StringGrrl sees the World

Visit Dortmund Germany for work (or at least my Company) and you will spend some time on the Campus of T.U. Dortmund. StringGirl with Amber, Stippy, Devil, and Taki The university is decorated in a Postmodern style with leftovers from its industrial Heritage. A former coal town, Dortmund once provided the coal needed to stoke the blast furnaces of nearby Essen, Bochum, and Dusseldorf- the Ruhrgebiet . Not far from University you can still find the older mine structures in the wild Unlike Post-industrial cities in the US, the Ruhr embraces its industrial past. Maintaining as parks many of the  no longer used sites. I almost wrote derelict, but that is not true of many of them, as they have been re-purposed for alternate uses or maintained just this side of abandonment. Sunrise can make most cities look better  Dortmund in the home of BVB futbol; this past years Bundesliga Champs. Signal-Iduna park is the largest capacity in the Bu...

The morning sky over Dortmund, taken from the Emil-Figge-Strasse. Not far from the restaurant  Dortmund Germany is not exactly reknowned for its Gastronomy, but just like any town you can find glimmers of hope. The Tapas Factory is one such place. Located in the Hombruch neighborhood of Dortmund the Tapas Factory has spanish tapas in a wide array. The decor is may be a little cheesy but the food was tasty If you were to judge the restaurant by decor and neighborhood, one might not expect much here. Many times German restaurants will defang ethnic cuisine to make it more palatable to their meat and potato favoring clientele. But maybe with Spanish and Catalan cuisine is different given the affinity that Gemans take to Mallorca and Barcelona for their holidays. So, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the Tapas Factory made some pretty good Tapas. A large selection of Tapas for the three of us allowed us to sample many tastes, but we barely made a dent in t...

Making our way to Europe via Amsterdam. This flight we have made dozens of times these past years. We have over our time started to make some friends in the airport. Today we hit to see one if our friends, one of the few we have been able to rely upon. Cane (a delta red jacket, customer service rep) i have been able to see more often than I have seen some of my colleagues, and only aside at the airport. He has helped me or with seating issues in the past, always looks in on my flights to see if we can get an upgrade, and been there with a smile when things were not working out. Today I was happy that I could do anything nice for him. It's just a small thing but it made him smile and i hope he enjoys it. A new NCAA official football. Embossed with the logo of the company that posts for all this travel. Thanks Cane again you set the bar for courtesy and service at Delta.

Apparently, I take many pictures that fail to get uploaded, or even reviewed. I have gone back to last summer to see what I had for Oktoberfest and found these. Not exactly photographic gems, but still pieces of the past that are fund to review. If you sit in the Bier tent, expect neighbors  For most Americans one of the first things that they find odd in German restaurants and bier gardens is the informality of the seating. There are no strict start and end of the table (unless you count the fact that after 40 feet or so the wood ends). If there are 4 open spots in the middle of the table, new people com a squeeze in. If there are only two open spots, four people might squeeze in. Get used to it, there is no claim on the spot inside the tent. Standing on the bench and singing, semi mandatory. Knowing the words, optional Oompah-pah oompah oompah. Get used to that sound. it is the full soundtrack of the Oktoberfest. That and happy drinking and eating. ...

The rites of fall are upon us, summer is coming to an end and that brings us to the time of year when we celebrate the harvest. StringGirl and Amber are packing their bags to prepare for this years festival. Where we hope to be able to meet up with Uncle Alex and a new colleague from AutoForm (Patrick). Apparently I did not post any of the photos from last years visit. So this video of what is what I thought one of the best attractions at the Festival was. A 75+ year old attraction, that features a ride down a steel chute on sheets of burlap. No big deal, we've seen that plenty at various county fairs and other common events. What makes this attraction unique is it's lawsuit inspiring deathwish ascent. Customers rather than having to ascend a set of stairs for the ride, are instead whisked up to the top on a conveyor belt moving at Usain Bolt like speeds up a 30% grade. Fun yes, Funny definitely.  Munich plays host to the Weissen yearly

In honor of geocaching.com trackable week 2012 i have prepared an instant cache that any new geo cacher can retrieve from my hide, and hide anew elsewhere. The cache comes loaded with A Signal FTF micro-coin trackable. With any luck the next person to log my cache will be able to find a new place to locate the newly created mini cache and give someone a chance to log the FTF.

As a life long resident of Grosse Pointe Woods, StringGirl is avidly following the GPN Girls Cross Country team. Here are some of her pics from her travels along side the team.  StringGirl and Amber met with the girls at the Stoney Creek Metropark for a most recent meet. Where the Grosse Pointe North Girls won the meet.     StringGirl admires the postmodern architecture of the beach shelter. Note how it "literally" reflects its surroundings in its appearance imitating the lily pads seen on the lake.  The Grosse Pointe North Girls pose for a picture atop the Straw Pyramid erected at the orchard that played host to another of the meets.