The View from the Towers 塔からの眺め A web log by Nigel Ruddock of life in Germany as an expat, with excursions to Japan and the UK.

Month: June 2026

  • 💦 It started はじめに

    June 28th 2026年6月28日

    💨 It started innocently enough.

    I was to drive down to Karlsruhe….

    カールスルーエまで車で行くつもりでした。

    …..to hear a song recital. Family business. I picked up the my car at Langen station, put some of those deadful hydrocarbons into the tank and set off.

    💨 I was relaxed, cruising at 100km/hour 🚘… Nearing Zwingenberg on the Bergstrasse A5 motorway I stopped briefly to have a swig of tea. Then off I went again. But my gentle cruising was to get a rude interruption……

    💨 What’s this? a series of very loud clanks 😕 and alarming breaking noises 💥from under the bonnet (hood in American English). I just managed to steer the car into the Seitenstreifen (the hard shoulder). Had I lost a wheel? I managed to get out via the passenger door. A merciless sun beat down, making thinking hard work. All 4 wheels were still there. The outside temperature was a grilling 35°c.

    The air conditioning had stopped.

    私たちは猛烈な熱波のさなかにいました。

    💨 I had to act calmly. As lorries thundered by, I groped into my wallet for the ADAC* emergency service. That insurance service that I have so diligently paid every year to help me in exactly such a situation. I gave my location, the make of car etc…..all the while sweating buckets in the torrid heat 💦 (35°c…I repeat). In this picturesque scene you can just make out my car parked on the side of the motorway…..

    *ADAC = Allgemeine Deutsch Automobile Club e.V. (Amen)

    高速道路で車が故障しました。

    The ADAC man on the phone was charming.

    “What? you have left a trail of oil behind you? I cannot help you until you ring the Police and the Fire Service. Then I am allowed to pick you up!!!!” You know , this is German Gesetz (law). It is your Pflicht (duty) to ring the police!!!!!”

    (Hello, I am sitting in a field next to a busy motorway with a broken – down car. The ground is hard and uncomfortable. There are insects crawling over my legs and sweat is pouring down my face. The noise is incredible. It is now 38°c. For what have I paid for in all these past years?…and do I need a lecture on German law at this moment? )

    💨 I realized with distaste that I had one of them on the end of the phone. The petty, unimaginative little people who pedantically follow rules and almost any leader. He was treating me like an ignorant Ausländer (foreigner). I could feel the bile of anger rising in my throat. Unfortunately you meet this mindset in most cultures. And the three cultures I write about in this blog are no exception……….

    💨 I got him off the phone as quickly as possible and rang the police 🚓 They drew up at the side of the motorway 15 mins later. Calm. Friendly. Air-conditioned.

    “Qwatch” (rubbish) they said. “Tell the ADAC that Regional Officer Müller tells them to pick up this man’s car immediately! Have a nice day” 👋🏼

    The man who actually came in his truck to pick up my car was sympathetic but worn out.

    “I’ve been driving since 5am” he said.

    Just leave me at the next station I said.

    “Have a nice day”

    💨 I mentioned air-conditioning. Apparently in France this is a hugely divisive issue. And in Germany? This is my living room. Never in my life have I experienced this heat indoors.

    家の中でこれほどの暑さを経験したことはありません。

    I, for one, thought that a mobile air-conditioning unit would be the answer. But when I tried it out, with all its tubes and ducts….and loud noise….

    エアコンがあれば解決すると思ったのですが、役に立ちませんでした。

    ….I realised what my Japanese friends were all laughing about 😅

    “What is this funny thing that you have bought, Nigel san?”

    💨 In Japan, all those messy tubes and ducts are hidden away- built into every house from the word go. But in an old German house? No way! Wake up Europe! This will not be the last hot summer 🥵

    I very soon returned this ridiculus contraption and bought a really fine ventilator instead. It is wonderful, and even has a quiet “sleep” mode to run during the night…..

    その代わりに、良い扇風機を買いました。

    …..and can send a nice breeze into the workshop…..

    ワークショップに心地よい風

    💨 Do you ever see these things on social media and think …oh..I must try that! Well I did try it, and its not bad, except the cardboard wilts under the condensation…..

