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.

Tag: Langen

  • Essex エセックス

    Essex エセックス

    27th July 2026 年7月27日

    👉🏼 In June 2023, The house across the road from The Towers was demolished and a huge hole was dug. This lovely aquatic addition to the charms of Langen remained there for one whole year…..

    But fast forward to 2026 and a smart block of appartments has finally appeared…..

    …giving me a new view from my front gate…..

    ….and changing the landscape of the main street….


    自宅の向かいの建設現場（2023年～2026年）

    Time moves on.

    👉🏼 Enough of Langen. Anybody would think it was a famous town, given how much I write about it.

    I need to get away. This interminably long hot summer is getting on my nerves. And the fact that everything seems to shut down in Germany in the summer. Customer : ” can you have my violin ready in two weeks? We are off to the Pyrenees. Thank you.”

    We’ll, I’m off to Essex.

    Essex? “…….what the…?”

    “where the..?..”

    “why the…..?”

    👉🏼 Ok. So to answer the “where the….?” bit. Here’s a map. Essex is the bit inside the red dotted border, A county east of London. The two green flags are the pivotal points of my journey to this neglected corner of England. Essex Airport (otherwise known as Stansted, the home of Ryanair), and Bradwell Marina (home of Polliwiggle, a sailing boat owned by a friend of mine)

    少し息抜きが必要です。数日間、イギリスのエセックスへ行ってきます。

    👉🏼 Now we all know what Ryanair looks like. As long as you maintain the mentality of a dumb sheep 🐏 you will cope with being herded around, fined and parted with your money in the wink of an eye. It operates on the far borders of legal capitalism, even charging you if you attempt to recline your seat ( Ed. I must fact-check that last statement ).

    But Ryanair does bring me to Essex . I had sat rather nervously next to a window, expecting it to shatter at any moment (see recent news article).

    👉🏼 Now I have always had a rather negative view of Essex. The road to nowhere. caravan sites. amusement parks. a flat muddy coast. And now the MP for Clacton-on-Sea. Enough said.

    Being only a sheep, you don’t get very well fed on Ryanair, so the first stop is The Queen’s Head Inn in Malden, a pretty little port on the coast. Here I notice a lot of national flags (the Union Jack ) flying, which I assume is to celebrate the opening of the BBC Proms festival. Wrong, Nigel.

    👉🏼 Well, let’s get local. Much as a traditional German restaurant would do Schnitzel und Pommes well, this pub does fish and chips rather well…..

    エセックス州マルドンのフィッシュ・アンド・チップス

    Crunching through the batter and poking the chips into the tartar sauce, our attention is drawn to the quayside. Old boats are moored here, resting on the mud at low tide……

    そのパブは岸壁沿いにあります。今は引き潮です。

    My companion had even sailed on one across the channel to celebrate the D-Day landings (what’s that? google it)

    …..these are old Thames barges, lovingly restored…..

    …..their distinctive brown sails visible from the nearby medieval church..

    👉🏼 But ultimately our destination is the marina on the Blackwater Estuary…….

    ここがレイチェルのボートが係留されている場所です。

    A marina which is attached to a boatyard. We walk amongst some hopeful vessels waiting to be sold….

    売りに出されているボートがあります。

    …..and past more humble craft…

    ……until we reach the aforementioned “Polliwiggle” …Here she is – all 26ft of her, sloop rigged and built in Poole, Dorset in 1989…..

    これはレイチェルのヨットです。

    👉🏼 Let me introduce RDS, the skipper……..

    …who knows every rope…er, sorry….line…and capstan ….

    …and here is not so-able seaman, NWR…….

    Once all the charts have been checked and the trip logged…..

    👉🏼…..we cast off, being careful to not as so much touch the gleaming yacht alongside….

    マリーナを出る際は、他のボートにぶつからないよう注意しなければなりません。

    Now sailing out of an estuary is all about tides and wind. We are lucky with the tide, but the wind is minimal….

    風はほとんどありません。

    Which means using the engine for a while…an option no sailor really enjoys…..

    最初はモーターを使わなければなりません。

    👉🏼 But then comes that magic moment. You rig up the sails and switch the engine off. An immediate quiet calm descends. You are alone on a vast expanse of water with only the gentle swish of the hull pushing forward…………….

