It is hot here today for a change

Before I begin to opine about this teutonic land here is a great link with musical, epicurean and teutonic implications "Thus ate Zarathustra"
I know that it was the Fourth of July in the States on Tuesday, but here in Germany the entire country was rivete d to the Game between Italy and Germany at the WM in Düsseldorf. The caption on the picture reads "The dream is gone" but I can tell you that the days coming up to the semi-final game was a heady time with flags flying all over Hof and in cars, peoples bodies, etc. displaying the national colors. This is quite unusual in Germany as patriotism is equated with Nazism. The whole lead up to the disappointing loss had its good side and that for a few weeks and hopefully more into the future the people here as a nation were proud of who they were. Jürgen Klinsmann the trainer is shown comforting the excellent athelete Michael Ballack. ( The women here think he is sooo good looking) Klinsmann a former German National player lives in California and was called the "Ami", short for American because of his residence in the USA. He certainly brought some positive "Ami" thinking to the National Team and we hope that in four years Germany will capture the title.

Saturday`s ride

Click on any of the colored words for links...


I went for a "Spazierfahrt" or bike ride on Saturday the first of July. I joined friends from the nearby village of Marktleuthen. (remember that this is website translation from the original language and sometimes doesn´t make sense) There were two couples and myself. We promptly swung into the saddle so to speak and pedaled in the direction of the Egertal or Eger Valley which is perhaps 10 or 15 kilometers distance from the Czech Border. The Eger Valley is cut out from the river Eger and is seemingly flat or rolling countryside. This is in contrast to Hof where I live which is in the so called Frankenwald or Frankish Forest which is a hilly area and you need a lot of uphill power to negotiate the steep inclines. The day was "herrlich" German for great with brilliant clear skies and that particular light that is seen in northern areas of the world. The sun is low on the horizon silhouetting objects on the ground with a three dimensional intensity that brings to mind the European school of late romantic..This picture was taken on by a stream in a place that is called the "Ewiges Rauschen" or constant murmuring. The tour leader who is a native of the area said that when he was young there were mussels to be found but I could not see any. There was a bench there naturally (Germans love to place benches for people to sit and enjoy the scenery) to rest and listen. The quality of the photo is not too good as it was taken with my cell phone. Click on this link to see a sweeping photo of the Egertal area The entire area in which the egertal is a part is called the "Fichtelgebirge" or fir forest mountains. This link gives many pictures and brief descriptions of the towns and places along with a map.