1. of May
When Germans have day off, well, believe it, they DO have the day off, and take it with all their seriousness. Everything is closed, everyone (except, of course services like Hospitals, Police, etc) has day off. 1st of May is legal holiday here, and it has more connotations. Yes, it is, among others, what Americans would call Labor Day, but also it has to do with medieval traditions. In this region, last night the Walpurgs night was celebrated, as a passing from the dark, cold, nasty days of winter, to the green, flowery, bright days of spring and summer.
Last Sunday we've been in Große Garten, in Dresden, which is a big park, a big nice park, where everyone goes when they have day off, with the bike, with the roller blades, to walk, or to play games, or just to lay on the grass in the sun. The Große Garten is really old, it was made in the 1600s, but it was open for public only in the 1800s. There was there initially a Fasanerie and a Palace, but in 1945 they were distroyed by American bombardments. They were rebuilt, though, in the 1990s. In the 1950s, the communists made some additions, which are still on today, like the little train operated by pioneers. There's this train, which is for real, people can use it, but very little, children's size, and it is operated by children. This train takes you through all the park.
I didn't take many pictures of the place, because it is, in the end, just a park, even if beautiful, with fountains and lakes and such. And there were way too many people for my taste, even if, as I stated before, it's a huge difference, here crowds are not that annoying and not so noisy, with loud (disgusting) music and smoke of grills coming from everywhere, etc. But a crowd is a crowd. So, I took pics with what really got my attention.
First, some sort of WTF.
This is a statue in front of Dach palace. When I noticed what she's doing with the hands I was like "Huh?".
Yes, my eyes weren't deceiving me.
But to make sure, I had to take one from the profile. I know Germans are some of the most open people I've ever seen, yet...
I don't mind it, and I guess the authorities don't mind it either. (Speaking of authorities, yesterday we had a debate in the course whether the "authorities", Regierung, in German, should be treated as being a person (well, many persons), or as a thing, an abstract thing, since it is an institution. Yes, for German language in some situations it matters a lot if the word means a person (or more) or a thing (or more).)
Anyway, moving along, we kept walking until we spotted this little fellow.
He was sitting at the side of the alley, nibbling on somthing.
People started to appear on the alley, so he moved on the grass between the trees, but seemed not to fear people that he would run and hide.
At one point he heard two girls approaching on the alley. He turned his head, interested.
The girls saw him and they stopped. He turned around to check what was going on. Then he ran to the girls, stopped in front of them, asking for food. But the girls didn't have any.
So he turned around and ran back to his trees. It all happened so fast, I couldn't catch it, only his tail, as he was running back.
So, here he is, in his tree.
On the lake, they had some ducks but also many of these beautiful birds.
And finally, while everyone is busy playing and walking and just stuck in their own worlds, things happen that they don't even notice. Like this squirrel that jumped from its tree, on the edge of the lake and started drinking water from the lake. Click on the pic and look careful at the left side of the kid with the mom. There is it.
Well, happy 1st of May.
Last Sunday we've been in Große Garten, in Dresden, which is a big park, a big nice park, where everyone goes when they have day off, with the bike, with the roller blades, to walk, or to play games, or just to lay on the grass in the sun. The Große Garten is really old, it was made in the 1600s, but it was open for public only in the 1800s. There was there initially a Fasanerie and a Palace, but in 1945 they were distroyed by American bombardments. They were rebuilt, though, in the 1990s. In the 1950s, the communists made some additions, which are still on today, like the little train operated by pioneers. There's this train, which is for real, people can use it, but very little, children's size, and it is operated by children. This train takes you through all the park.
I didn't take many pictures of the place, because it is, in the end, just a park, even if beautiful, with fountains and lakes and such. And there were way too many people for my taste, even if, as I stated before, it's a huge difference, here crowds are not that annoying and not so noisy, with loud (disgusting) music and smoke of grills coming from everywhere, etc. But a crowd is a crowd. So, I took pics with what really got my attention.
First, some sort of WTF.
This is a statue in front of Dach palace. When I noticed what she's doing with the hands I was like "Huh?".
Yes, my eyes weren't deceiving me.
But to make sure, I had to take one from the profile. I know Germans are some of the most open people I've ever seen, yet...
I don't mind it, and I guess the authorities don't mind it either. (Speaking of authorities, yesterday we had a debate in the course whether the "authorities", Regierung, in German, should be treated as being a person (well, many persons), or as a thing, an abstract thing, since it is an institution. Yes, for German language in some situations it matters a lot if the word means a person (or more) or a thing (or more).)
Anyway, moving along, we kept walking until we spotted this little fellow.
He was sitting at the side of the alley, nibbling on somthing.
People started to appear on the alley, so he moved on the grass between the trees, but seemed not to fear people that he would run and hide.
At one point he heard two girls approaching on the alley. He turned his head, interested.
The girls saw him and they stopped. He turned around to check what was going on. Then he ran to the girls, stopped in front of them, asking for food. But the girls didn't have any.
So he turned around and ran back to his trees. It all happened so fast, I couldn't catch it, only his tail, as he was running back.
So, here he is, in his tree.
On the lake, they had some ducks but also many of these beautiful birds.
And finally, while everyone is busy playing and walking and just stuck in their own worlds, things happen that they don't even notice. Like this squirrel that jumped from its tree, on the edge of the lake and started drinking water from the lake. Click on the pic and look careful at the left side of the kid with the mom. There is it.
Well, happy 1st of May.