After the attack I faced today, I'm lucky to be alive.
Really, I am.
More on how I faced death in just a little bit. First, though, greetings once again from Saarbrucken, where today was handschuh weather. What, exactly, IS handschuh weather, you ask? Well, I answer, handschuh is one of those wonderful German compound words, where they combine two (or more) words to make a third word. In this case, "hand" stands for, obviously, "hand", while "schuh" means "shoes".
So what do I mean when I say today was "handschuh" weather? Well, it was cold enough to wear gloves because in German, "handschuh" means gloves. Or, if you were to take the compound word literally, "hand shoes".
That's right--the German word for gloves actually means "hand shoes". The more you know, I guess.
Since we visited three countries yesterday to buy chocolate, and since Loraine's soccer team wasn't practicing at all (although we did stop at their fan shop so she could stock up), we spent today getting to know the non-touristy parts of Saarbrucken a little better. We wandered around pretty neighborhoods--
Up & down tree lined streets (with, I might add, some of the very odd trees you see all around here)--
And just enjoyed a few of the gorgeous flowers that seem to have popped out everywhere around here--
We also ran across more sandstone buildings. I will spare you any more pictures of them; after all, there is the possibility that I may have gone just a teeny-tiny bit overboard in that department on Saturday. But I do want to show you one that led Loraine and I to notice some of the city's more recent history--
If you're standing on the street and look closely at the building, you can see where bullet holes were left in the sandstone when the Americans (the 70th Infantry Division, to be specific) came into the city in February 1945--
And even where part of the building must have been hit by a mortar, to be patched up at some point since the end of the war--
Once we noticed this and figured out that it must be along the route the Americans took into Saarbrucken, you could actually follow it all the way into the heart of the city, the Rathaus (or city hall), which we're guessing must have been the focal point for the troops coming in.
Being married to a World War II expert allows you to notice strange things about old buildings, I guess.
Speaking of the Saarbrucken Rathaus, they have a sculpture of a dude killing a dragon on the side of the building--
Why can't Marquette's City Hall have a sculpture of a dude killing a dragon on the wall? Don't we deserve a sculpture of a dude killing a dragon on the wall?
I may have to bring that up during the next City Commission meeting.
World War II and its aftereffects also played a role into the other big thing we did today, and also caused the incident where I was attacked by some crazed beings. On the southern edge of Saarbrucken is the Franco-German Gardens, stuck right on the border of the two countries (literally, we turned the corner the wrong way trying to find it and found ourselves in France) to commemorate three battles--The Franco-Prussian War, and the two World Wars. In fact, the Gardens even incorporate part of the German "Western Wall"--a line of defensive fortifications they built in the 1930s--into the park--
It's a gorgeous park (even when it's handschuh weather and the windchill's down around freezing), filled with a lake, gardens, and trails--
It's also home to all kinds of wildlife, especially waterfowl. They have ducks, geese, and these things that may be ducks or may be geese or may just be Pokemon characters--
And that's how I came under attack today, barely surviving the attempt on my life.
Let me explain.
Loraine and I were wandering around the park, enjoying the scenery, commenting upon all the little things the people of France and Germany have collectively put into it, and thinking that this was a really cool way to cement the bond between the two countries. All of a sudden we hear a cacophony from a bunch of birds that sounded like nothing I've ever heard. I pulled my phone out to record it, thinking it might be cool, when, and I'm not kidding here, two of the birds turned and attacked me--
I don't know what prompted the unprovoked attack. It's like I was a photographer and the birds were 2000-era Britney Spears. All I wanted to do was record the sounds they were making. I didn't know I would come that close to death in trying to do so.
But thankfully, I made it through by the skin of my teeth.
After that, we just came back into town and explored a little more. All in all, it was an interesting way to spend a handschuh day, and learn a little bit about the place that's allowed us to stay for the week. I said it last night, and I'll probably say it again, but if you're ever visiting anywhere, go where the tourists aren't. That way, you get to find out what a place is really like.
Even if you have to risk death by waterfowl to do it.
8-)
A few random pictures to share, the first being more proof that Germans really ARE trying to fight climate change, especially with the way they deliver mail in the cities--
Football is, of course, the HUGE sport over here. But it seems like the other football--the Lions & Packers kind--is gaining a foothold, especially here in Saarbrucken--
Right after the attack on my life, as I was contemplating my mortality, Loraine noticed that no one's come up to me with a history question or recognized me since we got here. It's actually kind of cool being anonymous and able to contemplate my mortality for a change--
Although maybe that's why the waterfowl attacked me. Maybe they had a history question to ask, or they wanted to comment on last week's "Life in the 906".
But probably not.
And, finally, today's wall of chocolate--
Tomorrow's already (!!) our last full day here in Saarbrucken, so all those things we haven't done yet should be taken care of, even if we have to deal with handschuh weather and/or goose attacks again.
The former I can handle. The latter? Well, I'd rather not go through that again.
(jimkoskimqt@gmail.com)
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