    エアコン（廉価版）

    💨 Wisdom I have gleaned from friends and family……

    1. Put your pillows in the freezer
    2. put frozen bottles in front of your fan
    3. hang a damp towel around your neck
    4. don’t get irritated by little people from the ADAC
    5. don’t even try working
    6. ring your neighbours doorbell to check she is still alive
    7. If you are learning Japanese, learn the vocab for heatwave (熱波- neppa)
    8. If you are talking to somebody in Japan, tell them they are lucky just to have a few typhoons and the occasional earthquake….
    9. Check out the cool spots in town. For me this includes…Bockenheimer Warte Metro station. Not only is it cool and spacious, but has nice pictures on the walls….
    フランクフルトのこの地下鉄駅は、爽やかな涼しさです。

    素敵な写真があります。

    💨 Is it not art and culture that helps us in times like this 🎭? True, the `cellos are taking a rest from the heat at the moment….

    💨　But ｗe are learning a new a Cappella programme in our choir. When I saw this song, though, I thought………now that would sound good on the `cello…..

    ..as indeed it does…..

    …..and who can sing Poulenc’s “Un Soir du Neige” without dreaming of some nice cold snow ❄️ and how about those Flower Songs by Benjamin Britten?

    私たちの合唱団アカペラプログラムの一部です。プーランク、ブリテン、フォーレ

    Flowers indeed! Here is a random selection from Langen…..not exclusively flowers either……(swipe or click on the arrows)…….

    Flowers emerge in other strange constellations…..Our house entrance has a weird example…….

    ……as does a tomb in Chichester Cathedral…..

    Photo> Vivien R. (edited)

    …and not forgetting the rain – drenched perlargoniums at the Darmstadt Fischerhütte…..

    💨 But let’s get up to date. Before bowing down to the holy German Rite of Sommerferien (Summer holidays), you might consider hearing some imaginative young musicians in Frankfurt. They call themselves the BaroqueLAB, and are flexible enough to play at some unusual venues whilst the rest of the Hessen is sitting in a Stau (traffic jam) on the Autobahn.

    Screenshot

    Take note and have fun.

    As always, thank you for your interest, and if you know anyone who might be interested in this blog then do forward it on.

    Wie immer vielen Dank für euer Interesse. Wenn ihr jemanden kennt, der an diesem Blog interessiert sein könnte, schickt ihn gerne weiter.

    読んでくれてありがとう

    See you…….. matane!

    Nigel 🚢

    nigelwruddock@gmail.com.

    https://www.instagram.com/nigelruddock/

    THE END

    終わり🙋🏼‍♂️

  • 🎻 Ma* Cello 私のチェロ

    July 14th 2026年7月14日

    (* no relation to composer Benedetto Marcello 1686-1739 😄)

    I start this post with an issue which has puzzled me for a long time.

    💥 First, three examples:

    1. When we used to go camping as a family in the south of France we would enjoy a bottle or two of the local red vino One year, in my enthusiasm, I brought a bottle back home to Germany. But when I poured a glass out of it here it tasted only like some cheap plonk. What was so special about this wine ?

    2.Years ago, on a hot summers’ day in Dublin, Ireland, I sought refuge in a pub and ordered a glass of draught Guinness. It was heaven ☘️ But drink a Guinness here in Germany? No. It simply does not compete with a good Pils.

    3. A friend of mine recently came to stay, cooking the most delicious meals 🍜 with the simplest of ingredients – even buying the veg from the local REWE supermarket

    誰か他の人が作った料理は、なぜ味が違って感じられるのでしょうか？

    After she had returned to Tokyo I tried to use the ingredients which she had left behind for me. It just didn’t taste the same. 😕 So what is this phenomena? Do you know it yourself? Does it have a name?

    The word transubstantiation comes to mind, but the theologians have already commandeered this word. Any suggestions? Was it the climate of the south of France? Was it the atmosphere of the Dublin pub? Was it who cooked the Japanese meal? There is something metaphysical going on here beyond rational comprehension.

    💥 This is my ‘cello.

    これは私のチェロです。

    It’s a ‘cello I have never sold. Why’s that? : because I was never satisfied with the sound. I built it in Wiesbaden in 1993…seems ages ago now, but instruments have long lives….like a good wine…..

    I had found a huge slab of poplar at a wood dealer in Bavaria…..

    バイエルン州の木材店で、ポプラの巨大な木材を見つけました。

    💥 Now I have tried everything to improve the sound – putting in a new bassbar, altering the angle of the neck etc. etc.