    魔法のような瞬間。モーターを切り、帆走する……。

    and the occasional clack of the rigging…..this is happiness….

    …

    👉🏼 When I was at school...that was a long time ago…The BBC and the record companies had the monopoly of broadcasting popular music. It was then that the pirate radio station Radio Caroline captured our imaginations. It was founded in 1964 by the Irish businessman Ronan O’Reilly. I mentioned earlier that Ryanair (also Irish!) operates on the borders of legality. This set-up had a few ships around the UK, moored just outside territorial waters, operating more on an idealistic platform than its airline cousin of today.

    👉🏼 One of these ships was an old Icelandic trawler which had been involved in the cod wars of the 1970’s. Named the Ross Revenge (after the Ross fishing company) it had a colourful history. Scuffles with Dutch and English coastguards. Running aground on the Goodwin Sands…..It now acts as a sort of orientation point, moored in the middle of the main channel…..

    その赤い船は、「ラジオ・キャロライン」と呼ばれる、かつての海賊放送局です。

    Out of pure curiosity we sail past it…….

    Screenshot

    it is now a curious relic…….

    👉🏼 Later, when I was on land again, I wonder to myself why this eastern fringe of England is so fond of voting the way it does. Does it feel neglected? or is it some sort of in-built historical insecurity stemming from its geographical situation? The low-lying coast with the threat of Dutch, French or German invasion? And going back even further, the Romans. Indeed, it was on the ruins of the Roman fort of Othona that the missionary Cedd built a christian church. Around 669 AD. It still stands today, having survived as a useful barn for long periods of its existence. The chapel of St.Peter-on-the-wall, an Anglo-Celtic church for the East Saxons. Rather like Einhardts’ basilica near Michelstadt in the Odenwald.

    It’s a lonely spot…….

    海岸沿いで、イングランド最古の教会の一つを訪れます。

    right next to the shoreline……

    ..which reveals its own treasures…..

    …..vegetation on hard, compacted mud….

    ….even some Roman brickwork….

    ローマ式瓦

    The interior of the church reveals a mish-mash of building materials…

    その教会は680年に建てられました。建設には、ローマ時代の砦の石が使われました。

    👉🏼 Eventually I have to say goodbye to Essex. My lodgings at the The Star at Steeple……(yes, there is a village called Steeple!)…

    「ザ・スター」というパブに泊まりました。

    ……and head back to Hessen.

    👉🏼 I leave with a new impression of Essex. True, I didn’t go to Clacton-on-Sea, but I saw a county rather like Sussex, but without the traffic and with wide open countryside and unspoilt villages. You may think that hopping over to Essex from Hessen is not a big deal. It is actually. The two cultures and landscapes are very different.

    So, my friends. That’s all for now.

    Bis demnächst…. またね….. see you………

    ps. no post is complete without a food clip….taken during a final tacking manoevre…..

    船長がロープを引いている間に、私は食事を作った。

    THE END　 終わる　🙋🏼‍♂️

    .

  • Fear no more the heat of the sunもはや太陽の熱を恐れることはない

    10th July 2026年7月10日

    ▷ Time for a dip before lunch. No, I am not on holiday. I hop onto the bicycle and ride through the woods for 20mins. They are just opening the gates of the Langener Waldsee. It’s just past 10am and only a few nudists are heading for their section of the beach. I am alone with some Brent geese and a huge expanse of water. It’s a good feeling ☺️

    ランゲン：森の中の湖

    ▷ Tell me. Do you actually feel like cooking during this hot European summer?

    What have I in the kitchen?….well…there’s some tomatoes, some carrots, some paprika, some cranberries….

    クランベリー

    some walnuts…..

    クルミ

    parsley, basil……

    バジル

    Fennel……

    フェンネル

    Sesame oil…..

    …half a humble apple….

    りんご

    …….all are tossed into couscous. Result….

    その結果、クスクスサラダができあがりました。

    Not bad Nigel 😋

    ▷ At last the intense heatwave seems to be over – at least in Germany. So I was able to go on a hike last weekend. For me these hikes often start by boarding a train at Frankfurt station….resplendent in all its stodgy Prussian hubris. The forecourt of this station has always seemed a mess to me. Trams, taxis, prostitutes, drug-dealers, “normal people”, tourists and the homeless all jostle for attention. But now it seems a re-furbishment is underway….

