Thursday, August 23, 2007

Baumholder Day 3 (Finale) - Revisiting Memories

It wasn't till around 12:30 when the festival started going. So the first thing that I wanted to do, was get on the Ferris Wheel! :-) Hmmm...not sure if I can even by a ticket, I mean, speaking German is one thing... hehehe (#22). Took a picture of a small protion of the Ferris Wheel #23, and got on board. Snapped off photos 24 through 35, while on board. Well, after the trip on the Ferris wheel, I started to get hungry, so I start looking amount the booths for some food. Saw one booth that was selling Reignwurst. So I got myself some reignwurst and some fries. (#36). Well, when I sat down to have some lunch, I started to hear some drums. Not the kind that you hear in bands, but the big bassdrum/American Indian drum. So I take a look and there were about two boats (row boats) that had a person beating on a drum to I guess keep the rowers in time. I don't know if this was a particular group that does this kind of thing, or if some kind of tour group wanted to add some flavor. Not sure, tried getting a picture of them, but it didn't come out well. (#37) Well, the festival was quite similar to a carnival of sorts. It had plenty of rides (#38), which included bumper cars, not to mention some games like what you see at a carnival as well. You know the ones...the shooting range, the pop the balloons with darts, the soccer kick??? Yeah, they love their futball (aka soccer) here. They had a game where you kicked a soccer ball into a net. You get a certain score from this which may or may not get a prize from it. Not sure how they calculated the score, but it was interesting none the less. :-)

Well, after getting to the end of the festival along the river, I noticed that it continued into the city as well. So I followed the crowd (#39 & 40). Snapped off a couple of pictures of the landmarks in the area, such as #41 & 42, and got a nice picture of a fountain that was along the way. Along with the plack that was within it (#43 & 44). Well, next to the fountain was a chinese gentleman that was doing a balancing act with various items. It was great to see the gentleman work. :-) Took a couple of pictures of the man at work. (#45 - 49). On #49, if you look closely, you'll notice that not only is he balancing 3 trays of drinks, but he was also playing a clarinet (Playing "Saints Go Marching In").

Well, I continued walking, leaving the festival behind as I went further into the city, looking at the sites as I went along. (#50 - 51) Came around to what I think was a fairly old tower (unless they built it that way), but they had turned it into a cafe. (#52 - 54) As I kept walking, I noticed that there were some places that had little pockets of celebration. Started hearing some music as I was walking around, so I followed the sound till I came across this small square with a small concert going on at one end. Snapped off a couple of photographs of the listeners. (#55, 58, & 59) A little bit of the place they were listening from. (#56) And the concert itself. (#57) The band was speaking in German during their break, but it sounded more like a Latin rythem when they played. I stayed only for a little bit listening to the music, but I quickly moved on. Came up to a building that had a blend of both an old feel to the building, and a more modern feel. It was interesting seeing a blending of the two. (#60 & 61) And after the blended building, I found what looked like an old house that was changed into a cafe. (#62)

Well, after leaving the cafe, I was heading back towards the festival on the river. I felt that I saw quite a bit of the inner city, and wanted to check out a little more, maybe from across the river. Well, when I got back to the festival area, the balancing gentleman had moved to another location under the shade. And I noticed when I got to the river that there was a gathering around the river. So I head up to the nearest pedestrain bridge, that wasn't too far, and tried to see what everyone else was looking at. Well, it was battle royale on the river. Basically, three men would get into each of the boats in question, and would try to push the other off. It was quite amusing for a little bit. There was an announcer there that I guess did a whole "blow by blow" via a loudspeaker, but it was in German (obviously), and I couldn't understand him. Maybe he was announcing something historical. Maybe it was a little "sporting" event, who can say. But it was amusing. No one got hurt from what I saw. There was a lifeguard boat that was monitoring the situation, so nothing to really worry about. (#63 - 67)

Well, after watching the fight for a little bit, I got a little bored of it, and continued on my way. Well, as I got to the other side, and snapped two more pictures of the water fight, I continued down the coast of the river till I saw some ducks and geese. Well, I remembered that I still had a roll or two from the day before and well, I gave them to the ducks, geese, swans, and pigeons. :-) (#68)

Well, after feeding the fowl, I went back up to the street to seeing more of the city. Snapped off a picture of the sidewalk that I was going down (#69), and came up to another church. Figured I would check it out, see what I could see. (#70 - 72) From every church I've seen, it seems as though mold and churches go hand in hand almost. (Obviously, that's not the case, but wow) (#73) Well, I get to the front entrance to see that it was closed for the day, so I snapped off a couple of photos of the historic background of the church (#74-77) to the front of the church itself (#78 & 79).

Well, after that I start roaming a little more, I didn't really find anything else. I tried looking for a general store to get some water, but didn't find anything. So I headed back towards the train station a little early, and got a drink nearby. While having my drink, I continued reading my book till it was time to go. I had snapped off the photos of #80 through 85 while going to the train station. Not sure why I snapped off #86 & 87. Maybe to show the size of the station. Eh, maybe not. :-/ Oh well. There's Frankfurt station for you all. :-)

And that was my trip to revisit Memories. :-)

1 comment:

Songs from the Woods said...

Usually, when rowing crews (which is a big thing for universities in Europe... I remember watching both the Oxford and Cambridge rowing teams) practice they use the drum to keep rhythm and keep their rowing strokes in sync. Easier on the voice than saying "Stroke" "Stroke" (A guy in Oxford told me that.)