t want to walk
Gray Heron
This Eurasian Kestrel was fanning its tail and fluttering its wings to tread air like a giant hummingbird. I’ve never seen a raptor tread air before today.
Eurasian Kestrel
Common Buzzard
Eurasion Magpie
Whatcha Carion, Crow?
Another Eurasion Kestrel
Lizard love on the tracks at golden hour
Atlas put himself behind bars. He was feeling like a kriminal Kitty.
We went to Sankt Wendel for the Bad Easter Bunny Easter Fesival this morning. The streets were full of people acting like bumper cars in a demolition derby. I’ve been in much denser crowds in Mardrid, Paris and Rome, and people did not bump into each other like they were at the Böser Osterhase Osterfest today. You would think Früling would bring out the best in people.
Atlas: “Oh nein! Nicht ein böser Osterhase!”
Sunrise
Common Chiffchaff
I saw Squirrel Nutkin on our walk this morning.
Eurasian Blue Tit
Carion! My wayward Crow. Where hast you been, and where dost you go?
Red kite
The sign claims the St. Wendeler Easter Festival is the most beautiful spring festival. It brings out a bumber crop of people.
A Red Kite was looking to make a meal of the Böser Osterhase.
Carion the wayward Crow fallowed us to Sankt Wendel.
Carion Crow clocking in.
Plank roasted salmon seems to be a staple at festivals
The Basilica of St. Wendelin
I missed the mice in at the alter of the church, but, fortunately, Tristan got them.
She also noticed a fishy doorknob.
WWI memorial
Stations of the Cross
The City Council building seems appropriately named.
Frankenstein Castle in the background. The groundskeeper’s chapel in the foreground.
Frankenstein Castle has a nice pair of knockers.
There’s an electric fence to electrocute you, and I presume, put you out of your misery before you hit the bottom in case you slip off the narrow trail to the castle and fall down the very steep slope.
Bad Bunny
If you’ve ever wondered what happened to Herbie, The Love Bug, he retired in Frankenstein.
Off Center & Not Even 