Stellography

14 July 2015

Tuebingen in winter

I figure with about 11-12 weeks we can comfortably see / do / experience around 20-25 family-friendly ventures within budget and without too much stress.

The interests of our family include hands-on technical & science activities (Castor, Pollux & Gemma); classical art, fashion, history (Vega); playgrounds, animals (Gemma & Kita); vehicles - diggers / planes / trains etc (all the boys); art & architecture in general (Atlas) and anything German (me)!

Not everyone is going to be interested in everything which means we may end up going 2 different ways some days, where it can be arranged and is safe to do so.

So here are some of my loose thoughts for our time based in Tuebingen:

Punt on the Gondola (if we get there before the season closes in October) or travel part of the Neckar, Rhein or other river
Walk & explore the city streets, castle, churches, gardens, museums etc
Get a town library card and borrow the German early readers that will help us learn the language
Watch the Duck race (Tuebingen) 10 October
Explore Tuebingen's Botannical Gardens (the oldest in the world!)
Experience a Christmas Market (Tuebingen 11-13 Dec, Esslingen (Medieval too), or Reutlingen)
Discover the vehicles at the Technik Museum (Sinsheim) or Mercedes Museum (Stuttgart)
Find the animals that we've never seen at the Wilhelma Zoo (Stuttgart)
Spy the classics at the State Art Gallery (Stuttgart &/or Karlsruhe)
Go up the viewing platform at the Stuttgart Rail Terminal, or climb the Killesbergturm to see over the city
Go to a (Samuel Harfst / Johannes Falk / heavy metal) concert
Taste samples at the Chocolate festival (Tuebingen) 1 - 6 December
Take the train on a castle trip – Neuschwanstein, Linderhof or Hohenschwangau; or Hohenzollern and Sigmaringen; or Lichtenstein
Visiting the neighbouring town of Bebenhausen and tour the monastry before walking through the forest
Stand among the Roman ruins (Trier)
Have fun at Sensapolis (Sindelfingen)
See cuckoo clocks (Furtwangen?), try Black Forest Gateau and see some of the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) perhaps by walking up the Bad Wimpfelpfad spiral

Our list is by no means finalised or finished. There's still more to research but I am happy with how it is coming together. The last thing that I want is to arrive and potentially waste time finding out what there is to do, when we can jump right in and JUST DO IT!

I know the boys would love to see around a factory that make electronics and one that makes construction vehicles.

I would like try the local dishes and learn how to make the ones our family enjoys; and somehow want to measurably increase my german language ability. (If I was able to improve to a B2 level on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) I'd be thrilled.)

Finding things for all the different ages and preferences in our family to enjoy together is harder than I thought, especially when I don't know what that locals know that there is to do beyond the touristy things; and our family don't fully understand what it even means to see inside a castle or be surrounded by history older than 150 years.

LINKS FOR LIVING IN TUEBINGEN

German National Tourist Bureau

Baden Wuerttemberg Tourist Bureau

Tuebingen Visitor Information Centre

Tuebingen Local Government

Tuebingen Business Association

Tuebingen train stations *

Regional bus & train network *

Language courses: vivat lingua & Sprachinstitut Tuebingen

* As a general rule the train/transport companies and many establishments look after families in Germany offering a flexible family pass for 1-2 adults and several or all children (and sometimes even grandchildren!). Such a breath of fresh air compared to the standard "2 adults and 2 children ONLY" mentality we have here in New Zealand.

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Experiential living Faring abroad

Germany

Gallipoli 2015

19 April 2015

Gallipoli rose - cistus salviifolius

ANZAC day is a little more special for our family this year.

It's the 100th anniversary of our New Zealand soldiers landing on the Gallipoli penninsula - where a couple of our forebears were killed in action among others that served and returned home.

One, will be actively commemorated with the honour of being asked to lay a wreath in a dawn ceremony in New Zealand; and the memorials of both will be visited in Turkey. [Close family were offered a very late ballot to attend the dawn and ANZAC services - a once in a lifetime opportunity they are taking albeit in primitive and challenging conditions].