    Recently, getting back to playing chamber music again, I needed a ‘cello. How ironic, an instrument maker without his own ‘cello! My eye fell on this instrument, languishing in the corner of the workshop feeling rather sorrow with itself. I dusted it off and tried new strings. I was still not satisfied 😕

    Then one day my cello mentor Liudmila said to me – have you tried this endpin?

    Sceptically, I inserted it into the bottom of the ‘cello. It was very heavy, with its titanium core and brass sheath…..

    新しい日本製のエンドピンです。アキさん、トモコさん、ありがとうございます。

    💥 It was if I had put a rocket underneath the instrument 🚀 Wow! Suddenly the sound became focused and soloistic.

    I must buy one I thought! but hello: – 580€? 💶 Come on! You must be joking! It was then that I noticed where it was made. Yes, you guessed it – Japan. How convenient that I was expecting a visitor from the land of the rising sun soon. A quick call to a ‘cellist friend in Chiba and the order to a firm in Osaka followed…….. and two weeks later my visitor arrived with it in her suitcase (with a sensible price tag attached!)

    💥 Now I am a happy man 😊 playing with violin or piano whenever the opportunity arises…..(although there have been anxious moments with Japanese buses!)

    日本のバスは、外国人にとって難しい場合があります。

    My violinist has a curious tuning app…..

    私のヴァイオリニストは、変わったチューナーアプリを使っています。

    Sometimes we have an audience…..(It has to be mentioned that poorSchmoozy is half deaf)

    時には観客がいることもあります。

    Dreieich-Sprendlingen.….15 minutes on the OF 99 bus to Seligenstadt. (`cello free of charge)

    シュプレンドリンゲン：OF99番のバスで20分。（チェロの持ち込みは無料😄 ）

    Sagamihara shi…..15 hours with SAS to Haneda airport,Tokyo..(‘cello not included in the ticket….)

    相模原市……SAS（スカンジナビア航空）で羽田空港まで15時間の旅……（チェロは航空券に含まれていません…😕…）

    💥Are you an amateur violinist (living in the Frankfurt area!) interested in playing chamber music? Do get in contact. Whether it be duets, piano trios or whatever. Tel: 06103 4877885 or nigelwruddock@gmail.com I would be happy to hear from you

    💥 one of the advantages of being an amateur player is that you don’t have to worry about your reputation……for this clipped (!) version of On Wings of Song you just have to imagine a rippling piano accompaniment, that’s all 🎹……(professional musicians are allowed to scroll on at this point…)

    メンデルスゾーン「歌の翼に」

    💥 Part of the fun of being a violinmaker is getting whacky requests. A pick up? Oh you want a strong cup of coffee do you?…nooooo…”I’m playing at the Mousonturm next week on stage….”

    💥 Enter singer/songwriter Momo. She needs a pick up fitted to her violin, but also, as it turns out, a strong coffee. Listen, I’m a violinmaker. I don’t do all that electronic stuff do I?

    Anyway, I get the job done……

    一風変わった仕事……

    Now I’m curious to hear the result. So off I go to the Nippon Connection film festival to check out the band.

    💥Ohho. I was so glad I went. Momo and her group _Mo_xSHIKI had the audience in the palm of their hands. It was a sell out. No middle-of-the road band this. Uncompromisingly innovative, (…and slightly weird ) songs backed up by Silas (‘cello) Marko (guitar) Lorenzo (piano) and Naomi (vocals), with guest rapper Gocchanko. What a line up. The audience loved it. I think they, like myself, they had never heard anything quite like it before

    👉🏼 More on social media at 0ii_moh_ii0 (type a zero and not an O)

    poster> Naomi

    Well, that’s all for now. I was walking in the Rheingau on Saturday, so I’ll leave you with a image from the cherry plantations of Walluf…..mmm lecker…….美味し…….delicious 😋

    土曜日にラインガウへ散歩に行きました。途中で果樹園を通りましたよ😋

    Bis demnächst…. またね….. see you………

    THE END　 終わる　🙋🏼‍♂️

  • 🍺 Ur Deutsch オリジナルのドイツ

    6th June 2026年6月6日

    If you are reading this in an email don’t. Choose the option in the top right of your email which says “read in blog”. The formatting is better here.

    🍺 Kerb

    祭り

    🍺 It’s a funny word : Kerb. It’s nothing to do with the English word kerb (as in pavement), but comes from Kirchweifest, the festival for the dedication of a church. Like the one in our neighbouring village, Dreieichenhain. And a summer festival in Germany means….

