Sunday, September 26, 2010

Penguins on the beach…

Although it’s probably not widely known, penguins appear in Brazil fairly regularly, most likely carried north by winter currents from colder waters . This year we saw a lot of them. On our last at Camboinhas, they were close enough to the beach that Emily almost managed to swim with them.

New library in Walldorf…

Our vacuum cleaner recently began to relent its ghost, so we bought another. The instruction manual came in 13 languages, enough to seed the collection of the soon-to-open Walldorf Vacuum Cleaner Manual Library. I’ll post applications for library cards for this glorious institution in a future post.IMG_0788 (1024x683)

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Am I wrong…

to be haunted by scenes like this a couple of weeks after returning?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Flipper and friends…

On one of our last days at Camboinhas as we sat around doing a lot of nothing, I saw a bunch of seabirds making a ruckus a couple hundred meters off shore. Turns out they were snatching up small fish fleeing from a pod of dolphins. You’ll start seeing flipper and his buddies about 12 seconds into this video.

At one point one of them was probably 20 meters off shore, but I had stopped filming to simply enjoy the view. I hope you do too.

Monday, September 20, 2010

The inner circle…

As I threatened to do a long time ago, I’ve created a separate blog to post pictures of the kids going forward. If you’d like to have access, I’ll need your e-mail address. That’s tricky for folks with whom I don’t communicate via e-mail, but if you leave it in a comment, I’ll do my best to delete it ASAP.IMG_1279 (1024x680)

Unoriginal idea…

By the time I got back from the flower field (and B decided to crawl out of bed), it was almost lunchtime. I had wanted to go to Speyer for some time so we headed out, expecting the city to be filling up.     

We massively underestimated the popularity of this tiny burg on the Rhein as half the tourist and citizens in this state had the same idea. We were supposed to meet Thomas and Andréia there, but we both beat a hasty retreat upon seeing masses of people warily hunting a spot just to park. We decided to have lunch in good ol’ Walldorf.IMG_1216 (1024x683)Thomas and Andréia beat us to Marktstube by a few minutes. Thomas was drinking Apfelshorle, a mixture of carbonated water and apple juice that is the soft drink of choice for most Germans. As I can’t remember ever seeing him drink a non-alcoholic beverage, I was a bit concerned. Luckily, he quickly reverted to Hefeweizen (and I joined him). Copy of IMG_1204 (1024x683)Thomas recently bought a DSLR, so this was what he looked like most of the afternoon. IMG_1226 (1024x683)

I decided to show him some of my stupid camera tricks so took more shots of Walldorf’s famous fountain.IMG_1212 (1024x683)IMG_1213 (683x1024)On the way back home, I snapped a picture of the stork statue near the entrance to the Hauptstrasse. For whatever reason, I really love it.IMG_1293 (683x1024)

Sunny Sunday…

The weather the past couple of days in the Heidelberg area has been virtually perfect: sunny and in the low 70s. On Sunday I decided it was time to drag my frame, bloated from a month of wining, dining and beering in Brazil, out in the woods of Walldorf for a jog. On the way back, I spied a field of sunflowers and was inspired to take pictures of the kids (which I’ll post on the other blog soon).IMG_1108 (1024x682)As soon as I got back, I packed all three of them into the Family Truckster and headed to a self-serve flower field. These are numerous in this area, relying on the honor system for payment. Each has posted prices and simple cutting knives atop a strong box into which one casts his Euros (or at least should cast his Euros) according to his (or her) consumption. The sunflowers were numerous and in many cases certifiably enormous. The bees were out in force, but docile and distracted.IMG_1113 (1024x683)IMG_1111 (1024x682)This one (the sunflower, not the bee) was roughly the size of a hubcap (Cadillac, not Smartcar). IMG_1135 (1024x680)The field of assorted flowers was less impressive, but that’s where the kids did most of their cutting.IMG_1152 (1024x683)IMG_1164 (1024x683)IMG_1170 (683x1024) A few flowers of the wild variety have taken hold. I guess they’re free.IMG_1161 (1024x682) On the way back from lunch (details forthcoming in another post), I snapped this delicate loner in an empty lot near our house.IMG_1298 (1024x683)