So as we rally our troops (the children that is) to get up before the sun rises on Saturday, we stand with family up and down the country and around the world to honour the men and women who gave their lives for our freedom; and to find a short moment of solitude to be grateful for the present and future we have together.

I have the opportunity to assemble the wreath being laid here in Aotearoa and thought others might be interested in the Gallipoli roses that I made for it (above).

INSTRUCTIONS FOR GALLIPOLI ROSES

White felt
Scrap of yellow felt
Pin with yellow head
Yellow embroidery floss (I used 6-stranded)
Needle
Glue gun
Scissors
Disappearing fabric marker
Template

The felt I used was somewhat stiffer than the soft acrylic you can usually buy - more like cardboard. Either ought to be fine but I liked the idea of it holding it's shape.

Download the template for the petals, trace and cut 5 pieces from the white. Cut one circle for the centre back also from the white. Cut one piece from the yellow felt for the stamen area at the front.

Cut a length of floss and strip it (separate the strands from each other and then put them back together again - you could probably skip this step but it's habit for me so I do it regardless). Use all 6 strands together and sew from the front to back and return leaving about a 6 mm tail on both ends before you cut it. You don't fasten the floss at this point so be careful not to pull them out accidentally. Continue until the centre of the yellow felt looks as if it has enough 'stamens'. Push the pin in from the front through the centre of the yellow felt.

Take the circle of white felt and lay it in the middle of your work area. I marked the centre with a pencil to help laying the petals in the right place. Dab a little hot glue on each petal point and apply to the circle in a clockwise direction, overlapping by a few mm. The 5th petal will be over both the 4th and 1st and that's okay.

Push the pin with the yellow felt through the petal pieces and when you've got it in the right place apply a dab of hot glue to fix (bearing in mind you want a point of the yellow felt to be centred in each of the petals. This fixes the floss stamens at the same time.

Pin directly into a foam wreath or cut off the pin stem and sew a small safety pin to the back to wear this week.

I plan to use the pin to twist around the rosemary and olive wreath I will make on Tuesday.

[Download the template for a rose to wear as well.]

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM!

NZ Government website for the 100th commemoration of ANZAC day - find a service to attend.

Auckland Museum online record of all who fought - Cenotaph - find your ancestors and add their stories.

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Experiential living The NZ way

Art Deco weekend 2015 - Born to Move

26 February 2015

Art Deco weekend is overwhelming in it's sights and sounds. Whereas you can wander around the streets any other day and your brain is trained to block out the normal (attire) during Art Deco it simply can't. Everything is an assault on your senses. Working with that we find it helps to choose just one or two events to focus on. This year it was the Born to Move dance encore (for the girls) and the Automobilia parade.

The former gave a top notch hour-long dance performance, and the later boasted over 250 cars this year.

The parade was definitely too long to really captivate and hold one's attention and unfortunately inconsiderate public stood right in front of where our family had been waiting in the blazing sun for 45 minutes for it to begin. Disappointing.

The dance encore however combined story, music, theatre and dance - one of my favourite being the Gershwin's 'Blah, blah, blah" below. The infatuation between the couple was palpable and had me wishing I was their age falling in love again.

[These images were taken from about 50m away from the stage unfortunately so not as crisp as I would have wanted but good enough without a telephoto lense.]

Bringing Gershwin's 'Blah Blah Blah' to life

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH"
Originally written for East is West
Used in Delicious (film) (1931)
Resurrected for Nice work if you can get it on Broadway in 2012

LYRICS BY IRA GERSHWIN
(Music by George Gershwin)

I’ve written you a song,
A beautiful routine.
(I hope you like it.)
My technique can’t be wrong:
I learned it from the screen.
(I hope you like it.)
I studied all the lines that all the lovers sing;
Then just for you I wrote this little thing:

Blah, blah, blah, blah, moon.
Blah, blah, blah, above;
Blah, blah, blah, blah, croon,
Blah, blah, blah, blah, love.
Tra la la la, tra la la la la merry month of May;
Tra la la la, tra la la la la ‘neath the clouds of gray
Blah, blah, blah, your hair,
Blah, blah, blah, your eyes;
Blah, blah, blah, blah, care.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, skies.
Tra la la la, tra la la la la la, cottage for two--
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah darling, with you!