    先週、ハイキングのためにフランクフルト駅で列車に乗りました。

    The train is only 10 mins late in departing. Quite a feat these days. The hike is nothing very dramatic, but just right for high summer. It’s a 14km walk through the shady woods east of Darmstadt. Our guide Mehdi has planned some strategic stops along the way……..like this shady hut by a stream to have a snack…

    メディサンは、ダルムシュタットの森を抜ける怪しげな散策を企画していた。

    And later, a welcome cup of coffee under a sun shade at the farm café Hofgut Oberfeld. This is just over the fields behind the Mathildenhöhe, that curious Jugendstil housing project….It merits another visit... I took these pictures in 2024…..…

    私たちはダルムシュタットの有名なマティルデヘーエの近くにいました。

    click or swipe…↔️

    ▷ I always find it interesting meeting new people on these hikes. This time I found myself in the company of an Iranian economist studying in Darmstadt. I realized just how ignorant I was about her country, so she kindly sent me this youtube link which I will share with you here….

    ハイキングでは、いつも面白い人たちに出会います。先週、あるイラン人の女性が、自分の国に関するこのリンクを送ってくれました。

    https://youtu.be/-ekr2gj8su8?is=0JdtYeWZvtYuH7ht

    R.I.P.

    9th June 1970-18th June 2026

    Allison Fidler

    Our book group has been running for over 20 years. For most of this time, Allison has been a reliable, valuable member, providing interesting book suggestions, organizing us and keeping a tally of all the books which we had read. Here she is (at the front right) three years ago at a meeting we had in a café in Darmstadt. Summer 2023. She was the youngest member of our group.

    She succumbed to lung cancer last month.

    Most of us were able to attend her farewell at the Waldfriedhof (a beautiful natural burial ground in the woods near Traisa, Darmstadt).

    It was a dignified and simple ceremony. Knowing her interest in literature, I chose the one writer whose prose I knew would rise to the occasion: William Shakespeare……

    ウィリアム・シェイクスピア

    So, under the towering beech trees, Bye bye Allison. Your death is shocking. It pulls us all up short to make the most of life now.

    https://4fund.com/6eyrhc

    Bis demnächst…. またね….. see you………

    THE END　 終わる　🙋🏼‍♂️

  • Who is Jack? ジャックって誰ですか？

    November 26th 2025年11月26日

    It was a day when it would have been probably better to stay under the duvet.

    👉 It was cold enough….

    寒い朝だった。布団の中は暖かかったのに。どうして起きなきゃいけないの？

    👉 But I had a violinist coming first thing. I had given her instrument the full make-over, so was interested to hear how she would react. Of course after two or three notes I could tell she was not happy with something. It was the strings. Not her taste. Ok, so I changed all the strings. Result? A happy smile. Good. Now it was time to pay. This is usually dealt with pretty quickly, thanks to my card terminal…..

    今朝はすべてがうまくいかなかった ☹️

    👉 However when I activated it, for some insane reason it wanted me to log in and identify myself….bla bla bla…What, whilst a customer is waiting? Oh, give us a break. “I’ll give you the bill and you can do a bank transfer ” I said. I reached for the printer. Great. Today of all days it decided to run out of toner. …….☹️

    カードリーダーが動作せず、プリンターのインクが切れました…。……..🙄

    My customer saved the day by transferring the money immediately on her mobile. Phew!

    Ah, at last, now I can go for that morning walk. I glanced out of the window to check the weather….What the.…⁉️…the nearby tower block was emitting black smoke…..

    助けて！あそこで何が起こっているの？

    You feel very alone at moments like this. Are you the only person to have noticed this? All was quiet. Quick! call the fire brigade!…..but where is my mobile 🤳???? whilst frantically searching, the reliable, solid landline caught my eye ☎️.

    I was on to the fire department in seconds. The man at the other end didn’t ask me anything. He just said: “Weserstr. Wohnblock on fire, yes….is there anyone on the roof?….” (luckily not). Seconds later I heard the sirens. Phew 😮‍💨.

