40 Years Later

As I had mentioned before Hermann and I traveled to South Tyrol over Easter. For me it was a journey to my past as I had been there with my family for several vacations about 40 years ago. Hermann and I now stayed in the same village in the same hotel. Of course many things have changed, the village has grown much bigger and the hotel had been modernized. Not everything had changed completely, though, as you can see below :)

The place where I’m sitting on the photo was the one where my grandfather used to sit surrounded by the family during breakfast when he was a guest in the hotel; this table had always been reserved for him. The former breakfast room is now an adjoining room of the inn.


This is little me on my 5th birthday in 1971 sitting on the outside of the bay where my grandfather used to sit inside.


The same place 40 years later. Everything is looking more beautiful now, of course, but I was a little sad that the old letter box was gone which had been a relict from the times when the house used to be a coaching inn long ago.


Helene, the young woman on this photo of 1971, was the hotel keepers’ daughter; she and her younger brother were like friends for my brother and me when we were there.


Helene is now herself the hotel keeper and she was the one who modernized the hotel very beautifully; she has placed lots of flowers and decoration everywhere which makes the place cozy; the photo shows the two of us in the lovely new breakfast room which is designed like a winter garden.

I think it does not happen very often that the favourite places of one’s childhood are still attractive when one has grown up, especially after such a long absence. This was the case here, however. I have changed and the place has changed as well, but we are still fitting together ;) As Hermann liked it very much, too, we are planning to travel there soon again, maybe next year.

View From Our Balcony

Listen to the Spring

Carnival Parade

Some impressions of this year's carnival parade in our village:

Guggenmusik

Guggenmusik is a special kind of music which is part of the carnival taking place in the Alemannic regions of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Here are two of the many different bands (in the first video you will be able to recognize the song from around minute 2:15 ;) ):

Crime Time

I’m a great fan of criminal stories – both as books and films. One of my favourite crime series at the moment is “Criminal Minds”. This is mainly because of two special characters, Dr. Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness). Both are hyper smart and have special gifts – Reid has got an eidetic memory, for example. Here are some scenes of the series with both of them:



There are other crime series with freaks and nerds (when I use these expressions, I always mean this in a positive sense), like Navy CIS (McGee and Abby), Psych (Shawn) and of course Numb3rs (Professor Charlie Eppes a.k.a. David Krumholtz):



I think I like them, because all of them – regardless how big the difference is – are closer to my own self than any of the “normal” characters :)

Everyday Blogging

I really admire those of you who are keeping up their blogs by writing about everyday happenings. For me this is difficult, because what I find interesting in other blogs I always think others will find boring in mine. I have just finished reading “Jane Austen’s Letters” and I’m astonished how she fills many pages just writing (usually to her sister Cassandra) about what she has done all day, who she met and of course the latest events among family and friends. Of course, personal letters are different than a blog which can be read by anyone. One cannot tell too many details, but I think my inability to write about everyday things is that I’m not a “small talker”. Or rather, I’m just learning to be one. Meanwhile I can talk quite a while about “the weather and the state of the roads”, as Jane Austen would put it ;)

When I think about last week I suppose my most interesting days have been Friday and Saturday. One reason was that from Tuesday till Thursday I suffered from low blood pressure and even had to cancel a dentist appointment. On Friday Hermann and I attended a birthday party and in the evening I released a book into the wild. This is the BookCrossing term for putting a book where other people can find it and hopefully take it home and register it at the BookCrossing site. So I left a book on a park bench (wrapped into a plastic bag, of course). Yesterday morning it had still been there, but I’m hoping for many passers-by today afternoon, especially as the weather is fine, and that one of them will take the book.

Yesterday we received the good news that one of the Armenian children we are sponsoring no longer needs our help, because the family is doing much better financially. We also received the request to support another child, which we agreed to. Astghik is 12 years old and suffering from cerebral palsy and eye problems. As if this wasn’t enough her father left the mother before the child’s birth, so the two have to get along by themselves. At least the girl is able to attend school despite her disabilities and via the sponsorship she can get some medical help, too, apart from other things like food and clothing.

This afternoon I hope to be able to go for a walk, but this depends on what Miss Migraine says.

Nostalgia Tour

I suppose it’s a sign of getting old when people start visiting the places of their childhood. I’m going do that in April of this year. Hermann and I will be travelling to Trens, a tiny village in South Tyrol where I spent several holidays with my family when I was a child. We will stay in the same hotel which is still a family business, now run by the daughter of the previous owners. She still remembered me when we wrote to her. She and her brothers were already young adults at that time. It always felt like home when we were there, everyone was kind and patient with us children. Of course I’m aware that this feeling will most likely not return when I visit again, because so much has changed. The old half-farm-half-hotel has turned into a modern place during the past years – it had to, I guess. Nonetheless I’m looking forward to seeing it all again. Here are some photos:

1970 at a festival parade; I (aged 4) sit on my father's shoulders, my younger brother (aged 2) on my mother's (so I believe); on the right is my father's mother

1970: I wasn't afraid of the cows ;) The cows wore bells round their necks which I loved; still like to hear cow bells and I guess it is because of these childhood memories

1970: with my mother and brother

1971: on my 5th birthday in front of the hotel (wonder whether the bench and table are still there or not)

1971: at a festival parade with the hotel owner's daughter (the current hotel owner)

The Nazi King

75 years ago today, on 20th January 1936, the British Empire got a new king. It was Edward VIII who became most famous in the world for his tragic romance with the twice-divorced US-American Wallis Simpson. He was only king until December of the same year when he stepped down and later married Mrs. Simpson. Many people still admire his loyalty to the woman he loved or at least pity him for the “cruelty” of his family and government.

Yesterday I watched a TV documentary which showed the story in a very different light. Obviously the affair with Mrs. Simpson was not the main problem the British government had with him and when they forced him to step down this affair was only secondary. The main reason was that the King proved to be an admirer of Adolf Hitler and tried to influence the British policy accordingly. Even after he had stepped down and left Britain he continued to give all information he received about his country’s policy and military decisions to the Nazis. In return Hitler invited him to Germany and addressed Edward’s wife as “Royal Highness”, a title which the Royal Family denied her. There is evidence that Edward tried to get back on the throne with the help of the Nazis and wanted to establish an absolute monarchy in Britain. After the war he denied his admiration for Hitler and support for his regime.

Fortunately for Britain and the monarchy, his younger brother and successor, King George VI, was a very different sort of man. He was sensible and brave, happily married with two daughters - the older one is now Queen Elizabeth II – and he refused to leave London with his family, even when the German bombs hit the palace, because he wanted to stand by his people. Just recently he became a “film star” by “The King’s Speech” – actor Colin Firth (“Mr. Darcy”) was awarded a Golden Globe for this role.

How I Persuade People

Did this test recently:

You Persuade People Through Logic

You feel like facts should be enough to persuade people, and you always focus on making a reasonable argument. You never appeal to emotion - you feel like it's beneath you. You are much more concerned with evidence. Once someone is convinced of the facts, you show them the logical steps to reach your conclusion. You rather have someone totally convinced and persuaded than not, even if it is a lot of work.

How Do You Persuade People?

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

Call me Ms. Spock ;)