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: vacation

  • 🍙 Food 食べ物

    16th September 2029年9月16日

    🔸It’s been a long hot summer. The ground is parched,

    地面が干からびている

    The maize is poor……

    作柄が悪い

    and I need some Forest bathing…..しんりんよく森林浴.

    …a cool Frankfurt church provides some relief…..The Frauenfriedenskirche, Frankfurt Bockenheim…..

    フランクフルトにある素敵な教会で、暑さを少ししのぐことができます。

    …….where I hear my Irish friend Charles Marshall give a performance on the Japanese Biwa, along with his sister Triona, who played the Irish harp. Very special.

    日本の琵琶とアイリッシュ・ハープ

    🔸 A super concert in the Naxoshalle was also a welcome diversion.

    Ensemble Modern had invited groups of young musicians for a workshop on contemporary music – I was able to help the Ukraine group by providing a ‘cello – always a problem when travelling!

    Such an interesting venue…..

    とても興味深い会場ですね……フランクフルトのナクソス・ハレ。

    🔸At last a storm brings relief…….

    ついに嵐が安らぎをもたらす……

    ランゲン上空の稲妻

    🔸 Singing for your food.

    Now I sing in a Frankfurt choir called the Frankfurter Kantorei.https://www.frankfurterkantorei.de/

    Every respectable German choir must have a choir party, and mine is no exception. But as our conductor Mihály Zeke is Greek/Hungarian, a spicy goulash is the order of the day….

    合唱団のパーティーでのハンガリー風グヤーシュ

    Yummy. And it brings me to my theme this week. Food.

    🔸 Soon afterward this my friend from Japan arrives. She takes one look into my fridge and gets going with the onigiris…..

    日本人のお客さんが来ると、テーブルにおにぎりが並びます。

    Not only for my birthday……

    (we had some homemade music of course!)

    ガブリエル・フォーレ……

    but for my choir weekend rehearsal

    🔸 Which reminds me: …….We have a lovely concert on Sunday!

    日曜日の素敵なコンサートにぜひお越しください。

    You must come (there is free wine afterwards ) !

    Order a ticket quick. Its at the Haus der Chöre at Kaiser Sigmund Str. 47, Frankfurt….on Sunday…..Nearest Ubahn is Hauptfriedhof

    Time for a cycle along the Main….

    🔸But the scene soon changes to Formaggio and Prosciutto….

    Why? because my nephew has decided to marry an Italian, meaning that we all have to go off to Italy for the weekend for the wedding.

    甥がイタリアで結婚式を挙げます。さあ、出発です！

    No, I’m not complaining. It was wonderful. We ate and ate and ate….

    In the town of Bracciano………..

    ブラッチャーノ

    A romantic Italian town on a lake north of Rome…..

    ……suitable for lovers……

    🔸…………..The wedding itself took place in an old renovated horse stables in the middle of nowhere….

    which meant we all had to get in a coach to get there….

    ゲストの多くは、特別バスで結婚式場に向かいました。

    Oh honestly , darling………what a to do!

    This was just one of the antipasti…

    So, admidst the scenic fields of Bracciano, Mike and Anna were married. And when in Italy…….bring on the music….

    🔸 It’s worth it here to include a few shots of Bracciano. Just swipe or slide the photos….

    So Amen to all that. Time to get back to life in Germany.

    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.

    THE END 

    終わり

  • 😮 Quick! 急いで！

    3rd August 2025年8月3日

    Quick ! Quick !

    The cat’s been sick.

    Where ? Where ?

    Under the chair.

    Hasten ! Hasten !

    Fetch the basin.

    Alack ! Alack !

    It is too late,

    The carpet’s in

    An aweful state.

    No ! No!

    It’s all in vain,

    For she has licked it

    Up again.

    👉 I’ve been clearing out. Weeding out those books that I will never read again and adding them to the street library on the Bahn Str. in Langen. But this is one book I shall never throw out. Iona and Peter Opie were a remarkable couple who collected children’s rhymes and riddles in the 40s and 50s. And I have the definitive edition with illustrations by Maurice Sendak

    子供の童謡集

    Here’s a link……

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iona_and_Peter_Opie

    So there you are 😅 No point in getting out the vacuum cleaner

    私と掃除機

    👉 In East Asia, summer is the time to remember your ancestors …your ancestors…. you may ask? In the west we may visit the graves of our grandparents (in my case in Ireland) or parents. We may pause awhile and leave some flowers. In Asia there is a widespread belief that you are connected to those who went before you. A strange concept for us Europeans maybe. But this concept of lineage is a part of Asian culture. So it is no surprise that, for example in Japan, the rituals are well established.

    In Frankfurt we have a special Japanese dance group that perform the Obon (dance) every year. And at this year’s Main Matsuri Festival there will be such a dance….see the link…https://www.main-matsuri.com/programm/kuenstler/nichi-doku-bon-odori-kai-ev

    ぜひメイン祭りに来てください。とっても楽しいですよ！

    👉 Another late summer festival is the Lantern floating ceremony. In Frankfurt the fast flowing river Main would not be suitable for this. But usually, with those who have gone before you in mind, you write your message or thought on a lantern, which floats out on the water….Tomoko sent me this picture of one such ceremony which took place recently at the lake in Senzokuike Park in Ota city, Tokyo.

    洗足池公園

    Many who have taken part in this ceremony express a sort of relief that they have been able to commune* with their grandparents or parents, and have returned home with a lighter heart. The actual lanterns may be retrieved after the ceremony and used again next year, or burnt, as is the case here……(* the verb “commune ” is not easy to translate)

    👉 There is even a ceremony in the UK, organized by the Shinnyo-en branch of Buddhism….https://www.shinnyoenuk.org/about-shinnyo-lantern-floating

    👉 The days are still warm here in Germany, and the really hot heatwaves have hopefully left us now. Torrential showers flood my local building site.. see that square in the middle? That is not a garden pond but the lift shaft!

    ドイツはまだ暖かいですが、激しい雨が降ることが多く、向かいの建設現場は浸水してしまいました！

    👉 However, nature only seems to use these showers as a chance to promote growth: Witness my walks in Langen and Frankfurt…….Honeysuckle seems only to send out its perfume in the early morning or evening….

    スイカズラ

    Otherwise it’s a free for all……clover in the meadows….

    クローバー

    Succulents at the botanic garden in Frankfurt….

    フランクフルトの植物園の多肉植物

    Hydrangeas relishing the rain…..

    アジサイ

    ……………and the water lilies preparing to burst open…..

    睡蓮

    An Elfenbein Distel…..an Ivory thistle….

    アザミ

    And looks who’s here….the European oak…..

    ヨーロッパのオークの木

    And these will become walnuts, believe it or not….

    クルミの木

    …and as for the local squirrels….well…it’s either territorial issues or finding a mate…I’m not quite sure what’s going on here…..

    フランクフルトのクレイジーなリス

    👉 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.

    See you またね 😉

    nigelwruddock@gmail.com

    The End

    終わり

    😉