    🍺 Well first we get on our bikes…….

    私たちは、ランゲン近郊の町ドライアイヒェンハインまで自転車で向かいます。

    …..up and over a hill and 20 mins later we are in the pretty town of Dreieichenhain. Many moons ago friends of mine got married in the old church here. And this is where it all started, about 300 years ago. In fact 2026 is the 308th festival!

    🍺 The church was dedicated in 1718, and every year since then the festival has been held here in the town. Today it was garlanded not for a wedding, but for the Haaner Kerb …….

    …a real Kirchenweihfest.….

    この祭りは、300年前の教会の献堂を記念するものです。

    🍺 It’s like a parish festival, but now grown out of its original form with the whole Altstadt taking part. ….with the church and castle providing much needed shade in times of climate change….

    Inside it is quiet……

    中は静かだ。

    🍺 ….but on leaving the church we are met with a blaze of sound….a band is playing; an ancient merry-go-round is pumping out tunes; beer and Apfelwein is being downed by the litre; friends hail each other……families meet up……what could be more gloriously German than this? It is the epitomy of zusammensitzen….gemütlichkeit.…all those words which are so difficult to translate into English…..Without further ado I will plunge you into the scene……Dreieichenhain, 12am……..A hot day at the end of May 2026…..

    いくつかの感想

    🍺 And even though it’s early, there is no getting past a Bratwurst and Gespritzte Apfelwein (You rarely drink applewine pure, but mix it with sparkling or still water)

    🍺 This is Germany 100%.

    ドイツ 100%

    🟢 Scene change: It has not all been Beer and Wurst these last weeks. Following a hint from Kimono designer Emikoさん we drove down to Weinheim to see the Hermannshof.

    This is a flower garden only open at certain times of the year. Unfortunately the Wisteria had vanished by the time we got there, but there was still plenty to see. What about a little slide show? I can’t name all the plants anyway!

    私たちはヴァインハイムの花園に行きます。

    Swipe the photos……..

    🟢 I really only know Weinheim as a starting point for hikes. There is a Schlossgarten and lake, with an appropriately named Katzenlauf ／cat alley……

    bordering on a quaint Altstadt……

    …..with the necessary ice-café……

    It’s a bit of a strenuous slog up to the Burg…….

    But the view is worth it……down over the town….

    Weinheim

    ….or over to the next castle..

    🟢……and on the way down you can say hello to characters from Julia Donaldson’s famous children’s book – The Gruffalo……

    お城からの下り道で、「グラファロ」に出会うことができます。

    What a tickly tummy he must have 🤣 !

    🟢 Well, dear readers, I think that is quite enough excitement for today…but you never know what may be around the next corner…….

    🟢 Monet’s Küste? Monet’s coast?

    This great exhibition in the Städel gallery, Frankfurt, is not actually primarily about Monet, but about Étrétat, the little coastal fishing village on the Normandy coast.

    フランクフルトのシュテーデルギャラリーでの展覧会

    🟢 …..and all the artists and writers it attracted in the 19thc. onwards. Victor Hugo, Guy de Maupassant, Jean Corot, and of course Monet himself. I may have already mentioned this exhibition in Instagram, but here are some impressions nonetheless….Why haven’t I been there?………


    A 19thc. miniature by Giovanni Boldini

    🟢The Städel Museum itself has some intriguing exhibits in its permanent collection…An automatically produced piece of disgust….

    This is one for bass makers (hello Edinburgh?)……

    The banal is depicted in brutally realistic style. The girl holds a smartphone in her hand which blabbers at her…..

    …big brother eye?

    ………………….

    …….you think you are entering a library..📖..no. You are entering a horrific commentary on the worker of today in a call centre…..

    perspectives….

    🟢 This was created by Tony Cragg (Liverpool) in 1979……long before the alarm was raised concerning the plastic in our oceans…..

    ……….woof! woof! Don’t ask me what this is about….😐

    🦴!

    As always, thank you for your interest, and if you know anyone who might be interested in this blog then do forward it on.

    Wie immer vielen Dank für euer Interesse. Wenn ihr jemanden kennt, der an diesem Blog interessiert sein könnte, schickt ihn gerne weiter.

    読んでくれてありがとう

    See you…….. matane!

    Nigel 🌭

    nigelwruddock@gmail.com.

    https://www.instagram.com/nigelruddock/

    Screenshot

    THE END

    終わり🎠