Dawn
Koi in the Japanese Garden in Kaiserslautern
Not coy
Amine in the Japanese Garden in Kaiserslautern
“I’m being coy. Can I have a Koi?”
Common Shelduck
Bar-Headed Geese
Eurasian Moorhen
Last night
The Archer
The underside of a Eurasian Green Woodpecker
“The Woodpecker is way out of my reach!”
Eurasian Blackbird
Portraits of famous dogs in an Italian restaurant in Landstuhl
“Famous dawgs in Landstuhl? Not cool! Fool!”
Moon made an appearance between rain showers this evening.
Fly like an Egyptian Goose
A lone Egyptian Goose flew overhead this morning.
Am Rande des Regens
Hinter den Kohlmeisen, Hirsche
Auf dem Feld spielen
Atlas: “Oh Nein! Not another timku in German!”
Common Wood-Pigeon
Eurasian Blackcap
Eurasian Magpie
Is it safe to look?
Dawn
There’s a shooting range we walk by before entering the forest.
Die Bar ist geöffnet
Geh am Sonntag schießen, trink
Geschützgewehre zielen
Speaking of Karlsberg beer, the Karlsberg Brewery is in Homberg.
Under the ruins of the castle on the hill above Homberg is a sand mine.
With hard hats on our heads, we descended into the sand mines. In Italy truant children were turned into donkies and sent to work in the salt mines. I wonder if truant children were sent to work in the sand mines in Homberg.
Homberg residents took refuge in the sand minds during bombing raids on homberg in WWII.
Atlas purrfurs the yarn mine. Sand mines are for other purposes in the cat world. Photo by Tristan.
Lots of low ceilings. The tunnels were much darker than in the photos.
Homberg
Atlas: “Blanket caves are so much more comfortable than sandbox tunnels!” Photo by Tristan.
European Robin
Finally got the elusive ER.
The Print I made in Mannheim
Eurasian Blue Tit
The Print Tristan made in Mannheim
Atlas
Sunrise
We have had sunshine the past three days.
Common Wood-Pigeon
Eurasion Blue Tit
Moloney’s Irish Pub & Grill has trivia every Thursday night. My daughter’s team was in first place going into last night’s round.
The pub has dollar bills hanging from the ceiling.
The field was plowed yesterday while we were in Frankenstein.
After trying to photograph more birds, Freyja and I explored a new trail.
Sunset while on our way to pole dance class tonight.
Atlas
Rock Pipit
Great Tit
Common Sparrow
Common Buzzard
Freyja and I went on a long walk in the forest this morning.
There was lots of fungus among us. I believe these are called polypores.
There are so many trails, it can drive you nuts!
I could hear birds chirping, woodpeckers pecking, and what sounded like an owl, but I couldn’t find a single bird in the forest full of trees.
Our walk
Freyja was worn out
Atlas was putting on the cute, again
We went to an Irish pub own by a fellow from Romania for St. Patrick’s Day dinner.
Speaking of fungus amongus, the band played “Proud Mary” and “La Bamba” as part of their moldy oldies repertoire.
Paddy on bass. Herr Elton John on drums. Herr Traditionell spielen, singen und auf der Gretsch richtig Gas geben.
What was funny about the band is that it brought back memories of when I played in garage bands in the mid to late 70s. Way back then, we had to know three songs to play in clubs, for weddings, and special events: “Proud Mary”, “Brown-Eyed Girl”, and “La Bamba”. We didn’t stick around long enough to see if they played “Brown-Eyed Girl”.
The menu included Irish stew
Roast in wine sauce and mashed potatoes or
Shepherd’s Pie or Lamb Shank
and Apple Pie
Bis morgen! Tschüss!
The snowpack on the Rocky Mountains is sparse.
If it weren’t for the clouds, I might have seen Dundee, Scotland. The map on the plane said Dundee was below us at that point.
The mainland. I believe we were starting to fly over the Netherlands.
Restaurant at the castle in Landstuhl
The neighbor’s chickens
Atlas
A tat of a cat named Atlas
Pink was the theme at the Gimmeldingen Mandelblütenfest
Despite Freyja blocking the way, we rode the train to the Gimmeldingen Mandelblütenfest (Almond Blossom Festival).
Atlas thought it looked like fun
On second thought…
Graffiti along the way
Vineyards, almond trees and towns around Gimmeldingen
There were a lot of people, kids, and dogs celebrating the Almond Blossoms.
Roasting salmon on planks
There were all kinds of food and drink available as we strolled along the roads
Mandelblütenfest Chicken
This is an interesting building. It seems like a place for pilgrims to stay.
Castle at Frankenstein through the train car window.
Wheelchair or Rolser access?
Tristan Pointed out this really cute chapel…
…looking over Landstuhl from the Schlossruine Nanstein Castle
Landstuhl
Atlas thinks the chapel is cool, also!
Knight in the pavers
Fountain with a Camino de Santiago symbol
The oldest houses in Landstuhl are from around the 16th century.
Atlas wants to hire the maid on the van.
On to Ehemalige Festung Homburg
Homburg
With castle ruins comes more tunnels and stairs
A scratching of the 250-million-year-old ichthyosaur remains they found in the limestone in 1968.
The sign says it’s dangerous. I had to check it out. When I stepped on the floor and started to sink in the much, I decide the sign was not kidding.
Another danger sign
Where I would have come out if I have ventured past the muck
Atlas eared me that I was a wimp for not going through the dangerous tunnel.
I came across a wheelbarrow on a landing looking for the restroom at an Asian restaurant. I got confused. It could have been from jet lag, the Dragon Fruit drink, or the pole dancing. It’s hard to say.
Atlas giving me an ear up for getting lost trying to find the restroom at an Asian restaurant.
Off Center & Not Even 