    That’s quite enough for one morning I thought. Ignoring everything else I pulled on a winter jacket and walked out into the freezing, but glorious sunshine.

    Winter has hit Europe. My Italian correspondent, Ciara, is driving to Rome to sing in a massed gathering for St. Cecilia’s day….

    ヨーロッパに冬が到来。イタリア特派員Mzは聖セシリア祭のためにローマへ向かう途中です。

    And whilst sunlight filters through the trees in Tochigi…Komorebi { 木漏れ日 }…….the next day in Hessen is far from bright….

    栃木とヘッセン!

    But wait. All is not lost. Blue skies are possible, and the pigeons in Darmstadt know where to enjoy it – under the gaze of Ludwig I, Grossherzog von Hessen und bei Rhein….

    鳩はどこに座るべきか知っています…ダルムシュタット

    When he came down from his pillar he looked like this…

    He was quite an open-minded fellow, and supported the arts. The opening up of Japan was a bit after his time, but I think he would have appreciated Japanese culture….

    フランクフルトの日本蚤の市でティーポットと本を売りました

    Even if it was only a Nomi no ichi – a flea market….

    https://japanisch-kulturzentrum.de/veranstaltungen/

    Yes, I’m back in my old haunt – the Japanese Cultural Centre in Frankfurt….🎏

    It’s a nice opportunityto chat.

    “Who did you fly with on your last trip to Japan?” 🛬 Finnair? Lufthansa? JAL?

    How many yen did you get for your Euros 💴( a lot!)

    “so on return you also find Frankfurt dirty and loud? 💩

    “so desu ne……🙄” ( *so it was, yes….)

    👉 Jack. Not a name you often hear these days. But when I was little the adults would talk about someone called Jack Frost. He seemed to be a rather spiky, mischievous character who came in the early hours of the morning and disappeared as soon as the sun rose…..

    イギリスでは「ジャックフロスト」(Jack Frost) が霜をもたらす……..🥶

    He’s still around….

    leaving a trail of spiky beauty……

    Anyone for frozen toadstool, accompanied perhaps by a crispy Chardonnay?…….

    What? You’re going hiking in this weather?

    こんな天気でハイキングに行くんですか？

    👉 I remembered the old adage……”There is no such thing a bad weather, there is only unsuitable clothing”

    And anyway, I have a nice warm winter jacket and a woolly hat……and I knew that the walk Yorgos had planned for Sunday would include a warm meal at the end.

    It’s wonderful 😊to be up in the Taunus hills, crunching through the frost but feeling warm inside…

    冬のジャケットとウールの帽子を着て暖かいです……😊

    The sheep looked quite comfortable…

    羊たちは暖かいですね！☺️

    “Guten Tag…”

    こんにちは!

    However, not a day for a dip in the pool ……

    私たちは泳ぎに行かなかった………..

    no, no….

    👉 In these hills you will always find a hut for walkers. There will be somewhere to sit down and the floor is dry…..

    ハイカー用の小屋

    But hang on….. this doesn’t look too friendly…..

    Photo > Phe ここは友好的な場所ではないようだ ………😯

    This is what physicists do on their days off. When they get tired of particle acceleration they go to see some tangible white particles – snow. To find them you have to go up to the Grosser Feldberg (the highest hill in the Taunus range)….I’m glad she didn’t get lost or eaten by a Grizzly bear…….🧸

    Photo> Phe

    👉 Well, that’s all from the Towers this week. As I write this my friends across the road have decided to dig another hole. They are good at that……..

    家の近くでまた穴を掘っています。穴掘りが本当に上手ですね🙄

    Thank you for reading, and feel free to forward on to anyone who might be interested.

    読んでくれてありがとう！。ご興味がある方にはお気軽に転送してください。

    See you またね 🥶

    nigelwruddock@gmail.com

    The End

    ⛄

    終わり

  • 🍴 Fancy a bite? ちょっと食べたい?

    October 10th 2025年10月10日

    Fancy a bite? Someone does in these woods, but I assume they know what they are doing….

    お腹が空いていますか？誰かが……..🤤

    Because they always leave these guys alone….