Grape season…

On the way from Sophia’s school to the Hauptstrasse we saw a hotel with grapes growing along its gate and fence. IMG_0914 (1024x683)IMG_0918 (682x1024) This is grape and wine season in this part of Germany, although we almost never make it to the numerous wine festivals as our return from vacation and the start of school make us lazy. IMG_0917 (683x1024)I didn’t try any of them, but must admit it took some effort to resist.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Photographic fun with a fountain…

Because of the software company SAP and German tax law, Walldorf is one of the richest cities in Germany, even though there are only 14,000 of us who live here. That means that it can afford extravagances like abstract granite fountains on its main street. IMG_0977 (1024x682)The light was good today so while we waited for our lunch, I decided to play with the water, photographically speaking of course.IMG_1065 (1024x683)IMG_0979 (1024x683)After owning one for 5 years, I’m still sometimes amazed at the images one can capture with a relatively inexpensive DSLR.IMG_0982 (683x1024)The detail is incredible (this image was cropped from the one above).Copy of IMG_0982 (682x1024)I particularly liked these shots.IMG_1073 (1024x683)IMG_1076 (683x1024)I found it interesting how running water resembles ice when frozen by nothing more than a camera with high shutter speed.IMG_0988 (1024x683)

Don’t these people eat lunch?!

The church was crammed with people as was the schoolyard, so we assumed Walldorf's tiny little Haupstrasse would be overrun with folks wanting to have lunch on a beautiful early fall day. Wrong! We were essentially had the place to ourselves as far as dining is concerned.  IMG_0992 (683x1024)We've pretty much avoided Zum Erbprinzen ever since the owner was a bit abrupt with B one day (not my issue, but one has to pick one’s battles carefully) but today it was pretty much our only option. The food was absolutely excellent.IMG_0990 (655x1024)Sophia started by celebrating the big day with a Oktoberfest beer (Just kidding.  It was mine and it was good). IMG_0996 (683x1024) IMG_0994 (666x1024)We then shared some Camembert cheese, a favorite of ours. IMG_1023 (1024x683)IMG_1025 (1024x683)B had ribs. They were outstanding!IMG_1044 (1024x683) I had Cordon Bleu (enough to feed two hungry adults).IMG_1045 (1024x683) The girls had nuggets (and Spätzel), which looked great.IMG_1041 (1024x683) Robert had a Schnitzel that wasn’t particularly photogenic but tasty nonetheless. There was enough left over for B’s and my dinner tonight, a welcome respite from cooking after a long week. Anyway, I highly recommend this restaurant when you’re in the mood for a little German comfort food. By the way, the prices are extremely reasonable.

Walldorf’s good side…

It was a bit cool today and sometimes cloudy, but downtown Walldorf was looking good to my eye. IMG_0923 (1024x683) IMG_0925 (1024x683) IMG_0929 (683x1024)IMG_0933 (683x1024) IMG_0937 (1024x683)

No more Kindergarten!!!

Today was Sophia’s first day of school. As you may have surmised, the first day of first grade is on a Saturday (in this part of Germany anyway). Our day started with a church service.IMG_0818 (1024x683) IMG_0831 (666x1024)Followed by a presentation of the second graders for the new first graders.IMG_0865 (1024x683)Followed by Champagne and/or Mimosas for the adults while the kids met their teachers in the classroom. B caught Emily secretly nursing a Mimosa in a place she thought was out of sight. As she’s only 8, I have a feeling the teen years are not going to be easy.

All the parents then piled into the classroom to take pictures and present the kids with Schultüte, essentially a cardboard cone filled with stuff they need for school, presents etc., modeled below by the lovely B.IMG_0870 (683x1024)It’s a very disorganized affair by German standards, but the important thing is that’s it’s over. Anyway, congratulations to Sophia on her first day of school! This is a major milestone in the Prickril family history: All kids have made it past Kindergarten!IMG_0875 (1024x683)

World’s most elaborate water tower…

Ty took the train to the airport from Mannheim so we had a chance to visit the water tower. Unfortunately, the Döner place I love there was closed. Maybe next time.IMG_0784 (676x1024) IMG_0780 (673x1024) IMG_0782 (1024x681)