    Perhaps the black and white pattern is a warning sign…

    誰もこれを食べない…..🤮

    Of course none of this is noticed by the passengers sitting in the cosy seats of their Inter Regio train which roars by…..

    乗客はこれらの小さなことに気づきません!

    I’m on a little walk between Neu Isenburg and Langen. Right beside the railway. My archaeological training is spurred to life by the sight of this bronze age artifact….a weapon of some sort maybe?…..It is well preserved I must say…….

    奇妙な物体

    However, on reflection…..hmmm. Has a rather late 20thc. aura about it.

    Back to those mushrooms. I prefer the fruits of trees. Like this one. The fig tree outside my door. The sensation of biting into that soft flesh – ever so slightly grainy and subtly sweet- so soon reduced to the mere stalk and then the need for the next one….

    イチジク！美味しい！

    Preceded by some Gyozas and a Kirin and I am in heaven…or at least in Takumi….(Mendelssohn Str. Frankfurt)

    天国

    Autumn………I must have been in an “flowing” mood when I drew this Kanji character…..

    まあ、ここでは翻訳は必要ありません！😅

    The turn of the season seems to affect different trees in different ways..The Acacia looks like it is getting a disease….

    …and reminds me of the time I once drew the Kanji character for tree (Ki), but realized after the first stroke that I didn’t have enough ink in my brush……😮

    ああ、まずい。インクが足りなかったんだ😐

    It is also easy to get too much ink on the brush. The ink itself has this extraordinary tendency to create forms – here the silhouette of a man’s head (?)………

    奇妙な形….

    Being confined to home this weekend with some bug or other I turned my attention to my calligraphy efforts. Of which there are many…..(!)

    今週末は体調が悪くて家にいなければならなかったので、書道を見つめ直す時間になりました…。

    With a well-loaded brush you can make music…🎵..The first character means “sound”, the second one “fun/enjoy”. Nice!

    🎵

    In the meantime I have found another little “bit of Autumn” ちいさい秋みつけた [Chīsai Aki Mitsuketa]…..This maple leaf has drifted graciously to earth…..

    ~

    What shall I cook today?

    Certainly none of those mushrooms near the railway…..Maybe some hearty European stew…? after all, the parsnip was a rare find in Aldi…

    Aha….let’s add a bit of Asian pep…..mmmm….

    In fact a warm vegetable stew was just right for the chilly downturn of the weather this week….

    寒い日には温かいシチューがぴったりです…

    ~

    The other day a Chinese friend of mine called round to pick up a ‘cello case. With her 3 yr- old son bounding about with far too much energy, I decided to dig out some childrens’ books 📔📚 as a distraction. Of course they were all in English, but this didn’t seem to matter. However, later on I found the book which I had been looking for the whole time.

    Lao Lao -🐉 is an old Chinese folk tale about a simple good person being maligned by a greedy emperor. The poor woman is forced to sit in a cold tower and produce paper cuttings ad infinitum (rather like the girl in Rumpelstiltskin who has to weave gold thread). However, in the end good conquers over evil through the intervention (Deus ex machina – rather like a Handel opera) of the dragon who roams the earth, who sees and hears everything.

    子供向けの本当に素敵な本

    The text is in Chinese and English and is beautifully illustrated…

    …..following the main theme of the story – paper cuttings…….

    切り絵

    …with the chance at the end to have a go yourself. This is a very special children’s book. I thought the story was probably an old Chinese classic, but my friend had never heard of it. One wonders what they teach children in China these days….

    ~

    Well, I’m told a typhoon is approaching Japan this weekend. And I see I once tried to paint the character. Not a good example of brushwork, but very fitting to the current season! Literally “great wind”…….🍃

    あまり上手な書道ではありませんが…

    And it also seems to be the season for that home-made plum wine…………..☺️

    Photo> 友子

    ~

    👉 Well, thank you for reading this, and feel free to pass it on to anyone you think might be interested. These days you can translate a web site instantaneously with A.I. or Google translate.

    さて、これを読んでいただきありがとうございます。興味があると思われる方に、遠慮なくお伝えください。

    See you またね 😉

    nigelwruddock@gmail.com

    The End

    終わり

    🍄‍🟫